Syria
ISIS Fighters’ Children Are Growing Up in a Desert Camp. What Will They Become?
AL HOL, Syria — Viewed from a helicopter, this enormous camp that holds the wives and children of dead or captured Islamic State fighters was a sea of white tents against the desolate landscape of drought-stricken northeastern Syria. From the ground, the human dimension of this tragedy came into focus. As a convoy of armored […]
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Griner Case Draws Attention to ‘Wrongful Detentions’
WASHINGTON — Brittney Griner. Austin Tice. The Citgo 6. And now, potentially, three American military veterans who were captured by enemy forces after traveling to Ukraine to fight Russia. They are among nearly 50 Americans who the State Department believes are wrongfully detained by foreign governments. At least a dozen more Americans are being held […]
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France Brings Home French Wives of ISIS Jihadists From Syria
PARIS — France brought home 16 wives of jihadists from sprawling detention camps in northeastern Syria on Tuesday, breaking with a policy that for years had ruled out repatriating and trying adult women who had left to join the Islamic State. The women were accompanied by 35 children — some traveling with their mothers, others […]
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Air Force Detains Airman in Attack on U.S. Base in Syria
WASHINGTON — The Air Force has detained a U.S. service member in connection with an attack in April at a small American military base in northeastern Syria that wounded four U.S. troops, the service said on Tuesday. An airman was taken into custody at an undisclosed location in the United States on Thursday in relation […]
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British Militant Convicted for Role in Deaths of Americans
Mr. Kotey, 38, who was part of the Beatles, pleaded guilty in September to multiple charges, saying that he had played a critical role in the kidnapping and detention of American prisoners. He is expected to be sentenced this month. Mr. Elsheikh, who was born in Sudan and raised in London, sat impassively as each […]
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Ukrainians Fill Streets With Music, Echoing Past War Zones
When bombs began falling on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv late last month, forcing Vera Lytovchenko to shelter in the basement of her apartment building, she took her violin with her, hoping it might bring comfort. In the weeks since, Lytovchenko, a violinist for the Kharkiv Theater of Opera and Ballet, has given impromptu concerts […]
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Russia’s Brutality in Ukraine Has Roots in Earlier Conflicts
“All those remaining in Grozny will be considered terrorists and will be wiped out by artillery and aviation,” an official military edict warned. Though the statement was rescinded, Russian forces shelled the city indiscriminately, blockading its exits to prevent residents from fleeing. Mr. Putin, whom President Boris Yeltsin promoted from virtual anonymity to prime minister […]
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Impunity for Syria War Crimes Casts Shadow Over Ukraine
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Syrian police stormed her house and dragged her husband away. Her eldest son died in a rain of Syrian government shells on her hometown. So like millions of other Syrians, Hanadi Hafisi fled the country with plans to return when the war ended. A decade later, she’s still a refugee in […]
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Leader’s Death Is Another Blow for ISIS, but It’s Hardly the End
BEIRUT, Lebanon — For a man who sought to disappear, the leader of the Islamic State seemed to have done everything right. He hid out far from where his enemies expected. He never left the house, relying on trusted couriers to communicate with his far-flung underlings. He was the group’s only leader to never issue […]
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