Islamic State

Members of Syrian security forces at the entrance of the al-Hol camp in the desert region of Hasakah province which holds around 24,000 people, including some 6,200 women and children from around 40 nationalities on Jan. 21, 2026 in Al Hasakah, Syria.

Feature

Syrian Kurds say US ignored pleas for help as ISIS detainees turned on them in al-Hol

Chaos at al-Hol during clashes between Kurdish forces and Damascus underscored the widening security vacuum amid Kurdish claims of US abandonment.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

In this handout photo in an undisclosed location, US Airmen prepare to load GBU-31 munition systems onto F-15E Strike Eagles within the US Central Command area of responsibility, Dec. 18, in support of Operation Hawkeye Strike.

US launches 5 airstrikes in Syria on suspected ISIS sites: What to know

A series of five airstrikes over the past week in Syria comes as the US military increasingly relies on Damascus' forces to contain Islamic State remnants.

Syrian Democratic Forces fighters stand on a pick-up truck to provide security during an inspection of SDF positions on the Tell Brak frontline in Syria on Jan. 26, 2026.

France's role in Syria-SDF agreement: What to know

French diplomatic sources highlight the role played by Paris in recent months in reaching an agreement between the Sharaa government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Syrian government troops patrol the streets of Tabqa, in Raqqa province, on the southwestern banks of the Euphrates, Jan. 18, 2026.

Analysis

Syria’s Kurdish pullback hands Damascus a win — and new ISIS risks

Cooperation with the United States in the battle against ISIS could prove both a blessing and a curse for the Syrian government.

Cagatay Cebe

By Cagatay Cebe

In Istanbul, reporting on security and counterterrorism

Latest News

Feature

ISIS brides face uncertain future as Damascus clashes with Syria’s Kurds

Roj Camp

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Analysis

Could US shift on Syria’s Kurds unlock progress with Turkey?

Syrian government forces ride on the roof of a vehicle as they deploy after crossing the Euphrates River in the province of Deir Ezzor, eastern Syria, on Jan. 19, 2026.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Iraq to prosecute ISIS detainees transferred from Syria: What to know

Children and women, relatives of suspected Islamic State jihadists, walk inside al-Hol camp in the desert region of Syria's northeastern Hasakah province, on Jan. 21, 2026.

US military airlifts Syria ISIS prisoners to Iraq after SDF retreat: What to know

RAQQA, SYRIA - JANUARY 19: Syrian government forces are deployed near Al-Aqtan prison on January 19, 2026 in Raqqa, Syria. Yesterday, the Syrian government announced that a nationwide ceasefire deal had been reached with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who had been clashing with government forces in recent weeks. The Kurdish-led force, a long-time ally of the United States in the fight against ISIS, had controlled large swaths of northwest Syria during the years of the country's civil war. T

Jared Szuba

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Iraqi security forces kill senior Islamic State commander

Iraq's military said Abu Yaser al-Issawi was killed in a counterterrorism operation outside Kirkuk.

Islamic State kills 1, wounds 3 in Sinai

The Egyptian peninsula's deadly insurgency lingers on.

Iraqi mourners carry the coffin of a victim who was killed in a twin suicide bombing in central Baghdad, during a funeral in the holy city of Najaf on January 21, 2021. - A rare twin suicide bombing killed 32 people and wounded 110 at a crowded market in central Baghdad, Iraq's government said, the city's deadliest attack in three years.
The first attacker drew a crowd at the bustling market in the capital's Tayaran Square by claiming to feel sick, then detonated his explosives belt, the interior ministry s

Iraqi PM vows security changes after Baghdad bombing

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi also sacked a number of Iraqi security officials within hours of the attacks.

People inspect the scene of a car bomb in the Turkish-controlled town of al-Bab in the north of Syria's Aleppo province on November 24, 2020. - The explosion, which targeted a police station on the outskirts of the town, killed a police chief from another station, two policemen and two civilians, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP) (Photo by BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images)

Did Islamic State make comeback to opposition areas in countryside of Aleppo?

An attempted assassination of a journalist bearing the hallmarks of the Islamic State in the opposition-held city of al-Bab in the countryside of Aleppo has prompted fears about the escalation of IS operations and stirred demands to prosecute terrorist operatives in the area.

Women walk between destroyed buildings in the northern Syrian city of Raqa, the former Syrian capital of the Islamic State (IS) group, on December 20, 2020. - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces overran Raqa in 2017, after years of what residents described as IS's brutal rule, which included public beheading and crucifixions. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP) (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Despite crackdown, Islamic State continues to kill, kidnap civilians in east Syria

Despite a security crackdown carried out by the Syrian Democratic Forces, in coordination with the US-led coalition, in Deir ez-Zor, the Islamic State is kidnapping, threatening and killing civilians for money.

Is Al-Qaeda affiliate expanding attacks beyond Syrian town of Idlib?

Hurras al-Din, affiliated with al-Qaeda in Syria, claimed responsibility for an attack against a Russian base in northern Raqqa and pledged to expand operations outside its areas of deployment in Idlib.

A fighter from the Syrian Democratic forces (SDF) carries a military vest said to have belonged to Islamic State (IS) group jihadists, recovered in the eastern Syrian village of Baghuz on March 13, 2020, a year after the fall of the Islamic State's (IS) caliphate. - A year after the last black flag of the Islamic State group was lowered in the Syrian village of Baghouz, traces of the jihadist group are still all around this small and remote village near the Iraqi border, where Kurdish fighters and the US-le

IS cells escalate attacks on civilians, regime soldiers in eastern Syria

Despite the elimination of the Islamic State from its last official territory in Syria in March 2019, IS cells that have been holed up in desert areas in eastern and central Syria remain active and terrorize civilians and soldiers alike.

Rouhani: Iran reserves right to avenge Soleimani death

President Hassan Rouhani said Iran will avenge the US assassination of its top commander Qasem Soleimani and will continue to seek the ouster of American forces from the region.

Germany and Finland repatriate children from Syria's al-Hol camp

There have been several repatriations of people from the camp for Islamic State families this year.

Washington on the spot as its Syrian Kurd allies are drawn into PKK-KDP fight

Reported border clash worsens conflict between Kurdish factions in triangle where US, Turkish and Syrian and Iraqi Kurdish forces come into play.

Egyptian forces kill, arrest Islamist fighters in Sinai

There have been several escalations between Egyptian forces and Islamist groups on the peninsula recently.

Uzbekistan repatriates women and children linked to Islamic State in Syria

The 98 people were in camps for Islamic State fighters and their families in Kurdish-run northeast Syria. Some other countries have also brought their citizens home from IS camps there, while others have refused.