Heavy air strikes pounded rebel positions in east Damascus on Monday, a monitoring group said, as Syrian government forces pushed back a rebel assault. “There have been intense air strikes since dawn on opposition-held positions in Jobar from which the offensive was launched,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. … Read more
Heavy clashes rocked eastern districts of the Syrian capital on Sunday after rebel fighters launched a surprise assault on government forces, a monitor and state television said. Steady shelling and sniper fire could be heard across Damascus on Sunday as rebel factions allied with former al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Fateh al-Sham launched an attack on government … Read more
Heavy clashes rocked eastern districts of the Syrian capital on Sunday after rebels and jihadists launched a surprise assault on regime forces there, a monitor and state television said. Rebels and allied jihadists, led by former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, attacked government positions in the Jobar district and advanced into the neighbouring Abbasid Square … Read more
A suicide bomb attack in a Damascus court has left at least 31 people dead and 45 others wounded. Another suicide explosion then struck a restaurant in the Syrian capital, killing several people. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings, the second wave of deadly attacks in the capital in less than … Read more
Two suicide bombings hit Damascus Wednesday including an attack at a central courthouse that killed at least 32 people, as Syria’s war entered its seventh year with the regime now claiming the upper hand. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts, the second wave of deadly attacks in the capital in less … Read more
A suicide bomber attacked a courthouse in the centre of the Syrian capital on Wednesday, killing at least 25 people and wounding others, state media reported. “The preliminary toll in the terrorist suicide bombing at the old palace of justice building is 25 dead and a number of wounded,” state news agency SANA reported, citing … Read more
Kawasaki Frontale captain Yu Kobayashi coolly chipped home a penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time to grab a richly deserved 1-1 draw at Guangzhou Evergrande on Tuesday in the AFC Champions League. The Japanese side laid siege to the two-time Asian champions’ goalmouth after the prolific Brazilian striker Alan put the home side … 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
Syria’s war has killed just over 320,000 people since it erupted six years ago, a monitor said Monday, noting that a fragile ceasefire had helped to slow the rising death toll. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had recorded the deaths of 321,358 people since the conflict broke out in March 2011 … Read more
Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front on Sunday said in a statement it was behind twin bombings targeting Shiite pilgrims in the centre of Damascus that killed 74 people. “On Saturday… a twin attack was carried out by two heroes of Islam… in the centre of the capital Damascus, killing and wounding dozens,” the … Read more
The toll from twin bombings targeting Shiite pilgrims in the centre of Damascus has risen to 74 dead, a monitor said on Sunday. Among the victims of Saturday’s blasts were 43 Iraqi pilgrims who had come to the Syrian capital to visit Shiite shrines in Damascus’s famed Old City, according to the Syrian Observatory for … Read more
Al-Qaeda has confirmed that top leader Abu Khayr al-Masri, believed to be the organisation’s number two, was killed in a drone strike by the US-led coalition in Syria. The killing of Masri, described by analysts as “jihadi royalty,” could serve as a major security coup for US President Donald Trump early in his presidency. Two … Read more
The head of Al-Qaeda’s former Syrian branch said weekend suicide attacks in third city Homs were a message for opposition figures engaged in peace talks in Geneva to “step aside”. In a rare video address released late Monday, the head of Fateh al-Sham Front reiterated his group’s responsibility for the bombings, which killed dozens of … Read more
It was shortly after 6:00 am in Turkey, and Khaled Khatib and his cousin Fadi had dozed off while staying up all night to watch the Oscars. But then they got a phone call from Hollywood from their colleagues in the White Helmets, the Syrian rescue workers who were the subject of a documentary in … Read more
Government air strikes on northwest Syria killed at least 11 people overnight, most of them civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday. “Government warplanes carried out air strikes after midnight on several areas in the town of Ariha” in Idlib province, said the monitoring group’s head Rami Abdel Rahman. “The preliminary toll is … Read more
The main Syrian opposition group at peace talks in Geneva accused Damascus on Sunday of “stalling”, after its chief envoy demanded all sides condemn the deadly suicide assault in Homs this weekend. The High Negotiations Committee (HNC) made the charge after the Syrian regime’s chief negotiator Bashar al-Jaafari said any opposition delegates who refused to … Read more
UN efforts to launch a new round of Syria peace talks sputtered Saturday as suicide attacks killed dozens of people, raising the death toll from two days of violence to more than 80. The blasts which targeted two security service bases in Homs, Syria’s third city, killed a top intelligence chief and close confidant of … Read more
A suicide bomber attacked Turkish-backed rebels just outside the Syrian town of Al-Bab Friday, killing 42 people in a major blow just hours after they hailed its capture from ISIS. The bomber blew up a vehicle packed with explosives outside a rebel command centre in the village of Susian, five miles northeast of Al-Bab, the … Read more
A suicide bomber attacked Turkish-backed rebels just outside the Syrian town of Al-Bab Friday, killing 42 people in a major blow just hours after they hailed its capture from the Islamic State group. The bomber blew up a vehicle packed with explosives outside a rebel command centre in the village of Susian, eight kilometres (five … Read more
The bodies of some 130 fighters shot execution-style or beheaded by rival jihadists have been found in mass graves in northwestern Syria, a monitoring group and rebel sources said Thursday. The grim discovery comes nearly a week after clashes in Idlib province between the jihadist Jund al-Aqsa rebel group and Al-Qaeda’s former Syrian affiliate and … Read more