[Published here on February 12, 2019]
They were born in a “state” that no longer exists, most to fathers who are dead and mothers whose countries don’t want them back. These are the children pouring out of Baghouz.
Author: Maya Gebeily
Fleeing IS holdout, French women say foreigners still inside | AFP
[Published here on February 11, 2019]
Two French women who fled the Islamic State group’s last pocket in Syria told AFP on Monday more foreigners were trapped inside, barred from leaving by Iraqi jihadists.
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Canadian jihadist says IS foreign fighters ‘hung out to dry’ | AFP
[Published here February 11, 2019]
A Canadian jihadist detained in Syria told AFP on Sunday he has been “hung out to dry” by the Islamic State group like other foreign fighters and appealed to his government for help.
Barely alive after IS, Syrian babies haunted by malnutrition | AFP
[Published here February 8, 2019]
They survived the Islamic State group’s crumbling “caliphate” by a thread, but skeletal babies streaming into this displacement camp in northeastern Syria now face a race against malnutrition.
HRW warns against secret repatriations from Syria | ِِAFP
[Published here on February 7, 2019]
Any transfers of suspected foreign jihadists and their relatives out of Syria should be transparent, Human Rights Watch told AFP, as camps in the northeast fill with families of different nationalities.
Iraq parliament approves 2019 budget, one of largest ever | AFP
[Published here January 24, 2019]
Baghdad (AFP) – Iraqi lawmakers on Thursday approved the government’s 2019 budget, which at $111.8 billion is one of the largest ever for the oil-rich country.
In Iraq, political wrangling spawns debate over US troops | AFP
[Co-written with AFP’s Salam Faraj; published here January 22, 2019]
Baghdad (AFP) – From the halls of parliament to the lightning-fast rumour mills of social media, pro-Iran factions are demanding US troops withdraw from Iraq in a challenge to the country’s fragile government.
The group chat catching fleeing ISIS fighters | Popular Front
I was a guest on Jake Hanrahan’s podcast Popular Front last week to discuss low-tech ways that non-government forces are catching Islamic State group fighters on the run from their collapsed ‘caliphate’ in Syria and Iraq. Listen to the episode here:
In Kurdish Iraq, women strive to end genital mutilation | AFP
[Published here January 2, 2019]
Dark skies were threatening rain over the Kurdish village in northern Iraq, but one woman refused to budge from outside the front door. Inside were two girls at risk of genital mutilation.
US energy chief in Baghdad as sanctions waiver runs out | AFP
[Published here December 11, 2018]
Baghdad (AFP) – US Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Tuesday Iraq should partner with American companies to become energy independent, as Baghdad’s waiver from US sanctions on Iran nears its expiry.
MAYA GEBEILY 