The U.S. is planning to send almost 4,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, according to a Trump administration official. Defense Secretary James Mattis could announce the deployment—the largest so far under President Donald Trump—as early as next week. The military’s top commander in Afghanistan has said he needs more forces to fight a reinvigorated Taliban insurgency…
The Russian Defense Ministry said Friday that Russian airstrikes outside the Islamic State’s de facto capital Raqqa, Syria, on May 28 are believed to have killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, along with dozens of other high-ranking and midlevel ISIS commanders. “According to information that is being checked through various channels, Islamic State leader Ibrahim…
On Thursday, Iraqi’s militarized federal police launched an attack to seize Mosul’s airport from the Islamic State while Iraqi special forces entered the sprawling Ghazlani military base nearby. The attack began with U.S.-led airstrikes overnight, followed by a coordinated assault on the airport, and Iraqi forces have captured the runway and are fighting scattered ISIS…
ISIS claimed responsibility Monday morning for a deadly New Year’s Eve gun attack on Istanbul’s popular Reina nightclub, seeming to confirm the assessment of Turkish and U.S. intelligence officials. Turkish police have reportedly detained eight people in connection with the attack, although the gunman — who killed 39 people including 25 foreigners — is still…
Police in Milan have shot and killed Anis Amri, the Tunisian man believed to have carried out the deadly truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin on Monday, Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti said Friday morning. “The person who was killed, there is no doubt that he is Anis Amri,” Minniti said, confirming news…
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said about 200 more U.S. troops are being sent to Syria to help battle Islamic State fighters. The troops, to help Kurdish and Arab fighters retake the ISIL stronghold of Raqqa, will include special operations forces, Carter said Saturday. “These uniquely skilled operators will join the 300 U.S. special operations…
Federal investigators are examining whether a weekend knife attack in Roanoke, Virgina was inspired by the Islamic State terror group. The suspect, identified as 20-year-old Wasil Farooqui, reportedly traveled to Turkey in the past year in a bid to get into Syria. Farooqui was arrested for the stabbing, during which he allegedly yelled, “Allahu Akbar!”…
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the suicide bomber who killed 51 people at a wedding in Gaziantep on Saturday was a child working for Islamic State terror group. In one of the worst attacks in Turkey this year, the bomber detonated at an outdoor wedding in a Kurdish neighborhood near the Syrian border, injuring…
A humanitarian task force with the United Nations in Syria has on Thursday suspended its efforts amid continued violence in the country, which has been ravaged by more than five years of civil war. A day before, Syrian opposition activists released images of a 5-year-old child who was pulled from the devastation of an airstrike…
Five people including the 86-year-old priest, two nuns and two parishioners were held by assailants who raided the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray near Rouen in Normandy at 9am. The clergyman, named as Jacques Hamel (right), is believed to have been beheaded during the attack while another hostage is fighting for life in hospital. The two attackers…
According to French media, the 31-year-old male suspected of ramming a truck through a crowd Thursday evening in Nice, killing at least 80, has been identified as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a Frenchman of Tunisian descent. Local outlet Nice-Matin reported that Bouhlel was a delivery driver who has previous misdemeanor convictions. Officials reportedly searched his apartment…
At least 165 people were killed on Sunday as two bombs blasted Baghdad, one of which was claimed by ISIS. At least 225 people were injured. The deadliest attack took place in a major shopping district, killing 86 people, 15 of which were children. That attack is believed to be the deadlist single bomb attack…
Jeremy Corbyn was engulfed in a fresh row over Israel when he appeared to compare the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to Islamic State at the launch of an independent review into antisemitism in the Labour party. In prepared remarks, Corbyn said: “Our Jewish friends are no more responsible for the actions of Israel or the…
The death toll has risen to 41 in the bombings at the Istanbul airport. Reports suggested that the fatalities included at least 23 Turkish citizens and 13 foreign nationals while officials worked to identify the others. At least 230 people are reported to have been injured in the suicide attack. “The bombs that exploded in…
More than 100 have died in bomb blasts on two Syrian coastal towns, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The towns that were hit by blasts were Jableh and Tartus which are regime strongholds and have largely escaped the conflict so far. State media said one blast had hit a hospital. So-called Islamic State…
