Orientul Mijlociu

The Syrian government and Russia accused the Islamic State of blowing up a troop bus of the Syrian army’s Fourth Division in its main headquarters near Damascus.

At least 18 Syrian soldiers were killed in an IED explosion targeting a military bus in the suburb of al-Saboura in the countryside of the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Oct. 13. The state-run Syrian news agency, SANA, quoted an unnamed military source as saying that a bus carrying military troops was hit on the morning of Oct. 13 in a “terrorist attack” that left 18 soldiers dead and 27 others wounded.

Tens of thousands of ISIS detainees are housed in temporary prison camps and detention centers in Syria and Iraq by US-backed Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).1 Charles Lister, the Director of Syria and Countering Terrorism and Extremism Programs at the Middle East Institute, warned that the international community is ‘doing nothing to prevent the current generation of detainees from wanting to continue to fight if they get out, and creating a melting pot for the next generation.’2

Kurdish security source says 634 Iraqis crossed border en route to Al-Hol, which houses thousands of relatives of suspected IS fighters

Syria’s autonomous Kurdish region has transferred more than 600 relatives of suspected jihadists detained at the notorious Al-Hol camp to Iraq, a war monitor and a Kurdish security source said Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of ISIS detainees are housed in temporary prison camps and detention centers in Syria and Iraq by US-backed Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).1 Charles Lister, the Director of Syria and Countering Terrorism and Extremism Programs at the Middle East Institute, warned that the international community is ‘doing nothing to prevent the current generation of detainees from wanting to continue to fight if they get out, and creating a melting pot for the next generation.’2

Iran-backed Iraqi militia leaders are becoming increasing vocal in their hostility towards Turkey as Turkish forces continue their counterterrorism operations against the PKK in Iraq. The latest tensions appear to be linked to the security situation in the Iraqi district of Sinjar, which is near the Syrian border and holds strategic importance regionally. This policy outlook seeks to examine relations between the Iran backed Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) and the terror organisation known as the PKK and aims to understand the possible reasons behind the latest tensions in northern Iraq. It also seeks to analyse the possible Iranian role in fostering the apparent PMF-PKK alliance against Turkey.

What does the leader of the world’s most influential Islamic movement really want?

The leader of what is arguably the world’s most successful Islamic movement lives in a tiny Pennsylvania town called Saylorsburg, at the Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center, otherwise known as “the Camp.” The Camp consists of a series of houses, a community center, a pond, and some tranquil, woodsy space for strolling. From this Poconos enclave—which resembles a resort more than the headquarters of a worldwide religious, social, and political movement—Fethullah Gülen, a 69-year-old Turkish bachelor with a white moustache, wide nose, and gentle, sad expression, leads perhaps five million followers who, in his spirit if not his name, operate schools, universities, corporations, nonprofits, and media organs around the globe.

Rival Syrian rebel groups in northwestern Syria resumed heavy clashes a day after a fragile truce ended five days of bloody fighting in the last remaining opposition enclave, residents and rebels said on Monday.

The main jihadist rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), listed as terrorists by the United States, Turkey and others, forced factions from the Turkey-backed opposition National Army to accept a peace deal on Saturday that expanded its grip.

Iranian scholar and strategist Alireza Panahian, co-founder of the Ammar think tank, said in an October 6, 2022 public address which was aired on Channel 3 (Iran) that according to Islamic tradition, the Iranians will annihilate Israel and become the “masters of the world.” He said that according to commentators on the Quran, Iranians will ravage the homes of Israelis, annihilate them, and finish them off. Panahian went on to say that according to Islamic tradition, this will happen before the rise of the Mahdi and before the appearance of the Hidden Imam, the rulers of the entire world will be Iranians. He added that all the “free nations” of the world, the Yemenis, Iraqis, Syrians, and Lebanese, are proud of these traditions, and that the Iranians will liberate the world. Panahian further said that the “wanning” Western civilization has no choice but to be annihilated in confrontation with Iran. For more information about Alireza Panahian, see MEMRI TV clip no 8158.