Iraqi Special Operations Forces arrest a person suspected of belonging to Islamic State militants in western Mosul, Iraq February 26, 2017. Picture taken February 26, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani A few hundred men who had scurried across front lines in a refu... More »
The U.S.-led coalition effort against Islamic State is killing the group’s fighters more quickly than it can replace them, a senior British general said on Tuesday, with more than 45,000 killed by coalition air strikes up to August last year. More »
Displaced Iraqi women who just fled their home,rest in the desert as they wait to be transported while Iraqi forces battle with Islamic State militants in western Mosul, Iraq. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra U.S.-backed Iraqi forces on Tuesday battled their way to with... More »
An Iraqi Special Forces soldier moves through a hole as he searches for Islamic State fighters in Mosul, Iraq. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic U.S.-backed Iraqi army units shut the last main exit out of the Islamic State group’s stronghold in western Mosul, controllin... More »
Turkey-backed Syrian rebel groups said they clashed on Sunday with government forces near a city captured last week from the Islamic State (IS) group in northern Syria, the second such confrontation in that area in recent weeks. More »
A member of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic forces inspects a building, damaged during battles with Ukrainian armed forces, in Donetsk, Ukraine February 23, 2017. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko The United States on Sunday condemned an attack on spe... More »
An Iraqi Special Forces soldier stands on top of a vehicle in a desert south of Mosul, Iraq February 24, 2017. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic U.S.-backed Iraqi security forces advanced deeper into the western half of Mosul on Friday one day after launching attacks on... More »
A still image taken from a video posted on social media uploaded on February 24, 2017, shows a pool of blood amid damaged motorcycles at a site of an Islamic State car bomb explosion, said to be in Sousian village near al-Bab, Syria. Social Media/ via REUTERS ... More »
Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announces the start of an offensive to retake the western side of Mosul as troops begin to move towards Islamic State, in this still image from video by Iraqiya TV February 19, 2017. Iraqiya TV/via Reuters TV Iraq’s Prime ... More »
The chief Syrian government negotiator at peace talks in Geneva said on Friday he had received a paper from U.N. mediator Staffan de Mistura and would study it, but a first meeting had covered only the format of talks. More »
Syrian Ambassador to the U.N. Bashar al Jaafari addresses the media outside of the United Nations office in Geneva, Switzerland, February 24, 2017. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy Opposing sides in the Syrian war came face-to-face in U.N. peace talks for the first time ... More »
Turkey’s military confirmed on Friday that Syrian rebels had taken full control of all neighborhoods of Syria’s al-Bab from Islamic State, marking a significant advance for Ankara’s drive to oust the jihadists. More »
FILE PHOTO: A man rests near a damaged house after an airstrike on al-Yadouda village, in Deraa Governorate, Syria February 15, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Faqir/File Photo Syrian warplanes carried out air strikes on rebel-held areas in Deraa and Hama provinces and ... More »
Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) fires towards Islamic State militants during a battle with Islamic State militants, west of Mosul,Iraq February 22, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer U.S.-backed Iraqi security forces closing in on the Islamic State-held western half of ... More »
A view of the Euphrates river during sunset in Raqqa province, Syria May 15, 2013. REUTERS/Hamid Khatib/File Photo The United Nations is warning of catastrophic flooding in Syria from the Tabqa dam, which is at risk from high water levels, deliberate sabotage ... More »
The Syrian government is prepared to swap prisoners in its jails for people “kidnapped by terrorist groups”, state television reported on Monday, citing an official source. More »
Rebel fighters stand with their weapons on the outskirts of the northern Syrian town of al-Bab, Syria February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters resumed a major offensive inside the Islamic State-held city of al-Bab on Th... More »
Free Syrian Army fighters carry their weapons as they stand on the outskirts of the Islamic State-controlled northern Syrian town of al-Bab, Syria February 4, 2017. Picture taken February 4, 2017. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi Syrian rebels supported by Turkish armed ... More »
Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad speaks during an interview with Venezuelan state television TeleSUR in Damascus, in this handout photograph distributed by Syria’s national news agency SANA on September 26, 2013. REUTERS/SANA/Handout via Reuters Syrian Presid... More »
Russian soldiers, on armured vehicles, patrol a street in Aleppo, Syria February 2, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki Experts from Russia, Turkey, Iran and the United Nations held a technical meeting in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, to discuss in detail the implemen... More »
