Jordanian intelligence officer tells Guardian Lafarge factory was used by intelligence agencies to gather information on IS hostagesA cement plant in Syria at the centre of a terror financing investigation in France was used by western intelligence age…
British-born Islamic State terror suspect pleads guilty to multiple charges
Alexanda Amon Kotey, one of a gang of four IS militants, admits to hostage taking and conspiracy to murder in US courtA British terrorist accused of beheading western hostages for Islamic State has pleaded guilty to multiple charges in a US federal cou…
Some slept, some cried, all were now refugees: inside one of the last Afghan airlifts
Those on board the cramped military plane weren’t granted a last glimpse of their homeland before the difficult journey ahead, while all knew thousands still waited desperately belowThe American marine shouted “push!”. And hundreds of people did, shovi…
Biden meets remains of 13 troops killed in Kabul as US promises more strikes
Secretary of state to bereaved father: ‘I’m deeply sorry’Adviser: US will help people leave after deadlineAfghanistan – live coverageThe White House on Sunday reasserted its promise to capture or kill the perpetrators of the deadly attacks on Kabul air…
I watched the bombs fall to unleash the 9/11 wars. Two decades later, they grind on | Jason Burke
Listening to Joe Biden’s words as the US left Afghanistan was to hear echoes of George W Bush from 2001. Is this a crisis destined to repeat itself?Many who heard President Biden’s pledge to exact revenge for the killing of 13 US Marines in an Islamic …
Kabul is only the start: US allies feel the draught as Biden turns his back
Retreat from Afghanistan gives a clear signal of a US shift on counter-terrorism that leaves the rest of the world to fend for itselfIt is, perhaps, dreadfully apt that an invasion which began 20 years ago as a counter-terrorism operation has ended in …
The Observer view on the resurgence of the Taliban | Observer editorial
Afghanistan has humbled the US and empowered its enemies. Now the west must engage with its new rulers to avert an even bigger threatAfghanistan is a tragedy, a parable and a cautionary tale for our age. As the last, desperate evacuees scramble aboard …
‘I ran, my heart was broken’: inside Mozambique’s evolving Cabo Delgado conflict
The oil firms have fled and an Isis-affiliated insurgency has engulfed the region. As foreign troops begin to arrive, hundreds of thousands face desperate journeys to try to find safetyPhotographs by Ed Ram/The GuardianPencils scratch as students in ye…
Sabaya: the shocking documentary filmed inside Syria’s notorious al-Hawl camp
With car chases and shootouts, it may feel like a Hollywood action flick, but, as the director, Hogir Hirori, explains, the film is really about the exploited women and girls thereIn August 2014, after Islamic State (Isis) militants attacked the Sinjar…
‘Still going through hell’: the search for Yazidi women seven years on
As two women are rescued in Syria after being kidnapped by Isis years earlier, Yazidis renew calls for international help to find the thousands still unaccounted forFor seven years, their families waited and hoped for news. In July, they finally receiv…