The last ISIS families – and the American children still trapped: Reporter's Notebook
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Reporter James Longman's account of the families left in ISIS' last foothold.
ABC News: International
Tag: ISIS
To the bitter end, ISIS militants remain organized and brutal
[unable to retrieve full-text content]ISIS' religious police still impose their rule of fear in its territory.
ABC News: International
2 Americans captured while fighting for ISIS, militia says
The Pentagon and the anti-ISIS coalition said they are aware of reports from America's Kurdish allies in Syria that at least two American citizens who were allegedly fighting with ISIS have been captured. "We are aware of open source reports of reportedly American citizens currently in custody who were believed to be fighting for ISIS. However, we are unable to confirm this information at this time. The incident is under investigation," Commander Sean Robertson, a Pentagon spokesman, told ABC News. The Washington-backed Syrian Democratic Forces announced the capture in a statement on Sunday, saying that two Americans, along with three other foreign nationals, were taken in the city of Hajeen in eastern Syria near the last ISIS stronghold of Deir ez-Zor. Mustafa Bali, head of the SDF ...
How Google, Facebook and other tech giants are fighting ISIS online
Over the past year, the tech giants have come under fire for not doing enough to fight ISIS's digital army on their own turf. Now Google, Jigsaw and Facebook are experimenting with new ways to use algorithms and the latest open source technology to try to pull potential ISIS recruits back from the edge before it’s too late. An initiative called the redirect method, which launched six months ago in the United States, uses Google’s not-so-secret weapon: Algorithms that target ads designed specifically for you. “The Redirect Method, put simply, is a way of using advertising to counter and prevent extremism and terrorism,” said Ross Frenett, a director at Moonshot CVE, the company working with Google on the project. “So someone types in 'I want to join jihad into Google...' we’ve placed an ...
Drone footage captures apocalyptic aftermath of ISIS in Raqqa
Though victory has been declared in the battle against ISIS in the Syrian city of Raqqa, drone footage and photos show a city decimated by a months-long siege and years of civil war. Syrian Democratic Forces celebrated their hard-won victory around Naim Square, which was where ISIS fighters once carried out public beheadings and executions during their occupation of the city. Also known as "Paradise Square," it had been a symbol of brutality when Raqqa was the "capital" of ISIS's self-declared caliphate. Now, the once-vibrant metropolis of 200,000 people has been left in ruins following fighting that began during the Syrian uprising and escalated with the arrival of ISIS in late 2013. The battle to retake Raqqa began on June 6, following heavy airstrikes by U.S. forces. In the past few...