The fight for Mosul, launched this week by Iraqi security forces supported by U.S. air power and advisers, could take months and is likely to feature periods of fierce combat, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East said Wednesday. Army Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of U.S. Central...

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday it was Turkey’s duty “to its brothers to blow out the fire in Aleppo". Addressing elected neighborhood representatives from around Turkey at the presidential complex in Ankara, Erdogan said at least “one million people would flock to Turkey...

(theguardian)- Thousands of civilians have fled Mosul and its surrounding region to crowded refugee camps in war-torn Syria, aid officials have said, as Iraqi forces continued to advance on the most populous city under Islamic State control. At least 5,000 people, mostly women and children,...

(The Daily Star)- Russia on Wednesday warned the US-led coalition against driving extremists from Iraq to Syria in the offensive to recapture Mosul from ISIS. "It is necessary not to drive terrorists from one country to the other but to destroy them on the spot," the chief of Russia's...