Yemen. Al Qaeda of the Arab Peninsula (AQAP) leader Qasim al-Raymi was killed by a US drone strike. He had taken over AQAP leadership in 2015, when his predecessor was similarly killed. AQAP was founded in 2009 and has been active in the Arabian Peninsula, particularly in Yemen, ever since.

Libya. The city of Sirte, previously under the control of Tripoli’s UN-recognized government, Al-Sarraj, falls to Benghazi-based General Haftar. Just a few days earlier, a ceasefire had been agreed upon in Berlin between the two sides, with European mediation.

Tehran, Iran. A Ukrainian airliner carrying dozens of Canadians, Iranians, Ukrainians, and other nationalities (176) was mistakenly shot down by two Iranian anti-aircraft missiles. The incident was initially attributed to a malfunction, then vehemently denied by the Iranian authorities, and finally admitted on January 11 by Iranian President Rouhani.

Iraq. Sixteen Iranian missiles hit the American bases in Erbil and Al-Asad. No one was injured or killed. There are 2,000 American soldiers at the Al-Asad base, and its landing strip is enormous: more than 5 kilometers long. In Erbil, in addition to the Americans, there are also 600 Italian soldiers, who say that their base, just a few hundred meters from the American base, was saved by American Patriot missiles.

Tripoli, Libya. The first Turkish troops arrive.

Tripoli, Libya. The military academy is hit by a bombing while recruits are training. Thirty-one people are killed and 33 are injured.

Baghdad, Iraq. Following the killing of General Suleimani, a new US raid in Iraq killed six people, including the commander of the pro-Iranian Hashed Al-Shaabi brigades.

Baghdad, Iraq. An American drone strike kills Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, along with three other Iranians and five Iraqis. Soleimani was the leader of Iranian covert operations, particularly the Qods Brigades, and a key figure in the Ayatollah regime. The order to strike came directly from President Trump. Among the victims was Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis, the man who had incited the mob to attack the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad two days earlier.

Turkey: Parliament approves a military deployment of thousands of troops to the Libyan civil war, to support the Tripoli government (recognized by the UN and supported by Turkey and Pakistan) against the Benghazi government (supported by Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain).

Moscow. Terrorist attack on the headquarters of the secret service (formerly the KGB) that lasted over an hour, carried out by one or more individuals armed with Kalashnikovs (initially reported as three, later corrected to one). One officer was killed and five were injured.

Northeast Syria. American troops (approximately 900 soldiers) are returning to patrol some areas of northeastern Syria, near the Iraqi border crossing and oil fields.

Barisha, northwestern Syria, near the Turkish border. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State/ISIS/ISIL/Daesh, is killed in a US special forces operation. The area is controlled by Sunni militias, including Al-Qaeda, a rival of ISIS. Al-Baghdadi’s location is known thanks to intelligence gathered in cooperation with the Kurds and Iraqis. The Americans inform the Syrians and Russians, without revealing the nature of the mission. They arrive with eight helicopters and several dozen soldiers. They enter by breaching walls to avoid any booby traps set on the doors, accompanied by a robot and several dogs trained for the purpose. Al-Baghdadi escapes into a tunnel, taking three of his children with him, hunted by dogs set after him by the special forces. Then, in a dead-end alley, he detonates his explosive belt, killing his three children as well. The tunnel’s ceiling partially collapses. The Americans analyze the mutilated body’s DNA and identify it as al-Baghdadi. They seize intelligence material and then destroy the site.

Syria. US President Trump declares the ceasefire in northeastern Syria permanent and lifts sanctions against Turkey for it.

Syria. U.S. Vice President Pence, along with Turkish President Erdogan, announced an agreement for a temporary ceasefire in the Turkish assault on the Kurds in northeastern Syria. On the ground, the Turks have only occupied a small portion of the border corridor, which they intended to control. The remainder will be occupied by Syrian and Russian forces, following an agreement between the Kurds and government forces.

Georgia. Massive cyberattack on 2,000 government websites. In February of the following year, following an investigation, Georgia, Great Britain, and the United States identified the source as the Russian intelligence services (GRU). Similar attacks had also been carried out in Ukraine in 2015, 2016, and 2017, particularly targeting the energy sector.

Syria. Women’s rights activist Hevrin Khalaf, secretary general of the Kurdish Future Party, is stoned and killed by pro-Turkish militias.

Syria. Turkish troops enter Kurdish-held Syria in force.

US President Donald Trump announces the withdrawal of American forces from northeastern Syria, effectively paving the way for Turkish military intervention.

Saudi Arabia. The kingdom’s main oil hub, near the eastern coast on the Persian Gulf, is attacked with drones and missiles. The immediate claim of responsibility lies with the Yemeni Houthi rebels, backed by Tehran, but subsequent investigations point the finger directly at Iran, due to the hardware found and, more importantly, the direction of the attacks: from the east, rather than southwest. The damage is severe, and Saudi oil production drops by half. Saudi Arabia is the world’s leading oil producer, resulting in a 6% drop in global oil production.

Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps shot down a US RQ-4A Global Hawk drone. The Iranians claim it was in Iranian territorial waters, while the Americans claim it was in international waters.

Sri Lanka. Easter Sunday for Catholics. Several coordinated terrorist attacks in churches in several cities across the country kill 321 people praying in Catholic churches to celebrate Easter. ISIS claims responsibility for the attack.

Baghus Fawqani, Syria. Even the last fierce resistance of the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) along the left bank of the Euphrates was defeated by the Kurdish SDF with American support from the USAF.

Milan. The driver of a bus carrying 51 middle school students, Ousseynou Sy, a 46-year-old Senegalese man working for the Crema Autoguidovie (Autoguidovie) company, threatened the kids and poured gasoline: “Let’s go to Linate, no one’s leaving here alive today.” One of the students, Adam Hel Amami, a Moroccan, called the Carabinieri, who arrived, smashed the windows, and forced the students out while the bus attempted to maneuver through the police cars. The students were all safe, and Ousseynou Sy was stopped.

Christianchurch, New Zealand. Twenty-eight-year-old Brenton Tarrant Harrison, with no criminal record but obsessed with the idea that Muslims are invading the world, enters a mosque and kills 49 people and injures dozens more, including children.

Baghus Fawqani, Syria. The Kurds, with the support of the US-led coalition, have conquered the last territory still occupied by the Islamic State (or ISIS or ISIL or Daesh). The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant no longer holds any territory after more than five years of war. Fighting will continue sporadically for several more weeks, near the ISIS camp on the left bank of the Euphrates, until March 22.

First Trump for the United States and then Putin for Russia withdraw from the INF Treaty (treaty to abolish intermediate-range nuclear missiles, signed in 1987 by Reagan and Gorbachev to remove the SS-20 and the Pershing 2 and Cruise missiles from the European theater)

Yemen. The lead bomber of the October 12, 2000, attack on the USS Cole, which killed 17 American sailors, was killed in a targeted USAF airstrike.