Washington is scrapping a long-standing reward for the arrest of Syria’s new leader, a senior U.S. diplomat said Friday, following “positive messages” from a first meeting that included a promise to fight terrorism.
Barbara Leaf, Washington’s top diplomat for the Middle East, made the comments after her meeting with Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus — the first formal mission to Syria’s capital by United States diplomats since the early days of Syria’s civil war. The lightning offensive that toppled president Bashar al-Assad on December 8 was led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is rooted in Al-Qaeda’s Syria branch but has sought to moderate its image in recent years.
Read more…
Source: MSN News
Sign up for Counter-IED Report Newsletter
Related:
- New York: Detective carries on dad’s NYPD Bomb Squad legacy at Gracie Mansion attack
March 14, 2026
Bomb Squad Detective Sean Mulcahy was carrying on his dad’s legacy when he responded to the homemade bomb attack by two Islamist fanatics at Gracie Mansion. Mulcahy, 51, was driving to work in Manhattan Saturday when he saw cops flying up the West Side Highway in a Bomb Squad truck and wondered what job they were ...
- New York: Class teaching first responders how to defuse deadly IEDs
March 14, 2026
In a stunning case of bad timing, a federal Office for Bombing Prevention class for first responders on deadly IEDs has been scrubbed due to the government shutdown — just days after a pair of Islamic extremists hurled homemade bombs outside Gracie Mansion. The online class, set for this month, deals with the “function, components, classifications, ...
- Hormuz Strait tensions: How navies detect and clear marine mines
March 13, 2026
With the US racing to unblock the Strait of Hormuz and stabilise soaring oil prices, a report emerged that Iran has sown an “estimated 10 mines” in the vital chokepoint, where 20% of global oil exports pass through. Deployed stealthily, often by frogmen from small boats masquerading as fishing vessels, these weapons evade detection, rendering clearance ...
- Michigan synagogue and Virginia university attacks
March 13, 2026
A pair of attacks over 700 miles apart on Thursday struck at the heart of community safe havens, leaving shocked Americans with an uneasy sense of security. First, a deadly shooting being investigated as terrorism devastated a Virginia university in a military town. Then, a vehicle rammed into the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township in ...
- Texas: Cypress bomb threat suspect found with explosive material arrested
March 11, 2026
A Cypress man who allegedly threatened to bomb Highway 290 had the makings of an explosive in his bedroom alongside a rifle, ammunition and a bulletproof vest, according to a court affidavit filed Tuesday. Jeremiah Chavez, 20, was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of explosive components. He allegedly called local authorities and told them he ...
- Middle East: Three more vessels hit by projectiles in Strait of Hormuz
March 11, 2026
Three more vessels have been hit by unknown projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz, maritime security and risk firms said on Wednesday, bringing the number of ships struck in the region since the Iran conflict began to at least 14. Shipping along the narrow strait has come to a near standstill since the United States and ...
- California: Homemade explosives found in probationer’s car near sheriff’s office in Placer County
March 11, 2026
Authorities arrested a probationer after investigators discovered homemade fireworks and explosive devices inside his vehicle parked near the Placer County Sheriff’s Office. According to the sheriff’s office, just after 2 p.m. Feb. 4, the Placer County Probation Department contacted the sheriff’s office about a probationer suspected of possessing illegal fireworks. PCSO stated that its members of ...
- US strikes multiple Iranian naval vessels, mine-laying ships used to harass shipping in Strait of Hormuz
March 11, 2026
The US military forces have eliminated multiple Iranian naval vessels, including 16 minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Central Command. The command in charge of the US military’s Middle East operations announced late on Tuesday that it had targeted Iranian vessels suspected of mining the vital Strait of Hormuz, issuing stark warnings of ...
- New York: ‘Suspicious device’ found in vehicle in Manhattan tied to NYC protest investigation
March 10, 2026
The NYPD found a “suspicious device” in a vehicle in Manhattan on Sunday, March 8, that officials said is connected to their investigation into improvised explosive devices thrown into the crowd at protests outside Gracie Mansion on Saturday. Why you should care: The NYPD announced the discovery around 4:30 p.m. Sunday. “The NYPD has identified a ...
- New York: Two men charged for throwing makeshift bombs near the NYC mayor’s home
March 10, 2026
Two Pennsylvania men on Saturday followed the route taken by thousands as they crossed the George Washington Bridge into New York City. But less than an hour later, their trajectory took a dark turn as they were arrested for throwing homemade bombs during an anti-Muslim protest outside of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s home. Emir Balat, 18, and ...