A car is parked in front of Rixos President Hotel, the venue that hosts Syria peace talks, in Astana, Kazakhstan, January 23, 2017. REUTERS/Mukhtar Kholdorbekov Khalidi More »
Sixty-five Islamic State militants were killed in operations by the Turkish army in support of rebels in northern Syria on Sunday, the Turkish military said on Monday. More »
A child walks through rubble of damaged buildings in al-Rai town, northern Aleppo countryside, Syria January 20, 2017. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi Parties to the Syrian peace talks in Astana have yet to agree on face-to-face meetings between the delegations of the D... More »
Ninos Thabet, an 18-year-old Christian who studied art at Mosul University, creates miniature replicas of statues destroyed by militants when they overran the 3,000-year-old Assyrian city of Nimrud 2-1/2 years ago, in Erbil, Iraq, January 13, 2017. Picture tak... More »
Syrian rebel groups have decided to attend peace talks backed by Russia and Turkey in Kazakhstan to press for implementation of a widely violated ceasefire, rebel officials said on Monday, in a boost for Moscow-led diplomacy. More »
An Iraqi flag flutters at the roof of a hospital damaged by clashes during a battle between Iraqi forces and Islamic State militants in the Wahda district of eastern Mosul, Iraq. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani Iraqi special forces made further advances against Islami... More »
A rebel fighter stands near a Turkish tank as it fires towards Guzhe village, northern Aleppo countryside, Syria October 17, 2016. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo Turkey’s military, backing Syrian rebels in a four-month-old operation against Islamic State mil... More »
The Turkish military said on Wednesday it had “neutralised” 44 Islamic State militants and wounded 117 as part of its operation in the northern Syrian town of al-Bab. More »
The logo of Privatbank is pictured outside its branch in central Kiev, Ukraine, December 18, 2016. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko Ukraine declared the country’s largest lender PrivatBank insolvent on Monday and said bringing it under state ownership was the only wa... More »
A child reacts as evacuees from rebel-held east Aleppo arrive at the town of al-Rashideen, which is held by insurgents, Syria December 19, 2016. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah A convoy of 10 buses carrying evacuees from the Shi’ite Muslim villages of al-Foua and Kefra... More »
Rebel fighters and civilians gather as they wait to be evacuated from a rebel-held sector of eastern Aleppo, Syria December 16, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail Dozens of buses carrying evacuees from the last rebel-held district of Aleppo traveled to the insurg... More »
Evacuees from rebel-held east Aleppo arrive at the town of al-Rashideen, which is held by insurgents, Syria December 19, 2016. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah Convoys of evacuees traveled from a rebel-held area of Aleppo and from two Shi’ite villages besieged by insurg... More »
The Syrian army made major advances in several more east Aleppo districts on Monday, a Syrian military source said, after taking the Sheikh Saeed district in the south of the rebels’ shrinking enclave overnight. More »
The Turkish army has dropped leaflets on the Islamic State-held city of al-Bab in Syria urging civilians to seek shelter, as rebels backed by Turkish tanks and warplanes close in on the city. More »
Smoke and flames rise after air strikes on rebel-controlled besieged area of Aleppo, as seen from a government-held side, in Syria December 11, 2016. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki The Syrian army and its allies made sweeping advances in Aleppo overnight, subjecting re... More »
Smoke rises from a damaged building after a strike on the rebel-held besieged al-Shaar neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria November 26, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail Another key district of eastern Aleppo has effectively fallen to advancing Syrian government forc... More »
Air strikes killed at least 73 people in rebel-held Idlib province, including 38 in the city of Maarat al-Numan, on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group monitoring the war, reported. More »
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Tuesday that there was still an enormous amount of work to be done on the ceasefire process for eastern Ukraine but added that talks had not broken down altogether. More »
Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks during a news briefing after the talks on the crisis in eastern Ukraine in Minsk, Belarus, November 29, 2016. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko Four-way talks about the conflict in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday wer... More »
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Pavlo Klimkin gather for talks on the crisis in eastern Ukraine, in Minsk, Belarus, November 29, 2016. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there had been no ... More »
Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (L) greets Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin as their Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov stands nearby during talks on the crisis in eastern Ukraine in Minsk, Belarus, November 29, 2016. REUTERS/Vasily F... More »
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government forces seized the strategic eastern Aleppo district of al-Sakhour on Monday in a wider advance that has driven rebels from a third of the rebel-held area in recent days. More »
Smoke rises from a damaged building after a strike on the rebel-held besieged al-Shaar neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria November 26, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail The Syrian army and its allies drove rebels from a strategically important district of eastern Al... More »
A wall along the border between Turkey and Syria is pictured near the southeastern town of Deliosman in Kilis province, Turkey, August 29, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo Turkey temporarily closed a border gate with Syria on Monday near its southeastern p... More »
Shi’ite forces in Iraq aim to cut off the western supply route used by Islamic State out of Mosul on Thursday, the leader of the largest militia told Iraqi television. More »
Tribal fighters walk as fire and smoke rises from oil wells, set ablaze by Islamic State militants in the oil-producing region of Qayyara, Iraq. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani With Iraqi troops battling inside Islamic State’s Iraqi bastion of Mosul, the militants’ le... More »
A rebel fighter takes away a flag that belonged to Islamic State militants in Akhtarin village, after rebel fighters advanced in the area, in northern Aleppo Governorate. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi Turkey-backed Syrian rebels seized control of nine areas, including... More »
A view shows an office that was used by Islamic State militants in Turkman Bareh village, after rebel fighters advanced in the area, in northern Aleppo Governorate, Syria, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi Syrian rebels said they captured the village of D... More »
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin (not pictured) following their meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, October 10, 2016. REUTERS/Osman Orsal Turkish President Erdogan told Iraqi Prime Minister H... More »
Ukrainian artist Daria Marchenko gives comments to journalists near the artwork ‘Heart of War’ from the series ‘Five Elements of War’, created in cooperation with her colleague Daniel Green and made of bullet and shell cartridges from the frontline of a milita... More »
The Kremlin said on Monday it was gravely concerned by the situation in Syria where “terrorists” were using a ceasefire to regroup their forces and wage offensives against government troops. More »
A significant portion of Kurdish YPG militia fighters who were in the northern Syrian town of Manbij are withdrawing to the east of the Euphrates river in a move welcomed by Turkey, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told reporters on Monday. More »
A man walks on the rubble of damaged buildings after an airstrike on the rebel held al-Qaterji neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria September 25, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail Dozens of air strikes hit rebel-held areas of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo overnig... More »
Turkish air planes hit Islamic State targets in northern Syria, the Turkish military said in a statement on Monday. More »
A general view shows Castello road in Aleppo, Syria September 16, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail Moscow stepped up its war of words with Washington on Sunday, saying air strikes by a U.S.-led coalition on the Syrian army threatened the implementation of a U.S... More »
People ride a motorcycle near damaged buildings in rebel-held Ain Tarma, eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta, Syria September 17, 2016. Picture taken September 17, 2016. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh A seven-day ceasefire declared by the Syrian army expired at midnight... More »
A fighter from the Free Syrian Army’s Al Rahman legion walks past damaged buildings in the rebel held Jobar, a suburb of Damascus, Syria September 6, 2016. Picture taken September 6, 2016. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh Government troops and insurgents fought in sever... More »
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Monday the state was determined to recover all areas from terrorist groups, the presidency said in a statement on its social media accounts, hours before a U.S.-Russian ceasefire deal was due to take effect. More »
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov talks during a news conference at the Foreign Ministry in Beirut December 5, 2014. REUTERS/Aziz Taher (LEBANON – Tags: POLITICS) A new round of talks between the Syrian government and opposition may be held in ... More »
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attend a news conference after a meeting on Syria in Geneva, Switzerland, August 26, 2016. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister S... More »
At least four explosions hit government-held parts of Syria on Monday, in the cities of Tartous and Homs and in the countryside outside Damascus, state media and a monitor said. More »
