Syria Wants to Talk
Syrian government ready to negotiate with opposition. “We want to end this conflict yesterday,” – Syrian Government In 2011, 15 children were arrested in Syria for graffiti. The kids were beaten and tortured in prison. Syrians protested the arrests of the kids (they were freed). Meanwhile, Arab Spring protests spread across the Middle East. Syrian forces responded by shooting protesters. …
ISIS Ice Truck Bomb
ISIS kills 120, wounds 140 with holiday bomb. People used vegetable boxes to collect children’s body parts. Ramadan is an important Islamic holiday & lasts for 1 month. Muslims don’t eat or drink from sunrise to sunset that month. Ramadan marks the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad. A huge festival called Eid al-Fitr celebrates the end of Ramadan. …
4 Million Syrian Refugees
Over half of Syria’s population is now homeless. Source article on CNN.com The 2011 Arab Spring saw riots & protests erupt in Middle East. In Syria, protests exploded against President Bashar al-Assad. Syrian government forces responded with brutal violence. The protests eventually turned into outright civil war. Chemical weapons have been used repeatedly during the war. Estimates in April 2015 …
More Troops in Iraq
President Obama sends 450 more troops to Iraq. Source article on CNN.com 3,050 US troops are in Iraq advising & training Iraqi troops. 450 more troops will go train Sunni tribe soldiers to fight ISIS. Sunni Muslims used to thrive under Saddam Hussein. They have been marginalized since his overthrow. Which is why some Sunnis view ISIS (also Sunni) as …
ISIS Wins on 2 Fronts
ISIS has won 2 major victories in the last week. Source article from CNN.com (opens in new tab) ISIS captured 2 cities this week: one in Iraq and one in Syria. In Iraq, ISIS took control of Ramadi, capital of Anbar province. Ramadi is just 75 miles east of Baghdad. In Syria, ISIS took the city of Palmyra on Thursday. …
ISIS Captures Ramadi
Strategic city falls to ISIS after months of fighting. Ramadi is in central Iraq. It has a population of ~200,000. ISIS and Iraqi forces have been fighting over it for months. Thursday night, ISIS launched a massive offensive. It included suicide bombers in cars with explosives. The fighting continued through the night and into Friday. ISIS’s black flag has been …
The Garland Attack
2 gunmen attempt attack on anti-Muslim event in Texas. American Freedom Defense Initiative is an anti-Muslim group. Last week, they held a contest to draw the Prophet Muhammad. Creating an image of Muhammad is very offensive to Muslims. Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi intended to attack the event. They drove from Arizona to Texas with body armor and rifles. The …
ISIS Kills More Christians
New video shows ISIS kill 2 groups of Christians. New video from ISIS shows execution of 2 groups of people. The first group of 16 people are beheaded on a beach in Libya. The second group of 12 people are shot in a desert in Libya. Both groups are believed to be Ethiopian Christians. A narrator in the video says the …
Chaos in Yemen
Houthi rebels cling to port city despite 2 weeks of bombs. For more context, click here see our previous story about Houthi rebels. Houthi rebels in Yemen have destabilized its government. They now control almost the entire Western portion of Yemen. After 2 weeks of airstrikes, Saudi Arabia (SA) has gained little. SA may launch a ground offensive in the …