IRBIL, IRAQ—Islamic State (IS) extremists are training Iraqi and Syrian children as young as eight years old to carry out suicide attacks and fight to kill, Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga commanders tell VOA. “There are training centers, more than two or three, big training centers in Mosul,” said General Sirwan Barzani, the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga commander […]
Just five years ago, the United States was involved in nearly every aspect of Iraq’s life, from economic reconstruction to political development to military cooperation. Now, analysts say, regional power broker Iran dominates the Iraqi landscape. On the battlefield, Iran is helping Iraq push out Sunni-dominated Islamic State extremists from key northern cities. Trade between […]
In his trip to Asia next week, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to discuss with Beijing and Tokyo ways they can help degrade and defeat the Islamic State extremists, a senior State Department official said. Blinken, a former deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama, is to be received at […]
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — Afghanistan’s government reacted in anger at President Barack Obama’s decision to release five Taliban detainees from U.S. detention at Guantanamo Bay into Qatar’s jurisdiction, in exchange for an American soldier who had been held by the Taliban for five years. Afghanistan’s foreign ministry said the U.S. decision was a potential breach of international […]