Munzer al-Awad is a journalist based in Istanbul.
The inability of US forces to eliminate al-Qaeda networks in Iraq helped it reorganize as ISIS after Barack Obama withdrew troops in 2011.
The American dead included two soldiers, a US security contractor, and a civilian Defense Department employee, according to US Central Command.
BuzzFeed News reveals that the US is preparing to shut down a key base near Syria’s border with Jordan that some US officials have cast as part of efforts to counter Iran.
The decision was announced Wednesday with little preparation. Even in recent days, there had been no hints of a rapid end to the US presence there.
"There will be a large massacre against civilians."
The availability of the documents, which can fetch hundreds of dollars on the black market, troubles some counterterrorism officials, but they are hesitant to make it an issue.
“The fight against ISIS does not depend solely on military fighting."
In the aftermath of recent airstrikes, Syrians are left worried that their limited scope may actually provoke more attacks on civilians.
Embattled rebels say they are looking for a morale boost and a real change to the country’s drawn-out war.
The US says it's based near the Syrian city of al-Tanf to guard against ISIS. But the rebels Washington is backing in the area say they’re more concerned about Iran.
Some Saudis had been demanding that she should be punished, while others defended her.
“We had heard that Americans always stand beside the oppressed, regardless of their religion or their ethnicity,” said a refugee who fled Syria with her six children.