Sally Jones, the Most Dangerous ISIS Operative Alive

Sally Jones | Asharq Al-Awsat
Sally Jones | Asharq Al-Awsat
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Sally Jones, the Most Dangerous ISIS Operative Alive

Sally Jones | Asharq Al-Awsat
Sally Jones | Asharq Al-Awsat

British Sally Jones, nicknamed the White Widow, is still alive after news of her death in Syria in 2017 and still poses a major threat to Britain, Birmingham Live website revealed.

The website said on Sunday that she is still alive and fighting, according to an ISIS Canadian militant who was captured by Syrian Democratic Forces.

Mohammed Ali, who uses the alias Abu Turab, suggested Jones was alive and hiding out in Syria’s north-east.

He has been captured for nearly four months now after being arrested Ras al-Ayn city, at the borders between Syria and Turkey.

Reports said the White Widow died following a US airstrike on the convoy she was traveling with from Raqqa in June.

It was reported at the time that her son was also killed in the attack, possibly due to Jones using him as a human shield.

The British site revealed aspects of Jones’ life as one of the most dangerous wanted in the world after joining ISIS in 2013.

Born Sally-Anne Frances Jones in Greenwich, south-east London, she had a troubled upbringing, with her parents divorcing and her father committing via overdose, Birmingham Live said.

Raised a Catholic, she attended Christian youth groups but failed to find a positive path in life, dropping out of school. She became the singer and lead guitarist in an all-girl rock band called Krunch.

Jones’s interests are also thought to have included conspiracy theories, black magic, and witchcraft, according to posts on online forums attributed to her.

She worked as a perfume saleswoman for a global brand before converting to Islam in May 2013 and leaving for Syria the following month.

Before leaving, Jones, 45 then, met her extremist 20-year-old then husband Hussain Junaid, who was a British internet hacker.

Junaid invited her to join him in Raqqa, which was the terror group’s de-facto capital.

She took with her one of her sons, who was 10 years old at the time.

When she arrived in Syria, she began working with her husband, who was killed in a US drone raid later in 2015, in recruiting foreign fighters through social media to threaten Western interests in Europe.

Jones was said to have been in charge of the female wing of the Anwar al-Awlaki battalion, a unit of foreign fighters set up by Hussain.

Hundreds of British women are thought to have been persuaded to join ISIS by the prolific online recruiter.

Following her husband’s death, she was named the White Widow and expressed her pride in his death, adding that she would not love anyone after him.

According to the information provided, Junaid was an electronic expert and leader of the "cyber-caliphate" wing.

The ISIS widow was feared to have slipped back into the UK with two suspected militants after a reported sighting in Birmingham in August 2015.

The hunt later switched to Glasgow, but there was no further information about her whereabouts afterward.



Türkiye's Erdogan Heralds ‘New Phase’ in PKK Peace Process

28 May 2025, Azerbaijan, Lachin: Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during Lachin's trilateral summit of Azerbaijani, Turkish and Pakistani leaders. (Turkish Presidency/dpa)
28 May 2025, Azerbaijan, Lachin: Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during Lachin's trilateral summit of Azerbaijani, Turkish and Pakistani leaders. (Turkish Presidency/dpa)
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Türkiye's Erdogan Heralds ‘New Phase’ in PKK Peace Process

28 May 2025, Azerbaijan, Lachin: Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during Lachin's trilateral summit of Azerbaijani, Turkish and Pakistani leaders. (Turkish Presidency/dpa)
28 May 2025, Azerbaijan, Lachin: Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during Lachin's trilateral summit of Azerbaijani, Turkish and Pakistani leaders. (Turkish Presidency/dpa)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Türkiye had entered a "new phase" in efforts to end Kurdish militant violence and signaled he was open to the idea of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan addressing lawmakers.

Erdogan said he held "very constructive" talks last week with senior pro-Kurdish DEM Party leaders - who have urged the idea of Ocalan addressing a parliamentary commission on PKK disarmament - and he urged all actors to contribute.

"It appears we have reached a new crossroads on the path toward a Türkiye free of terrorism," Erdogan told his ruling AK Party lawmakers. "Everyone needs to step up and do their part."

"We consider it extremely valuable that ... all relevant parties are heard without leaving anyone out, and that different opinions — even if contrary — are expressed," he said.

The comments could hint at possible engagement with Ocalan, who has been jailed since 1999 but has played a key role urging his militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to disarm and dissolve, steps it announced earlier this year.

DEM has said the commission, on which it sits with other parties, should be allowed to engage Ocalan in prison given he remains central to Kurdish public opinion and was involved in previous peace efforts.

Erdogan's government has not confirmed any such step.

The PKK launched its insurgency in 1984. A previous peace initiative collapsed in 2015, unleashing renewed bloodshed in Türkiye’s southeast. The government has not publicly detailed the framework of the current effort.

Erdogan's comments came a day after his nationalist ally Devlet Bahceli said it "would be beneficial" to release Selahattin Demirtas, the former pro-Kurdish party leader jailed since 2016.

Bahceli, long hostile to Kurdish political demands, effectively launched the peace process with the PKK when he floated the idea a year ago.

"With a bit more courage and effort, and with God's permission, we will successfully conclude this process," Erdogan said.


