Special to WorldTribune.com The U.S.-led coalition on March 7 struck 24 Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) targets in 15 cities. The coalition hit 17 ISIL targets in 12 Iraqi locations, including eight tactical units, two headquarters and numerous fighting positions, the Combined Joint Task Force said. The air strikes also hit several weapons […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) is manufacturing IEDs on an “industrial scale,” according to investigators. “It’s not just a few roadside bombs. There are literally fields of them (IEDs),” an investigator for Conflict Armament Research (CAR) told Foreign Affairs. “It’s unprecedented. We have never seen this before — it’s in […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Russia has halted Iran’s order of the S-300 surface-to-air missile system, a report said. The move was made after Russian President Vladimir Putin consulted with Israeli officials who protested the sale, according to the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida. In discussions with Putin, Israel said it feared that at least some of the S-300 […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) is making up to $25 million per month by gaming Mideast foreign exchange markets. The ISIL scheme takes advantage of the hawala system, which is an honor system in Middle East exchanges that operates outside of traditional banking. According to forex analyst David Butter, a […]
Special to WorldTribune.com A prominent Saudi cleric who is on Islamic State of Iraq and Levant’s (ISIL’s) hit list was shot and wounded in the Philippines on March 1. Sheikh Aaidh al-Qarni and Saudi diplomat Sheikh Turki Assaegh were both wounded in an assassination attempt as they left a university auditorium in the southern port […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Though the pope and the UN have designated Islamic State of Iraq and Levant’s (ISIL) slaughter of Mideast Christians as genocide, the Obama administration is not so sure. “My understanding is the use of that word involves a very specific legal determination that has, at this point, not been reached,” White House […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Soldiers with the U.S. Army’s elite Delta Force are on the ground in Iraq and have begun missions to capture or kill top Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) operatives. “The only thing I’ll say is the (Expeditionary Targeting Force) is in position, it is having an effect and operating, and […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Final results from Iran’s February 26 elections show relative moderate President Hassan Rouhani and his allies winning a majority in the powerful Assembly of Experts and making a strong return to parliament as one of three dominant blocs. The elections were Iran’s first since international sanctions […]
Special to WorldTribune.com The U.S. embassy in Iraq has recommended the evacuation of Mosul out of fear that the Mosul Dam is near collapse. “Out of an abundance of caution, we would like to underscore that prompt evacuation offers the most effective tool to save lives of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis living in the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com The illicit trade of antiquities in the West is helping to fund the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) terror organization. The U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and Syria has put a dent in ISIL’s other funding streams, so the jihadists increasingly rely on the sale of artifacts pilfered from areas under […]
