BAMAKO, Mali (AP) Two helicopters collided on a moonless night and killed 13 French soldiers fighting Islamic State group-linked extremists in Mali, France said Tuesday, mourning its highest military death toll in nearly four decades. The deaths draw new attention to a worrying front in the global fight against extremism, one in which France and local countries have pleaded for more support. In a surge of violence this month, attackers often linked to IS have killed scores of troops in West Africa’s arid Sahel region and ambushed a convoy of employees of a Canadian mining company, leaving at least 38 dead. French President Emmanuel Macron expressed “deep sadness” after the Monday evening crash. It was France’s highest military toll since 1983, when 58 paratroopers were killed in a truck bombing in Lebanon.
Why Afghanistan is critical to the struggle against China, Russia and Iran Rep. Michael Waltz May 3 A U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft taxis to its parking spot Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, Sept. 25, 2012. (Capt. Raymond Geoffroy/Air Force) Last month, President Biden shocked the world by announcing all U.S. forces will withdraw from Afghanistan by Sept. 11 this year. As a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, I found this news heartbreaking knowing the American bloodshed that had been spilled in combating terrorism and for the millions who are likely to return to life under Taliban rule. Set aside for a moment that most observers correctly point out an Afghanistan withdrawal will set the stage for similar events that unfolded following then-President Obama’s withdrawal from Iraq in 2011 that provided a path for the Islamic State Group to launch its reign of terror across the Middle East, Europe, and inspire attacks in America.
Islamic State group offshoot claims 2017 Niger attack on US
January 13, 2018 GMT FILE - These images provided by the U.S. Army show, from left, Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black, 35, of Puyallup, Wash.; Staff Sgt. Jeremiah W. Johnson, 39, of Springboro, Ohio; Sgt. La David Johnson of Miami Gardens, Fla.; and Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright, 29, of Lyons, Ga. All four were killed in Niger, when a joint patrol of American and Niger forces was ambushed on Oct. 4, 2017, by militants believed linked to the Islamic State group. The Mauritanian Nouakchott News Agency reported Friday, Jan. 12, 2018 that Abu al-Walid al-Sahrawi with the self-professed IS affiliate claimed responsibility for the Oct. 4 ambush about 120 miles (200 kilometers) north of Niger s capital, Niamey. (U.S. Army via AP)
Covid-19 in Syria: SDF s killing of civilian during curfew reminiscent of IS rule
Several people also injured as angry residents burn down SDF s headquarters in Raqqa following shop owner s death
Angry residents lit tyres to block the roads in Jdeideh Keheit, a town in the eastern countryside of Raqqa province (MEE/Hussam Hammoud) By Published date: 21 April 2021 12:24 UTC | Last update: 38 min 34 sec ago
There have been clashes in Syria s Raqqa province after Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) shot dead a shop owner on Friday while enforcing a Covid-19 curfew.
The incident in Jdeideh Keheit, a town in the eastern countryside of Raqqa, has prompted comparisons with the era of Islamic State (IS) rule that ended with the intervention of the US-backed SDF in 2017.
Asmaa & Omar al-Natoor
Asmaa al-Natoor never thought she would be comparing her adopted homeland of Denmark to her native Syria from which she fled. He kills us with missiles directly, she says of Syria s president Bashar Al-Assad. But the Danish government is waging a psychological war.”
Denmark ruled Syria safe for return last month, the first country in Europe to do so.
Ms al-Natoor was encouraged to speak up after a fellow Syrian refugee, 61-year-old Akram Bathish, died of a heart attack just weeks after receiving notice from the immigration services.
Two policemen looking at the documents of some immigrants, who are sitting on the street