Islamic State group
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, accompanied by Italy's Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, right, speaks during a news conference at Fiera Roma in Rome, Monday, June 28, 2021. Blinken is on a week long trip in Europe traveling to Germany, France and Italy. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)
US warns that Islamic State extremists still a world threat

By Matthew Lee Jun. 28, 2021 06:49 AM EDT

A health worker makes a mark on the door of a house after vaccinating the children of the family during a polio campaign in the old part of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, June 15, 2021. Gunmen on Tuesday targeted members of polio teams in eastern Afghanistan, killing a number of staffers, officials said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Attacks target polio teams in east Afghanistan, 5 killed

By Kathy Gannon And Tameem Akhgar Jun. 15, 2021 03:15 AM EDT

Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO's director general, right, attends the exhibition " Revive the Spirit of Mosul ", in Venice, Italy Friday, May 21, 2021. The United Nations’ cultural agency has opened an exhibit detailing plans to rebuild the Iraqi city of Mosul that underlines the role of architecture in helping heal wounds. The exhibit is on the sidelines of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition that opened after a one-year pandemic delay Saturday for a six-month run under the title: “How will we live together?” (UNESCO via AP)
UNESCO exhibit in Venice focuses on rebuilding Mosul sites

By Colleen Barry May. 22, 2021 10:06 AM EDT

A French crew member is seen of a window on France's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle at Limassol port, Cyprus, Monday, May 10, 2021. With the Task Force's deployment on its mission named "Clemenceau 21," France is assisting in the fight against terrorism while projecting its military power in regions where it has vital interests. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
French admiral: Air power helps root out 'underground' IS

By Menelaos Hadjicostis May. 10, 2021 12:58 PM EDT

Women walk in the al-Hol camp that houses some 60,000 refugees, including families and supporters of the Islamic State group, many of them foreign nationals, in Hasakeh province, Syria, Saturday, May 1, 2021. Kurdish officials say security has improved at the sprawling camp in northeast Syria, but concerns are growing of a coronavirus outbreak in the facility. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad)
Security improves in Syria camp, but virus threat grows

May. 03, 2021 06:05 AM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2019 file photo, a woman carries her baby at a screening center run by U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces after being evacuated out of the last territory held by Islamic State militants, outside Baghouz, Syria. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians face continued displacement each coming year if the conflict continues and economic conditions further deteriorate, the Norwegian Refugee Council, a prominent humanitarian organization said Monday, March 8, 2021. The Syrian conflict, which marks 10 years later this month, has resulted in the largest displacement crisis since World War II, the council said. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)
US-backed Syrian forces raid camp of IS families, arrest 9

By Sarah El Deeb And Lolita C. Baldor Mar. 28, 2021 04:20 PM EDT

Pope Francis, surrounded by shells of destroyed churches, arrives to pray for the victims of war at Hosh al-Bieaa Church Square, in Mosul, Iraq, once the de-facto capital of IS, Sunday, March 7, 2021. The long 2014-2017 war to drive IS out left ransacked homes and charred or pulverized buildings around the north of Iraq, all sites Francis visited on Sunday. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
The Latest: 1000s fill stadium for pope's final Iraq event

Mar. 07, 2021 04:32 AM EST

Pope Francis arrives on the popemobile to celebrate mass at the Franso Hariri Stadium in Irbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Sunday, March 7, 2021. The Vatican and the pope have frequently insisted on the need to preserve Iraq's ancient Christian communities and create the security, economic and social conditions for those who have left to return.(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Where IS ruled, pope calls on Christians to forgive, rebuild

By Nicole Winfield And Samya Kullab Mar. 07, 2021 01:05 AM EST

Pope Francis is welcomed upon his arrival at the Sayidat al-Nejat (Our Lady of Salvation) Cathedral, in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, March 5, 2021. Pope Francis has arrived in Iraq to urge the country's dwindling number of Christians to stay put and help rebuild the country after years of war and persecution, brushing aside the coronavirus pandemic and security concerns. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Pope urges Iraq to embrace its Christians on historic visit

By Nicole Winfield And Samya Kullab Mar. 05, 2021 06:31 AM EST

Pope Francis meets authorities and civil society at Baghdad's Presidential Palace, Iraq, Friday, March 5, 2021. Pope Francis has arrived in Iraq to urge the country's dwindling number of Christians to stay put and help rebuild the country after years of war and persecution, brushing aside the coronavirus pandemic and security concerns. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
The Latest: Pope honors massacre victims at Baghdad church

