Syria

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Hitting ISIS From the Air Isn't Working, Say Kurds

While on the ground, data suggests ISIS is getting ammunition from US, its allies

(Newser) - The start of a new week brings not much in the way of encouraging ISIS news. The latest:
  • The news: Kurdish fighters battling ISIS in northern Syria say the airstrikes aimed at the militants there haven't done much to stop the group's advance on Kobani. Kurds put ISIS'
...

McCain Slaps Obama: We Predicted Rise of ISIS

'Of course' we are at war, says senator

(Newser) - In a 60 Minutes interview last night , President Obama asserted that the US had "underestimated" the looming threat posed by ISIS, but John McCain strongly disagrees. "We predicted what would happen if we didn't leave residual force [in Iraq]," McCain tells CNN . "His intelligence comments—...

ISIS Oil Sites Pounded for 2nd Day

FBI: Only 12 Americans fighting in Syria

(Newser) - The US-led anti-ISIS coalition has hit the militant group in the wallet for a second day, carrying out more airstrikes on the oil production facilities in eastern Syria believed to make millions of dollars a day for the group. Activists say that ISIS has started to cut back on the...

Female Pilot Led UAE Airstrikes Against ISIS

Maj. Mariam Al Mansouri, 35, was first woman to join Emirates' air force

(Newser) - If a country's going to send military pilots to fight ISIS, it's going to send its very best. Which is why the United Arab Emirates selected Maj. Mariam Al Mansouri, 35—the first female fighter pilot in the Emirates air force—to lead one of its airstrike missions...

US Airstrikes Hit ISIS in the Wallet: Oil Fields

Reports: Compounds, checkpoints hit; terror arrests made; terror leader killed

(Newser) - American-led airstrikes hit the Islamic State in the wallet overnight and early today, targeting Syrian oil installations held by the terror group and killing nearly 20 people as the militants released dozens of detainees in their de facto capital of Raqqa, fearing further raids, activists tell the AP . The latest...

Obama's Salute With Coffee Cup Causes Outrage

Obama is getting heat over what some are calling 'unpresidential' gesture

(Newser) - Many of us have probably disembarked from a long flight clutching a cup of joe—but we're not all the president of the United States saluting members of our armed forces. President Obama is on the receiving end of criticism and coffee-themed jokes for stepping off the Marine One...

Khorasan Threat Was Kept Secret for Months

Al-Qaeda cell was cause of recent air security warnings

(Newser) - Not many people had heard of the Khorasan terror group until it emerged that many of the US-led airstrikes in Syria targeted the group—but some lawmakers say they've known about the threat for months, BuzzFeed reports. Rep. Peter King says he is surprised the name of the "...

Obama Has a New Role: War President

He should embrace it, writes editor at Politico Magazine

(Newser) - Yes, President Obama came to national prominence on an anti-war platform, or, more specifically, as an opponent of what he saw as a "dumb" war in Iraq. But that was then. Now he "must go from being the president who was elected to end wars—his most treasured...

Khorasan Is the Terror Group to Worry About

Officials point to danger at home from al-Qaeda cell

(Newser) - More than a third of the 22 US airstrikes in Syria weren't aimed at ISIS. Instead, they targeted a lesser-known al-Qaeda cell known as the Khorasan Group—an organization that some US officials see as a "more direct threat" to the West than ISIS, the New York Times ...

Israel Downs Syrian Fighter Jet in Its Airspace

First such interception since 1980s: reports

(Newser) - Israel has shot down a Syrian fighter jet that entered Israeli airspace, Haaretz reports. The pilots appear to have parachuted to safety in the incident, which saw a Patriot missile hit the Sukhoi-24 jet over Golan Heights. It was the first time since the 1980s that Israel has shot down...

7 Questions About the ISIS Airstrikes, Answered

Why Raqqa, and more

(Newser) - The US and five Middle Eastern allies have begun airstrikes against ISIS in Syria , with the military reporting 22 airstrikes in the country—though they didn't all target ISIS. Who else was in our crosshairs? The answer to that, and more:
  • Did Syria get a heads-up? It says it
...

US Pounds ISIS Targets in Syria

Airstrikes aimed at degrading group's capabilities

(Newser) - The US and five Arab countries launched airstrikes late Monday on ISIS targets in Syria, the Pentagon says. Using a mix of manned aircraft—fighter jets and bombers—plus Tomahawk cruise missiles, the strikes were part of the expanded military campaign that President Obama authorized nearly two weeks ago in...

In 4 Days, 130K Syrians Flee ISIS

They seek refuge in Turkey

(Newser) - Up until the middle of last week, Turkey put the number of Syrian refugees within its borders at more than a million. That number has swelled by 130,000 in the last four days, according to Turkey's deputy PM. It's not just the sheer number of refugees that'...

Vaccine Mix-Up Kills Infants Within Hours in Syria

Vaccine may have been mixed with muscle relaxant

(Newser) - At least 15 infants died in northwestern Syria on Tuesday after being administered a measles vaccine that may have been accidentally mixed with an anesthetic. The New York Times reports that the victims reacted within minutes: Recipients experienced a slowed heart rate, wheezing, respiratory failure, and shock, while some swelled...

NY Man Was ISIS Recruiter: Federal Indictment

Mufid Elfgeeh also charged with plotting to kill US troops back from Iraq

(Newser) - A man from Rochester, NY, was indicted yesterday on charges of attempting to help three people (two of them FBI informants) travel to Syria to take up arms with ISIS, reports the LA Times . The Justice Department statement further alleges that Mufid Elfgeeh sent $600 to a potential recruit in...

How Obama's ISIS Speech Went Over

Mixed reaction to plan to 'degrade and ultimately destroy' terror group

(Newser) - President Obama laid the foundation last night for his strategy to "degrade and ultimately destroy" ISIS, citing possible expanded airstrikes from Iraq into Syria and explaining how these efforts would be different from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "If you threaten America, you will find no safe...

Saudi Arabia 'Full Partner' in Fight Against ISIS

Kingdom to arm, train militant group's foes

(Newser) - Islamic state versus Islamic State: Saudi Arabia has agreed to help step up the fight against ISIS and will host a training camp for moderate Syrian rebels fighting the extremists as well as the Syrian regime, reports the New York Times . A senior Obama administration official says details are still...

Obama: I Won't Hesitate to Hit ISIS in Syria

President says US-led coalition will go after militants 'wherever they exist'

(Newser) - In a prime-time address tonight, President Obama laid out the US strategy to "degrade" and "destroy" ISIS, and he made clear that he's ready to expand US airstrikes from Iraq into Syria . The president says a US-led coalition will go after militants from the Islamic State "...

Majority of Americans Want to Hit ISIS

Obama poised for speech as poll shows Americans fear new attack

(Newser) - Some six in 10 Americans say they would support a strike against ISIS, as President Obama appears to be moving toward such a hit . The figure comes from an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll that also finds Americans feeling unsafe: Some 47% of the country now feels the US is...

ISIS Eyed as Blast Wipes Out Syria Rebel Leaders

Suicide bomber takes out hardline Islamist group

(Newser) - The leadership of a hardline Islamist group battling the Syrian regime has been wiped out by a suicide bomber—and suspicion has fallen on the even more hardline Islamists of ISIS. The blast hit a meeting of Ahrar al-Sham, a powerful member of the Islamic Front rebel coalition, killing leader...

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