Boys sit on the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline in Zakho district of the Dohuk Governorate of the Iraqi Kurdistan province, Iraq, August 28, 2016. REUTERS/Ari Jalal Iraq’s government would consider selling crude through Iran should talks with the autonomous Kurdish reg... More »
Turkish armoured personnel carriers drive towards the border in Karkamis on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern Gaziantep province, Turkey, August 27, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas Turkey’s army and its allies thrust deeper into Syria on Sunday, seizing ... More »
Syrian-Kurdish YPG fighters appear to be reinforcing the Syrian city of Manbij, captured this month from Islamic State, with weapons and personnel, regional security sources told Reuters on Monday. More »
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C) and French President Francois Hollande (L) pose on the Italian aircraft carrier Garibaldi off the coast of Ventotene island, central Italy, August 22, 2016. REUTERS/Remo Casilli The leade... More »
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C), French President Francois Hollande (L) and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi attend a news conference at the chancellery during discussions on the outcome of the Brexit in Berlin, Germany, June 27, 2016. REUTERS/Hannibal ... More »
BEIRUT A suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest on a bus in Syria near the Atmeh border crossing with Turkey late on Sunday, killing at least 32 people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The bus was carrying fighters from foreign-backed rebel f... More »
MOSCOW Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a meeting with his Security Council to discuss additional security measures for Crimea after the clashes on the contested peninsula, the Kremlin said on Thursday. Russia was considering tightening security at th... More »
BEIRUT A Russian military helicopter carrying five people was shot down in the north of Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province on Monday, the Russian defence ministry said. Russian air forces are supporting President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s five-year-old civil w... More »
BEIRUT Syrian rebel fighters have launched a major assault on government-held southwestern parts of Aleppo to try to reopen supply lines after the army and its allies tightened their siege of opposition-held parts of the city last week. The rebels are trying t... More »
BEIRUT/AMMAN Rebel areas of Aleppo have stockpiled enough basic supplies to survive months of siege by Syrian pro-government forces that cut off their half of the city last week, even though some goods are running out, an opposition official said. Government f... More »
ANKARA Turkey aims to develop good relations with Syria and Iraq, and both countries need to be stable for counter-terrorism efforts to succeed, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Wednesday. Turkey has long been one of Syrian President Bashar al-As... More »
FALLUJA, Iraq Iraqi forces recaptured the last district held by Islamic State militants in the city of Falluja on Sunday and the general commanding the operation declared the battle complete after nearly five weeks of fighting. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi c... More »
BAGHDAD/ERBIL, Iraq About 40,000 residents of Falluja, Islamic State’s besieged stronghold near Baghdad, have fled in the last three weeks, but a similar number are trapped despite the Iraqi army’s attempts to secure escape routes for them, officials said on T... More »
AMMAN The Syrian army pushed into Raqqa province, home to the de facto capital of Islamic State, after a major Russian-backed offensive against the militants, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday. The offensive is the third big assault on t... More »
ISTANBUL Turkish and U.S.-led coalition forces struck Islamic State targets north of the Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, killing 27 fighters, state-run Anadolu Agency and other media reported. Turkish artillery and rocket launchers fired into Syria while warp... More »
MOSCOW Russia and the United States have agreed to extend the “regime of calm” in Syria’s city of Aleppo for another 48 hours starting from May 10, RIA news agency on Tuesday quoted Russia’s Defence Ministry as saying. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly- Editing by Dmi... More »
HANOVER, Germany/WASHINGTON President Barack Obama will announce on Monday he plans to send as many as 250 additional U.S. troops to Syria, a sharp increase in the American presence working with local Syrian forces fighting Islamic State militants, U.S. offici... More »
MAKHMOUR, Iraq Towering over his Kurdish partner at a checkpoint in northern Iraq, U.S. volunteer John Cole cuts an unusual figure on the road to the newest front in the war against Islamic State. Seven feet (2.1 meters) tall and holding his assault rifle upsi... More »
LONDON A meticulous recreation of the 1,800-year-old Arch of Triumph in Palmyra, Syria, destroyed by Islamic State militants last year, has been erected in Trafalgar Square in what London Mayor Boris Johnson called an act of defiance. The 5.5-metre (20ft) mode... More »
