Alice Fordham

ISIS forces had been pushed out of Palmyra last March. Reports differ as to whether the city has fallen once again to ISIS, but it's clear the radical group has re-entered the city.

The United Nations human rights agency says it has reports that hundreds of people attempting to leave rebel-held areas of Aleppo, Syria, have been prevented from doing so by rebel forces. It also says hundreds of men who left have gone missing after reaching regime-controlled areas and are believed to have been imprisoned or killed.

Pro-government forces are advancing deep into rebel held areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo, endangering thousands of civilians. In Damascus, the battle is praised as a major victory.

After more than five years of fighting, President Bashar Assad's military is making significant advances against rebels in Aleppo and is subduing the restive suburbs of Damascus.

A boy from Mosul, now in an Iraqi camp, quit school after ISIS took it over. "The children were terrified," says his mother. "They should be playing, and instead it was blood, blood everywhere."

After years of virtual stalemate, the Syrian government has made its largest advance into rebel-held areas of the city of Aleppo. It changes the map in the Syrian civil war.

Iraqi forces recently drove the Islamic State from the ancient site of Nimrud. But during its stay, the extremists shattered friezes, leaving cuneiform texts strewn around the site.

An Iraqi special forces commander worries that the battle to force ISIS from the city of Mosul is too dependent on his elite troops.

Iraqi security forces, paramilitaries and international allies still face stiff resistance from ISIS in the city's outskirts. Inside the city, soldiers say civilians are being used as human shields.

The Iraqi and U.S. offensive to try to force ISIS from the city of Mosul has been underway for nearly a month. But the fight for the city itself is just beginning.

As families flee from the ISIS-held areas around the Iraqi city of Mosul, they're put in detention. Relatives who were displaced long ago crowd the other side of the fence trying to visit with them.

Christians in northern Iraq can now return to villages that the Islamic State occupied for the past two years. But the damage is extensive and many are not sure it's safe to go back.

Iraqi forces are advancing toward Mosul's center from the east. As the battle intensifies, more people are fleeing the city.

In Iraq, counter-terror forces are nudging their way into the ISIS-held city of Mosul. People are fleeing the fighting with only the clothes on their backs. Hundreds of thousands more could follow.

Iraqi government forces have fought their way into the edges of the large city of Mosul, an important step in the effort to force ISIS from the town.

The Iraqi army is battling its way through villages south of Mosul. Residents who fled say some local tribes are still with ISIS, and will be ready to fight to the death.

In Iraq, the battle for control of Mosul, the country's second largest city, has been raging for almost a week. There are differing narratives coming from the Pentagon and the front lines.

In the first week of an Iraqi offensive to retake Mosul, the effort is slow and fraught with danger. While officials say the operation is on track, citizens who've witnessed the casualties disagree.

The police force has regrouped outside the city and is eager to return and reclaim Mosul from the Islamic State. But some officers speak openly of their desire to settle scores.

Iraqis from Mosul expect chaos when ISIS is pushed out. In 13 years of war, when the army and its U.S. ally have taken control of cities, the military victories were squandered amid sectarian feuding.