Putin Tells Officials to Submit Plans for Possibly Resuming Nuclear Tests After Trump’s Remarks

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council in Moscow, Russia, November 5, 2025. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council in Moscow, Russia, November 5, 2025. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS
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Putin Tells Officials to Submit Plans for Possibly Resuming Nuclear Tests After Trump’s Remarks

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council in Moscow, Russia, November 5, 2025. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council in Moscow, Russia, November 5, 2025. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered officials on Wednesday to submit proposals for a possible resumption of nuclear tests in response to President Donald Trump’s statements last week that appeared to suggest the US will restart its own atomic tests. 

Speaking at a meeting with his Security Council, Putin reaffirmed his earlier statement that Moscow will only restart nuclear tests if the US does so first. But he directed the defense and foreign ministries and other government agencies to analyze Washington’s intentions and work out proposals for resuming nuclear weapons tests. 

On Oct. 30, Trump appeared to signal that the US will resume testing nuclear weapons for the first time in three decades, saying it would be on an “equal basis” with Russia and China. 

But US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday that new tests of the US nuclear weapons system ordered by Trump will not include nuclear explosions. 

Trump made the announcement on social media while in South Korea, days after Putin announced successful tests of the prospective nuclear-powered and nuclear capable cruise missile and underwater drone. Putin's praise for the new weapons that he claimed can't be intercepted appears to be another message to Trump that Russia is standing firm in its maximalist demands on settling the conflict in Ukraine. 

The US military also has regularly tested nuclear-capable weapons, but it has not detonated atomic weapons since 1992. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which the US signed but did not ratify, has been observed since its adoption by all countries possessing nuclear weapons, North Korea being the only exception. 

Putin in 2023 signed a bill revoking Russia's ratification of a global nuclear test ban, which Moscow said was needed to put it on par with the US. The global test ban was signed by President Bill Clinton but never ratified by the US Senate. 

During Wednesday's Security Council meeting, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov reported to Putin about US efforts to modernize its atomic arsenals, arguing that along with a possible resumption of nuclear tests by Washington they “significantly increase the level of military threats to Russia.” 

Belousov suggested that Moscow immediately start preparations for nuclear tests on the Arctic Novaya Zemlya archipelago. He added that the site, where the Soviet Union last tested a nuclear weapon in 1990, was ready for quickly resuming the explosions. 

Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the military's General Staff, also vouched for quickly starting preparations for tests. 

“If we don't take appropriate measures now, we will miss the time and opportunity to respond promptly to the US actions, as it takes from several months to several years to prepare for nuclear tests, depending on their type,” Gerasimov said. 

After hearing from military leaders and other top officials, who noted the conflicting signals from Washington on whether the US will restart nuclear explosions, Putin ordered government agencies to “gather additional information on the issue, analyze it within the framework of the Security Council and submit coordinated proposals on the possible start of work on preparations for nuclear weapons tests.” 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that Putin didn't order a start to preparations for nuclear tests and for now only told officials to analyze whether it's necessary to begin such work. He said in remarks carried by the state Tass news agency that Moscow needs to fully understand US intentions before making further decisions. 

Later, Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of the Security Council chaired by Putin, said the Russians have no choice but to treat Trump's comments seriously. 

“No one knows what Trump meant about ‘nuclear testing’ (he probably doesn’t himself),” Medvedev posted on X. “But he’s the president of the United States. And the consequences of such words are inescapable: Russia will be forced to assess the expediency of conducting full-fledged nuclear tests itself.” 


Drone Sightings Disrupt Flights at Belgium’s Main Airport 

This photograph shows a sign reading "No drone zone" at Brussels Airport in Zaventem on November 5, 2025. (AFP) 
This photograph shows a sign reading "No drone zone" at Brussels Airport in Zaventem on November 5, 2025. (AFP) 
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Drone Sightings Disrupt Flights at Belgium’s Main Airport 

This photograph shows a sign reading "No drone zone" at Brussels Airport in Zaventem on November 5, 2025. (AFP) 
This photograph shows a sign reading "No drone zone" at Brussels Airport in Zaventem on November 5, 2025. (AFP) 

Flights at Belgium’s main international airport remained disrupted on Wednesday after drone sightings overnight forced it to close temporarily and Prime Minister Bart De Wever called a meeting with senior ministers to discuss safety concerns.

It was the first time that the airport in Brussels has been shut down by drones. It comes after a series of unidentified drone flights over the weekend near a military base where US nuclear weapons are stored.

Brussels Airport said delays and cancellations were still possible after the Tuesday evening shutdown “for safety reasons” and apologized, saying that “the safety of our passengers and staff remains our top priority.”

De Wever convened a meeting of Belgium’s National Security Council, which includes the country’s defense, interior, justice and foreign ministers, for Thursday morning.

The operators of the drones in recent days have not been identified, but Defense Minister Theo Francken said that flights near the Kleine-Brogel air base on Saturday and Sunday nights appeared to be “a spying operation” aimed at “destabilizing” people.

Last month, several drones were spotted above another Belgian military base near the German border. The operators were not identified.

In recent months, drone incidents across Europe have forced airports to shut down for a time. A late evening drone sighting at Berlin’s Brandenburg airport on Friday suspended flights for nearly two hours. It was not clear who was responsible.