BAGHDAD U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter flew into Iraq on Monday to discuss offering more help in the fight against Islamic State, possibly including sending in more U.S. troops, officials said. Carter would meet Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Defe... More »
BEIRUT Protesters attacked the Beirut office of Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq al-Awsat on Friday in response to a cartoon published by the paper criticizing the Lebanese state. The cartoon depicted the Lebanese flag with the words “an April fool…” written above... More »
DUBAI The secretary of the Iranian National Security Council has congratulated Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on regaining the city of Palmyra, Tasnim news agency reported on Monday. “The determination of the Syrian nation, government and army to eliminate t... More »
BEIRUT Syrian government forces backed by heavy Russian air support drove Islamic State out of Palmyra on Sunday, inflicting what the army called a mortal blow to militants who seized the city last year and dynamited its ancient temples. The loss of Palmyra re... More »
BAGHDAD/ERBIL, Iraq Iraq’s armed forces started an offensive against Islamic State in the northerly Nineveh province on Thursday in what a military statement described as the first stage of an operation aimed at liberating the city of Mosul. The assault was la... More »
MOSCOW Russia is ready to coordinate its actions with the U.S.-led coalition in Syria to push the Islamic State group out of Raqqa, Interfax news agency quoted Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying. “We are ready to coordinate our actions with the ... More »
MOSCOW Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke on the phone on Sunday about closer cooperation between their countries’ militaries on the Syria ceasefire plan, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday. The conversati... More »
BEIRUT The Syrian army advanced toward the Turkish border on Monday in a major offensive backed by Russia and Iran that rebels say now threatens the future of their nearly five-year-old insurrection against President Bashar al-Assad. Iranian backed-militias pl... More »
BEIRUT The death toll from a suicide attack in Damascus on Sunday that was claimed by the Islamic State militant group has risen to more than 70, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. A car bomb and two suicide bombers attacked the Sayeda Zeinab distri... More »
GENEVA Syria’s main opposition group is considering a proposal by U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura that could pave the way to the delegation pressing ahead with talks after holding their first meeting with him on Sunday, a Western diplomatic source said. ... More »
PARIS Syrian Kurdish officials will not be invited to peace talks in Geneva, where negotiations for the opposition will be led by a Saudi-backed opposition group, France’s foreign minister said on Wednesday. Laurent Fabius said United Nations special envoy Sta... More »
LAUSANNE, Switzerland The co-leader of the Syrian Democratic Council, Haytham Manna, on Wednesday he would not take part in peace talks in Geneva unless two Kurdish leaders, Saleh Muslim and Ilham Ahmed, were also invited to participate. “I’ll go with my frien... More »
BEIRUT Aid convoys headed for a besieged Syrian town where thousands are trapped and the United Nations says people are reported to have died of starvation. Trucks headed for Madaya, near the Lebanese border, and two villages in the northwest of the country on... More »
BEIJING The International Monetary Fund’s decision on Ukraine’s debt to Russia did not change anything to Moscow, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak told reporters in Beijing on Thursday. The International Monetary Fund’s Executive Board decided t... More »
ZURICH NATO has ruled out sending ground troops to fight against Islamic State militants in Syria, NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg told a Swiss newspaper, stressing the need to bolster local forces in the conflict. “That is not on the agenda of the coa... More »
BAGHDAD Two senior U.S. senators called on Sunday for Washington to nearly triple military force levels in Iraq to 10,000 and send an equal number of troops to Syria as part of a multinational ground force to counter Islamic State in both countries. Republican... More »
ABU DHABI U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was set to hold talks with senior Emirati and Saudi officials in Abu Dhabi on Monday to find ways to bring Syrian opposition groups together at a conference that will be hosted by Saudi Arabia next month. The hastil... More »
WASHINGTON Leading Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said on Sunday the United States is not doing enough to fight Islamic State, and the group is gaining strength outside Iraq and Syria. Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, ... More »
BEIRUT Heavy air strikes believed to have been carried out by French jets hit two Islamic State training camps and a suspected arms depot in and around the jihadist-held city of Raqqa in Syria overnight, a group monitoring the war said on Monday. There were mo... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidates accused President Barack Obama on Sunday of showing weakness in U.S. policy in Syria, doubting that his small deployment of special operations troops will make much difference without a coherent broader strategy. “... More »
