IS planning to step up attacks in Iraq's 'fragile regions'

Attacks have already increased sharply, mostly confined to the territory separating the Kurdistan Region from the rest of Iraq, following the US withdrawal in late September

Rustum Mahmud

The Great Game Continues

[caption id="attachment_55237835" align="aligncenter" width="620"] Two Afghan National Police keep watch on the outskirts of Herat, near the border between Afghanistan and Iran, on December 13, 2012…

Alex Vatanka

Second Independence Trauma

[caption id="attachment_55237749" align="alignnone" width="620"] An armed man waves his rifle as buildings and cars are engulfed in flames after being set on fire inside the US consulate compound in…

Giuma Bukleb

Clinton Out, Kerry In

[caption id="attachment_55237805" align="alignnone" width="620"] US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at her final press interview in the Benjamin Franklin room of the State Deptartment on January…

Alex Edwards

President or Preacher?

[caption id="attachment_55237775" align="alignnone" width="620"] Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi.Source: KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images[/caption] It has not been a good week for Egypt’s president,…

Mahmud El-Shafey

Inside or Outside the Tent?

[caption id="attachment_55237605" align="aligncenter" width="620"] A Yemeni soldier mans a checkpoint in Sana'a on 23 January 2013. Source: MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images[/caption]Last month,…

James Spencer

The King is Listening

[caption id="attachment_55237670" align="alignnone" width="620"] Jordanians vote in the parliamentary elections on 23 January 2013 in the city of Zarqa, Jordan as a portrait of King Abdullah II looks…

Malik al-Abdeh

Frustrated Egypt

[caption id="attachment_55237589" align="alignnone" width="620"] A woman carrying her daughter waits with others to cast her vote during the referendum on the new Egyptian constitution. The results…

Michael Whiting

Yemen in 2013

[caption id="attachment_55237532" align="alignnone" width="620"] A Yemeni pro-democratic protestor shows her hands painted in the colors of her national flag and text reading in Arabic, "We want the…

Abubakr Al-Shamahi

Maliki’s Damascene Affair

[caption id="attachment_55237445" align="alignnone" width="620"] Anti-government protesters demonstrate in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on 18 January 2013. Thousands of Sunni Muslims took to the…

Andrew Bowen

Old President, New Tricks

[caption id="attachment_55237457" align="alignnone" width="620"] Flags are displayed on the US Capitol as preparations continue for the second inauguration of US President Barack Obama in Washington…

Mina Al-Oraibi