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...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- The Turkish army has dipped further in a Syrian border area, opening a route in depth of 400 near Bab al-Hawa border crossing, residents told Zaman al-Wasl on Wednesday. People the village of Aqrabat said the road passed through the land known as Manzalat abdul-Hai, and the...

(Zaman al-Wasl)- New forced displacement operation started on Wednesday in Moadamiyet al-Sham, a western suburb of Damascus, where about 5000 people from the town and other displaced population from Daraya, Kafarsouseh and al-Mazeh will leave towards Idlib province, local sources reported....

(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,...