Special to WorldTribune.com U.S. special forces have taken control of an air base in northeastern Syria, according to reports. The facility, near the city of Rmeilan in Hasakah province, is the first U.S.-controlled air base in Syria. A spokesperson for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said the base was handed over to the U.S. to […]
Special to WorldTribune.com The United States has unleashed a new strategy against Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL): bomb the “Daesh cash.” According to Col. Steve Warren, a Baghdad-based spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, nine air strikes in Iraq and Syria in the past few months have destroyed “tens of millions” of dollars of […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi said on Jan. 21 he is “not seeing evidence” of Turkey’s willingness to fight Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL). While attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Abadi told CNBC he believes Turkey views the Kurdish population within its border as a greater problem […]
Special to WorldTribune.com The Swiss government negotiated a secret deal with Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) to avoid terror attacks in Switzerland, according to a report. The arrangement was made following the hijacking by Palestinian groups of two Swissair flights in 1970, according to the Swiss newspaper Neue Zurcher Zeitung (NZZ). Full details of the deal […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has condemned the attack on Saudi Arabia’s Embassy in Tehran in early January, saying it was “very bad” and “wrong.” Khamenei equated the assault to an attack against both Iran and Islam. Khamenei’s remarks were published on his website on […]
Special to WorldTribune.com The United States is providing critical support for France’s aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain, resupplied France’s Charles De Gaulle carrier, which began operations in the Gulf last month as part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL). “The […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Iraq’s oldest Christian monastery, built in 590, has been destroyed by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL). Satellite photos confirm that St. Elijah’s monastery in Mosul was reduced to rubble in 2014 as ISIL jihadists seized the city. St Elijah’s joins a growing list of more than 100 religious and historic […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Police in Morocco have arrested a Belgian national of Moroccan descent in connection with the November terror attacks in Paris. Gelel Attar was arrested on Jan. 15 in the city of Mohammedia, the Moroccan Interior Ministry said. The ministry said Attar had received training from Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) has forced some 3,500 Iraqis into slavery, most of them minority Yazidi women and children, according to a UN report. Most of the Yazidis were forced into sexual slavery, the report, released on Jan. 19, said. The report said some 800 to 900 children were […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) has kept Iraqi forces from gaining full control of Ramadi by launching attacks through a network of tunnels and using local residents as human shields. “What we see are small groups of enemy forces and in that group is maybe five to seven, maybe as […]