Syria

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The Islamic State group, which has employed a broad range of strategies to subdue Sunni Muslim tribes in Syria and Iraq, is pushing its war for a caliphate into North Africa. Younger jihadis in particular appear to be mimicking the militants' rhetoric and brutality. (Associated Press)

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In this undated file photo posted on Monday, June 30, 2014, by the Raqqa Media Center of the Islamic State group, a militant extremist group, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, fighters from the extremist Islamic State group parade in Raqqa, Syria. (AP Photo/Raqqa Media Center of the Islamic State group, File)

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This undated image posted online and made available on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014 by Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, an anti-Islamic State group organization, shows children at an Islamic State group training camp in Raqqa, Syria. The image has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting. Across the vast region in Syria and Iraq that is part of the Islamic State group's self-declared caliphate, children are being inculcated with the extremist group's radical and violent interpretation of Shariah law. (AP Photo/Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently)

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Syrian President Bashar Assad presents a snag in U.S.-Iran nuclear arms talks. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

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In this undated file image posted by the Raqqa Media Center, a Syrian opposition group, on Monday, June 30, 2014, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, fighters from the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State group parade in Raqqa, Syria. (AP Photo/Raqqa Media Center of the Islamic State group, File)

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In this Oct. 28, 2014, file photo, smoke and flames rise from an Islamic State fighters' position in the town of Kobani during airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition seen from the outskirts of Suruc, near the Turkey-Syria border. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)

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In this Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014 photo, a woman gets her face painted before entering a Halloween party in an upscale Damascus hotel, Syria. Amid a conflict grinding well into its fourth year, Syrians have sought to deny war its miserable monotony by taking pleasure in mindless entertainment, ranging from lounging in cafes, to dancing to thumping discos. (AP Photo/Diaa Hadid)

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In this Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014 photo, a woman attends a Halloween party in an upscale Damascus hotel, Syria. Followed by a vampire and a medieval knight, a man dressed up as an Islamic militant walks into the thumping club, past the blue-lit bar in a Damascus hotel, determined to party. The music is pounding, a break-dancer stands on his head and in the DJ booth, a man and woman are kissing. (AP Photo/Diaa Hadid)

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A woman lights up a cigarette in the DJ booth at a Halloween party in an upscale Damascus hotel, Syria. Amid a conflict grinding well into its fourth year, Syrians have sought to deny war its miserable monotony by taking pleasure in mindless entertainment, ranging from lounging in cafes, to dancing to thumping discos. (AP Photo/Diaa Hadid)

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This undated file image posted on a militant website on Jan. 14, 2014, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows fighters from the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) marching in Raqqa, Syria. (AP Photo/Militant Website, File)

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People watch smoke from an airstrike by the US-led coalition rising outside Kobani, Syria, from a hilltop on the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

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People watch smoke from an airstrike by the US-led coalition rising outside Kobani, Syria, from a hilltop on the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

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Turkish soldiers patrol the gate of a staging area where Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters are stationed near the Turkey-Syria border, across from the Syrian town of Kobani. (Associated Press)

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Protesters shout during a demonstration in Athens in early October seeking to draw attention to the Islamic State's onslaught against the Kurdish town of Kobani in Syria.

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National Edition Opinion cover for October 13, 2014 - The destruction of Syria’s Christian treasures (Illustration by Greg Groesch for The Washington Times)

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Turkish soldiers on a tank hold their position on a hilltop on the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, overlooking Kobani, Syria, during fighting between Syrian Kurds and the militants of Islamic State group, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014.

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Turkish soldiers on a tank hold their position on a hilltop on the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, overlooking Kobani, Syria, during fighting between Syrian Kurds and the militants of Islamic State group, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014. The fighting over Kobani has brought Syria's civil war yet again to Turkey's doorstep and allies have tried to press Ankara to take a more robust role in the U.S.-led coalition to fight the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

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Militants with the Islamic State with a machine gun-fitted pickup truck hold positions in Kobani, Syria, during intensified fighting with Syrian Kurds. The Pentagon predicted that more towns in Syria and Iraq will fall to the terrorist group in the coming weeks. (Associated Press)

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This undated file image posted on a militant website Jan. 14, 2014 shows fighters from the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) marching through Raqqa, Syria. (AP Photo/Militant Website, File)