AL-QASR, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi army troops sweeping through an area southeast of Mosul on Wednesday came under attack from Islamic State militants firing automatic weapons and mortars. The troops from the 9th Armored Division were on a foot patrol when they came under fire by IS militants stationed on the opposite bank of the … Continue reading
AL-QASR, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi army troops sweeping through an area southeast of Mosul have come under attack from Islamic State militants firing automatic weapons and mortars. The troops from the 9th Armored Division were on a foot patrol when they came under fire Wednesday by IS militants stationed on the opposite bank of the … Continue reading
NEAR BASHIQA, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi Kurdish fighters exchanged heavy fire with militants early on Monday as they advanced from two directions into a town held by the Islamic State group east of the city of Mosul. The offensive to reclaim the town of Bashiqa is part of the broader push to drive IS out … Continue reading
BEIRUT (AP) — Improvised land mines planted by the Islamic State group have killed and wounded hundreds of civilians, including dozens of children, in a town recently freed of the militants in northern Syria, a leading human rights group said Wednesday. Civilians returning to the town of Manbij since it was liberated from the extremists … Continue reading
BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian government forces and their allies on Monday captured strategic high ground in embattled Aleppo as Russia — a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad — said it was not planning more “humanitarian pauses” in the fighting in the city’s eastern, rebel-held districts. The fighting in Aleppo came as airstrikes hit … Continue reading
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A Virginia taxi driver has pleaded guilty to trying to help a friend join the Islamic State group. Mahmoud A.M. Elhassan of Woodbridge was arrested in January after a government sting operation. Elhassan and a friend, Joseph Farrokh, discussed their support of the Islamic State with an individual who turned out … Continue reading
KIRKUK, Iraq (AP) — Islamic State militants armed with assault rifles and explosives attacked targets in and around the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk early Friday, in an assault that appeared aimed at diverting Iraqi security forces from a massive offensive against the IS-held city of Mosul. At least 13 workers, including four Iranians, were … Continue reading
KHAZER, Iraq (AP) — A senior Iraqi general on Wednesday called on Iraqis fighting for the Islamic State group in Mosul to surrender as a wide-scale operation to retake the militant-held city entered its third day. Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati told reporters at a military base that up to 6,000 IS fighters are inside the … Continue reading
KHAZER, Iraq (AP) — Columns of Iraqi and Kurdish forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes slowly advanced on Mosul from several directions on Monday, launching a long-awaited operation to retake Iraq’s second largest city from the Islamic State group. As airstrikes sent plumes of smoke into the air and heavy artillery rounds rumbled, troops pushed into … Continue reading
BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on developments in Syria (all times local): 5 p.m. The IS-linked Aamaq news agency reports that the extremist group has claimed responsibility for suicide attacks in the central Syrian city of Hama that killed two people and wounded 12. The attack was carried out by two suicide bombers wearing explosives-laden … Continue reading
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Fighting in northern Syria between Turkey-backed Syrian rebels and Islamic State militants killed at least 15 rebels as the opposition tried to push toward a town of symbolic importance for the extremists, an activist group and Turkish officials said Monday. In central Syria, meanwhile, two suicide bombers struck in the city … Continue reading
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry on Monday said its forces had uncovered an Islamic State group-linked terrorist network that was involved in past attacks in the kingdom and was planning future attacks against civilians, security personnel and government sites. The state-run Saudi Press Agency posted images on its Twitter account showing … Continue reading
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Months before Abu Sayyaf militants beheaded retired Canadian mining executive John Ridsdel in the tropical jungles of the southern Philippines, they showed him pleading for life in a video with three other hostages that demanded a record-high ransom. The scene was all too familiar in a Southeast Asian nation that has … Continue reading
BEIRUT (AP) — Islamic State militants seized five villages from Syrian rebels close to the Turkish border Wednesday, Apr. 27, further weakening the rebels’ foothold in and around the northern city of Aleppo. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a network of activists monitoring the conflict, said the extremist group took five villages in … Continue reading
PARIS (AP) — A week after the deadliest attacks on France in decades, shell-shocked Parisians honored the 130 victims with candles and songs Friday, knowing that at least one suspect is still at large and fearing that other militants could be slipping through Europe’s porous borders. Having established how the attacks against a soccer stadium, … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 