Eric Schmitt
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - 06:44
Only a few years after French troops broke up its desert stronghold and scattered its fighters into the dunes, Al Qaeda’s branch in West Africa has regrouped and extended its reach, storming into new territory across three nations.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016 - 06:22
An elite American Special Operations force has captured a significant Islamic State operative in Iraq and is expected to apprehend and interrogate a number of others in coming months, ushering in a new and potentially fraught phase in the fight against the extremist Sunni militant group.
Friday, February 26, 2016 - 06:30
The Pentagon is poised to send dozens of Special Operations advisers to the front lines of Nigeria’s fight against the West African militant group Boko Haram, according to military officials, the latest deployment in conflicts with the Islamic State and its allies.
Tuesday, February 16, 2016 - 06:07
Trying to stay a step ahead of terrorist and illicit smuggling networks that are pushing deeper into West Africa, Senegal created a new riverine commando squad last year to help patrol the Senegal River that delineates a 500-mile border with Mauritania to the north.
Monday, February 1, 2016 - 06:22
The United States has carried out at least a dozen operations — including commando raids and airstrikes — in the past three weeks against militants in Afghanistan aligned with the Islamic State, expanding the Obama administration’s military campaign against the terrorist group beyond Iraq and Syria.
Tuesday, January 19, 2016 - 06:42
Counterterrorism officials regard the Libyan branch as the Islamic State’s most dangerous affiliate, but to stop its advance, the U.S. has been forced to court unreliable allies from among a patchwork of Libyan militias that remain unaccountable, poorly organized and divided by region and tribe
Friday, January 15, 2016 - 07:45
Though the Nigerian military has arrested and killed many fighters — and more crucially, retaken a swath of territory once held by insurgents that is estimated to be as large as Belgium — the gains have come against a backdrop of relentless suicide bombings that, if anything, have escalated.
Thursday, December 10, 2015 - 06:59
As American intelligence agencies grapple with the expansion of the Islamic State beyond its headquarters in Syria, the Pentagon has proposed a new plan to the White House to build up a string of military bases in Africa, Southwest Asia and the Middle East.
Friday, November 13, 2015 - 06:20
The United States and its allies have sharply increased their airstrikes against the sprawling oil fields that the Islamic State controls in eastern Syria in an effort to disrupt one of the terrorist group’s main sources of revenue, American officials said this week.
Monday, November 9, 2015 - 06:28
As the United States prepares to intensify airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria, the Arab allies who with great fanfare sent warplanes on the initial missions there a year ago have largely vanished from the campaign.