Special to WorldTribune.com ABU DHABI — Hundreds of Saudis have been fighting each other in the Al Qaida war in Syria. A Saudi jihadist reported that Saudis were being forced to kill each other as part of the war between two Al Qaida factions. The jihadist, Suleiman Al Subaie, said Saudis were recruited under false […]
Special to WorldTribune.com TEL AVIV — Israel’s intelligence community has determined that Al Qaida was enhancing suicide strikes throughout the Levant. The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center asserted that Al Qaida was using suicide bombings as the main method of attack in such countries as Lebanon and Syria. The center, the open-source arm of Israel’s […]
Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — The U.S. intelligence community has determined that Syria became the new regional base for Al Qaida. Officials said the 16-member intelligence community concluded that Al Qaida was preparing to use Syria as a base of operations throughout the Levant. Over the past year, they said, Al Qaida merged its assets […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ABU DHABI — Al Qaida, under pressure from Gulf Arab supporters, has disavowed its franchise in Iraq and Syria. The Al Qaida general command asserted that it was not maintaining links to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. In a statement on Feb. 2, Al Qaida, led by Ayman Zawahiri, […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — President Bashar Assad is said to have overseen an increase in barrel bomb attacks against Sunni rebels in Syria. The opposition said the Syrian military has intensified its use of barrel bombs against rebel strongholds. The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attacks, in which oil drums packed […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Al Qaida has regained most of its strongholds amid the Saudi-sponsored rebel offensive in Syria. Opposition sources said Al Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has rebounded from an offensive by a Saudi-sponsored campaign, which began on Jan. 3. They said ISIL has regained many of the strongholds […]
Special to WorldTribune.com LONDON — The foreign fighters presence in the Sunni revolt in Syria has reached as many as 11,000, a report said. The International Center for the Study of Radicalization estimated that between 3,300 and 11,000 foreigners have joined the Sunni revolt against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. In a report, […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Islamist rebels have launched an offensive around the Syrian capital. Rebels have reported a major operation against the Syrian Army and Hizbullah in the southern suburbs of Damascus. The rebels said nearly 1,000 Syrian Army soldiers were killed and more than a dozen villages were recaptured in the offensive, which […]
Special to WorldTribune.com LONDON — An Islamist movement is said to have been recruiting fighters for the Sunni revolt in Syria. Western diplomats said European intelligence agencies have identified Hizb Al Tahrir as a leading recruiter of fighters for the Sunni revolt in Syria. They said Hizb, which for years eschewed politics, was indoctrinating and […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Iran’s proxies have taken over most of the fighting against Sunni rebels in Syria. Western diplomatic sources said Hizbullah and other Iranian proxies were assigned virtually all of the infantry operations against Sunni rebel strongholds. The sources said the Syrian military has been restricted to air and artillery strikes to […]