Nusra Front

U.S.-backed Syrian rebels say al-Qaida militants have seized their bases and stolen weapons in a series of raids in the northern Idlib province.

If, as cliché has it, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, isn’t the recent flurry of diplomatic activity aimed at bringing about a negotiated settlement to the Syrian civil war insane?

Syria’s al-Qaida branch on Tuesday released a group of Lebanese troops held captive for over a year

the Syrian war involves numerous actors, dozens of seemingly contradictory alliances and rapidly changing dynamics. But while the war is indeed complicated, making sense of it is crucial to understanding the recent Paris attacks, the refugee crisis in Europe, and the continuing turmoil in the region. Here are the basics—decoded.

The attack on a Mali hotel claimed by al-Qaida may have been partly aimed at asserting the global terror network’s relevance as it faces an unprecedented challenge from the Islamic State (ISIS) for leadership of the global jihadi movement.

A somber President Vladimir Putin vowed to hunt down and punish those responsible for a bomb that brought down a Russian passenger jet last month, “wherever they are hiding.” Intensified Russian airstrikes Tuesday hit the Islamic State (ISIS) stronghold in Syria that also is being pounded by the French military.

Lebanon’s political gridlock obstructs a solution to the country’s terrible problems, and ISIS seeks to destabilize the situation further.

Syrian forces are in the midst of a major offensive against rebels and terrorist organizations, including the ISIS, after Russia started bombing targets on the Assad regime’s behalf.

An airstrike has killed a top al-Qaida commander and two other fighters in Syria.

When the Arab Spring hit Syria in 2011, few would have predicted that a simple uprising in Deraa would lead to full-blown conflict with over 250,000 dead and millions fleeing the country.

As a result of the threat to the Syrian Druze by al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, their protection now is contested between a trio of sworn enemies: al-Qaida-affiliated rebel fighters, the Syrian regime, and Israel.

Islamic State militants invaded Iraq’s west almost a year ago and overran the nation’s second-largest city in June, threatening death and torture to opponents in their way. But the world has been slow to respond, coming together Wednesday for the first high-level meeting of scores of nations now devoted to destroying the rampant insurgency.

An Iraqi official denied Wednesday that a woman detained in Lebanon is a wife of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State group, adding that she is the sister of a terror suspect being held in Iraq.

Lebanese authorities detained a woman and young boy believed to be the wife and son of the reclusive Islamic State group leader, and were questioning the woman and conducting DNA tests on the child, senior Lebanese officials said Tuesday.

The United Arab Emirates designated the Muslim Brotherhood and dozens of other Islamist groups as terrorist organizations on Saturday, ratcheting up the pressure on the group by lumping it together with extremists such as the Islamic State group and the Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria.

During a key battle in the rugged mountains of a northern province earlier this month, U.S.-backed Syrian rebels collapsed before an assault by al-Qaeda fighters. Some surrendered their weapons. Others outright defected to the militants.

America’s top military leader arrived in Iraq on Saturday on a previously unannounced visit, his first since a U.S.-led coalition began launching airstrikes against the extremist Islamic State group.

The Pentagon warned Congress on Thursday that the long, drawn-out military campaign against Islamic State militants is just beginning and could expand to include modest numbers of U.S. forces fighting alongside Iraqi troops.