
Latest Articles about Syria

Western Women Who Join the Islamic State
On February 17, three British teenagers left their East London homes and boarded a plane for Turkey. Soon afterwards, they crossed into Syria, where they are believed to have joined the Islamic State militant group (al-Jazeera, February 21). This event has put female radicalization in... MORE

Allure of Islamic State’s Media Machine Attracts New Generation of Chechen Recruits
Emotions ran high in the Chechen community once again with the news that two school children from Pankisi, Georgia, went to Syria to fight, presumably alongside the Islamic State organization (see EDM, April 16). Earlier in April, 16-year-old Muslim Kushtanashvili and 18-year-old Ramzan Bagakashvili went... MORE

More of Georgia’s Muslims Try to Join Islamic State
On April 2, two high school boys from Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge, populated by Muslim Chechens (known as Kists in Georgia), disappeared and later contacted their parents, notifying them that they were in Turkey. It is widely believed that the teenagers are heading for Syria, in... MORE

Tide of Support for Islamic State in the North Caucasus Causes Alarm in Moscow
Russia watchers can hardly fail to notice that Moscow often reacts to events in the North Caucasus after a significant time lag. Several amirs of the Caucasus Emirate pledged allegiance to the so-called Islamic State back in November–December 2014. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), however,... MORE

The Struggle for Syria’s al-Hasakah Governorate: Kurds, the Islamic State and the IRGC
The Islamic State’s attack on ethnic Assyrian Christian communities in the northeastern Syrian governorate of al-Hasakah in February and the subsequent kidnapping of approximately 220 Assyrian villagers has brought renewed international attention to the region and the complex ethnic and religious conflicts brewing there (Daily... MORE

Chechen Militants Fighting in Middle East Remain Split in Their Loyalties
Many Chechen supporters of the Islamic State have flocked to the Middle East. And as their numbers and fervency have grown, this has placed at a disadvantage other Chechen commanders in the Middle East who have refused to subordinate themselves to the self-styled new caliphate.... MORE

Zekerija Qazimi—Kosovo’s Imprisoned Imam and Ideological Mentor to Albanian Jihadists Fighting With Islamic State
Since August 2014, more than 100 individuals have been arrested or questioned by the security services in Kosovo, including a number of leading religious and political figures. These arrests stem from charges and allegations of recruiting young Albanian men and women from Kosovo to join... MORE

To Topple the Throne: Islamic State Sets Its Sights on Saudi Arabia
The meteoric rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which has since styled itself the Islamic State in an affirmation of its broader aspirations of dominion over a self-declared caliphate beyond the territories where it exercises control, has aggravated the Middle East’s already... MORE

FSB Director Says Islamic State fighters Include 1,700 Russian Citizens
As elements of the Islamic State (IS) infiltrate the territory of the North Caucasus, the looming question is whether the caliphate will have an actual impact on the situation in the region. As of now, it can be said with certainty that little has changed... MORE

Islamic State Loots Archaeological Sites for Cash
By late 2013, more than 90 percent of Syria’s cultural sites lay in regions affected by fighting and civil unrest, leaving them open to plunder. In addition, regions of Iraq now under the control of the Islamic State militant group and its allies include roughly... MORE