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Leila Molana-Allen

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Leila Molana-Allen

About Leila @leila_ma

Leila Molana-Allen is a roving Special Correspondent for the Newshour, reporting from across the wider Middle East and Africa. She has been based in the region, in Beirut and Baghdad, for a decade.

Molana-Allen spent months reporting from the front lines of the Israel-Gaza war, uncovering the aftermath of the October 7 terror attacks and investigating human rights abuses in Jerusalem and the West Bank. Earlier in 2023 she investigated the growth of Palestinian militant groups inside Jenin and Nablus after the IDF assault on Jenin camp and reported from the ongoing anti-government protests across Israel. Molana-Allen gained rare access to enter North-West Syria's besieged enclave to report on recovery efforts after the devastating earthquake and ongoing Russian and Syrian regime assaults on civilians in Idlib and Aleppo. She has produced ongoing reporting on growing radicalism and violence in ISIS camps and prisons in North-East Syria. In 2021, Molana-Allen embedded with US forces in Iraq under daily assault from Iran-backed militias, and accompanied Iraqi forces as they hunted down ISIS sleeper cells, coming under fire from ISIS militants in hiding. Molana-Allen led the first TV crew to gain access to the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion for the Newshour, after months reporting from the midst of anti-government protests and the ensuing violent crackdown.

Before joining the Newshour, Molana-Allen was a foreign correspondent for The Economist in London, a correspondent for BBC World Service Radio, and Middle East Correspondent for FRANCE 24. Raised in a first generation British-Iranian family in London, Molana-Allen gained her bachelor's degree from University of Oxford and a Masters of Science from the Columbia School of Journalism.

Full Bio

Leila’s Recent Stories

World Sep 11

9/11 changed Afghanistan, but now it's back where it started

Already scarred by decades of war, Afghanistan became the center of America's response to 9/11 after the Taliban harbored the men who planned the attacks. Over 20 years of what's known there as "The American War," hundreds of thousands, mostly…

World Sep 02

Inside Afghanistan's secret schools where women defy the Taliban to educate girls

It’s been nearly five years since the Taliban banned education for girls older than 12 in Afghanistan. Every day seems to bring a new law limiting them, but Afghan women are pushing back. Special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen and videographer Eric…

Health Aug 25

A look at the devastating impact of USAID cuts in rural Afghanistan

It's been 18 months since the Trump administration made cuts to foreign aid. One of the countries hardest-hit is Afghanistan. The five years since the U.S. withdrawal have been grim for the people there, and Refugees International attributes over 160…

World Aug 20

5 years after the U.S. left, Afghan allies reflect on life under Taliban rule

We're beginning a series of stories on Afghanistan 25 years after the Sept. 11 attacks and the start of the American war there. In our first report, we have a look at the lives of three people and their families…

World Mar 19

Pentagon poised to ask Congress for up to $200 billion to fund Iran war

Iranian strikes on oil and gas facilities across the Persian Gulf sent shockwaves through global energy markets a day after Israel struck Iran's main natural gas complex. President Trump sought to reassure Americans as gas prices surge, even as the…

World Mar 16

Iranians share messages describing daily life under the shadow of war

As the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran unfolds, one of the most difficult perspectives to hear has been that of ordinary Iranians because of repressive measures inside the country. Among the 4 million outside Iran, there are deep and…

World Mar 12

Iran's new supreme leader vows continued retaliation across Gulf and oil routes

Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei vowed in a written statement that Iran's retaliation throughout the Persian Gulf will continue. The widening conflict has pushed oil back above $100 a barrel, rattling global markets. Special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen reports from Qatar.

World Mar 11

Iran targets ships in Strait of Hormuz, raising global energy fears

The Persian Gulf energy crunch deepened on Wednesday as the U.S. and Israel launched new strikes on Iranian targets. Iran retaliated across the region and effectively shut down the vital Strait of Hormuz, prompting countries around the world to take…

World Mar 10

Afghans stranded for a year by Trump's refugee freeze now caught in new war

President Trump’s decision to freeze refugee processing left thousands in limbo. For more than a year, 1,100 Afghan refugees who thought they were bound for the United States have been stranded on a disused military base in Qatar. Now, having…

World Mar 09

As Iran war deepens, Khamenei's son named new supreme leader

The U.S.-Israeli war in Iran is now in its 10th day with no signs of letting up. But President Trump insisted the war is “very complete,” adding the U.S. is far ahead of his four to five week estimated time…

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