Egypt’s Sisi: Best route for West in Libya is to support Gen. Haftar’s army

Egypt’s Sisi: Best route for West in Libya is to support Gen. Haftar’s army

Special to WorldTribune.com The West’s best course of action in Libya is to arm and support the army of Libyan Gen. Khalifa Haftar instead of military intervention, Egyptian President Abdul Fatah Sisi said. “If we provide arms and support to the national Libyan army it can do the job better than anyone else, better than […]

Egypt finds Gaza smuggling tunnels big enough for trucks

Egypt finds Gaza smuggling tunnels big enough for trucks

Special to WorldTribune.com Egyptian security forces have discovered smuggling tunnels connecting Gaza to Sinai that are large enough to drive trucks through. Egyptian officials believe the tunnels are the source of weapons being used in Sinai by the affiliate of Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL). Most of the weapons were smuggled into Gaza […]

U.S. embassy urges evacuation from Mosul as dam catastrophe looms

U.S. embassy urges evacuation from Mosul as dam catastrophe looms

Special to WorldTribune.com The U.S. embassy in Iraq has recommended the evacuation of Mosul out of fear that the Mosul Dam is near collapse. “Out of an abundance of caution, we would like to underscore that prompt evacuation offers the most effective tool to save lives of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis living in the […]

Egypt’s Sisi for first time cites terror motives behind downing of airliner

Egypt’s Sisi for first time cites terror motives behind downing of airliner

Special to WorldTribune.com Egyptian President Abdul Fatah Sisi confirmed for the first time on Feb. 24 that “terrorism” was the cause of the Oct. 31 crash of a Russian airliner in the Sinai Peninsula that killed 224 people. “Has terrorism ended? No… Whoever downed that plane, what did he want? Just to hit tourism? No. […]

Italy allows U.S. to use Sicily air base for drone missions in Libya

Italy allows U.S. to use Sicily air base for drone missions in Libya

Special to WorldTribune.com The Italian government has given the U.S. the go-ahead to fly armed drones out of an American base in Sicily for missions against Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in Libya. The drones are based at the Sigonella naval air station in Sicily, which is also a NATO and Italian air […]

Belgians living in Morocco feel safer there than in Belgium

Belgians living in Morocco feel safer there than in Belgium

Special to WorldTribune.com Belgians who have relocated to Morocco say they feel safer than in Belgium where they lived in constant fear of Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) terror cells. Morocco “is a safe haven (for Belgians) amid a rough sea of turbulence, threats and insecurity, perhaps even safer than Europe these days,” […]

Erdogan: Will Turkey stop shelling anti-ISIL Kurdish forces in Syria? No way

Erdogan: Will Turkey stop shelling anti-ISIL Kurdish forces in Syria? No way

Special to WorldTribune.com President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey will not cease its attacks on Kurdish forces even though the Kurds have been the only consistently effective ground force against common foe Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL). Erdogan on Feb. 17 said Turkey would continue shelling Kurdish targets in Syria to prevent the […]

Syrian army reportedly set to advance into Raqqa province

Syrian army reportedly set to advance into Raqqa province

Special to WorldTribune.com Syrian forces are set to move into Raqqa province, held by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), to pre-empt the U.S.-led coalition sending in ground troops to fight the jihadists, reports say. U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said on Feb. 12 he expected Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to […]

Nightmare scenario: Assault on Mosul could trigger dam disaster, 40-foot wave of death

Nightmare scenario: Assault on Mosul could trigger dam disaster, 40-foot wave of death

Special to WorldTribune.com Any missteps in Iraq’s attempt to retake Mosul from Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISL) could result in a “nightmare scenario” in which the unstable Mosul Dam collapses and unleashes a 40-foot wave of death. “If the dam busts, the center of Mosul goes under water by about a 40-50 foot wave,” an […]

Mosul Dam at ‘higher risk’ of failure, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers assesses

Mosul Dam at ‘higher risk’ of failure, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers assesses

Special to WorldTribune.com The lives of over a half million Iraqis are at risk if the Mosul Dam were to collapse and that risk has increased in the past year, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In an assessment made public by Iraq’s parliament on Feb. 8, the Corps of Engineers said it […]