Special to WorldTribune.com Recently released statistics detail the grim toll of Syria’s civil war: more than 10 percent of the country’s population has either been killed or injured in the past five years. Life expectancy has dropped from 70 to 55. Statistics generated by the Syrian Center for Policy Research (SCPR) found that more than […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) is likely to attempt “direct attacks on the U.S. homeland” this year, top intelligence officials told Congress on Feb. 9. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, in testimony at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, said ISIL is hiding jihadists among the wave of refugees […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Canada will end air strikes targeting the Islamic State extremist group in Iraq and Syria and pull out six fighter jets within two weeks, Canada’s prime minister announced on February 8. Justin Trudeau said Canada would end its bombing mission by February 22 but military personnel […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty The United States has charged the wife of an Islamic State (IS) leader killed last year with contributing to American hostage Kayla Mueller’s death. Nisreen Assad Ibrahim Bahar, also known as Umm Sayyaf, admitted after her capture in May 2015 that she and her husband kept […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Syrian forces, in a major offensive supported by Russian air power and Iran-backed militias, advanced toward the Turkish border on Feb. 8. The Syrian advance and relentless Russian air strikes in recent days have led to one of the biggest shifts in momentum of the five-year war. The offensive by President Bashar […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Some 35,000 Syrians are stranded at the Turkish border after fleeing a Russian-backed Assad regime offensive in Aleppo. Turkish humanitarian groups warned of a desperate situation in the making as they set up camps and sent in truckloads of aid on Feb. 8 for people, many of them women and children, amassed […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) says Saudi Arabia lacks the courage to send ground troops to Syria. “They claim they will send troops [to Syria], but I don’t think they will dare do so,” IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari was quoted as […]
Special to WorldTribune.com U.S.-led coalition warplanes dropped thousands of leaflets over Islamic State of Iraq and Levant’s (ISIL’s) de facto capital in Syria vowing that ISIL will soon be defeated. The leaflets were dropped over Raqqa during a break in coalition airstrikes. ISIL opposition group “Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently” (RBSS) said on Twitter that […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Saudi Arabia and Turkey are considering sending ground troops into Syria to support rebels fighting the Russia-backed Bashar Assad regime, analysts say. “The Saudis believe that the chance of a peaceful solution for the Syrian crisis is very limited,” said Mustafa Alani of the independent Gulf Research Center. “They don’t see that […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Moscow said it has reason to suspect that Turkey is planning a military incursion into Syria. The Russian Defense Ministry said it has observed “a growing number of signs of hidden preparation of the Turkish armed forces for active actions on the territory of Syria.” Ankara responded by saying it has the […]
