Natalia Sancha

The Iraqi capital is still trying to recover from the destruction and economic stagnation that followed the US invasion of 2003

Some 20 million worshippers visit the holy city of Karbala each year, but the US-Israeli offensive is drastically reducing religious tourism, a key economic driver

Fighters from pro-Iranian factions, state-linked militias, and regular army forces are intertwined in a complex web that exacerbates tensions between Baghdad and Washington

Following US strikes on national territory, the Iraqi prime minister asserts that the army will defend itself if attacked again: ‘We cannot stand idly by when we have martyrs and wounded’

The crossfire between the US and Tehran against pro- and anti-Iranian militias on Iraqi soil threatens to escalate into open conflict, fueled by the rising casualties among regular Iraqi and Kurdish soldiers

After three decades stationed in Iraq, the fighters are vacating their military bases and preparing for ‘the day after’ the possible collapse of the Tehran apparatus

The autonomous region that houses Kurdish-Iranian militias, aligned with the US and Israel, is the only border in the Middle East from which troops could be sent to the neighboring country

Although weakened, pro-Iranian armed groups can destabilize the Middle East by attacking US bases, targeting their regional allies, and disrupting maritime oil shipments

With famine declared and nearly 63,000 dead in less than two years, Philippe Lazzarini condemns the international community’s failure to act against Israel’s impunity

The new government in Beirut is seeking peace while trying to rebuild the state and the country’s economy

The country’s 17 million inhabitants, who have suffered through violence, displacement, poverty, a pandemic, and an earthquake, have only about 100 mental health professionals. Experts estimate that at least 10,000 are required

The longest-serving political prisoner under the regime is now revered as a hero. ‘I was always free here,’ he declares, tapping his temple

Two years after the caliphate was defeated, anti-terrorist forces are no longer facing an army but a myriad of sleeper cells whose members hide inside detention camps in the northeast

Six Westerners being held prisoner for their involvement with the terrorist group have swapped the ‘niqab’ for jeans and are asking to be allowed home

After six years of war, the country is struggling with widespread poverty and famine, with dengue fever and malnutrition killing more children than bullets or Covid-19

The jihadists have set up a radical matriarchy under the orders of a female ‘emir’ who controls the compound and helps people to escape, taking advantage of the renewed fighting in the northeast of the country

The withdrawal of US troops has seen the conflict in Syria take a fresh turn. EL PAÍS correspondents in Qamishli and Ceylanpınar explain the effect on the ground

Luna Fernández, the widow of a jihadist fighter, has just given birth to a baby girl in a camp in Syria, where 80,000 women and their offspring are awaiting repatriation

Unable to speak Spanish or understand the paperwork they need to get help, this group of 50 people, including pregnant women and minors, feels abandoned by the system

Yolanda Martínez, Luna Fernández and Lubna Miludi were located by EL PAÍS in Syria, but two of them have been moved from camp to camp, and are still awaiting a decision about their repatriation

EL PAÍS has traveled to the Al Hol camp in Syria for an exclusive interview with two Spaniards and a Moroccan – the mother of three Spanish children – who are seeking to return to Spain after surviving the fall of the caliphate

In a Kurdish hospital in northeastern Syria, 75 kids born to killed or detained Jihadists are fighting to survive

Survivors of Civil War are starting to return as government begins to restore infrastructure in large cities

Madrid-based grandmother Ana Lobato to be reunited with relatives, who have left the nightmare of war behind them

EL PAÍS accompanied a Syrian family as they waited in Beirut before boarding a flight to Madrid