A heavy artillery exchange occurred last week between Hamas and Israeli military forces along the Gaza border, leading to a ceasefire brokered by Egypt. In Iraq, anti-regime protests in Basrah and Thi-Qar governorates escalated in scale and violence, spreading to other areas of the country including the capital Baghdad. In Yemen, UAE-backed and Saudi-led soldiers…
The Iranian military has been involved in the Syrian conflict both directly and through proxy militias since 2013. Early estimates of Iranian troops in Syria numbered around 10,000, including members of the Iranian Army as well as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Iran’s political leadership has also been a vocal supporter of the Assad’s government…
Demonstrations dominated the events reported last week in several countries across the region including in Bahrain, Iran, and Turkey. In Syria, intense activity was reported in Dar’a governorate last week as the government and its allies continued their offensive against rebel and Islamist factions, while parallel offensives in Idleb and northern Hama governorates also continued.…
2016 was marked by an upsurge in Iran’s conflict with Kurdish insurgents. From the mid-1990s through 2016, the Iranian Kurdish parties had refrained from taking action against Iranian security forces, with the exception of sporadic attacks by Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK). However, these groups were empowered militarily over the past few years…
A concentration of political violence was reported last week in Syria and Yemen with proportional rises in events in both southern Syria and Hudayda governorate in Yemen, respectively. Meanwhile, a rise in particular event types has been recorded in other countries in the region, including a rise in reports of kidnappings by Islamic State (IS)…
Notable trends, including offensives, continued in several countries, including Israel, Palestine, Syria and Yemen. Meanwhile, counter-insurgency operations by Turkish forces were stepped up both inside and outside of the country. Rocket fire and airstrikes continued to be exchanged between Palestinian militants and Israeli military this past week, with these activities making up the majority of…
Unrest continued in Palestine and Israel last week, with both Israeli settlers and Palestinians clashing with police, while Israeli airstrikes on Gaza changed their focus to targeting groups flying incendiary kites over the border. In Turkey, attacks on Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) members and offices also continued, brought on by the upcoming federal election on…
Iran has been the stage of a new wave of civil unrest since the final days of December 2017, when citizens gathered in the streets in demonstrations that turned deadly (for more on this, see this past ACLED piece). Thousands amassed in these gatherings to air general popular grievances, mostly related to the country’s economic…
Nationwide anti-austerity demonstrations ended in Jordan last week following the withdrawal of a controversial tax bill. In Palestine, on the other hand, riots continued in both Gaza and the West Bank, as did Israeli airstrikes against Hamas. Throughout Turkey, violent groups targeted political offices, especially those of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), in the lead…
This past week was marked by major protests in Jordan and a rise in remote violence between Israel and Gaza. A drop in political violence has been recorded in Iraq following the arrest of senior Islamic State (IS) figures over the past few weeks. Meanwhile, in Yemen intense clashes were reported on the front-lines, while…