- Massachusetts: 104th Fighter Wing Explosive Ordnance Disposal team conducts monthly detonation training
March 8, 2026
BARNES AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Mass.– The Civil Engineering Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight with the 104th Fighter Wing conducted their monthly training detonations March 8, 2026, to ensure the flight’s training and unit readiness. The 104th EOD Flight maintained their readiness to handle emergencies through conducting monthly detonations and are trained on a variety of ...
- Ohio: Man sentenced for taking explosive device to area sports complex
March 4, 2026
James River Phillips, 21, was sentenced to three years of probation for illegally transporting explosive materials. As previously reported by News Center 7, Phillips was arrested by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force after investigations in Mason, Oxford, and Liberty Township. Federal court documents indicate that Lebanon police discovered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) around 12:30 ...
- Lebanon: Hezbollah fires three missiles towards northern Israel
March 2, 2026
Sirens were sounded early Monday morning, at around 1:00 a.m. and without prior warning, in Haifa and its surroundings, as well as in communities located near the northern border. The IDF said the sirens were activated following launches from Lebanon. Three rockets were fired toward Israel in this barrage, one of which was intercepted and two ...
- Georgia: Bomb squad training in Augusta includes loud explosions
March 1, 2026
Later this week the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Hazardous Devices Unit (Bomb Squad) will be testing explosives, related to training March 2nd through March 6th 2026. These tests will take place between the hours of 8am and 5pm. The training will be held at the Sheriff’s Office training center located at 2098 Greenland Rd. Blythe Ga. ...
- Texas: Shooter wearing Iranian flag shirt kills three, injures 14 in Austin
March 1, 2026
The FBI said it was examining “indicators” that suggest a possible terrorism link to a mass shooting early on Sunday in Austin, Texas, in which police said at least three people were killed and 14 were injured. The male suspect was killed in an exchange of fire with police at the scene, police said. Two other ...
- Pakistan: 9 dead in violent clashes near US Consulate in Karachi
March 1, 2026
Nine people died in Karachi on Sunday, a hospital official said, after protesters clashed with law enforcement personnel near the US Consulate on Mai Kolachi Road, as protests erupted countrywide against the US-Israeli attacks on Iran. The protests follow the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Saturday’s coordinated US-Israeli airstrikes on Tehran. The ...
- Iraqi armed group, Yemen’s Houthis threaten to target US bases as Iran-Israel confrontation widens
February 28, 2026
Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah group on Saturday threatened to begin attacking US military bases after a strike in Jurf al-Nasr area of Iraq’s Babil province killed two people and injured three others, according to Iraqi authorities. In Yemen, the Houthi group also warned of escalation. Nasr al-Din Amer, deputy head of the group’s media authority, said “the ...
- US and Israel launch massive attack on Iran
February 28, 2026
The United States and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday, killing the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in an astonishing joint military operation that could dramatically shift the power dynamics in the Middle East. President Donald Trump green-lit the strikes after the Islamist regime in Tehran failed to meet his expectations in nuclear negotiations. Iran quickly ...
- Philippines: ‘Terror group member’ deported by US arrested upon arrival
February 27, 2026
A suspected member of a terror group which was tagged in the 2018 bombing in General Santos City has been deported by the United States government and arrived in Manila last Feb. 25. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said that upon his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the suspected member of the ...
- Wisconsin: Police find homemade explosives, weapons in drug trafficking bust at Green Bay house
February 26, 2026
A man accused of dealing drugs in Green Bay is also charged with having more than a dozen different homemade bombs at his home. The improvised explosive devices were found during a police drug bust. According to a criminal complaint, a confidential informant notified law enforcement that Kenneth Louis Seay was receiving packages of methamphetamine from ...
- Michigan: Ionia corrections officer stockpiled 196 guns, explosives and stolen prison munitions
February 25, 2026
Newly obtained court records paint a far more alarming picture of the weapons and explosives authorities say they found at the home of an Ionia County corrections officer whose backyard blasts have terrorized neighbors for years. An eight-page transcript from a Saturday, Feb. 21 probable cause conference in 64A District Court shows detectives recovered 196 firearms, ...
- South Korea: Presidential Security Service secures US patent for AI-based X-ray detection technology
February 22, 2026
The Presidential Security Service (PSS) obtained a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for its self-developed artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray hazardous materials detection technology, the PSS announced Sunday. The PSS expects the U.S. patent to accelerate research and development efforts aimed at deploying the technology in the field. The PSS said it ...