Taline Menassian still trembles when she steps into the Aleppo Armenian Society’s open-air cafe, shaken by memories of the rockets that once rained down on the Syrian city’s front line. The eatery in Midan, Aleppo’s main Armenian district, was shuttered for four years after violence reached the city in 2012. But it reopened in June, … Read more
The battle by US-backed forces to oust the Islamic State group from its Syrian bastion of Raqa will solve one problem but create another: who will then govern the city? The Syrian Democratic Forces Kurdish-Arab alliance backed by Washington is leading the fight for majority-Arab Raqa. But the strategic city is also coveted by Bashar … Read more
Syria’s Kurds were once a marginalised minority, but now they are leading the charge for the Islamic State group’s Raqa bastion and hoping to cement their gains in the war. The surprise turnaround in their fortunes is the result of several factors, including the Syrian regime’s decision to focus attention elsewhere and a key alliance … Read more
Syria’s regime is close to cementing its control over the entire capital under local deals with rebels after a six-year war that has ravaged suburbs of Damascus and caused population displacements. Rebels have evacuated some of the last Damascus districts under their control, shattering their dream of one day seizing the capital and toppling a … 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
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
When the army recaptured Aleppo in December, Mohammad Baqdul left Beirut and returned with his family to his native city, convinced the end of Syria’s six-year war was near. Baqdul fled Syria’s second city when rebels overran its east in 2012, posing one of the most serious threats yet to the government of President Bashar … 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
The Syrian town of Al-Bab was for three years a key jihadist stronghold in northern Syria, whose capture Ankara hopes will give Turkey greater influence over the postwar shape of the country. The town, whose name means “The Gate”, had an estimated prewar population of some 100,000 but was the target of an over three-month … Read more
Syrian opposition figures will return to Geneva on Thursday for new UN-sponsored talks with President Bashar al-Assad’s regime on their country’s six-year conflict. Since the delegations last gathered in Switzerland in April 2016, rebels have lost their bastion in east Aleppo and seen a new partnership form between their main ally Turkey and government backer … Read more