US to leave Syrian battlefield ‘very soon,’ Trump declares
US President Donald Trump insisted Thursday that US forces would pull out of Syria ‘very soon’ and lamented what he said was Washington’s waste of $7 trillion in Middle East wars.
Syria
Iran Shielding Military Facilities in Syria By Building Them Near Russian Assets
According to reports, citing Israeli security officials, Iran is attempting to shield military facilities in Syria from attack by building them in close proximity to Russian assets.
Mattis: U.S. Nearly Bombed Russians in Syria a Second Time
U.S. military forces in the Middle East nearly bombed a group of Russian mercenaries working with pro-government forces in Syria for a second time, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis revealed Tuesday.
Syrian Christians Hunted by Radical Jihadists
Many Christians – all of them former Muslims – feared a genocide as they saw radical Islamic groups on their way to the Syrian city of Afrin. CBN News Middle East Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell talked with one humanitarian aid worker who helped these Christians find a safe haven.
Trump seeks Saudi Arabia’s help in eastern Syria
The Trump administration is trying to determine its long-term goals in eastern Syria as Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman visits the United States.
Syrian Christians Fear Persecution Under Turkish Rule
A city in Northern Syria, once a refuge for those fleeing the fighting all around them, is now the scene of suffering and death. Afrin is a Kurdish city, but it has welcomed Christian and Yazidi refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war and ISIS militants.
Israeli Intelligence Minister: Strike on Syrian Reactor Shows Israel Won’t Accept Nuclear Iran
Israel’s intelligence minister said that the operation to destroy Syria’s nuclear reactor in 2007, which was cleared for publication on Wednesday, shows Israel will not allow ‘those threatening our existence to have nuclear weapons. Syria then and Iran today.’
Israel admits striking suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007
Israel’s military has formally admitted that it destroyed a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007.
Syria war: Turkish-led forces oust Kurdish fighters from heart of Afrin
Turkish-backed forces have taken full control of the centre of the Syrian-Kurdish city of Afrin.
With ‘new mandate,’ emboldened Putin to expand Russia’s adventurism abroad
There’s little suspense about Sunday’s Russian presidential election, but a lot of questions — and concerns — over what Vladimir Putin might do next with another six-year term in his pocket and a string of unresolved confrontations with the West.
Russia says U.S. plans to strike Damascus, pledges military response
Russia said on Tuesday it had information that the United States planned to bomb the government quarter in Damascus on an invented pretext, and said it would respond militarily if it felt Russian lives were threatened by such an attack.
Syrian jets hit south in first such attacks since truce
Syrian jets struck rebel-held towns in the country’s south on Monday, the first aerial attacks on the area since the United States and Russia brokered a deal making it a ‘de-escalation zone’ last year, rebels and residents said.
Syrian Observatory Says War Has Killed More Than Half a Million
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitor, said on Monday about 511,000 people had been killed in the Syrian war since it began seven years ago.
Iran’s Russian Anti-Aircraft Missile Now Operational, U.S. Says
Iran tested and deployed a Russian-made anti-aircraft missile system last year that has long worried U.S. and Israeli military officials because it gives the Islamic Republic a ‘generational improvement in capabilities,’ the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency disclosed.
Russian, US air strikes in Syria caused mass civilian deaths, UN says
A significant number of civilians in Syria were killed by Russian and U.S.-led coalition air strikes last year, according to a new report from United Nations war crimes investigators.
Iran is playing with fire, Israeli defense official warns
Iran is ‘playing with fire’ in its efforts to entrench itself in Syria, Israel’s northern neighbor, a senior Israeli defense official warned Wednesday.
U.S. hopes for U.N. vote on new Syria toxic gas inquiry next week
The United States wants the United Nations Security Council to create a new inquiry into who is to blame for chemical weapons attacks in Syria, and U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said on Thursday she hopes to put it to a vote as early as next week.
Satellite image said to show new Iranian military base in Syria
Satellite images of an area near Damascus appear to show an Iranian military base which could house missiles capable of hitting Israel, according to a report early Wednesday.
U.S. sharpens focus on ISIS in Asia and Africa
U.S. officials expanded their targeting of the Islamic State beyond its Mideast stomping grounds Tuesday by adding three of the groups’ far-flung affiliates — in the Philippines, Bangladesh and West Africa — to the State Department’s ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorists’ list.
North Korea helping Syria manufacture chemical weapons, reports claim
North Korea has been sending equipment to Syria that could be used in the manufacturing of chemical weapons, according to a New York Times report citing United Nations experts.