Clashes erupted overnight in a rebel-held enclave outside Damascus, which was also hit by government air strikes despite a truce deal, a monitor said on Wednesday. An internationally brokered ceasefire zone covering parts of Eastern Ghouta went into effect on Saturday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the overnight fighting was the first in … Read more
A ceasefire brokered by the United States, Russia and Jordan brought quiet Sunday to frontlines in southern Syria ahead of fresh UN-sponsored peace talks on the country’s six-year conflict. A monitor said clashes and shelling had halted in the three southern provinces covered by the truce, Daraa, Quneitra, and Sweida, as it went into effect … Read more
A ceasefire in southern Syria brokered by the United States, Russia and Jordan began at noon local time on Sunday, with a monitor reporting quiet in three southern provinces. The ceasefire was announced on Friday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and covers Daraa, Quneitra and Sweida provinces. “The main fronts in the three provinces … Read more
Syrian government troops and allied forces reached the Iraqi border for the first time since 2015 on Friday, a monitor said, risking fresh tensions with US-led forces nearby. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said dozens of pro-regime forces had arrived at the point on the Syria-Iraq border around 70 kilometres north … Read more
Egypt’s government, already accused of muzzling freedom of expression and opposition to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has blocked access to a host of news websites including Qatar’s Al-Jazeera. Around 20 websites based in Qatar and Egypt have been inaccessible since Wednesday night, including the Doha newspapers Al-Watan and Al-Raya, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Ikhwan Online and … Read more
With hostilities subsiding on Syria’s western battlefronts, President Bashar al-Assad’s army is seeking to head off US-backed forces fighting jihadists further east, analysts and military sources in Damascus say. Violence has diminished in parts of central and western Syria after a deal signed last week in the Kazakh capital Astana to introduce four “de-escalation zones” … Read more
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has denied ordering last week’s suspected chemical attack on a rebel-held town, believes his victory is inevitable in the six-year-old war ravaging his country. Bolstered by the steady support of Russia and Iran, Assad has appeared unfazed by Western threats to his regime — even after one of his airbases … Read more
The United States stepped up pressure Sunday on Russia to rein in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, warning that any further chemical attacks would be “very damaging” to their relationship and suggesting there can be no peace in Syria while Assad remains in power. President Donald Trump’s top advisers took to Sunday television talk shows to … Read more
A site hit by airstrikes on Tuesday in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rebel-held Idlib Allies of Damascus have threatened reprisals against any party that carries out “aggression” against Syria, two days after US missile strikes hit a Syrian airbase. “The aggression against Syria oversteps all red lines. We will react firmly to any … Read more
While Western powers have blamed Syria’s regime for this week’s suspected chemical attack, questions remain over why it would make such a move following a string of victories and a diplomatic comeback. The alleged toxic gas strike in Syria’s northwest prompted the United States to launch 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Shayrat airbase in … Read more
UN-backed Syria peace talks resumed in Geneva on Thursday, with little hope of a breakthrough and the emboldened regime seen as unlikely to make concessions. The United Nations deputy Syria envoy Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy met government negotiators at a high-end hotel in the Swiss city, before heading to another hotel to see the opposition High … Read more
Syrian rebel factions will not attend a new round of negotiations with government figures in the Kazakh capital, an opposition delegation spokesman told AFP on Monday. “Rebel groups have decided not to participate in Astana,” said Osama Abu Zeid, saying one reason for the boycott was “unfulfilled pledges related to the cessation of hostilities.” The … Read more
A ceasefire has been declared in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta, a rebel bastion near Damascus, to run from midnight last Sunday to March 20, Russia’s defence ministry said. “A ‘regime of silence’ has been introduced from 00:01 on March 6 to 23:59 on March 20 (Damascus time) in the area of Eastern Ghouta,” the ministry said … Read more
Worried over Turkish advances in Syria’s north, the Damascus regime has formed an alliance of convenience with the country’s Kurds to prevent their common enemy from gaining ground. President Bashar al-Assad’s government has repeatedly criticised Turkey’s operation in Syria, which saw Ankara in late August send troops across the border where they are working with … Read more
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said a victory for his army in Aleppo would be a “huge step” towards ending the country’s five-year civil war. But he added that the defeat of rebel groups in the northern city would not end the conflict. The rebels called for a five-day truce to allow the evacuation of … Read more
The fall of rebel-held eastern Aleppo would not mean the end of the fight against President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian opposition’s senior negotiator has told the BBC. George Sabra added, however, that it would make any hope of a peace deal more difficult. Syrian forces backed by heavy air strikes have seized more than a … Read more