Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces

File: Smoke and debris rising after Syrian government shelling of the city of Deir el-Zour during a battle against Islamic State in 2017 (SANA via AP)

January 28, 2019, 7:04 pm

Hundreds of civilians, fighters flee IS stronghold in Syria

Some Islamic State gunmen refusing to surrender, using civilians as human shields, as US-backed group intensifies offensive

By AP

This combination of file pictures created on August 11, 2018 shows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) deliverling a speech during an AK party's group meeting at the AK Party's headquarters in Ankara, on January 26, 2018; and US President Donald Trump (R) during a joint press conference with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, July 30, 2018. - US President Donald Trump warned Turkey on Sunday, January 13, 2019 of economic devastation if it attacks Kurdish forces in the wake of the US troop pullout from Syria(Photos by ADEM ALTAN and SAUL LOEB / AFP)

January 14, 2019, 2:33 am

Trump threatens Turkey with economic devastation if it hits Kurds

In a tweet, the president calls for 20-mile safe zone as the US begins to pull its forces out of Syria, also warns Kurds not to provoke Ankara

By Olivia Hampton

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, and his wife Susan disembark from their plane as they arrive at Abu Dhabi International Airport in Abu Dhabi on January 11, 2019. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool/AFP)

January 12, 2019, 4:48 pm

Pompeo ‘optimistic’ Syria Kurds, Turkey can be protected in possible US deal

In Abu Dhabi, US top diplomat says agreement in works to help Turkey defend itself from terrorists while aiding allies who fought with American forces against Islamic State

By Agencies

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and US National Security Adviser John Bolton meeting at the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem on January 6, 2019. (Matty Stern/ US Embassy Jerusalem)

January 6, 2019, 8:59 pm

Hosting top Trump aide, PM asks US to recognize Israeli sovereignty over Golan

Netanyahu plans to go to northern border Monday with National Security Adviser Bolton, who reassures Israel over Syria withdrawal

By Raphael Ahren

US National Security Adviser John Bolton unveils the Trump administration's Africa Strategy at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, December 13, 2018. (Cliff Owen/AP)

January 6, 2019, 5:59 pm

Trump aide: US Syria withdrawal only after Islamic State defeated

National Security Adviser Bolton, in Israel to allay concerns over troop pullout, says there is no timetable for drawdown

By AP and TOI staff

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked in Jerusalem on October 15, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

December 23, 2018, 10:14 am

Minister: Trump’s Syria pullout ‘doesn’t help’ Israel, emboldens Erdogan

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked says surprise US withdrawal ‘certainly not a good thing,’ but vows Israel ‘will still know how to defend ourselves’

By TOI staff and AFP

In this photo from April 28, 2017, US forces, accompanied by Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters, drive their armored vehicles near the northern Syrian village of Darbasiyah, on the border with Turkey. (Delil Souleiman/AFP)

December 21, 2018, 3:16 am

Pentagon scrambles to plan Syria exit amid outrage over retreat

Officials say airstrikes may continue if other coalition partners stay, as lawmakers seek to reverse decision over concerns about abandoning Kurdish allies

By Robert Burns and Lolita Baldor

Banners advertising shops and clinics are pictured hanging in a street in the Syrian city of Raqqa on October 18, 2018. (Delil Souleiman/AFP)

October 19, 2018, 10:36 am

One year after IS ‘defeat,’ Syria’s Raqqa still lives in fear

Jihadists no longer control the war-ravaged city, but sleeper cells continue to terrorize the population; a new local security force looks to bring quiet

By Delil Souleiman

Mohammed Haydar Zammar leaves a mosque in Germany on Oct. 3, 2001. (Knut Mueller/Der Spiegel via AP)

April 19, 2018, 1:47 am

Kurdish commander claims German jihadist tied to 9/11 attacks caught in Syria

Pentagon looking into reports that al-Qaeda recruiter Mohammed Haydar Zammar was detained by separatist forces

By AFP

US soldiers, left, sit in a house turned into an outpost on a road leading to the tense front line between US-backed Syrian Manbij Military Council fighters and Turkish-backed fighters, at Halawanji village, north of Manbij town, Syria. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

April 4, 2018, 6:12 pm

Trump advisers urge against hasty American retreat from Syria

Pentagon officials fear Islamic State will regroup in Deir el-Zour after many US-backed Kurds shifted focus to fighting Turkish forces around Afrin

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE

A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by US special forces, monitors the area on the western frontline in Raqqa on October 8, 2017. (AFP PHOTO / BULENT KILIC)

October 11, 2017, 2:43 pm

With IS surrounded, talks held on civilian exit from Raqqa

US-backed forces prepare final push to recapture de facto Syrian capital of the Islamic State group’s self-proclaimed caliphate

By Maya Gebeily

A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) sprints through the debris in the old city center on the eastern frontline of Raqqa on September 25, 2017. (AFP PHOTO/BULENT KILIC)

October 9, 2017, 8:18 pm

US-backed Syrian fighters preparing for final push in Raqqa

Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces reinforcing positions ahead of battle to take control of Islamic State stronghold

By Bassem Mroue

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters stand at a crossing point where Iraqis fleeing the fighting between Iraqi forces and Islamic State militants cross to the Kurdish controlled area, in the Nineveh plain, northeast of Mosul, Nov. 17, 2016 (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

August 16, 2017, 4:23 pm

Turkey warns Iraqi Kurdish referendum risks ‘civil war’

Vehemently opposed to Kurdish autonomy, Ankara cites ‘importance of preserving Iraq’s territorial integrity’ in next month’s non-binding vote

By AFP

A member of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), made up of an alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters, looks on in the town of Tabqa, about 55 kilometres (35 miles) west of Raqa city, on April 30, 2017 (AFP PHOTO / DELIL SOULEIMAN)

June 3, 2017, 2:35 pm

US-backed Syrian fighters advancing toward IS-held Raqqa

Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces say they are in control of 90 percent of the town of Mansoura

By AP

Syrian protesters take part in a demonstration outside the United Nations office in the capital Damascus, on April 11, 2017, in support of the country's strongman Bashar Assad, depicted in the portrait. (AFP Photo/Louai Beshara)

April 18, 2017, 2:17 am

After US strikes, Trump’s Syria plan starts coming into view

As with Obama’s policy, the US looks to focus on the fight against IS, then seek stability ahead of a peaceful transition that removes Assad from power

By Josh Lederman and Matthew Lee