Nabih Bulos

Waging war on Islamic State: The first step is to drop hundreds of boxes of leaflets

August 22, 2019 at 1:11 a.m.

The pilots stared ahead at the night sky, their eyes scanning an expanse of black that was interrupted by the glittering outlines of northern Iraq's cities and towns. On the...

Syrians buy sweets at a market in an opposition-held district in Syria's northern city of Aleppo on Aug. 12, 2016.

Battle for Aleppo underscores Sunni vs. Shiite fight Syrian civil war has become

August 22, 2019 at 12:43 a.m.

It was a Saturday evening on June 16, 1979, when a duty officer in the Aleppo Artillery School, Capt. Ibrahim Yousef, called some 300 cadets for an urgent meeting in...

Rebel fighters fire toward pro-government forces' positions in Ramussa on the southwestern edges of Syria's northern city of Aleppo on Saturday.

Syrian rebels may be turning the tables on Assad’s troops in Aleppo

August 22, 2019 at 12:34 a.m.

Syrian rebels broke through a siege on opposition-held areas of Aleppo late Saturday night that government troops had been mounting for weeks, activists said. Pro-government ground troops were forced to...

In this picture posted on a social media account affiliated with the Islamic State group on June 14, 2015, militants stone a man accused of violating the extremists' ban on homosexuality after they threw him from a roof in the city of Homs, Syria.

In Islamic State-held areas, being gay often means a death sentence

August 21, 2019 at 11:45 p.m.

The camera lingers on the jihadists suspending the man by his legs over the edge of the building. Blindfolded, his hands bound behind his back, he flails as he falls...

A member of the Iraqi pro-government forces walks past a heavily damaged building Saturday during an offensive to retake the city of Fallouja from Islamic State.

In Iraq, pro-government forces close in on Fallujah

August 21, 2019 at 11:32 p.m.

Iraqi pro-government forces surrounded Fallujah on Sunday and took control of almost all entrances to the city, in preparation for the next phase of their week-long effort to seize it...

Iraqis look at damage to businesses after a car bombing May 11 in Sadr City, a Shiite area north of the capital, Baghdad.

A grandfather’s grief on the bloodiest day Baghdad has seen in months

June 24, 2019 at 5:18 a.m.

For members of the Ali family, Wednesday was the day they lost 6-year-old Yaqeen in a bomb blast in the Iraqi capital.She was among those who died when a bomb...

The Pentagon-backed Syrian Democratic Forces recently fought a CIA-armed militia. Such clashes have become routine.

CIA-armed militias are shooting at Pentagon-armed ones in Syria

May 12, 2019 at 7:27 p.m.

Syrian militias armed by different parts of the U.S. war machine have begun to fight each other on the plains between the besieged city of Aleppo and the Turkish border,...

Syrians ride their bicycles through the ruins of Palmyra with the Palmyra citadel (sometimes called Palmyra castle) seen on the hilltop in March 2014.

Battle for Palmyra will reveal how much damage Islamic State did to priceless relics

May 12, 2019 at 7:27 p.m.

Syrian pro-government forces battled their way Friday into the outer areas of the city of Palmyra, the archaeological metropolis held by Islamic State militants since May of last year, as...

A member of the Iraqi security forces holds a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher Jan. 17 during an operation to clear the Sajarya district on the eastern outskirts of Ramadi of Islamic State fighters.

Long after most U.S. troops have left Iraq, civilians are dying in ‘obscene’ numbers

June 21, 2019 at 3:19 p.m.

It's a place where the daily grind—the office commute, a quick trip to the neighborhood market—could end in death, abduction or torture. Civilians in Iraq confront face "staggering" violence on...

People inspect a damaged vehicle after a reported airstrike by Syrian government forces in the northern city of Aleppo on Saturday. In eastern Syria, Islamic State militants reportedly kidnapped hundreds of civilians.

Once again, Islamic State suspected of carrying out mass kidnapping

June 21, 2019 at 3:51 p.m.

In what has become the chilling calling card of Islamic State, reports emerged Sunday that the extremist group had kidnapped hundreds of civilians during fighting in eastern Syria. The official...

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