Last week, Reuters reported a development which should have surprised precisely nobody: while the Kremlin announced one month ago that it would begin withdrawing military forces from Syria at once, Putin was doing the opposite.
Believe it or not, the Iraqi army is on the verge of launching an attack on ISIS-held Mosul.
The city - home to millions of Iraqis - is Bakr al-Baghdadi's most important urban stronghold.
Raqqa is the ISIS "capital", but it's easier to command. Mosul is a major city with a population that numbers in the millions. If ISIS were to lose its grip there, it would almost surely mark the beginning of the end for the self-styled "caliphate."
ISIS ‘Department of Artifacts’ documents reveal trade of looted Syrian cultural treasures via well-established oil and weapon smuggling routes with Turkey. An RT Documentary crew investigating illicit oil smuggling by ISIS via Turkey have come across new documents shedding light on Islamic State’s lucrative trade in looted antiquities. Russia Today reports: There is no official accounting that would illustrate the true scale of looting being undertaken in Syria, a land once rich with cultural treasures.
The ancient city of Palmyra was recently liberated from the Islamic State jihadists in central Syria. Russia Today correspondent Lizzie Phelan visited the ‘pearl of the desert’ and checked what remained of the UNESCO World Heritage Site after ISIS took hold of the city and its ancient archaeological treasures last year and subjected it to wanton destruction, as with all cultural sites and artifacts that fall under their hands. Russia Today reports: Just getting to Palmyra is a challenge.
The Infamous war criminal Tony Blair believes that ground troops should be considered in the fight against ISIS. He said that Britain and its western allies must be prepared to send ground troops to “crush” ISIS or risk a terror attack in Europe of “such size and horror” that draconian security measures would have to be introduced.