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merican airstrikes against ISIS targets are under way in Syria, according to a Pentagon official. "I can confirm that U.S. military and partner nation forces are undertaking military action against ISIL [ISIS] terrorists in Syria using a mix of fighter, bomber and Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles," Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said. "Given that these operations are ongoing, we are not in a position to provide additional details at this time. The decision to conduct theses strikes was made earlier today by the U.S. Central Command commander under authorization granted him by the commander in chief. We will...

Islamic State urged its followers on Monday to attack citizens of the United States, France and other countries which have joined a coalition to destroy the ultra-radical group. Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani also taunted U.S. President Barack Obama and other Western "crusaders" in a statement carried by the SITE monitoring website, saying their forces faced inevitable defeat at the insurgents' hands.

Pro-ISIS fighters in Algeria released a video today of a hostage who was kidnapped this weekend. The hostage delivered a message to President Francois Hollande: “I am in the hands of Jund al-Khilifa, an Algerian armed group. This armed group is asking me to ask you (President Francois Hollande) to not intervene in Iraq. They are holding me as a hostage and I ask you Mr President to do everything to get me out of this bad situation and I thank you.” The pro-ISIS group gave France twenty-four hours to stop “the aggression against ISIL” or they will behead their...

The United States has conducted an escalating campaign of deadly airstrikes against the extremists of the Islamic State for more than a month. But that appears to have done little to tamp down the conspiracy theories still circulating from the streets of Baghdad to the highest levels of Iraqi government that the C.I.A. is secretly behind the same extremists that it is now attacking.

Mohammed Afif, the new head of public relations for the Lebanese-based Iran-proxy terror organization Hezbollah, gave a rare New York Times interview as Lebanese experts reveal his group is indirectly receiving American intelligence aid in its fight against Islamic State (ISIS). Following ISIS’s temporary conquest of Arsal last month on the Lebanese side of the Syrian border, the US sent new weapons to the Lebanese army, which coordinates with Hezbollah. Likewise, US intelligence has found its way to Hezbollah according to Lebanese experts. …

Insurgents in Iraq have seized nuclear materials used for scientific research at a university in the country's north, Iraq told the United Nations in a letter appealing for help to "stave off the threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad." Nearly 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of uranium compounds were kept at Mosul University, Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the July 8 letter obtained by Reuters on Wednesday. "Terrorist groups have seized control of nuclear material at the sites that came out of the control of the state," Alhakim wrote, adding...

French military planes have killed a large number of Islamic State (IS) insurgents west of Mosul. An intelligence source near Mosul told Iraqi local media that on Saturday, 75 IS militants were killed in an attack by the French warplanes. The source said that French planes have been shelling IS air defense bases. According to the source, IS insurgents have started to transfer their military bases to protect themselves from US and French air strikes. On Friday, French military planes launched their first air strikes against IS militants in Mosul. This followed orders from French President Fracios Hollande’s for his...

Full title: Ambassador Power touts international support against Islamic State but won't name countries, commitmentsThe U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said Sunday that the American-led effort to destroy the terror group Islamic State has support from more than 40 countries, but declined to name them or the extent of their support. “It’s up to the individual country,” Ambassador Samantha Power told ABC’s “This Week.” France last week joined the United States in airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq, and Saudi Arabia has offered to help train moderate anti-Islamic State group fighters. However, what remains unclear is whether Turkey...

El-Sissi: Egypt ready to join terror fight President speaks on Islamic State threat Hamza Hendawi Ian Phillips And Lee Keath   CAIRO – Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi is feeling vindicated by the world’s alarm over Islamic extremism that is fueling wars and bloodshed across the Middle East. The former army general has faced widespread international criticism for his ouster last year of Egypt’s first freely elected president and his ferocious crackdown on Islamists that has killed more than 1,000 and imprisoned more than 20,000. A year later, after el-Sissi’s election as president, his critics fear he is leading his country into autocracy,...

MOSCOW, September 21 (RIA Novosti) – Belgian authorities have detained two people, who planned a terrorist attack in European Commission Headquarters in Brussels, Agence France-Presse has reported citing the local media. According to Belgian daily L'Echo, the country’s authorities have been conducting a number of preventive operations in recent months against the extremism in the region and have arrested several people suspected of links with jihadists. A source told L'Echo that about 400 Belgian citizens are involved in the Syrian conflict fighting on the side of the extremists, and approximately 90 people have returned home. The Dutch NOS Media Company...

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today asked for unanimous consent on his bill, the Expatriate Terrorist Act of 2014, that would strip Americans who join ISIS of their citizenship. Senator Hirono, D-Hawaii, objected. In his remarks offering the bill, Sen. Cruz discussed the rising threat of ISIS, his concerns with President Obama’s plans to arm the Free Syrian Army, and the support then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton once gave to legislation, introduced in 2010 by former Senators Joe Lieberman and Scott Brown, that closely mirrors the ETA of 2014. Specifically Sen. Cruz said: “All too often the...

