Gloves come off between Syrian regime, Islamic State

A deadly assault by the Islamic State on a regime-held gas field in Homs province marks a new chapter in Syria's civil war as government forces and Islamic State face off.

Iraq

Turkey’s Syrian refugee problem spirals out of control

Syrian refugees in Turkey are regularly subject to hostilities by locals, a trend Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan implies the opposition is responsible for.

Syria

Jabhat al-Nusra, IS compete for foreign fighters

Concerned that the Islamic State has an advantage in recruiting foreign jihadists with its declared Islamic caliphate, al-Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra, has declared an Islamic emirate.

Syria

Domestic violence increases among Syrian refugees

The stresses of the war and lack of income are resulting in more cases of domestic violence among Syrian refugees in Jordan.

Jordan

Baath spokesman denies alliance with Islamic State

The spokesman of the Baath Party, Khodair al-Morshedi, considers the Islamic State (IS) a terrorist organization and denies having any ties with it.

Iraq

Coastal Syrians carry on despite threat of Islamic State

Regime supporters along the Syrian coast are confident the Syrian army can triumph and that the Islamic caliphate declared by the Islamic State in eastern parts of the country won’t last.

Syria

Who is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?

Details emerge about the years that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State, spent in Afghanistan.

Iraq

Israel considers costs of escalation in Gaza

Gaza residents bear the costs of war; Israel weighs its option with Hamas; Al-Monitor interviews Iraqi political leaders; the forgotten war in Syria.

Palestine

Global jihad benefits from Gaza crisis

As Arab states do little to intervene in Gaza, militant jihadism continues to spread throughout the region.

Palestine

Aleppo rebels caught between Islamic State, regime

Rebels in Aleppo say they will struggle to prevent both the Syrian regime forces and a resurgent Islamic State from sweeping through the city and its countryside.

Syria

Islamic State moves to capture another Turkish border crossing

The Islamic State is attacking Kobani canton, or Ain al-Arab, in an attempt to encircle the Kurdish autonomous region in Syria and capture a third crossing to Turkey.

Iraq

Turkey faces threat from returning jihadists

Having lost the proxy war it waged against Syria, Turkey now faces a potential threat to its own peace and stability by Turkish jihadists returning from Syria.

Iraq