[Published here on February 13, 2019]
The ferocious battle for the Islamic State group’s last bastion in eastern Syria entered its fifth day on Wednesday, as exhausted families left the ever-shrinking scrap of land where holdout jihadists have been boxed in by Kurdish-led forces.
[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.
[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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[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.
[Published here on November 24, 2018]
Dressed in a multi-coloured beanie and grey sneakers, Zaid Saad had just finished setting up his contemporary art exhibit on Baghdad’s sandy riverbank when police showed up.
[Published here November 6, 2018]
More than 200 mass graves containing up to 12,000 victims have been found so far in Iraq that could hold vital evidence of war crimes by the Islamic State group, the UN said Tuesday.
The United Nations in Iraq (UNAMI) and its human rights office said they had documented a total of 202 mass graves in parts of western and northern Iraq held by IS between 2014 and 2017.
[Published here October 8, 2018]
Beirut (AFP) – Tens of thousands of Syrians in areas recaptured by government troops this year remain starved of humanitarian aid, with the relief agencies helping them for years now unable to reach them.
[A joint piece with colleague Tony Gamal Gabriel, published here on October 4, 2018]
The clock is ticking to implement a Russian-Turkish deal for the Syrian rebel region of Idlib, but its terms remain hazy and little has changed on the ground.
[A joint piece with Beirut’s Deputy Bureau Chief Layal Abou Rahal, published here on October 1, 2018]
With a deadline for establishing a demilitarised zone around Syria’s Idlib inching closer, confusion and apprehension is rife among Turkish-backed rebels who fear it will cost them their last stronghold.
[Published here on September 23, 2018]
Beirut (AFP) – Pointing to a green screen as if presenting a weather forecast, Bilal Abdul Kareem analyses the Turkish-Russian deal over Syria’s Idlib, broadcasting in his native English from inside the war-torn country’s last rebel stronghold.
MAYA GEBEILY 