President Obama at UN: Assad not part of the solution in Syria Speaking at the 70th UN General Assembly yesterday, President Obama clashed with Vladimir Putin over the role that Bashar al-Assad should play in any post-civil war political solution in Syria. Doubling down on US policy, which officially calls for Assad to be removed, …
On May 17, Ramadi, the capital of the Anbar Province, fell to the Islamic State, indicating the weak strategy put into place by Iraqi forces. On May 26 Iraqi officials announced that Iraq soldiers and “allied Shiite militias” plan to retake Ramadi. Currently, the US has 3,100 “trainers and advisors” put into place in Iraq. …
On Wednesday May 3, many prominent Sunni tribal leaders in the Anbar Province of Iraq have pledged their allegiance to the Islamic State group. This is not the first occasion that Sunni tribes have declared allegiance to IS. In January of this year, the Islamic State attacked the Iraqi city of Kirkuk. IS lost the …
The Iraqi city of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province located about 70 miles west of Baghdad, fell to Islamic State (ISIS) on Sunday after weeks of intense fighting. ISIS’s final surge began Friday when four bombs targeting police officers detonated simultaneously, leaving 10 dead and 15 wounded. Remaining Iraqi security forces fled as ISIS …
Although the Obama administration has rightly portrayed a raid by Army Special Forces last week in Syria that killed ISIS top official Abu Sayyaf as a big win in the war against ISIS, this win has been overshadowed by the fall of the Iraqi city of Ramadi to ISIS fighters over the weekend. The fall …
Islamic State rebels engaged troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad less than a mile outside the ancient city of Palmyra Thursday night. Syrian troops reportedly used the ancient ruins as cover and areas of the city have been damaged through shelling. Palmyra has existed since at least the second millennium BC and was a …
Earlier this week on Free Fire we noted Islamic States’ counter attack to retake Baiji refinery, and how Islamic State appeared ready to overrun and take the refinery, having fully surrounded Iraqi troops defending the facility. A senior US official has recently confirmed that Islamic State controls around 80% of the facility, the largest refinery …
President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden met with the Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani to discuss a campaign to destroy the Islamic State. On Tuesday, May 5th Barzani made his first visit to the White House in three years. While here, Barzani will meet with the Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken on Wednesday. …
Islamic State is continuing to press its attack to retake the refinery of Baiji, taking large portions of the facility as of today. Some reports put Islamic State control of Baiji at around half the refinery. Iraqi troops are currently trapped inside the refinery and report being low on food, medical supplies, and ammunition. Baiji, …
At least eight people were killed in Baghdad Wednesday morning as a result of several bombings occurring in and around the capital. The largest attack was in a commercial area in the neighborhood of Amiriyah. In this attack alone, 3 civilians were killed and another 12 were wounded. One bomb targeted a convoy of Shiite …