October, 2021

• 1 October

  Taliban Crack Down on Freedom, Rein in Fun in Afghanistan

  

  Afghanistan’s new defense minister, Mawlawi Yaqoob, has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal as criticizing Taliban fighters who have been seen taking selfies, wearing Western-style clothes, enjoying themselves at amusement parks and Kabul’s zoo, and generally having a good time – not exactly the dour image cultivated by the …

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• 1 October

  US-Led Coalition Conducts Numerous Raids in Syria Killing ISIS Members

  

  Despite President Biden’s remarks last week to the UN that the United States is at peace for the first time in 20 years, fighting continues against terrorism in the Middle East. The US-led coalition conducted several operations against Islamic State fighters and support cells recently, even as the administration is …

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• 1 October

  Cash Camps: Financing Detainee Activities in Al-Hol and Roj Camps

  

  Over two years since the fall of Baghouz, entities managing the detention facilities holding Islamic State-affiliated adults and minors in northeastern Syria face overwhelming challenges in securing this population, particularly alongside people displaced by conflict in the region. Often characterized as wastelands inhabited by a volatile population living in squalid …

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• 1 October

  Hamas-Fatah dispute over wearing keffiyeh spills over to Gaza university

  

  Hamas-affiliated police forces assaulted students wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh on the Al-Azhar University campus in the Gaza Strip, causing uproar among the Fatah movement. Hamas-affiliated security forces attacked Sept. 21 several students and university staff wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh at Al-Azhar University in the Gaza Strip. The university’s administration as …

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• 1 October

  Russia bombs Turkey’s allies in Syria ahead of Putin-Erdogan summit

  

  Russian jets shelled a camp for the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army in Afrin, north of Aleppo, and intensified its airstrikes against the areas controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Idlib ahead of the meeting between the Turkish and Russian presidents on Sept. 29. Sources affiliated with the Syrian opposition’s so-called …

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• 1 October

  Syrian jihadist group won’t reconcile with al-Qaeda affiliate in Idlib

  

  Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which controls Idlib, is refusing to sit down with al-Qaeda-affiliated Hurras al-Din leaders to resolve pending disputes. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which controls Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, is refusing calls from al-Qaeda-affiliated Hurras al-Din (Guardians of Religion Organization) to resolve their differences through Sharia arbitration. “A …

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• 1 October

  Iraq’s Sunni parties compete for votes in crucial election

  

  Iraqi Sunnis are weighing whether to vote for candidates on a tribal or party-linked basis, try for independents or maybe not even vote at all. Baghdad streets were teeming by early September with billboards and posters bearing candidates’ faces and the numbers they will be associated with on ballots to …

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• 1 October

  Iran, UAE rehash tensions over contested islands

  

  The UAE deputy foreign minister’s address to the United Nations stirred up the territorial dispute, which has long been at the very core of tensions between the Arab state and the Islamic Republic. “The three islands are inseparable swaths of Iranian territory and any claim on them is vehemently rejected,” …

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• 1 October

  Top generals step down in ominous sign for Turkish military in Syria

  

  Top generals in charge of Turkey’s military operations in Syria have sought retirement amid escalating tensions in Idlib, fueling questions over Ankara’s Syria policies. Turkey was rattled last week by reports that five generals serving on Syria-related missions were seeking to resign, including the head of a command center in …

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• 1 October

  Turkey’s political realities clash with Erdogan’s 2023 dreams

  

  To win the next election, Erdogan must change the election laws but also find more popular political allies. His AKP party’s current coalition with the ultra-nationalists is becoming a liability for his goal of re-election in 2023. Since the last elections in 2019, two debates have dominated the Turkish political …

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