Displaced Syrians, who fled their homes in the city of Deir ez-Zor, carry boxes of United Nations aid at a camp in Syria's northeastern Hassakeh province in February. Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Conflict Zones : Parallels Very few internal or cross-border disputes these days stay hidden from the wider world. Friendly nations end up embroiled in others' wars and neighbors become peacemakers. This is where we look at our connections during chaos and calm.
Parallels
Many Stories, One WorldConflict Zones
New evidence presented in a Washington, D.C., federal court claims that American journalist Marie Colvin, right, was killed in a targeted assassination by the Syrian regime in 2012. Arthur Edwards/AP hide caption
Syrian Defector: Assad Forces Targeted, Killed Journalist Marie Colvin
More than eight months after the battle ended the government hasn't restored electricity or running water in Mosul's Old City. Hundreds of residents with nowhere else to go have come back to try to live in their damaged houses. Jane Arraf/NPR hide caption
A Navy fighter jet comes in for a landing on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in the South China Sea. Anthony Kuhn/NPR hide caption
Young men outside Raqqa, Syria, training to find and destroy hidden explosive devices left by retreating ISIS forces. Greg Dixon/NPR hide caption
ISIS' Parting Gift To Its Former Capital: Thousands Of Explosive Booby Traps
Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud is shown in a Columbus, Ohio, courtroom in 2015. He was arrested after traveling to Syria, then returning to Ohio, where he planned to carry out an attack. According to a new report, he's one of 12 Americans who went to join extremist groups in Syria or Iraq, and then returned back to the U.S. Mohamud was sentenced last month to 22 years in prison. Andrew Welsh-Huggins/AP hide caption
Americans In ISIS: Some 300 Tried To Join, 12 Have Returned To U.S.
U.S. troops, in tan uniforms, look over maps with Afghan rebel commander Rashid Dostum (center) in October 2001. A dozen U.S. soldiers teamed up with Dostum's force to defeat the Taliban in northern Afghanistan. Courtesy of Bob Pennington hide caption
'12 Strong': When The Afghan War Looked Like A Quick, Stirring Victory
U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Paul Funk (left), and Iraqi Maj. Gen. Najm Abdullah al-Jibouri, walk through a busy market in Mosul, Iraq, on Oct. 4. U.S. forces in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan have been increasing this year under President Trump, going from about 18,000 at the beginning of the year to 26,000 recently, according to Pentagon figures. Spc. Avery Howard/AP hide caption
New recruits of the Afghan 215th Corps assemble at Camp Shorabak in Helmand Province. Peter Breslow/NPR hide caption
In Helmand, Afghan General Fights Taliban 'Cancer' With Some Help From U.S. Marines
U.S. Army Gen. John Nicholson told the Senate Armed Services Committee in February that the war in Afghanistan was at a "stalemate." Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption
'The Taliban Can't Win,' Says Commander Of U.S. Forces In Afghanistan
Displaced Syrians head to refugee camps on the outskirts of Raqqa on Sunday. Syrian fighters, backed by the U.S., have been driving out the Islamic State. However, many civilians are fleeing the fighting, and there's still no sign of a political settlement in Syria on the horizon. Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Smoke rises from buildings in the area of Bughayliyah, on the northern outskirts of Deir ez-Zor on Sept. 13, as Syrian forces advance during their ongoing battle against ISIS. George Ourfalian/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Pakistan's prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi (shown here Aug. 1), says that U.S. sanctions against Pakistan will only hurt its efforts to fight militants in the region. Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Bashar Abdul Jabar lost his 15-year-old son, Ahmed, when part of their house collapsed during fighting between Iraqi troops and ISIS. He returned to the city to retrieve his boy's body with the help of civil defense forces. Jane Arraf/NPR hide caption
South Korean soldiers participate in an anti-terror and anti-chemical terror exercise Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise last year. Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images hide caption
The Israeli army facilitates the transfer of wounded Syrians to Israeli hospitals. Courtesy of the Israel Defense Forces hide caption
(Left) Vika, 10, in the underground room where she and her family sleep to stay safe from regular shelling in Spartak, Ukraine. (Right) Vika keeps her stuffed animals in this underground cubby, which also serves as a space to play. (Bottom) Vika and her grandmother, Valentina Pleshkova, 54. Brendan Hoffman/Prime for NPR hide caption
Ruins are all that remain of the 12th century Great Mosque of al-Nuri, where ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared three years ago that an Islamic state was rising again. ISIS blew the mosque up as Iraqi forces advanced. Jane Arraf/NPR hide caption
The Syrian city of Daraa, heavily hit by barrel bombs and other strikes by the Assad regime, is one of the areas covered by the current cease-fire. For the past eight days, residents have had a respite from the regime's attacks. Anadolu Agency/Getty Images hide caption
White phosphorus smoke screens were fired by the U.S. Army in November 2004 on the outskirts of Fallujah, Iraq. Scott Nelson/Getty Images hide caption
Smoke billows from the Marawi city center after an air attack by Philippine government troops on May 30. Philippine government troops have been battling ISIS-linked militants. Jes Aznar/Getty Images hide caption
Omar Omar outside his family's home in the village of Deir Jarir. After living in the U.S. for decades, he sees the West Bank with the eyes of an outsider. Daniel Estrin/NPR hide caption
Israeli soldiers search Arab prisoners as Israeli forces take over the Old City in East Jerusalem on June 8, 1967, during the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War. Just 11 days after the war ended, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson offered the first of many peace proposals by U.S. presidents over the past half-century. AP hide caption
50 Years On, U.S. Presidents Still Seek Elusive Peace To A 6-Day War
Mohammad Al Abdallah, the executive director of the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre, shows a video that was posted to YouTube of illegal cluster bombing in Syria. Meredith Rizzo/NPR hide caption