(Reuters) - Iraqi troops battled to dislodge an al Qaeda splinter group from the city of Tikrit on Monday after its leader was declared caliph of a new Islamic state in lands seized this month across a swathe of Iraq and Syria . Alarming regional and world powers,...

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in Damascus on Saturday that his country "will not remain passive" as jihadists push an offensive in Syria's neighbour Iraq. "Russia will not remain passive to the attempts by some groups to spread terrorism in the region,"...

  Human Rights Watch said Thursday that fighters inspired by Al-Qaeda had executed Iraqi soldiers en masse this month in Tikrit. In mid-June, militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) posted photos online of what they claimed to be...

(Reuters) - Iraqi forces launched an airborne assault on rebel-held Tikrit on Thursday with commandos flown into a stadium in helicopters, at least one of which crashed after taking fire from insurgents who have seized northern cities. Eyewitnesses said battles were raging in...