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Al Jazeera: "Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, backed by Russian air power, have made rapid advances in Idlib."

U.S. forces in northeast Syria again prevented Russian military convoys from touring near the Iraqi border on Friday, in what locals described as an increased escalation between both sides over freedom of navigation in the predominantly Kurdish region.

The Afghan Taliban’s turbulent negotiations with the United States on a peace deal have ground to a halt over differences on how to reduce insurgent violence.

"Taliban and other enemy attacks in Afghanistan hit a 10-year high in the final quarter of 2019, U.S. data shows, the latest indication of the growing violence ravaging the country as Washington seeks to negotiate an exit."

"The U.S. launched a recent drone strike against the leader of al Qaeda’s Yemen branch, although it wasn’t clear on Friday whether he was killed as a result, people familiar with the matter said."

"Poor attention to base security left U.S. troops in Kenya vulnerable when the militant group al-Shabaab attacked, killing three Americans and destroying six aircraft, Army Gen. Stephen Townsend said Thursday."

Continue on for the key points and links to the full report.

"There has been an increase in Iranian activity in Afghanistan that poses a risk to American and coalition troops there, a senior U..S. commander said, as the threat from Tehran continues to churn across the Middle East."

"Joint military operations with the U.S.-led coalition to counter the Islamic State group have resumed after a nearly three-week pause, an Iraqi military statement said Thursday."

"A resumption in fighting in Libya is threatening to unravel efforts to end a nearly decade-long crisis in the North African country, less than two weeks after foreign backers of the two main warring factions agreed to support a cease-fire there."

"U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper says the Pentagon does not intend to remove all its forces from Africa, amid concerns from allies that Washington could abandon the continent militarily while China and Russia 'aggressively' look to increase their influence and as the extremist threat remains."

"On the same day the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the Chinese coronavirus as a public health emergency, a pair of military combatant commanders told Congress the illness will present significant security issues if it moves rapidly to other countries."

"Army Gen. Stephen Townsend’s number one concern as the commander of U.S. Africa Command is that another deadly attack like the one in Manda Bay, Kenya, will occur on his watch."

"Islamic State has begun to reassert itself in its heartlands in the Middle East and continues to seek opportunities to strike in the west, the United Nations has said."

"President Trump’s Middle East peace plan has jolted regional dynamics, with Israel preparing to quickly annex West Bank land once expected to be part of a Palestinian state and key Arab leaders tentatively backing the U.S. initiative."

"The 'first line of defense' in what follows any potential peace deal in Afghanistan isn’t likely to be grunts on patrol but soldiers who monitor the billions of dollars spent on projects aimed at holding the war-torn country together."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a rare warning to Moscow to rein in the Syrian government's Idlib offensive. The capture of a critical town Wednesday by regime forces is stoking fears in Ankara of a new exodus of refugees into Turkey.

"Syrian government forces captured one of the largest and most strategic rebel-held towns in the country's northwest, the Syrian military and opposition activists said Wednesday, part of a Russian-backed military assault that has displaced hundreds of thousands of people fleeing to safer areas."

Last year was the deadliest in recent history for extremist violence in the Sahel region of Africa. The trend appears to be continuing in 2020 and experts warn more must be done to avoid a crisis in the region. Last week, suspected Islamic extremists carried out attacks on two villages in Burkina Faso, killing at least 32 civilians.

"After news reports broke that a SEAL team’s raucous 4th of July party had gotten them sent home from an Iraq deployment, the head of Special Operations Command had enough. He ordered an extensive review of the command, tasked with discovering what was rotting away at the professionalism special operations had touted for decades."

"Fifty service members have now been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury, or TBI following a Jan. 8 ballistic missile attack by Iran that struck two Iraqi bases housing coalition troops, the Pentagon announced Tuesday."

"The Islamic State group’s self-styled “caliphate” across parts of Iraq and Syria seemed largely defeated last year, with the loss of its territory, the killing of its founder in a U.S. raid and an unprecedented crackdown on its social media propaganda machine."

"The Egyptian diplomat Tahseen Bashir disdained Arab countries, notably excepting his own, as “tribes with flags.” Bashir died in 2002, but his description is more apt than ever in a region scarred by raging sectarian feuds. Now a new cry against tribalism is increasingly heard in Lebanon, Iraq and beyond."

Hoping to bring about a “new dawn in the Middle East,” U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled his peace plan for the region on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu standing at his side.

"The U.S. military is reducing the number of UH-60 Black Hawks it plans to provide Afghan forces from 159 to just 53 — a two-thirds cut in the quantity of rotary wing assets American forces had intended to provide, according to a Defense Department report."