Syria

Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters take up positions around the town of Gwer in northern Iraq on Sept. 18. The Kurdish militia is aligned with the U.S. in the battle against the Islamic State.

World News

Why Does The U.S. Like Iraq's Kurds But Not Syria's?

11:11am September 23, 2014

by Greg Myre

The U.S. urgently needs allies on the ground in Syria. Yet it has given no sign that it's willing to work with Kurdish militias who are already fighting the Islamic State group in Syria.

Afghan rebels, or mujahedeen, climb on a Soviet helicopter they shot down in 1981. U.S. assistance helped the rebels drive out the Soviet forces. But the chaotic conditions in Afghanistan allowed al-Qaida to take root in the 1990s.

World News

When The U.S. Backs Rebels, It Doesn't Often Go As Planned

10:35am September 23, 2014

by Greg Myre

As the U.S. begins to arm and train Syrian rebels, here's a look at the very mixed record of U.S. support for rebel movements from Angola to Afghanistan.

An Islamic State militant, left, stands next to Raqqah residents Sept. 16 as they hold pieces of wreckage from a Syrian war plane after it crashed in the northeast Syrian town.

U.S., Allies Hit Islamic State Targets In Syria, Pentagon Says

10:55pm September 22, 2014

by Eyder Peralta

The Pentagon said it had used fighter, bomber and Tomahawk missiles during the mission launched on Monday.

Syrian Kurds with their livestock wait behind a border fence near the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province on Monday. Some 100,000 Kurds have fled from Syria into Turkey amid intense fighting between peshmerga forces and ISIS.

World News

Kurds Say They Have Halted ISIS Advance Near Syria-Turkey Border

10:17am September 22, 2014

by Scott Neuman

Peshmerga forces say they are still engaged in fierce battles with Islamic State militants. The fighting has triggered a mass exodus of Kurdish refugees into Turkey.

A Syrian family waits near the Turkish-Syrian border after entering Turkey near the town of Sanliurfa Sunday. An estimated 70,000 Syrian Kurds have fled the extremist group the Islamic State this weekend.

World News

Thousands Of Refugees Flee Syria In Chaotic Scene At Turkey's Border

4:53pm September 21, 2014

by Bill Chappell

While a U.N. agency reported about 70,000 refugees this weekend, a Turkish official says 100,000 Syrians have entered Turkey in the past week. Fighters from ISIS are closing in on the border.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, center, poses with dozens of freed Turkish hostages at the Esenboga Airport in Ankara Saturday. The group was held by militants in northern Iraq for more than three months.

World News

Dozens Of Turkish Hostages Freed, As ISIS Advances In Syria

2:14pm September 20, 2014

by Bill Chappell

The hostages included diplomats, children and others seized along with Turkey's consulate in Mosul in June. As it celebrates their return, Turkey also receives thousands of Kurds fleeing ISIS.

A remote camera screen grab provided by the French army shows two Rafale jet fighters flying over Iraq on Friday. French President Francois Hollande announced that the fighters had carried out their first airstrikes in northern Iraq.

French Jets Conduct First Airstrikes Against ISIS In Iraq

9:36am September 19, 2014

by Scott Neuman

President Francois Hollande says the Rafale fighters "entirely destroyed" a logistics depot. His office said more air operations against Islamic State militants would be conducted in coming days.

House Passes Bill That Authorizes Arming Syrian Rebels

6:49pm September 17, 2014

by Eyder Peralta

Even though it was backed by both party leaders, the vote split politicians within their own ranks. The final tally on the narrow military measure was 273 to 156.

Syrian rebel fighters in the northern city of Aleppo in August. The Obama administration has been vetting rebel groups and decided that more than a dozen are moderate enough to arm.

After A Long Wait, Syrian Rebels Hope The Weapons Will Now Flow

6:45pm September 17, 2014

by Deborah Amos

The "moderate" opposition has been losing ground on the battlefield and pleading for weapons from the U.S. for the past couple of years. They are hoping that their fortunes have finally changed.

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Obama Rules Out Another Ground War In Iraq

2:14pm September 17, 2014

by Krishnadev Calamur

The president said U.S. airstrikes, combined with military expertise, would be more effective in defeating the group that calls itself the Islamic State.