The jihadist takeover of Syria’s key Idlib province raises the prospect that the region could become the next target of the international participants in the country’s complex war. The northern province is one of only two that have fallen from regime control since the war began in March 2011 with anti-government protests. Idlib is the … Read more
Clashes in Syria’s Idlib province between a powerful jihadist group and a key rebel faction intensified overnight, spreading to a border crossing with Turkey, a monitor and AFP correspondent said Friday. The running battles between the jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, and the Ahrar al-Sham rebel group have so … Read more
Fighting subsided in Syria on Saturday after a deal signed by government backers Russia and Iran and rebel supporter Turkey to create four safe zones began to take effect, a monitor said. The zones still exist only on paper and the cosponsors have until June 4 to finalise their borders under the terms of the … Read more
After six years of conflict in Syria, government backers Russia and Iran and rebel supporter Turkey have signed a deal to create four “de-escalation zones” in the country. Here are some questions and answers about the deal and the planned zones: The zones are four areas located across eight of Syria’s 14 provinces. The first … Read more
The northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, site of a presumed chemical attack, is the last remaining rebel bastion after six years of civil war. Idlib city has taken in masses of displaced Syrians, swelling its population from nearly 120,000 people before the war began in 2011 to around 200,000 today. Before fighting broke out, the … Read more
At least 16 people were killed overnight in air strikes on a prison in the rebel-held city of Idlib in northwest Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said Saturday. It said the dead included prisoners and prison guards, but did not have an immediate breakdown of the toll. The strikes were believed to … Read more
“Welcome to Idlib province!” the Syrian governor proclaims, seated in a converted classroom in Hama city some 90 kilometres (55 miles) from his real office, held by rebels since 2015. With opposition fighters led by Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate in control of the province he was appointed to lead last year, Ali Jassem instead works … Read more
A jihadist group has executed 41 fighters from Al-Qaeda’s former Syria affiliate and allied factions in infighting between the extremists in Syria’s Idlib province, a monitor said on Friday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Jund al-Aqsa group had captured the fighters and shot them to death in the town of Khan Sheikhun … Read more
Nearly 70 fighters from two formerly allied jihadist groups have been killed during infighting over the past 24 hours in northern Syria, a monitor said on Tuesday. The clashes between former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham and the hardline jihadist Jund al-Aqsa faction erupted on Monday morning, after tensions over influence in the northwestern province of … Read more