Islamic State

Gen. Michael Langley, commander of US Africa Command, testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

Top US general calls out Houthi-Shabaab ties across Yemen-Somalia strait

The Pentagon has opened the aperture on al-Shabaab in recent months, allowing AFRICOM to ramp up strikes on the al-Qaeda offshoot in the Horn of Africa.

Jared Szuba

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

An Israeli soldier checks a Merkava battle tank deployed at a position in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights along the border with southern Syria on March 25, 2025. Israel's military said it carried out a second strike in Syria on March 25, in response to incoming fire from across the demarcation line, hours after Syrian authorities reported that at least five people had been killed as a result of Israeli shelling. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Are Lebanon, Syria ripe for peace with Israel or on cusp of more escalation?

While some Israeli leaders hope for normalized ties with Lebanon and Syria, others warn that the uncertainty of the current situation could become permanent or deteriorate.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Fidan Syria

Analysis

Turkey, alarmed by sectarian clashes, steps up Syria role, criticizes Iran

As last week’s bloody clashes in Syria have deepened divisions among Turkish experts over the country's future, Turkey’s priorities in Syria remain focused on countering the SDF and combating ISIS.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

A general view shows a burnt out vehicle next to a banner bearing the Islamic State group's flag in the village of Dibsiafnan on the western outskirts of the Islamist's Syrian bastion of Raqa, after Syrian pro-government forces entered the area on June 11, 2017.

Exclusive

Turkey to host regional summit in April on counter-ISIS operations

Technical talks for the formation of a joint regional operation center against ISIS have begun as efforts to create an alternative to US-led coalition Syrian Democratic Forces against the Islamic State take shape.

Ezgi Akin

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

Latest News

Armenia joins US-led global coalition against Islamic State

Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan arrives for a plenary session at the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit, at the Grand Palais, in Paris, on Feb. 11, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

In Paris, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Turkey escalates push to replace Kurds as top anti-ISIS force in Syria

A fighter of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) aims a machine gun while lying prone during a joint military exercise with forces of the US-led "Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve" coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group in the countryside of the town of al-Malikiya (Derik in Kurdish) in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on Sept. 7, 2022.

Turkey, Jordan, Iraq to hold first anti-ISIS summit this month: Turkish official

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) speaks during a joint press conference with Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein (R), Baghdad, Iraq, Aug. 22, 2023.

Khamenei pushes for US withdrawal from Iraq in meeting with Sudani

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (R) and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran on Jan. 8, 2024.

A view shows the burnt-out Crocus City Hall concert venue in Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow, on March 26, 2024.

From Russia to Iran and Turkey: Understanding rise, narrative of ISIS-K

The jihadi group has been raising its profile since the beginning of 2024 through suicide attacks in southern Iran in January and the armed attack on an Istanbul Roman Catholic church last month.

Members of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) cheer as they carry upside-down a black flag of the Islamic State (ISIS) group in the Old City of Mosul on July 2, 2017.

Iraq says it killed prominent ISIS leader as group resurfaces

The Islamic State remains active in Iraq as Baghdad and Washington discuss winding down the US presence in the country, though the group is relatively weak at present.

ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Amid Biden-Netanyahu split over Rafah, Pentagon leans on lessons from Iraq

As the Biden administration seeks to prevent further humanitarian catastrophe in Rafah, former US commanders told Al-Monitor there are key ways the Israeli military can shape an operation to protect civilians.

Jared Szuba

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

Turkish police are seen raiding an apartment suspected of housing ISIS operatives, in an undated video.

Turkey expands crackdown on ISIS after Russia attack

Tuesday’s detentions brought the number of people detained in the country to more than 180 since the ISIS branch's attack on Crocus City Hall in Moscow.

Members of the Khabour Guards (MNK) Assyrian Syrian militia, affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), walk in the ruins of the Assyrian Church of the Virgin Mary, which was previously destroyed by Islamic State (IS) group fighters, in the village of Tal Nasri south of the town of Tal Tamr in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on Nov. 15, 2019.

Turkish strike kills 3 members of Kurdish-allied Christian force in northeast Syria

Wednesday's drone strikes are in line with Turkey’s ongoing campaign to degrade and destroy the SDF and the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeast Syria.

An ambulance leaves from Santa Maria Church as anti-riot police officers block the street after an attack in Istanbul, Turkey, Jan. 28, 2024.

How and why ISIS-K has resurged in Turkey

The latest attack on an Istanbul church signals the militant group’s resurgence in Turkey.

OZAN KOSE/Afp/AFP via Getty Images

What does ISIS' church attack in Turkey say about rise of Tajikistani militants?

The shooting at a church in Istanbul marks the first Islamic State attack in Turkey since 2017 as the extremist offshoot ISIS-K seeks to expand.

A member of Iraq's Special Operations Forces stands guard during the funeral of Hassan Hammadi al-Amiri, a fallen member of the group Kataib Hezbollah.

Iraq slams latest US airstrikes on Kataib Hezbollah sites

Latest strikes put new pressure on Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani over the US troop presence in Iraq.

Houthi soldiers stand guard on a missile carrier during an official military parade marking the ninth anniversary of the Houthi takeover of the capital, Sanaa, on Sept. 21, 2023.

US launches new strikes on Houthi missile sites in Yemen as deterrence falters

The US military struck Houthi ballistic missiles on the ground, as the Yemeni faction defied previous allied strikes designed to cripple their ability to attack ships in the Red Sea.

This picture shows people and Iranian emergency personnel at the site where two explosions in quick succession struck a crowd marking the anniversary of the 2020 killing of Guards general Qasem Soleimani, near the Saheb al-Zaman Mosque in the southern Iranian city of Kerman on Jan. 3, 2024.

Breaking | Last Updated: January 4, 2024, 11:32 pm

ISIS claims responsibility for twin Iran blasts that left nearly 100 dead

Two Islamic State operatives were responsible for the attacks, according to the group.

Turkey says it foiled ISIS attack on Istanbul synagogues, churches

Turkey's interior minister said that 29 people have been detained over suspected links to the Islamic State, thwarting attacks on Jewish and Christian places of worship in Istanbul.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) military personnel are participating in the Ela Beit Al-Moghaddas (Al-Aqsa Mosque) military rally in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 24, 2023.

Iran holds military drill near Iraqi border to counter ISIS infiltration

The stated goal of the exercise appeared as a shift from Iran's older official line, in which it had declared and taken credit for a "full eradication" of the Islamic State (ISIS).