Zeina Karam, The Associated Press

  • In this May 31, 2019, file photo, Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces march in Baghdad, Iraq. (Khalid Mohammed/AP)
    Militias a growing challenge for Iraq ahead of talks with US

    A fourth round of so-called strategic Iraq-U.S. talks is scheduled for next week after the Iraqi government requested it, partly in response to pressure from Shiite political factions and militias loyal to Iran that have lobbied for the remaining U.S. troops to leave Iraq.

  • This file image made from video posted on a militant website July 5, 2014, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, purports to show the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, delivering a sermon at a mosque in Iraq. (Militant video/AP)
    Islamic State leader al-Baghdadi leaves a legacy of terror

    Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi sought to establish an Islamic “caliphate” across Syria and Iraq, but he might be remembered more as the ruthlessly calculating leader of the Islamic State group who brought terror to the heart of Europe and set up a short-lived organization so extreme that it was shunned even by al-Qaida.

  • Syrian President Bashar Assad, center right, speaks with Syrian troops during his visit to the strategic town of Habeet, in the northwestern province of Idlib, Syria, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019. (Facebook page of the Syrian Presidency via AP)
    Syria’s Assad gets a prize with American troop withdrawal, Turkey-Russia deal

    Once again, Syrian President Bashar Assad has snapped up a prize from world powers that have been maneuvering in his country’s multifront wars. Without firing a shot, his forces are returning to towns and villages in northeastern Syria where they haven’t set foot for years.

  • A U.S. military convoy arrives near Dahuk, Iraqi, Monday, Oct. 21, 2019. (AP Photo)
    Iraq: American troops leaving Syria cannot stay in Iraq

    U.S. troops leaving Syria and heading to neighboring Iraq do not have permission to stay in the country, Iraq’s military said Tuesday as American forces continued to pull out of northern Syria after Turkey’s invasion of the border region.

  • A member of Kurdish security forces stands guard during a demonstration by Syrian Kurds against Turkish threats next to a base for the U.S.-led international coalition on the outskirts of Ras al-Ain town in Syria's Hasakeh province near the Turkish border on Oct. 6, 2019. - (Delil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images)
    A look at who’s who in northeast Syria as war fears rise

    President Donald Trump’s announcement that U.S. troops in Syria would step aside to make way for a Turkish military operation against U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish fighters unleashed a torrent of near unanimous criticism and warnings of immediate and long-term negative consequences.

  • A column of armored Turkish military vehicles drives on a patrol along a road in the de-militarized zone in Syria's northern Idlib province near the town Saraqib on March 8, 2019. (Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images)
    Turkish military move into Syria is high risk

    Turkey’s combative president is threatening to launch a military operation in northeastern Syria that is designed to push back U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish forces — an invasion that carries major risks for a highly combustible region in war-devastated Syria.

  • This image made from video posted on a militant website on Monday, April 29, 2019, purports to show the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, being interviewed by his group's Al-Furqan media outlet. Al-Baghdadi acknowledged in his first video since June 2014 that IS lost the war in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz that was captured last month by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. (Al-Furqan media via AP)
    Baghdadi outlines path forward for Islamic State post-caliphate

    No longer burdened by territory and administration, Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi outlined the new path forward for his group: Widen your reach, connect with far-flung militant groups and exhaust your enemies with a “war of attrition.”

  • This image made from video posted on a militant website on Monday, April 29, 2019, purports to show the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, being interviewed by his group's Al-Furqan media outlet. Al-Baghdadi acknowledged in his first video since June 2014 that ISIS lost the war in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz that was captured last month by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. (Al-Furqan media via AP)
    ISIS leader Baghdadi appears in video for the first time in 5 years

    The shadowy leader of the Islamic State group appeared for the first time in five years in a video released by the extremist group’s propaganda arm on Monday, acknowledging defeat in the group’s last stronghold in Syria but vowing a “long battle” ahead.