Syrian conflict
- Reuters
U.S. to leave a total of about 400 troops in Syria: official
The United States will leave a total of about 400 U.S. troops in Syria, split between a safe zone being negotiated for northeastern Syria and the U.S. military base at Tanf, near the border with Iraq and Jordan, a senior administration official said on Friday. The 200 U.S. troops in northeastern Syria will be part of what is expected to be a total commitment of about 800-1,500 troops from European allies to set up and observe the safe zone, the official told reporters.
The Charlotte ObserverEx-transit officer gets new sentencing in Islamic State case
A former D.C. region transit police officer serving 15 years in prison for trying to help the Islamic State could see his sentence reduced after an appeals court threw out two of his convictions. Nicholas Young was convicted of attempting to provide material support to a terror group and two counts of obstruction of justice. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the terror charge Thursday, but vacated the obstruction charges. The court said the government failed to show that Young tried to thwart a grand jury investigation. In 2016, Young sent $245 in gift cards to an account he believed belonged to an ISIS fighter. The man was actually an FBI informant. The court
Al JazeeraWhy Britain should allow Shamima Begum to return home
Back in February 2015, a blurry image showing three teenage girls passing through security barriers at Gatwick airport made headlines across the world. These ordinary-looking British schoolgirls, who had all been attending the Bethnal Green College in London, had grabbed the world's attention for a very sad reason: They were travelling to Syria to join the death cult that is the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS). Amira Abase, Shamima Begum and Kadiza Sultana were only 15-16 when they made the decision to abandon their families, their friends and a promising future in the United Kingdom to build themselves new lives in a warzone. Their families said they were "normal,
The IndependentIf governments want to achieve peace in Syria, they need to stop excluding women from their negotiations
Like nearly all Syrian women, we were just bystanders at an event intended to map out our destiny. It was there that activists made the case to the then UN Special Envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi. Many diplomats and politicians have warm words to say about women’s participation in peace talks.
- Good Morning America
Trump administration signals ISIS foreign fighters could be sent to Guantanamo Bay
As President Donald Trump seeks to wind down the fight against the Islamic State in Syria, his administration is increasingly leaving open the possibility that some of the group's foreign fighters be sent to the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Trump has advocated as a private citizen, presidential candidate and even while in office to move more detainees to the facility.
- Associated Press
Amid loss of leaders, unknown militant rises in Philippines
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Unlike many of his slain comrades, the touted new leader of the Islamic State group in the southern Philippines lacks the bravado, clan name or foreign training.
- Lawfare
Can German Courts Bring Accountability for Torture in Syria?
On Feb. 12, Germany's investigative police force arrested two former high-ranking members of the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate (GID) allegedly involved in crimes against humanity. The German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) had issued arrest warrants for 56-year-old Anwar R. and 42-year-old Eyad A. on Feb. 7, charging the Syrian citizens with crimes against humanity, torture and murder between 2011 and 2012. Federal police arrested the two men in Berlin and the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. A third man was arrested by French authorities in Paris. The German police allege that Anwar R., former head of the GID's investigation department, was involved in the torture and
- Reuters
Swiss ex-sergeant convicted for leading Christian militia in Syria
Hanna Johannes Cosar's case was a rare example of European countries prosecuting citizens for fighting against, rather than with, jihadist forces in Iraq and Syria. Cosar was fined 500 Swiss francs ($499), a relatively lenient punishment, after being convicted by a Swiss military tribunal. Cosar, whose family moved to Switzerland from Syria three generations ago, was accused of joining a private army whose avowed aim was to defend Syriacs, one of the world's oldest Christian communities, against Islamic State forces.
