The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began an assault against the final Islamic State enclave in eastern Syria on Saturday, aiming to wipe out the last vestige of the jihadist group's "caliphate" in the SDF's area of operations.

US-backed Syrian forces launch 'final battle' against Islamic State enclave

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) will start an assault on Saturday against Islamic State's last enclave in the part of Syria where a US-led coalition has been supporting operations against the group, an SDF official told Reuters.

US-backed Syrian force to start 'final battle' against IS enclave

Recent gains by Kurdish-led forces in Syria have shrunk the Islamic State group's "caliphate" to less than one percent of its original size, the US-led coalition said on Thursday.

Islamic State down to less than 1% of original 'caliphate': US-led coalition

“Sometimes I wake up at night. I don’t know where I am, what I am doing. I go to neighbouring tents and cuddle someone else’s child. People think I am crazy. Often I find myself crying in the middle of the night while I hug a pillow.

Are all the people who worked for Islamic State evil?

The United States promised on Wednesday to stay focused on permanently destroying the Islamic State group but asked concerned allies to contribute more, as President Donald Trump boasted that the extremists will soon have lost all their territory in Syria.

Will announce next week that we have 100% victory over Caliphate: Trump

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday that the United States remained committed to permanently destroying the Islamic State group despite pulling forces from Syria, as he asked concerned allies to do more.

Pompeo says US will still lead fight against IS, asks allies to do more

A British photographer kidnapped by the Islamic State group more than six years ago could still be alive and in captivity, media reports said on Tuesday citing Britain's Security Minister Ben Wallace.

UK believes photographer held by IS still alive: Reports

US intelligence chiefs contradicted some of President Donald Trump's most fundamental foreign policy claims Tuesday, underscoring a persistent division in his view of the world and theirs.

Iran not looking to build bomb, North Korea will not give up nukes: US intelligence chiefs

Investigators probing the Catholic cathedral bombing that killed 21 people in the Philippines' restive south said Monday a group tied to notorious Islamist Abu Sayyaf is the prime suspect.

Islamist militants prime suspects in Philippine cathedral bombing

Afghanistan is investigating reports that at least 16 civilians including women and children were killed in an air strike in southern Helmand province, the defence ministry said in a statement Friday.

Afghanistan investigates civilian deaths in air strike in southern province

US-backed, Kurdish-led forces are on the verge of eliminating Islamic State militants' last remaining enclave in Syria near the border with Iraq after a four-month devastating bombing campaign that has left hundreds of civilian casualties, residents and rebels said on Wednesday.

US-backed forces about to end Islamic State's last enclave in Syria

Pakistani authorities on Monday opened an investigation into the police killing of four people, including a woman and a child, in an encounter with a suspected militant leader that has drawn accusations from the public of police brutality.

Probe begins into Pakistani police killings that sparked outrage

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday entered the 2019 presidential race after forging an alliance with a staunch critic to challenge his former governing partners at a time when the Taliban has shut him out of talks to end more than 17 years of war.

Afghanistan's Ghani launches bid for second presidential term

Pakistani authorities on Sunday admitted that three of the four IS "terrorists" who were killed in an encounter with police in Punjab province were "innocent" even as 16 personnel involved in the shootout have been arrested.

Pakistan IS 'terrorists' shot dead were 'innocent': Government

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have captured two Islamic State militants of American nationality, according to a statement dated earlier this month that was sent to media on Saturday.

Syria's SDF says it captured two Islamic State militants of American nationality

President Donald Trump's decision to pull US troops from Syria was made without deliberation, left allies "bewildered" and has rejuvenated the Islamic State group, the official formerly in charge of fighting the jihadists said Friday.

Trump giving 'new life' to IS, former envoy says

Pakistani counter-terrorism officers on Saturday killed four terrorists, including two women and a local ISIS commander, in an 'intelligence-based operation' in Punjab province.

4 terrorists killed in encounter in Pakistan

A senior Republican senator on Saturday urged President Donald Trump to slow down the withdrawal of US ground troops from Syria until jihadists were defeated to avoid a "nightmare" for Washington's allies.

Republican senator Lindsey Graham urges slow US pullout until IS 'truly defeated'

By Gary Grappo Nearly a year after his predecessor embarked on a similar mission, on January 15 US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo concluded a tour of the Middle East that included stops in Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman.

Mike Pompeo attempts US reset in the Middle East

A suicide attack claimed by the Islamic State group killed 15 people including a US serviceman Wednesday in the northern Syrian city of Manbij near the Turkish border, a monitor said.

At least 15 dead in suicide attack targeting US-led coalition in Syria

There’s one thing Turkey and the US can definitely agree on these days: Unreliability is now the bedrock of their relationship. It’s perhaps not surprising when the two powers are led by notably unpredictable men — US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Why the US is still losing Turkey

President Donald Trump on Monday sought to end fears of an abrupt US pullout from Syria, saying the fight against the Islamic State group was not over and that withdrawal would be done in a "prudent" manner.

Trump says US will pull out of Syria in 'prudent' way

An Islamic State group suicide bomber attacked a centre for Kurdish forces in the northern Syrian city of Raqa on Monday, killing four civilians and an anti-jihadist fighter, a monitor said.

IS suicide bomber kills 5 in Syria's Raqa: Monitor

The BBC said Shah was its fifth staff member to have been killed in Afghanistan since the early 1990s.

Afghan tribunal convicts three men in BBC journalist murder case

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