Shamima Begum and other UK jihadists jailed in the Middle East should be allowed back into Britain in order ‘to break the cycle of extremism’, a report says.
Over the course of the past several weeks, more Western nations have taken steps to repatriate their citizens and children of Islamic State fighters or their family members who may have been born in the caliphate.
France repatriated ten children of French jihadists from Syria on Sunday night.
A court in the Netherlands on Thursday sentenced a Dutch Kurd who in 2016 served as a volunteer for the People’s Protection Units’ (YPG) in Syria to 240 hours of community service and a six-month suspended sentence.
A court in western Germany has convicted a 39-year-old man of providing support to Islamist groups in Syria.
When observers think of Russian-backed formations in Syria, the V Corps is the one that most readily comes to mind. There are, however, other Russian-backed formations. One example is Liwa al-Areen (‘The Den Brigade’), which was initially affiliated with the military intelligence branch that directs all the Military Security branches.
Since the death of General Soleimani in Baghdad on January 2nd as a result of a Drone Strike at the Baghdad International Airport, there has been great consternation that the Trump Administration would take such a bold step and fear that Iran will retaliate for this move.
Turkish President Erdogan is currently in a precarious situation. Turkey suffered in Syria severe military setbacks with dozens of killed. Yesterday’s agreement with Russia’s President Putin foresees a withdrawal of the Islamists supported by Turkey from a larger area to the south and east of Idlib. More than 30 Turkish soldiers died in Libya in the last few days. EU sanctions against two Turkish citizens because of the natural gas drilling off Cyprus are damaging to Erdogan’s reputation.
Iraqi security officials say the number of ISIS fighters in Iraq is now between 2,000-3,000, which includes around 500 militants who have made their way to Iraq after escaping from prisons in Syria.
Greek Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos has confirmed that his country is ready for all eventualities, including military confrontation with Turkey if it continued to provoke Athens, news agencies reported on Friday.