US air raids fundamental. The Islamist militants mined many houses before fleeing. Syriac Christians return to the city of Alqosh, liberated days ago, and celebrate the feast of the patron saint. Erbil (AsiaNews / Agencies) - At least seven Christian villages in northern Iraq have been freed after a series of clashes between Kurdish Peshmerga and Islamic State jihadists.The seven villages are located west of Erbil, on the Nineveh plain. The Kurdish military commanders emphasize the fundamental contribution of the air raids carried out by the United States and report that the jihadists mined many houses before fleeing. Since early...

ANKARA: Tens of thousands of Syrian Kurds flooded into Turkey on Saturday, fleeing an onslaught by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group, as Kurdish and opposition officials called for international help. The massive influx came as 49 Turks kidnapped by ISIS jihadists in Iraq in June were freed and returned to Turkey for emotional reunions with their families. On Saturday, Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said at least 45,000 Syrian Kurds had crossed into the country. "As of now, 45,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed the border and entered the Turkish soil from eight entrance points," he said....

Who Is The English Speaker In ISIS Video 'Flames of War'? By Mariano Castillo and Brian Todd September 19, 2014 ISIS has released a propaganda video aimed at English speakers U.S. intelligence is investigating one jihadist on the video who speaks perfect English The militant has what appears to be a North American accent It is not known whether he is from the West, or spent some time there (CNN) -- It's a slick production with a nefarious goal: A 55-minute video released by ISIS, praising its victories and warning the United States from getting in the way of its...

Kurds from Kobani fleeing the city and head to Turkish border News / Kurdistan Peshmerga Ready to Support Syrian Kurds Will Head to Kobani 20.09.2014  Hawar AbdulrazaqBasNews, Erbil   Kurdish Peshmerga forces have announced that they are ready to help their brethren across Syria, who have faced fierce attacks from Islamic State (IS) militants in recent days.   In a statement, the Kurdistan Regional Government Peshmerga Ministry has said that they are willing to help their brothers in Kobani. Thousands of Syrian Kurds have fled Kobani in recent days, after IS insurgents captured a number of Kurdish villages close...

Panetta: U.S. In Syria Too Late, Left Iraq Too Soon ISIS seized a third of Iraq that the U.S. secured with ten years of sacrifice. In an interview for 60 Minutes, Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said ISIS flourished because the U.S. got involved in Syria too late and left Iraq too soon. On the 47th season premiere Sunday, "60 Minutes" will report from Iraq and Syria on ISIS -- what it is, what it wants, and how to defeat it. Pelley: Back when you watched the stars and stripes being lowered for the last time in Baghdad, were...

Confronted with pure evil in the form of ISIS, President Barack Obama treats the jihadists as if they represented an isolated threat that can be dealt with on its own. ISIS (or ISIL as the U.S. government calls it, or the Islamic State as the jihadists now call themselves) has no relationship to Islam, according to the president and his Secretary of State John Kerry.

Washington (AFP) - Training and equipping moderate Syrian rebels to fight Islamic State extremists will take months, the White House warned Friday a day after Congress approved the plan. "We will move out as rapidly as can be done, in partnership with the countries that will host the training facilities," said Susan Rice, national security advisor to President Barack Obama. "This will be a process that takes months," she said, adding it will not "happen overnight." "This is a serious training program, and we are serious about vetting those that we will be training and equipping," Rice emphasized. "It is...

The latest suspected ISIS propaganda film has been uploaded to YouTube and appears to feature a jihadist with an American accent. The 55-minute 'Flames of War' video was posted online today and bears hallmarks of previous Islamic State tapes including Hollywood-style effects and bloodthirsty, call-to-arms language. The clip bears the stamp of the al-Hayat Media Centre, ISIS' English-language propaganda arm. An ISIS jihadist spoke with an American accent on the Flames of War propaganda film which was uploaded to YouTube today. In the video, the masked extremist stands before Syrian soldiers, loyal to dictator Bashar al-Assad who are digging their...

Barzani warned that inaction would lead to terrible consequences and he called on the international community to prevent another humanitarian crisis. ERBIL, Kurdistan Region— President of the Kurdistan Region Massoud Barzani called on Kurdish parties and the international community today to assist the people of Kobane against the Islamic State (IS) attacks on the town. “We appeal to all Kurdish forces to put aside their differences and unite to defend the dignity, the land and the lives of the citizens of Kobane,” Barzani said in a statement. “The defense of the land and the people of Kurdistan is the...