Special to WorldTribune.com By Gregory R. Copley, Editor, GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs January 2016 saw an acceleration of the movement of Daesh (asad-Dawlah al-Islamiyah fi al-‘Iraq wash-Sham) — so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) — fighters out of Syria and into Libya. There were profound reasons for this “flight to safety” by Daesh, […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address, the annual speech to a joint session of Congress, has emerged as more of a political pep rally than a clear overview of America’s standing in the world both domestic and foreign. The address was touted as […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Egyptian forces near the Libyan border have been put on high alert following air strikes on Jan. 10 from unidentified fighter jets inside Libya. The fighter jets struck Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) targets inside Libya, according to news reports. The Libyan coastal city of Sirte has served as ISIL’s […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Gregory R. Copley, Editor, GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs Senior-level sources in numerous Middle Eastern governments have privately expressed bewilderment at recent and current U.S. government strategies and policies toward the region. But a closer examination of U.S. policies, now almost entirely dictated by the Obama White House, shows no cohesive national […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) jihadists attacked security forces at Libya’s Es Sider oil terminal on Jan. 4. Two guards were killed in the attack. ISIL said it attacked the Es Sider site after seizing the nearby town of Ben Jawad, although there was no independent confirmation of the town’s […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) has released a new propaganda video which boasts that the terror group has brought law and order to lawless Libya. The video shows footage of ISIL’s newly-formed Islamic police force patrolling the coastal city of Sirte, which the terror organization has controlled since June. In […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Libya’s rival factions on Dec. 17 signed a UN-brokered agreement to form a unity government. Gen. Khalifa Haftar, the military commander for what had been the internationally recognized government in Tobruk, said he hoped the deal would lead to the end of a UN arms embargo as Libya faces a growing threat […]
Special to WorldTribune.com With an eye on Libya’s oil fields, Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) is fighting to expand its territory beyond its coastal stronghold in Sirte. French Defense Minister Jean Yves Le Drian said ISIL jihadists have begun to move inland. “They are in Sirte, their territory extends 250 kilometers [155 miles] […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Acting in the wake of the Islamic terrorist attacks throughout Paris, Special Operations Speaks (SOS) and its 150,000 petition signers today renewed its call for Congress to demand that the State Department freeze the Obama refugee relocation plan “until all vetting protocols are released and the number of ISIL fighters that have […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) is solidifying its grip on territory in central Libya through a terror campaign that includes executions, beheadings and amputations, the United Nations said on Nov. 16. ISIL controls large swathes of territory in central Libya and is “committing gross abuses including public summary executions of […]