USA

Rescue attempt6

Yemeni fury over US raid

Luke Somers and Pierre Korkie were held hostage by the Al-Awlaki tribe in Yemen. “Poor operational planning of the US rescue raid caused the death of the hostages,” a high-ranking security official in […]

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PARADE: Raqqa is the stronghold and the operational centre of IS in Syria. Here an IS parade in Raqqa in June 2014. PHOTO: Raqqa Media Center (IS controlled entity)

Hunt for America’s spies

Islamic State (IS) security patrols have repeatedly raided Internet cafes in Raqqa and Deir Ezzour in Syria, hunting for America’s local spies and informants. Hate Speech International (HSI) reporters in the Syrian cities of […]

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TRAINING: Jihadists and forced recrutits, many of them as young as 16 years or younger, are given one month of military training before they are sent off to the battleground. PHOTO: IS

Child warriors in Kobani

More than 30 youngsters from Raqqa have been killed in the battle for Kobani in the last four days, HSI has learned from a variety of Syrian sources. The Islamic State (IS) is […]

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Photo: Shutterstock / Popartic. Copyrighted.

Moved before rescue attempt

ISIL moved several western hostages from Raqqa to a holding facility east of Aleppo only weeks before the failed US attempt to rescue journalist James Foley and others, according to credible information obtained […]

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THE ENIGMATIC CALIPH: How long will Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi be able to survive on the run? What powerbase will he be able to establish in the Middle East? The ISIL commander came out of hiding Friday 4 July, leading the prayer in a mosque in Mosul in Iraq. A recording of the appearance was published by ISIL the day after.

The quest for the caliph(ate)

ANALYSIS: With several national intelligence services using all their resources to hunt him down, the self-declared “caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi needs to maintain the fighting spirit of his mujahedeen force while establishing his […]

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