On Wednesday morning, a member of the al-Qaeda franchise in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra, posted a photo online of a colleague posing with his “brand-new U.S. machine gun,” which he claimed was handed over by the U.S.-trained Division 30. He even threw in a jaunty quote from Scarface: “Say hello to my little friend.”
The Obama administration has thrown in the towel on a plan to spend $500 million on training “moderate” Syrian rebels to fight ISIS, al-Qaeda, and the regime of Bashar Assad.
After days of insisting that all American gear was under the “positive control” of U.S.-trained New Syrian Force rebels, the Pentagon finally admitted over the weekend that al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front seized vehicle and ammunition from the token “moderate” force.
At the UN General Assembly meeting today, Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the West for the rise of radical Islamic groups. He also demanded a global alliance to fight these groups.
Another massive embarrassment for the Obama administration, as U.S. officials finally admitted on Friday—after days of strenuous denials—that the latest group of “moderate” New Syrian Force rebels surrendered at least some of their weapons and vehicles to al-Qaeda in exchange for “safe passage” into Syria.
Kurdish leader Saleh Muslim argued this week that the overthrow of Bashar Assad’s brutal regime in Syria would be a disaster for the entire world.
Reports from several sources earlier this week claimed that the second wave of seventy “moderate” Syrian rebels trained and equipped by the United States had either surrendered or defected to the local al-Qaeda franchise, the Nusra Front. The Pentagon has cast doubt on these accounts.
The Uzbekistan Education Ministry issued an order that bans people under 18 years old from Friday prayer services, even during Eid at the end of September.
A video shows a young Uzbek jihadi male, aligned with al-Nusra Front, breaking down in tears right before he takes part in a suicide attack bomb mission in Syria. The attack against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces occurred in the town of Fua in Idlib province on September 18.
Someone claiming to represent the Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s franchise in Syria, says the newest reinforcements for the U.S.-backed “moderate” Syrian force have already surrendered, according to a report in the UK Telegraph.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, who took over as leader of al-Qaeda after the liquidation of Osama bin Laden, has released an audio message accusing ISIS leader and self-proclaimed “caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of “sedition” and declaring war against the Islamic State.
Two U.S.-backed leaders of the of the first group of Syrian rebels deployed under the $500 million train-and-equip program authorized by Congress last year met with members of the al Qaeda affiliate in Syria last July and assured them that the American-trained force would not attack them, The New York Times (NYT) reported recently.
Former CIA director and retired Army general David Petraeus is suggesting America should team up with al-Qaeda to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
The U.S.-backed unit of moderate Syrian rebels effectively disintegrated, following several kidnappings by the al-Qaeda linked Nusra Front. The group has agreed to release 7 of its prisoners, in an announcement in which the freed refer to the al-Qaeda thugs as brothers.
The Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s franchise in Syria, is reportedly pulling back from the proposed buffer zone area, which suggests they think the Americans and Turks are serious about the project.
The onslaught of ISIS in central Syria is threatening yet another Christian town, prompting human-rights activists to warn that hundreds of families could be in peril.
A month after Turkey agreed to allow U.S. and allied forces to use its airfields for operations in Syria, the first armed drone strike has been conducted by the United States.
The Jerusalem Post presents a dismaying roundup of reactions from the Arab world to the performance of the U.S.-trained and equipped New Syrian Force, the tiny group of “moderate” rebels that hit the battlefield just a few weeks ago, and was swiftly picked apart by al-Qaeda, with nearly two dozen of its fighters and officers taken captive.
The awful humiliation of Obama’s strategy in Syria continues, as five more U.S.-trained “moderate Syrian rebels” have been kidnapped by al-Qaeda’s affiliate, the Nusra Front.
The increased level of Turkish cooperation with American efforts against the Islamic State (ISIS) has produced the uncomfortable side effect of the Turks declaring open season on our most vital ally, the Kurds. At least the Turks are making good on their promise to allow more extensive American use of their airbases, as the Pentagon says armed US drones are now operating from the Incirlik Air Base.
A matter of days after 54 American-trained moderate Syrian Rebel Army fighters reported for duty, the New York Times reports that the commander of the unit plus seven of his fighters—including his second-in-command—have been kidnapped by the Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda franchise, while they were returning from a meeting in Turkey.
Belgian police have made 16 arrests after a series of 21 raids nationwide, targeting “religious jihadism in a part of the Chechen community,” as the prosecutor’s office was quoted by AFP.
Al-Qaeda affiliates in Syria and Yemen are benefiting from the global focus on the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), quietly capturing territory and expanding their influence amid the turmoil in the war-ravaged countries, reports The Washington Post.
The regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad appears ready to “accept de facto partition” of Syria, a move that would leave most of the country in the hands of rebels and jihadists, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports, quoting experts and diplomats.
The Syrian army is defunct and the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria is “100 yards” from the country’s border with Israel, an unidentified senior Israeli army officer said, The Times of Israel reports.
WASHINGTON, DC — The Pentagon announced on Thursday that the U.S. has begun training about 90 Syrian rebels at an overseas location, adding that pro-Bashar al-Assad regime forces are losing momentum in their fight against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) and other groups.
There is a major Palestinian refugee camp on the road to Damascus, which the Islamic State is still marching down, despite efforts to “degrade and ultimately destroy” their war machine by Bashar Assad’s de facto allies in the U.S. coalition.
The Associated Press reports that a Syrian military helicopter has crashed following an equipment malfunction, resulting in the capture and killing of its crew by “insurgents” of the al-Nusra Front.
(Reuters) – Al Qaeda’s Syrian branch was left reeling on Friday after its military chief was killed in an apparent army air strike, adding to confusion over the future path of the most powerful group opposing both President Bashar al-Assad and Islamic State.
The leadership of Syria’s Nusra Front Sunni jihadist group, which seeks as its primary goal the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, may push away from Al Qaeda in hopes to receive aid and assistance from the Gulf States, according to sources who told Reuters.
Reuters reported on Thursday afternoon that “the United States and Turkey have signed an agreement to train and equip moderate Syrian opposition fighters,” an agreement that will evidently include several hundred U.S. troops, including special operations forces, training five thousand Syrian fighters over the next three years at bases outside Syria.
A Lebanese prison building is now the command base for terrorists in Lebanon with the latest suicide bomb attack orchestrated from prisoners’ bunk beds. According to local newspaper An-Nahar, Lebanese forces transferred detainees inside the notorious Roumieh prison Monday amid
