Alice Fordham
The U.S. considers deploying hundreds more American troops to Syria in the final phase of the war against ISIS — one that could reshape borders and relationships in the Middle East.
A day after criticism and chaos for some caused by his executive order temporarily banning Muslims from seven countries, the president took to Twitter Sunday morning to defend himself.
People in many countries rejected the ban on refugees and restrictions on citizens of 7 Muslim-majority countries. The measures added to growing frustration and concern with the new U.S. president.
A cease-fire is still technically in place but some fighting continues. The government is pressing an offensive on the valley of the Barada River and Damascus’ water supply is badly affected.
A boy from Mosul, now in an Iraqi camp, quit school after ISIS took it over. “The children were terrified,” says his mother. “They should be playing, and instead it was blood, blood everywhere.”
In the first week of an Iraqi offensive to retake Mosul, the effort is slow and fraught with danger. While officials say the operation is on track, citizens who’ve witnessed the casualties disagree.
The aerial bombardment of eastern Aleppo by Syrian regime and Russian warplanes has reached a new level of ferocity. The attacks killed hundreds, overwhelmed hospitals and destroyed neighborhoods.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the deadly truck bombing in Iraq during the early hours of Sunday morning. The attack comes as the extremists are losing ground on the battlefield.
In northeastern Syria, Christians are mourning those killed by ISIS when the militants tore through a band of Assyrian villages a year ago. The towns were recaptured, but the community is scarred.
In northeastern Syria, local residents are watching the comings and goings from a rural airstrip they say is America’s Syria footprint in the anti-ISIS war.
In the eastern part of Syria, forces backed by the U.S. and its allies say they are pushing ISIS back. And U.S. officials say those forces are becoming more cohesive, and in turn more successful.
The cease-fire in Syria is mostly holding, and the United Nations hopes to get more aid to people under siege.
Syrians making their way into Turkey say the intensification of regime and Russian airstrikes has forced them out of Syria after hanging on for years. Now they worry the regime is going to win.
Several Syrian hospitals were hit by airstrikes and missile attacks, throwing more doubts on the chances for a truce plan made by world powers last week.
Conditions are worsening in one ISIS-controlled area of Iraq. In pursuit of safety and stability, thousands of civilians are walking for days over the Hamrin Mountains, often without water or sleep.
Iraq’s government is waging a costly war with the Islamic State while dealing with falling oil prices, millions of displaced citizens and staggering rebuilding costs.
The United Nations says about 20,000 people have been killed in Iraq since the Islamic State began pushing into that country in 2014. NPR takes a look at the report and the devastation it describes.
American officials say they are looking for three Americans who have disappeared in Baghdad. The three were working for a group contracted by the Defense Department.