The Islamic State terror group claimed res-ponsibility Wednesday for an attack in a predominantly Shiite Baghdad neighborhood that killed at least 64 people. Police say the bomb—among the deadliest in recent history in the Iraqi capital—was detonated in a parked car at a crowded outdoor marketplace. ISIS said in a Twitter post that it had…
A knife attack by a barefoot man at a German train station early Tuesday has left one man dead and three seriously injured as authorities investigate what is said to be “an apparent Islamist motive.” Police said the suspect, a 27-year-old German citizen, reportedly shouted “Allahu akbar” as he launched his attack shortly before 5…
President Barack Obama is expected Monday to announce plans to send an additional 250 troops to Syria to support local forces in the battle against ISIS. The deployment will boost the number of U.S. forces in Syria to about 300, with most coming from special-operations forces, the AP reports. The group will also include medical…
The American ISIS defector who has been described as a “gold mine” of intelligence says he followed a young woman to join the militant group, “wasn’t thinking straight,” and immediately regretted his decision. “On the way there I regretted—I wanted to go back,” said Mohamad Jamal Khweis, 26. “I made a bad decision to go…
Secretary of State John Kerry has determined that the Islamic State group is committing genocide against Christians and other minorities in Iraq and Syria, according to U.S. officials, as he acted to meet a congressional deadline. But Kerry’s finding, set to be announced Thursday, will not obligate the United States to take additional action against…
Watch Exclusive footage from inside ISIS-controlled city Raqqa. Filmed by two brave women for Expressen. Using hidden cameras two brave Syrian women show us what life is like inside al-Raqqah, capital city of terrorist sect ISIS in northern Syria. They know they will be stoned to death if they are exposed. They are willing to…
The Pentagon on Monday confirmed the death of a top ISIS leader known as Omar “the Chechen” al-Shishani in a U.S.-led coalition airstrike in northeastern Syria this month. “We believe he subsequently died of his injuries,” Navy Capt Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told AFP. The confirmation comes after the monitoring group the Syrian Observatory…
Secretary of State John Kerry announced Thursday that world powers have agreed to implement a “cessation of hostilities” in Syria to begin in a week after talks in Germany. However, this would not apply to the fighting between ISIS and the al-Nusra Front within the country. According to Kerry, a United Nations task force will…
Indonesian officials say insurgents linked to ISIS were behind the lethal coordinated midmorning attack in the commercial heart of its capital that left five gunmen and two others dead Thursday. “We have detected communications between a Syrian group and the Solo group,” Deputy Police Chief Budi Gunawan told The Wall Street Journal, referring to a…
The man suspected of shooting a Philadelphia police officer Thursday evening told authorities that he did so as part of his allegiance to ISIS, Commissioner Richard Ross announced Friday. The cop, 33-year-old Jesse Hartnett, was sitting in his patrol vehicle when the suspect approached and fired 13 times through the driver’s side window. Hartnett was…
Officials and reporters have begun identifying the people shown in a new Islamic State terror group video, including a small child and a London man named Sid who used to sell kids’ bouncy castles. A London man told reporters that the boy shown at the end of the video is his grandson. At the end…
After a seven-month occupation by ISIS forces, the key western Iraqi city of Ramadi has been liberated, Iraqi military officials announced Monday, and a weeklong battle to retake the stronghold. “The security forces have entered the governmental buildings and raised the Iraqi flags over them after killing many ISIS militants, and the rest have escaped,”…
Following the hacking of several hundred Isis Twitter accounts, Anonymous has announced it will carry out an ‘Official Isis Trolling Day’. In a GhostBin posting, an Anonymous member claimed “We will mock them for the idiots they are”. “We ask you to show your support and help against Isis by joining us and trolling them,”…
British fighter jets took off from an RAF airbase in Cyprus and carried out airstrikes in Syria, just hours after lawmaker voted in favor of launching airstrikes against ISIS targets in the war-torn country, the Ministry of Defense confirmed early Thursday. Four Royal Air Force Tornados left the Akrotiri base shortly after the vote and…
The State Department issued a worldwide travel alert Monday warning U.S. citizens about the risk of potential terrorist attacks by ISIS and other militants. “Information suggests that ISIL (aka Daesh), al Qaeda, Boko Haram, and other terrorist groups continue to plan terrorist attacks in multiple regions,” the statement reads. The alert is in effect until…
