The thing about ragtag groups of militants that display a penchant for extreme violence is that in the absence of serious opposition, they can rack up gains at an alarming pace. Of course there are plenty of (possibly credible) theories out there, which suggest that some of what you see in the videos released by ISIS is for show and we won’t endeavor to assess the degree to which the group’s brutality... 

Turkish forces have shot down a Russian jet after it flew into the country’s airspace, according to unconfirmed reports on social media. Pictured is a MIG-29 jet belonging to the Russian Air Force. Turkish forces are said to have shot down a Russian jet after it flew into the country’s airspace, according to unconfirmed reports on social media. It has been claimed by eyewitnesses that there... 

Syria’s civil war has prompted the first withdrawal of crop seeds from a “doomsday” vault built in an Arctic mountainside to safeguard global food supplies. The seeds, including samples of wheat, barley and grasses suited to dry regions, have been requested by researchers in the Middle East to replace a collection in the Syrian city of Aleppo that has been damaged by the war. “Protecting the... 

US-led airstrikes have killed 52 Syrian civilians in one day, a monitoring group reports. There was fighting in the vicinity, but the strike allegedly failed to kill even a single Islamist fighter. “Airstrikes by the coalition early on Friday on the village of Birmahle in Aleppo province killed 52 civilians,” the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. Seven... 

This US Navy photo shows the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) as it launches a Tomahawk cruise missile in the Persian Gulf, September 23, 2014. US-led strikes against ISIL terrorists in the crisis-hit Syria are aimed at “eventually” targeting the Syrian government’s positions, an American investigative journalist says. David Lindorff made the remarks in a phone interview with... 

Militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) standing next to captured vehicles left behind by Iraqi security forces at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province. ISIS jihadists have declared the captured territories from Iraq’s Diyala province to Syria’s Aleppo a new Islamic State – a ‘caliphate.’ They removed ‘Iraq and the Levant’ from their... 

A political analyst says the United States and the Israeli regime have been wrong in their calculation of the Syrian government’s ‘strength’ in the fight against foreign-backed Takfiris, Press TV reports. Mark Weber, with the Institute for Historical Review, told Press TV on Thursday that the “United States and Israel miscalculated in underestimating the strength of the Syria government which... 

Al-Qaeda-linked militants in Syria have destroyed several Jewish mausoleums in the historical town of Tadouf in the northern city of Aleppo. Militants reportedly demolished a number of the most ancient Jewish mausoleums in the town. Foreign-backed militants have so far destroyed many religious sites in Syria since the unrest began in 2011. Earlier this month, members of the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra... 

McClatchy website published information saying that Russia handed over a large 100-page report to the United Nations in July. The report supposedly proved that it was the Syrian rebels who used sarin gas in Aleppo in March. The announcement of this, according to the website, was published Wednesday on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry. UN spokesman Farhan Haq confirmed the receipt of the... 

Netanyahu calls up reserve forces; Huge US military build up in Qatar; Russia evacuates citizens from Syria. Senior Syrian and Iranian officials have again warned that should the US pursue military action in Syria, the state of Israel will find itself firmly and immediately in their crosshairs. “If Damascus comes under attack, Tel Aviv will be targeted too and a full-scale war against Syria will... 

The western-backed terrorist filth which has infested many parts of Syria in the last two years is being systematically exterminated and removed from its hideouts before the areas are sterilized by the Syrian Armed Forces, heroically waging a winning war against NATO’s mercenaries, special forces and Islamist terrorists they have brought into the fray. As the west becomes desperate and the common... 

Syrian Army is gearing up for an all-out offensive to clear the Salaheddin district in the country’s commercial hub of Aleppo of insurgents. Reports say heavy clashes are underway between Syrian government forces and insurgents on the outskirts of the flashpoint city, but the government says it is in full control of Damascus. Fighting is also underway in the Sukkari, Hamdaniyeh, and Ansari districts... 

Rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters capture a policeman who the FSA allege is a “Shabiha” or pro-regime militiaman, on July 31, 2012, as the rebels overran a police station in Aleppo A horrifying amateur video from Syria emerged online, showing an apparent mass execution of Assad supporters in Aleppo at the hands of rebels from the Free Syria Army. The footage shows several bloodied men stripped... 

Rebels from the Syrian opposition clash with the Syrian army forces in the restive northern city of Aleppo on July 25, 2012. Syrian troops have stormed armed groups’ command center in the northern city of Aleppo, killing at least 150 terrorists fighting against the government. According to reports coming from Syria, the army attacked a rebel-held school in Aleppo’s Salahuddin district, which was... 

Switzerland suspends arms shipments to the UAE over a report that Swiss hand grenades have ended up in the hands of militants groups in Syria. Switzerland has decided to suspend arms shipments to the United Arab Emirates following a report that Swiss-made hand grenades are being used by armed gangs in Syria. The measure was taken on Wednesday after the Sonntagszeitung newspaper published a photograph...