UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Al-Qaida’s past ties to the recently empowered Taliban have the potential of making Afghanistan a safe haven for extremists, and “terrorist groups enjoy greater freedom there than at any time in recent history,” U.N. experts said in a report circulated Monday....

DUBAI: Fawaz Qetaifan, a six-year-old Syrian boy who was kidnapped on his way to school in Daraa four months ago, could be returned to his parents in the coming hours or days after his family raised the ransom to secure his release, sources have told Arab News. “It seems that the issue...

Women held in a camp housing families of Islamic State group militants in northeast Syria tried to kidnap their Kurdish guards Monday, an opposition war monitor said. The attempt led to a shooting that left one child dead and several other people wounded. A Kurdish official confirmed there...

By Dr. Majid Rafizadeh The Iranian regime is expanding its presence in Syria and increasing its military, financial and advisory assistance to militia groups there in order to preserve one of its top national security interests. Tehran’s increasing influence in Syria can particularly...