Press
Showing 441-460 of 1314 Items
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Hundreds of ISIS prisoners are escaping from camps in northern Syria amid Turkish offensive
Islamic State fighters are seizing a chance to escape and regroup as U.S.-allied Kurdish forces turn their attention from guarding thousands of captive extremists to defending...
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Pentagon to withdraw 1,000 troops from Syria within weeks, pulling back in fight against ISIS
In The News
The Pentagon will pull virtually all its troops from Syria over the next few weeks, reversing years of U.S. policy on fighting Islamic State terrorists in the Middle East, as ...
By Nicholas Heras
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Bewildering twists and turns around Trump’s Syria withdrawal decision
Only a week ago, a senior US official insisted that the Trump administration was not about to pull out troops from Syria. But that that was upended by US President Donald Tru...
By Nicholas Heras
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Turkey says it can fight Islamic State. Its record is spotty.
In The News
Foreign recruits of Islamic State, eager to migrate to the territory the militant group had carved out in Iraq and Syria, would prepare their staples — a phone, a solar charge...
By Nicholas Heras
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Pullback Leaves Green Berets Feeling ‘Ashamed,’ and Kurdish Allies Describing ‘Betrayal’
American commandos were working alongside Kurdish forces at an outpost in eastern Syria last year when they were attacked by columns of Syrian government tanks and hundreds of...
By Nicholas Heras
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Exposed and under fire, Syria's Kurds may turn to Damascus
In The News
A US withdrawal from Syria's northern border this week has exposed Washington's Kurdish partners to a Turkish assault, creating conditions for a rapprochement with Damascus th...
By Nicholas Heras
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Turkey’s refugee plan met with widespread skepticism
In The News
In the face of widespread international criticism for his military foray into northern Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan remains defiant, standing by his pledge to return ...
By Nicholas Heras
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Trump's abrupt withdrawal from Syria may allow ISIS to come back with a vengeance — using the group's time-tested strategy
US President Donald Trump's announcement that he would remove US troops from northeastern Syria, where as many as 12,000 ISIS fighters are being held by Kurdish-led Syrian Dem...
By Nicholas Heras
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Syria Kurds battle Turkish invasion
In The News
Syria's Kurds battled to hold off a Turkish invasion on Thursday after air strikes and shelling launched a long-threatened operation that could reshape the country and trigger...
By Nicholas Heras
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Turkey unleashes offensive against Kurds in northern Syria
In The News
Turkey launched a long-threatened military operation in northeastern Syria Wednesday targeting a US-backed, Kurdish-led militia alliance, after a US decision to pull back from...
By Nicholas Heras
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Kurdish Officials Had No Advance Notice of Trump’s Syria Announcement
The political branch of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was blindsided by the Trump administration’s decision to hand over territory once occupied by ISIS fighters to Turke...
By Nicholas Heras
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Trump’s Gift to ISIS
This is the story of how the Islamic State could make its comeback. For weeks now, Iraq has been rocked by anti-government protests and violent crackdowns. Its prime minister...
By Nicholas Heras
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Trump shifts policy on Syria, ordering pullback of U.S. troops from border with Turkey
U.S. troops began pulling back from positions in Syria near its border with Turkey, following a policy shift by President Trump that caught many off guard, with the president ...
By Nicholas Heras
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With US Troop Pullout from Syria, What are the Options for Kurds?
With U.S. troops pulling out from the Syria-Turkey border following U.S. President Donald Trump's Sunday announcement, Kurdish officials and experts say that Syrian Kurdish fo...
By Nicholas Heras
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US trains on transfer of operations out of Qatar
In The News
Washington’s test-transfer of US Air Force operations from Al Udeid Airbase in Qatar to Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina is part of a US effort to adjust to emerging thre...
By Nicholas Heras
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Turkey's Uphill Battle to Stay Relevant in Washington
In The News
Turkey is provoking a political civil war in Washington, DC. With Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan scrambling up the regional balance of power, U.S. officials don't kno...
By Nicholas Heras
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US warns Ankara, amid worry of Turkish incursion into northeast Syria
In The News
For the second straight day, on Friday, senior US Defense Department officials held discussions with their Turkish counterparts, amid US concerns that Ankara is preparing an a...
By Nicholas Heras
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Impeachment Inquiry Not Expected to Affect Rollout of the Peace Plan
In The News
The decision of House Democrats to open an impeachment inquiry against US president Donald Trump is not expected to affect in any way the time frame to roll out the peace plan...
By Ilan Goldenberg
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Forces in Syria’s Manbij kill ISIS suspect carrying bomb-making materials
In The News
A counter-terrorism unit from a local council in the northern Syrian city of Manbij killed a man in possession of bomb-making materials on Tuesday while he was attempting to e...
By Nicholas Heras
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US temporarily moves Middle East command amid Iran tension
The US Air Force temporarily moved its Middle East command and control from Qatar to South Carolina at the weekend in a move considered to be a signal to Iran. The shift in t...
By Nicholas Heras
