Contents tagged with Islamic State

  • State Department announces launch of new US operation against IS in Syria

    State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert published a tweet stating that the United States has begun an operation in Syria to liberate the last strongholds of the Islamic State group.

    According to the Nauert, the operation will be conducted by the United States-led coalition and "local partners", including the Syrian Democratic Forces. "The fighting will be difficult, but we and our partners will prevail," the statement said.

    Nauert stressed that the US intends to protect the borders of …

  • Lavrov: line of communication between Russia and US helped defeat ISIS

    At the UN press conference in New York, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has stated that a line of communication between the United States and Russia “largely” contributed to the eradication of the Islamic State (ISIS), Interfax reports.

    “We established a line of military communication with regard to Syria; this cooperation has largely contributed to the fact that ISIS did not materialize as a caliphate and was destroyed,” said Lavrov.

    The Russian Foreign Minister noted that the United …

  • Putin promises Assad that Russia will continue to support Syria

    Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a New Year's greeting to Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, in which he expressed the hope that the radical changes in the gradual reconstruction of the country caused by the armed conflict would continue in Syria in the coming year, the Kremlin's press-service reports.

    Putin noted that the victory over the terrorists and the prompt normalization of the situation in Syria served the interests of peace and security throughout the Middle East. In addition, he …

  • Media: US military captured the leader of the Islamic State

    The US military captured the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The leader of the terrorist group is at the US military base in Syria, reports the Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak citing its sources.

    According to the source of the newspaper, al-Baghdadi was captured in Iraq, and then taken to the US base in the Syrian city of Ras al-Ayn. After that, the leader of the terrorist organization was transported to a military base near the city of Al-Hasakah.

    "The leader was captured …

  • Kremlin: the West wants to take away Russia’s military achievements in Syria

    Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian’s Facebook comment that Moscow appropriated victory over the terrorists of the Islamic State.

    "The Western partners have been making statements for the last few days that it is not Russia, but they, the coalition, who defeated the ISIL in Syria. The last to do this was the French Foreign Minister, Mr. Le Drian," she wrote.

    According to Zakharova, the US-led coalition decided to take …

  • Islamists in Syria captured third new Russian T-90 tank

    Islamist militants in Syria have already captured the third, newest Russian T-90 tank, as  reported by a group of investigators, the Conflict Intelligence Team, via its Facebook page.

    "The propagandists of the so-called 'Islamic state' published a photograph of the T-90 captured from pro-Assad forces, to whom it had been sent from Russia. The researchers reported that the militants took advantage of a sandstorm near Mayadin, southeast of Deir ez-Zor, to capture the tank during a counterattack. …

  • Pentagon questions ability of Russia and Syria to defeat the Islamic State

    Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said that he is skeptical of statements made by the Russian Defense Ministry regarding its successes in the fight against the Islamic state (IS).

    TASS quotes Pahon as saying that "The efforts of the authoritarian regime of [Syrian President Bashar Assad], Russia and Iran are unlikely to lead to a complete defeat of IS."

    According to Pahon, the emergence of IS "is linked, inter alia, with the repressive measures of the Assad regime." Against this background, he …

  • Captain of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate killed In Syria

    Kurban Kasumov, Captain of the Main Intelligence Agency (GRU) of Russia, was killed in Syria on August 2.

    This was reported in the community "Heroes of Russia" on VKontakte, and was noticed by a group of independent investigators from the Conflict Intelligence Team. The Russian Defense Ministry did not report on the death.

    The community "Heroes of Russia" wrote about Kasumov's death of on September 21. Attached to the post are photographs, including his awards and a monument erected on …

  • McCain: Russia is a bigger threat to global security than the Islamic State

    U.S. Republican Senator John McCain believes that the actions of Russian leadership are a greater threat to global security than the crimes of the Islamic State terrorist group.

    In an interview with Australian ABC TV, released on Monday, May 29th, McCain acknowledged that the IS militants "can do terrible things." However, he said, "it is the Russians who … try to destroy the very fundamentals of democracy, and that is, to change the outcome of an American election." The senator added, "I’ve …

  • Turkey strengthened protection on the Bosphorus because of a possible Islamic State attack on the Russian fleet

    Istanbul authorities stepped up security measures in the Bosphorus Strait to prevent a possible attack by the Islamic State terrorist group on Russian warships. This was reported on Tuesday, May 16, by Hurriyet Daily News. Earlier, Turkish intelligence received information indicating that jihadists can start preparing to fire on ships of the Russian navy from portable missile systems and long-barreled weapons.

    Based on the received data, the Turkish police studied those places in the Bosporus …