Islamic State

Abdul-Rahman Kassig, who was formerly known as Peter, is shown with a truck filled with aid supplies for Syrian refugees. The American aid worker was seized by the Islamic State in October 2013 and subsequently killed by the group, which released a video

World News

Once Tolerated, Westerners Are Now Targeted By Radical Islamists

2:43pm November 18, 2014

by Greg Myre

The kidnapping and killing of Westerners isn't a new phenomenon in the Middle East. But the last time around, it stopped after just a few years. This time there's no end in sight.

Journalist James Foley in 2011. He was killed by Islamic State militants in Syria in August.

National

Obama Orders Review Of U.S. Hostage Policy

12:09pm November 18, 2014

by Eyder Peralta

The administration revealed the review just after the Islamic State took responsibility for killing a third American citizen. It is not clear whether the U.S. will reconsider its no-ransom policy.

Peter Kassig, who changed his first name to Abdul-Rahman when he converted to Islam, is shown with a truck filled with aid supplies for Syrian refugees.

World News

Slain Aid Worker Shows 'One Person Can Make A Difference,' Parents Say

5:01pm November 17, 2014

by Krishnadev Calamur

In a statement, Paula and Ed Kassig remembered their 26-year-old son, Peter Kassig, also known as Abdul-Rahman Kassig, as both a realist and an idealist. Kassig was killed by the Islamic State group.

World News

ISIS Issues Video Showing Beheading Of American Aid Worker

4:37pm November 17, 2014

The self-declared Islamic State released a new video Sunday that shows the beheading of hostage Peter Kassig, who was kidnapped in Syria last year.

Iraqi Kurdish soldiers, or peshmerga, patrol an area in the recently recaptured town of Zumar, near Mosul in northern Iraq on Oct. 29. When the Islamic State captured the town in August, the Kurds fled. Now that the Kurds are in control, the Arabs are all

World News

In A Back-And-Forth Battle, An Iraqi Town Splits On Ethnic Lines

12:25pm November 16, 2014

by Leila Fadel

When the Islamic State seized the town of Zumar, the Kurds fled. Now Kurdish fighters have taken control, and it's the Arabs who have been driven out. Is this the future of Iraq?

Queue Listen Now

U.S. Would Consider 'Modest' Force For Complex Iraq Operations

2:58pm November 13, 2014

by Krishnadev Calamur

The comments were made to a House panel by Army Gen. Martin Dempsey. Earlier, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the battle against Islamic State militants would be "long and difficult."

Pentagon Says It Will Investigate Stray Arms Drop Over Syria

2:55pm October 22, 2014

by Scott Neuman

The self-declared Islamic State has released a video purporting to show its fighters rifling through a crate of grenades airdropped by a U.S. military cargo plane.

3 American Teens Reportedly Suspected Of Trying To Join ISIS

7:23am October 22, 2014

by Lauren Hodges

Three Denver teens were stopped at a German airport and sent home to the U.S. Their disappearance was originally treated as a standard runaway case.

Peshmerga look out from a front-line outpost — a few sandbags, soldiers, and grenades perched on the brow of a hill — to the eastern Iraqi town of Jalula. The Kurdish fighters are grappling with how to combat changing ISIS tactics.

World News

Ambushes, Mines And Booby Traps: ISIS Militants Change Tack

7:01am October 22, 2014

by Alice Fordham

In northern Iraq, Kurdish fighters have won back territory from the so-called Islamic State only to lose it again. ISIS is using a range of explosives, inflicting heavy Kurdish casualties.

Queue Listen Now

Aza Betwata (left) and his brother Mirwan (center) left Holland to join the Kurdish peshmerga fighting against ISIS militants in northern Iraq. Though the brothers come from a family of fighters, Aza had just two days of training — his brother must show

World News

Kurds Leave Life In Europe To Fight ISIS In Their Iraqi Homeland

9:33am October 21, 2014

by Alice Fordham

Until August, 24-year-old Aza Betwata was in Holland, enjoying beef and cabbage and studying to be a social worker. Now, he's among the hundreds of exiled Kurds who have returned and taken up arms.

Queue Listen Now