WASHINGTON (AP) — With U.S.-backed Iraqi forces battling to retake Mosul, officials from the 68-nation coalition fighting the Islamic State group are looking for ways to increase the pressure as planning intensifies on the next objective, dislodging the extremists from their self-declared capital in Syria. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis … Continue reading
JORDAN-SYRIA BORDER (AP) — Armed Islamic State extremists are expanding their influence in a sprawling camp for displaced Syrians on Jordan’s border, posing a growing threat to the U.S.-allied kingdom, a senior Jordanian military commander said. Brig. Gen. Sami Kafawin, chief of Jordan’s border forces, spoke to The Associated Press during a tour of the … Continue reading
NIMRUD, Iraq (AP) — Heavy fighting broke out in Mosul’s eastern Tahrir neighborhood on Wednesday, where Iraqi special forces said a suicide car bomber from the Islamic State group disabled an Abrams tank belonging to the Iraqi army. Backed by U.S.-led airstrikes but under fire from heavy weapons, the troops drove deeper into the neighborhood … Continue reading
BAGHDAD (AP) — After months of sluggish progress, stalled advances and outright failures, Iraqi troops and militias backed by U.S.-led airstrikes have surrounded the key city of Ramadi and appear poised to launch a new attempt to wrest it from the Islamic State group. The battle that is shaping up threatens to turn into a … Continue reading
IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Kurdish officials said Sunday three more mass graves have been found in the northern town of Sinjar, where Kurdish forces backed by heavy U.S.-led airstrikes drove out Islamic State militants earlier this month. The discovery brings the total number of burial sites in the area to five and the total number … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 