Syrian troops and their allies, backed by Russian airstrikes have taken ground on Thursday in southern rural Aleppo, activists and rebel commanders said after one-week of heavy bombardments. Zaman Al Wasl reporter said Russia's devastating air strikes that began in the country on Sept. 30,...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad had told him he was ready to talk to armed opposition groups if they are genuinely committed to dialogue and to combating Islamic State. Speaking a day after Assad made a surprise visit to Moscow for...

One member of a U.S. special operations force was killed during an overnight mission to rescue hostages held by Islamic State militants in northern Iraq, the first American to die in ground combat with the militant group, U.S. officials said on Thursday. Sixty-nine hostages...

Almost 80 percent of Russia's declared targets in Syria have been in areas not held by Islamic State, a Reuters analysis of Russian Defence Ministry data shows, undermining Moscow's assertions that its aim is to defeat the group. The majority of strikes, according to the...