US-led | Pakistan

WASHINGTON: Public opinion within parts of the American-Jewish community on the US-led war against Iran has shown a noticeable shift, with support easing and opposition rising over time, according to a recent survey. While different polls focus on different segments of the community, both point to growing reservations about the campaign as it has progressed. The Jewish People Policy Institute’s “Voice of the Jewish People Index” survey, which tracks attitudes among a more connected segment of American Jews engaged with organised communal life, records a steady decline in support over the course of the conflict. Backing fell from 68 per cent in the war’s first week to 62pc in the third week, and further to 60pc in the week following the ceasefire, while opposition rose from 26pc to 34pc over the same period, the survey shows. A separate nationwide survey conducted by GBAO Strategies for the advocacy group J Street, which reflects a broader sample of American Jewish voters, suggests that scepticism is even more...

Syrian authorities on Thursday said they killed a senior leader in the Islamic State group in coordination with the US-led coalition, hours after the arrest near Damascus of another leader. Syrian security and intelligence forces, working in coordination with the international coalition, conducted what the interior ministry described as a “precise security operation”. “The operation resulted in neutralising the terrorist Mohammad Shahada, known as Abu Omar Shaddad, who is considered one of the prominent IS leaders in Syria,” it added. “This operation comes as confirmation of the effectiveness of joint coordination between the national security agencies and international partners.” Hours earlier, authorities said they captured Taha al-Zoubi, also known as Abu Omar Tabiya, an IS leader in Damascus, along with several of his men on Wednesday. A December 13 attack killed two US soldiers and an American civilian. Washington blamed the attack on a lone IS gunman in Syria’s Palmyra. In retaliation, US forces conduct...