أرشيف الوسم : army

By Ramzy Baroud No matter how one attempts to wrangle with the so-called ‘Islamic State’ (IS) rise in Iraq and Syria, desperately seeking any political or other context that would validate the movement as an explainable historical circumstance, things refuse to add up. Not only is IS to a degree an alien movement in the larger body politic of the …

The Libyan House of Representatives based in the city of Tobruk on Tuesday ordered the army to launch an operation to “liberate” capital city Tripoli from armed militiamen. It also called on local civilians to start a civil disobedience campaign against the fighters occupying their city. The interim parliament, whose legitimacy is being disputed, in its statement said that it …

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said that Kobane was “about to fall” after Islamic State (IS) fighters advanced into the southwest part of the town, pressing home their three-week assault, which has reportedly cost around 400 lives. The prospect of the Syrian Kurdish town, which lies on the Turkish border, being captured by the extremists will likely increase pressure …

On Thursday, Syrian government forces retook the town of Mleiha on the outskirts of Damascus after months of battle against rebel forces. Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights backed up the report. “The army, with the cooperation of the National Defense Forces (militia), has accomplished its mission of restoring stability and security to Mleiha”, the army command in its statement. …

Dearest friends, The last night was extreme. The “ground invasion” of Gaza resulted in scores and carloads with maimed, torn apart, bleeding, shivering, dying – all sorts of injured Palestinians, all ages, all civilians, all innocent. The heroes in the ambulances and in all of Gaza’s hospitals are working 12-24 hour shifts, grey from fatigue and inhuman workloads (without payment …

In the wake of the reelection, so farcical it drove every self-respecting, democratic man to absolute disgust, what could the dictator’s next steps possibly be? The Assad regime and its officials, namely Bouthayna Chaaban and Faysal el Mokdad, among others, have insisted on insulting the intelligence of the people by claiming that France, as well as the entire democratic world, …

A suicide bomber targeted and bombed an army checkpoint at the Tayyouneh roundabout in the southern suburbs of Beirut, and at least one person was killed and twenty more were injured in the blast. Lebanon’s Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq, however, said that the security situation in the country is “under control”. An army communiqué sent on Tuesday said that the …

How it happened and why? The sudden collapse of military units defending Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, the late Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit and the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk is reminiscent of the swift disintegration of Saddam’s army at the gates of Baghdad in 2003. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s sectarian policies backfired dramatically last week when his army quickly …

In 2009, Nigerian police forces fighting Boko Haram in the northern city of Maiduguri lost about 30 officers in a violent firefight. The next day, they executed many of the men they had rounded up and detained as suspected Boko Haram fighters. The retaliatory killings often happened right outside police headquarters in full view of the public. Bodies piled up …

Thailand’s army in a military coup on Thursday seized power of the country, and ordered rival protestors off the streets of Thailand. The Thailand army deposed the government, hoping to end several months’ worth of political bloodshed in the country. On Tuesday, the army had declared martial law, sparking rumors of an imminent coup. General Prayut Chan-O-Chaa announced the coup …