Jane Arraf

A rocket attack Thursday at Baghdad's airport appears to be the latest in a string of attacks over the past five weeks that U.S. officials say have escalated both in frequency and potential lethality.

We tour of one of the main prisons in northeastern Syria for ISIS fighters where dozens of inmates are crammed into tiny cells. The prison's director says he's not even sure who all the prisoners are.

Violence against anti-government protesters in Baghdad is escalating, and threatening to turn into all-out conflict.

Many of those Iraqis — in the U.S. legally but not American citizens — came to the U.S. as children. Most arrived back in Iraq without the documents or skills to get by.

Kurds in Syria have been U.S. allies but now they're making a deal with Russia. Russian flags are flying in Kurdish territory, a sign that the Kurds want a hedge in case the U.S. pulls out.

A visit to Syria shows a detention camp where hundreds of women from Europe, Asia and a couple from North America are held. They're wives of ISIS fighters. Two orphans were just sent back to the U.S.

NPR has gained access to an ISIS detention camp in Syria. Kurdish forces are trying to secure thousands of prisoners while dealing with threats from Turkey, Russia and the Syrian government.

Vice President Pence visited Iraq this past weekend and skirted the country's leaders. The country's ongoing protests and security force violence leave Iraq in continued peril.

Egyptian authorities raided and shut down a news organization critical of the country's government. It's part of a crackdown that has seen websites closed and thousands of activists jailed.

"By God, my son did nothing wrong," says Khazaal Salih. His son, Abbas, a medic, was killed while treating a wounded protester. More than 300 Iraqis have been killed during protests in recent weeks.

The life and death of one Iraqi protester shows the determination of the young people taking to the streets of Baghdad and other cities.

Many U.S. special operators have been ordered out of Kurdish-controlled areas of Syria, but other troops have arrived to guard oil installations. The Pentagon says the mission is still to fight ISIS.

The U.S. military is clarifying its mission in Syria after President Trump's on-again, off-again vows to pull them out. For now they're guarding oil fields but there's renewed violence in the region.

A look at the U.S. military still in Syria shows what it's doing after weeks of uncertainty over the mission. The uncertainty continues and so does the ISIS violence.

Iraqi security forces are cracking down on protesters amid continued anti-government protests.

Protests continue in Baghdad with government promises doing little to quell the dissatisfaction of hundreds of thousands taking to the streets.

Much of the protesters' anger is directed at Iran and at corrupt Iraqi politicians. "Parliament is just mafias and corrupt parties — all of them came to destroy this country," says one protester.

The view from atop a building taken over by protesters in Baghdad shows a sea of people with aspirations for a broad change in the country's political system.

Past protests in Iraq have featured older supporters of the country's political factions. Now, many of the protesters are younger, and they want to change the entire political establishment.

Iraq's president has asked the prime minister to resign and called for new elections, two key demands of protesters there.