- Big League Politics
UNREAL: Former ISIS Terrorist Currently Works For The Department of Justice in NYC
As Jihadi brides from western countries who joined the Islamic State make news for attempting to return home, it's been revealed that a New York man who traveled to Syria to join the bloodthirsty group is now working for the Department for Justice. 30-year old Mohimanul Alam Bhuiya left New York City to join with the terrorist organization in 2014, having become radicalized by Islamist propaganda and seeking to pitch a plan to destroy civilian aircraft to the group. Bhuiya admitted to recieving military training with ISIS and worked in various low-level capacities at what was the height of the caliphate's existence. Bhuiya eventually became disillusioned with ISIS, and was able to return to the United States on his own initiative after contacting the FBI and requesting “extraction.” He faced criminal charges that could've landed him with 25 years in prison upon returning, but got off easy in part because of cooperation with the FBI, only receiving supervised release.
- Associated Press
Chechen religious leaders re-open landmark mosque in Syria
MOSCOW (AP) — Religious leaders of Russia's republic of Chechnya have inaugurated a re-opened landmark mosque in Syria's Homs, once the symbol of the rebellion against President Bashar Assad.
- Daily Mail
Surgeon behind Operation Defy ISIS Maniacs
MEMOIR WAR DOCTOR: SURGERY ON THE FRONT LINE by David Nott (Picador £18.99, 304 pp) Atmeh, Syria, 2012. A woman was rushed to the operating theatre with severe bomb damage to her leg. Trauma surgeon David Nott clamped the artery to prevent her from bleeding to death and gently pressed a finger into the large hole above her knee joint. He felt an object. Probably some kind of shrapnel, but strangely smooth and cylindrical. 'Very carefully,' he recalls, 'I grabbed it with my fingers and pulled it out. I held it up to examine it and the Syrian helper took one look and went pale. He obviously knew what I was holding and blurted out, 'Mufajir!' before turning tail and leaving the room.' David Nott,
- Associated Press
Document: Man accused of attacking officer asked to be shot
PHOENIX (AP) — An Islamic State follower asked a Phoenix-area sheriff's sergeant during a violent encounter six weeks ago to shoot him after he threw rocks at the officer and walked toward him with a knife in hand, according to a court document authorities were forced to release Wednesday.
- https://www.oneindia.com
Why women fighters are becoming more significant in Islamic State
Washington, Feb 22: Although a couple of women have faced wrath of the governments of their respective countries after they joined the Islamic State (IS) and now want to come back, it doesn't diminish the significance of women's role in the terror outfit. According to an expert on terrorism in Harvard University, the role of women inside the IS is growing as the Sunni group is transforming itself into an underground body. Earlier, the women's roles in the IS were limited to child-bearing and household work while the men undertook the combat roles. Now, the IS's stand on gender roles is changing fast even though it was known to make segregation between genders earlier, according to Vera Mironova, Visiting Scholar in the Economics Department at Harvard University, and former Associate of the International Security Program at Harvard's Belfer Center.
- KTAR 92.3 Phoenix
From Syria, IS slips into Iraq to fight another day
In this Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019 file photo, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces fighters watch as an airstrike hits territory still held by Islamic State militants in the desert outside Baghouz, Syria. U.S. and Iraqi officials say IS fighters facing defeat in Syria are slipping across the border into Iraq, where they are destabilizing the country's fragile security. Hundreds -- likely more than 1,000 -- IS fighters have crossed the open, desert border in the past six months, defying a massive operation by U.S., Kurdish, and allied forces to stamp out the remnants of the jihadi group in eastern Syria. BAGHDAD (AP) — Islamic State fighters facing defeat in Syria are slipping across the border into Iraq, where they are destabilizing the country's fragile security, U.S. and Iraqi officials say.
- wbal.com
Trump administration signals ISIS foreign fighters could be sent to Guantanamo Bay
(WASHINGTON) -- As President Donald Trump seeks to wind down the fight against the Islamic State in Syria, his administration is increasingly leaving open the possibility that some of the group's foreign fighters be sent to the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Trump has advocated as a private citizen, presidential candidate and even while in office to move more detainees to the facility. It was a stark contrast to his predecessor, who unsuccessfully sought to close it. As president, however, Trump has sent no one to Guantanamo. Instead, his administration is pushing for foreign ISIS fighters detained in Syria to be returned to their home countries, in the region and in Europe.