Mar. 05, 2021 06:07 AM EST

FILE - In this Nov. 7 2010, followers attend a mass at Our Lady of Salvation church in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraqi Christians have gathered for mass in the same church that just a week before was the scene of a horrific bloodbath that left scores dead and wounded. Pope Francis is pushing ahead with the first papal trip to Iraq despite rising coronavirus infections, hoping to encourage the country’s dwindling number of Christians who were violently persecuted during the Islamic State insurgency while seeking to boost ties with the Shiite Muslim world. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
EXPLAINER: Pope's risky Iraq trip aims to boost Christians

By Nicole Winfield Mar. 03, 2021 05:27 AM EST

Iraq Christians prepare posters welcoming Pope Francis to St. Joseph's Chaldean Church ahead of the Pope's visit, in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. (AP/Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
Vatican defends pope's Iraq trip amid virus as 'act of love'

By Nicole Winfield Mar. 02, 2021 09:37 AM EST

Iraqi Christians attend a mass in a church in Qaraqosh, Iraq, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. Iraq's Christians are hoping that a historic visit by Pope Francis in March will help boost their community's struggle to survive. The country's Christian population has been dwindling ever since the turmoil that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. And it was dealt a near death blow in 2014, when Islamic State group militants overran northern Iraq, site of Iraq's historical Christian heartland.(AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Iraq's struggling Christians hope for boost from pope visit

By Mariam Fam Feb. 24, 2021 01:09 AM EST

FILE - In this March 31, 2019 file, photo, women residents from former Islamic State-held areas in Syria line up for aid supplies at Al-Hol camp in Hassakeh province, Syria. Killings have surged inside the camp with at least 20 men and women killed in January, 2021. They are believed to be the victims of IS militants trying to enforce their power inside the camp housing 62,000 people, mostly women and children. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)
Killings surge in Syria camp housing Islamic State families

By Bassem Mroue Feb. 18, 2021 01:08 AM EST

Pope Francis celebrates a Mass with members of religious institutions on the occasion of the celebration of the World Day of Consecrated Life, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, pool)
Pope moves ahead with plans to meet Shiite leader in Iraq

By Nicole Winfield And Samya Kullab Feb. 08, 2021 07:19 AM EST

UN experts: COVID-19 upped extremist threats in conflicts

By Edith M. Lederer Feb. 04, 2021 10:28 PM EST
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the threat from the Islamic State and al-Qaida extremist groups in conflict areas including...

FILE - in this Sunday, April 14, 2019 file photo, Cardinal Louis Raphael I Sako addresses the faithful during the Palm Sunday service at Mar Youssif Church in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraq’s top Catholic official said Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021 that a deadly suicide bombing in Baghdad hasn’t thwarted Pope Francis’ plans to visit, and he confirmed the pontiff would meet with the country’s top Shiite cleric, Ali al-Sistani, in a significant highlight of the first-ever papal trip to Iraq. The Chaldean patriarch, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, provided the first details of Francis’ March 5-8 itinerary during a virtual press conference hosted by the French bishops' conference. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
Patriarch: Pope to meet Iraqi Shiite leader Sistani in Iraq

By Nicole Winfield And Samya Kullab Jan. 28, 2021 06:41 AM EST

FILE - In this Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, file photo, people and security forces gather at the site of a deadly bomb attack in a market selling used clothes, in Baghdad, Iraq. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a rare suicide attack that rocked central Baghdad, killing 32 people and wounding dozens. In a statement late Thursday, the group said the bombing “targeted apostate Shiites." (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
Islamic State claims deadly and rare twin blasts in Baghdad

Jan. 22, 2021 05:27 AM EST

Security forces work at the site of a deadly bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. Iraq's military said twin suicide bombings at the Bab al-Sharqi commercial area in central Baghdad Thursday ripped through the busy market killing over two dozen and wounding over 70, with some in serious condition. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Twin suicide bombings rock central Baghdad, at least 32 dead

By Samya Kullab And Qassim Abdul-Zahra Jan. 21, 2021 06:20 AM EST

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
AP FACT CHECK: Trump's fiction in his goodbye to Washington

By Hope Yen, Christopher Rugaber And Calvin Woodward Jan. 20, 2021 10:29 AM EST