Free Republic

Surah al-Fath is the 48th chapter of the Qur’an. It promises Muslims who wage jihad much material reward: “Allah has promised you much booty that you will take and has hastened for you this and withheld the hands of people from you – that it may be a sign for the believers and He may guide you to a straight path” (48:20).It also contains this command:”Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; and those with him are ruthless against the unbelievers, merciful among themselves” (48:29).This is the message that the Turkish government is giving to its soldiers as it sends them...

Special “conquest” prayers were held across all of Turkey’s 90,000 mosques on Jan. 20 and Jan. 21 for the victory of the country’s military, which launched a cross border operation in Syria’s northwestern Afrin region on Jan. 20 against the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). “Sessions will be held after the isha prayer tonight [Jan. 20] and the morning prayer [on Jan. 21] due to Operation Olive Branch,” said Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) head Ali Erbas in a message sent on Jan. 20 to all offices of muftis and religious officials across the country. “The Surah Conquest [Surah al-Fath]...

Shocking pictures show dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles crossing over the border in a terrifying display of military might. But the Syrian-Kurdish YPG militia has denied there is a full-scale invasion underway, claiming forces clashed in Afrin but Turkish soldiers were beaten back. YPG official, Nouri Mahmoudi, said "all the Turkish military's ground attacks against Afrin have been repelled so far and they have been forced to retreat." A statement from the militia said: "Our people are holding on to their land and do not accept surrender... we repeat our determination to protect our people in Afrin against the...

"Unilateral actions" by the United States in Iran and Syria have infuriated Turkey, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Sunday, according to Reuters. "Many political scientists are asking why do we care and say that the worst is the best: let the United States prove its inability to find an agreement, (to show) its destructive role in global affairs, let it be in Iran or Syria and where the unilateral actions have already infuriated Turkey,"...

The invading Turkish army shelled Afrin canton with howitzer and mortar fire tonight. Reports are coming through of aerial attack on Rajo district. Saturday afternoon, dozens of Turkish warplanes carried out a bombardment on Afrin Canton of Northern Syria, killing 7 civilians, 3 YPG/YPJ fighters and injuring 12 people. Following the deadly attack, the Turkish army has launched yet another aggression targeting south of Afrin at night. Turkish howitzer and mortar attacks target Celeme and Xelil villages in Cindires region and Iska, Basufane villages in Sherawa district. Reports suggest that Turkish jets have shelled Hecika village in Afrin’s Rajo district at night.

Turkey opened a new front in Syria's nearly seven-year-old war on Saturday, launching airstrikes against a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia in Afrin province that raise the prospect of a further strain on relations between Ankara and Washington.The operation, dubbed "Operation Olive Branch" by Ankara, pits Turkey against Kurdish fighters allied to the United States at a time when ties between Turkey and Washington - NATO allies and members of the coalition against Islamic State - appear dangerously close to a breaking point.The strikes on the Syrian-Kurdish YPG militia hit some 108 targets, the Turkish military said. On land, the Turkey-backed Free...

The war for dominance in the Middle East, following the crushing of ISIS, appears about to commence in Syria -- with NATO allies America and Turkey on opposing sides. Turkey is moving armor and troops south to Syria's border enclave of Afrin, occupied by Kurds, to drive them out, and then drive the Syrian Kurds out of Manbij further south as well. Says President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, "We will destroy all terror nests, one by one, in Syria, starting from Afrin and Manbij." For Erdogan, the Kurdish YPG, the major U.S. ally in Syria, is an arm of the Kurdish...

Southern Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani had a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi in Baghdad. Southern Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and his deputy Qûbad Talabani went to Baghdad on Saturday. Barzani, Talabani and KDP official Fûad Hisên have met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi in Baghdad. While details about the meeting are not clear, this is the first meeting held between the two sides after the controversial independence referendum of 25 September 2017. Before the referendum in Southern Kurdistan, Barzani had stated that “There is a bankrupt government in Baghdad”, referring to Abadi. Abadi had also...

Even as Democrats continue to obstruct and play politics, I have never stopped fighting for the people, and I have no intention of changing course. I promised Jan. 20, 2017, would be remembered as a new day for all Americans – the day the people became the rulers of this nation once again. For the past 365 days, that promise has been my guide. We are putting America first, making real change in Washington, and creating opportunities for all of our people. From coast to coast, there is a renewed spirit. Our country is roaring back more quickly than anyone...

Moshe Arens, Israel’s defense minister at the time of the 1991 Gulf War, wanted to launch a ground operation against Iraqi missile launchers firing missiles at Tel Aviv, but ran into strong opposition from then-IDF Chief of Staff Dan Shomron, according to recordings from IDF archives released Thursday on the 26th anniversary of the war. After American forces invaded Iraq in January 1991, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein fired a total of 39 modified Soviet ‘Scud’ missiles at Israel in the hope the Jewish State would respond to the provocation by striking back at a Iraq. He reasoned the move would...

