MOSCOW — Russian officials persisted Tuesday in saying Ukraine and the West had a role in last week’s deadly Moscow concert hall attack despite vehement denials of involvement by Kyiv and a claim of responsibility by an affiliate of the Islamic State group. Without offering any evidence, Alexander Bortnikov, head of the Federal Security Service, … Read more
WARSAW, Poland — The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133 people, the most deadly attack in Russia in years. Though the U.S. says it has evidence backing up the jihadists’ claim, that didn’t stop Moscow and Kyiv from pointing the finger … Read more
At the peak of the Islamic State’s power, the territory the group controlled in Syria and Iraq was around the size of Britain. But by early 2019, following airstrikes from a U.S.-led coalition and an assault by a Kurdish-led fighters against the group’s remnants in eastern Syria, U.S.-backed forces declared the final defeat of the … Read more
ISLAMABAD — The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a deadly bombing that targeted people trying to collect their salaries at a bank in southern Afghanistan. The bombing Thursday at a branch of New Kabul Bank in Kandahar city killed three people and wounded 12 others. All of the victims had gathered there to collect … Read more
You’re reading an excerpt from the Today’s WorldView newsletter. Sign up to get the rest free, including news from around the globe and interesting ideas and opinions to know, sent to your inbox every weekday. Voter turnout in elections in Iran hit what appears a historic low. According to unofficial accounts, only about 40 percent … Read more
ERBIL, Iraq — Iraq’s authorities have captured two members of the Islamic State group in an operation outside the country and brought them home, where they confessed to committing crimes during the rule of the extremist organization, the intelligence department said Saturday. A statement by the Iraqi National Intelligence Service didn’t say where the two … Read more
Olfa Hamrouni doesn’t know much about her granddaughter; not her favorite toy nor food — is it the pasta the child’s mother loves, or something else? The Tunisian grandmother doesn’t even let her mind go there. “I don’t want to know. What for but more heartache?” she said. For now, she just fights for 8-year-old … Read more
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s prime minister announced Friday the reopening of the Beiji refinery, the country’s largest, which had been shut down for a decade after being damaged in the battle against the Islamic State extremist group. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement that the refinery’s return to operation will enable Iraq to … Read more
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran marked Sunday the 45th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution amid tensions gripping the wider Middle East over Israel’s continued war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Thousands of Iranians marched through major streets and squares decorated with flags, balloons and banners with revolutionary and religious slogans. In Tehran, crowds waved … Read more
ISTANBUL (AP) — The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for an attack on a Roman Catholic church in Istanbul during a Sunday Mass that killed one person, in a statement issued late Sunday. The extremist group said that it “attacked a gathering of Christian unbelievers during their polytheistic ceremony” inside the Santa Maria Church in the Buyukdere … Read more