Author: Steven Sahiounie

Steven Sahiounie, political commentator It is reported by numerous sources that the ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead, after CIA investigations uncovered his location in Barisha, in the northwest of Syria.  1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, aka Delta Force, entered the secluded rural compound which is surrounded by natural limestone caves.  The attack involved about 6 helicopters, 2 of which landed and carried out the mission and recovered evidence, and finally flew away, but not before executing an airstrike to destroy the place Baghdadi was reportedly killed at. Reports suggest that Baghdadi was accompanied by family members, some of…

The idea to set up a NATO-controlled safe zone in northeastern Syria will bring nothing good, as there is an existing agreement on resolving the situation in the country, reached by Russia and Turkey, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday. Speaking in Kirkenes, Norway, he said that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg “began making strange statements that some NATO members back this idea” and some others are not particularly enthusiastic about it, TASS reports. “Since they say that NATO wants to assume responsibility [for creating a safe zone in northeastern Syria], of course, there is nothing good about this idea.…

The US is taking steps to relax regulations blocking sales of food and medicine to Iran, amid sanctions imposed on the country by the Trump administration, AP reports. The Treasury Department said it had created a way to ensure humanitarian aid could continue “despite the administration’s effort to isolate Tehran.” The treasury plans to allow “permissible trade” to support the Iranian people, while maintaining efforts to deprive the Islamic republic’s government of the resources that Washington says it “needs to develop missiles and support militant activities around the Middle East.” The gesture, announced on Friday, addresses concerns by aid groups…

Earlier on Friday, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said he would carry out a cabinet reshuffle and change election laws amid a wave of anti-government protests. A second protester has died and more than 350 others were injured during the protests in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the local police and hospital sources have said. According to AP citing a security official, 5 protesters have been killed during the demonstrations. Videos and photos are being posted online showing crowds of protesters in Tahrir square. ​Clashes between protesters and police happened when the people attempted to enter the so-called Green…

Yemen has been engulfed in an armed conflict between the government forces led by President Hadi, and the rebel Houthi movement for several years now. The Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi’s request since March 2015. The conflict has resulted in a massive humanitarian crisis. The Houthi rebel movement, also known as Ansar Allah, launched an attack on the Yemeni and Saudi forces and gained control over the government forces’ positions in Yemen’s Saada governorate, which borders Saudi Arabia, a local military source said on Friday. “The Ansar Allah movement launched a large-scale attack…

The United Nations says Turkey’s now-suspended offensive against Kurdish militants in northern Syria has displaced about 180,000 people, including tens of thousands of children. Ursula Mueller, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights “has received concerning reports of civilian casualties and damage to critical civilian infrastructure” since the onset of the military operation. Addressing the UN Security Council (UNSC) in New York on Thursday, the humanitarian official noted that the offensive, which “severely impacted the humanitarian situation, forced “almost 180,000 people, including close to 80,000 children,” to flee south from the border areas between…

The secretary general of the Lebanese resistance movement has warned against fiendish attempts to target the axis of resistance in the wake of ongoing anti-government demonstrations over the country’s economic crisis, stating that Hezbollah is well aware of such conspiracies. “We have information that an anti-resistance scheme is being prepared for Lebanon. Several sides are exploiting popular protests to settle their account with Hezbollah and implement foreign agendas,” Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in an address to his supporters in a televised speech broadcast live from the Lebanese capital city of Beirut on Friday evening. “Social and livelihood demands have been diverted to…

By Manlio Dinucci “Some countries have nuclear missiles, but the West insists that we cannot have them. This is unacceptable”: this statement by President Erdogan reveals that the crisis goes beyond that which began with the Turkish offensive in Syria. In Turkey, during the Cold War, the United States deployed nuclear weapons against the Soviet Union. In 1962, in the agreements with the USSR for the resolution of the Cuban missile crisis, President Kennedy promised to remove these weapons from Turkey, but this was not done. After the end of the Cold War, about 50 U.S. B61 nuclear bombs (the same…

Sarah Abed, independent journalist and analyst  On Tuesday, exactly two weeks after Ankara launched its cross border military operation “Operation Peace Spring”, in northern Syria east of the Euphrates River, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Sochi for what proved to be a lengthy diplomatic discussion that resulted in an agreement that sets the stage for de-escalating tensions in that region. The Russian-Turkish memorandum published by the Kremlin covers ten mutually agreed upon points. Many of the same issues that were addressed but not resolved by the United States and Turkey during their recent…

By Paul Antonopoul Another 276 military police officers and 33 military equipment will be sent to Syria to ensure compliance with its new commitments, a source from the Russian Ministry of Defense told Sputnik. The information comes in the wake of the memorandum signed on Tuesday (22) between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Russian seaside resort of Sochi. “Within a week, two additional battalions will be sent to Syria,” the source said. Shortly after signing the memorandum, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shaigu stated that Russian military police resources in Syria were sufficient for the time…