Free Republic

Nato is moving Airborne Early Warning and Control System (Awacs) surveillance planes to Turkey to protect the country's airspace amid growing friction with Russia. The alliance is deploying the Boeing E-3 Sentry system as part of its defence package to Ankara over the simmering Syrian crisis. Germany has dispatched several surveillance aircraft to the Turkish city of Konya, the ministry of foreign affairs and the ministry of defence told the parliament. However, the number of troops and aircraft to be deployed was not revealed. "Since Germany provides 30% of all personnel, our armed forces will clearly also be affected by...

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Sunni militant outfit Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis), is said to have been severely injured in the raging battle forcing him to flee to neighbouring Syria. According to a report in the Iraqi news network Al Sumaria, the insurgent leader was injured during a raid led by Iraq's Shiite-led security forces in the west of Anbar. "The Iraqi security forces carried out an operation in the city of Qaim on the border with Syria based on accurate intelligence and with the help of the Air Force where the leader of...