Speaking at Stanford University after being introduced by former top diplomat Condoleezza Rice, Tillerson said the Trump administration was determined not to repeat President Barack Obama's "mistake" when he withdrew U.S. troops from Iraq in 2011. Republicans for years have argued the withdrawal created the opening for IS' rapid expansion.... Securing a successful U.N. peace process, getting Syrian President Bashar Assad to leave power, ridding Syria of Iran's influence and eradicating all weapons of mass destruction in the country.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, blames "Americans and Zionists" for the recent protests. The Shiite Muslim hard-liner says money supporting the citizens came from "one of the filthy-rich governments of the Persian Gulf." (Associated Press/File) Iran’s rulers have inflicted death by torture and gunfire on citizen protesters in a crackdown since the Dec. 28 street uprising erupted, the main opposition group said Tuesday. The Europe-based National Council of Resistance of Iran says the Islamic republic’s ubiquitous security apparatus has arrested more than 8,000 citizens and killed at least 50, all while the West has remained mostly silent. The...

IN MOSUL, Iraq’s second largest city, Christmas bells rang out again this year for the first time in four years. During the preceding years this once so familiar sound had no longer been heard. Now, thanks to the ouster of ISIS from the city, Christians were able to celebrate Christmas Mass in the church of Mar Boulus (Saint Paul) in the Al-Mundshen suburb of Mosul. However, the joyful event almost didn’t happen. Right up until Christmas it had been nearly impossible for Christians to clean their church in Mosul. But then a group of young Muslims took the initiative, helping...

Erdogan said the operation against the Afrin enclave aims to “purge terror” from his country’s southern border. Afrin is controlled by a Syrian Kurdish militia known as the YPG. Turkey considers the YPG to be a terrorist group linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) that has waged a bloody insurgency within its borders. A YPG spokesman in Afrin said clashes erupted after midnight between his unit and Turkish troops near the border with Turkey. Rojhat Roj said the shelling of areas in Afrin district, in Aleppo province, killed one YPG fighter and injured a couple of civilians on...

In the wake of Vice President Mike Pence's announcement last October that the United States government would provide direct aid to persecuted Iraqi Christians struggling to rebuild following the liberation of the Nineveh Plains, the Trump administration has taken concrete steps to follow through on its promises.Trump's administration announced that it has renegotiated an agreement with the U.N. to ensure that vulnerable Christians, Yazidis and other religious minorities victimized by the Islamic State in Iraq will get the U.N. assistance they were previously denied.The administration has also announced that it's accepting proposals by private organizations on the ground in Iraq...

US troops and their allies will shoot Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants in the face, beat them to death with shovels or drop bombs on them if they don't surrender, the US military's most senior enlisted member has said.In an eyebrow-raising set of postings on social media on Tuesday, Command Sergeant Major John Troxell warned that ISIS members who refuse to quit will be dispatched with "extreme prejudice," including via a small shovel known as an entrenching tool."If they surrender, we will safeguard them to their detainee facility cell, provide them chow, a cot and due process,"...

With Russian air cover, the Syrian Army is rapidly advancing on the Idlib coun­tryside, encircling thousands of Turkish troops and Turkey-backed rebels in the city. Turkish troops were dispatched to the war-torn city last October. It is unclear whether Syrian forces will stop at Idlib's gates or storm the city, as pro-government media said. If retaken, it would spell the final ejection of the armed opposition from all cities across Syria. On Jan. 2, government troops captured al-Hawa in the southern vicinity of Idlib, shortly after taking the towns of Ard az-Zour, Anshan and Khuwayn.

NEWS DESK- The United States-led international coalition in the coming period to take military and diplomatic steps towards federal areas in northern Syria and include diplomatic and political recognition.Al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper said that the international coalition is expected to carry out ten military, political and diplomatic steps towards the areas east of the Euphrates river,whicch has been liberated by Syria’s democratic forces SDF including diplomatic and political recognition of the area of 28,000 square kilometers, or three times the size of Lebanon.The newspaper quoted a Western official that the U.S Administration is in the process of adopting a new strategy for...

As tens of thousands marched in the streets of Tehran on Wednesday in support of the regime, the head of the Revolutionary Guard Corps assured Iranians the "sedition" had been defeated. Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari is whistling past the graveyard. The protests that broke out a week ago and spread and became riots are a fire bell in the night for the Islamic Republic. The protesters denounced President Hassan Rouhani, re-elected last year with 57 percent of the vote, for failing to curb inflation or deliver the benefits he promised when Iran signed the nuclear deal. Supreme Leader Ayatollah...

The UN Security Council is holding a meeting on Friday to discuss the Iran protests. The US called for the extraordinary council sitting... Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov is reported to have said: “Iran's domestic affairs have nothing to do with the United Nations Security Council's role.” He added that the possibility of new US sanctions on Iran were “illegitimate”. Nikki Haley, the US Representative at the UN, proposed the emergency meeting of the Security Council earlier this week. Speaking on Tuesday she said: “Nowhere is the urgency of peace, security, and freedom being more tested than in Iran....