Islamic State militants kidnapped at least 400 civilians when they attacked government-held areas in the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor on Saturday, a monitoring group said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday families of pro-government fighters were among...

(Washington Post)- When you are a major nuclear power and you want to make a secretive deployment to a faraway ally, what is the first thing you do? Draw up the terms, apparently, and sign a contract. That’s what the Kremlin did with Syria in August, according to an unusual...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- At least 15 civilians have been killed on Saturday in Russian air strikes on rebel-held Aleppo, activists said. Seven people were killed in al-Sakhour neighborhood when Russian warplanes fired vacuum missile into the local marketplace, Zaman al-Wasl reporter said. 8 more...

The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State with 18 strikes in Iraq and 11 in Syria on Friday, the U.S. military said. Eight of the strikes in Iraq hit Islamic State tactical units and five command and control nodes near Mosul, a statement issues on Saturday said....