Turkey on Friday welcomed a US missile strike on a Syrian regime airbase in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack, calling for a no-fly zone in the country to prevent further bloodshed. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said the strike against the Sharyat airbase in Homs, northern Syria, was “a positive response” … Read more
Six people were killed and serious damage caused by a US missile strike on a Syrian air base in the centre of the country early Friday, Syria’s army said. “At 3:42 am (0042 GMT) the United States carried out a flagrant aggression with missiles against one of our airbases in the central region, killing six … Read more
The US has carried out a missile strike against a Syrian air base in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town. Fifty-nine Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from two US Navy ships in the Mediterranean. President Donald Trump said they hit the Shayrat base that launched Tuesday’s attack. It is the … Read more
The missile strike against a Syrian air base marks the first time the United States has directly attacked the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Here is what we know so far about the target and the outcome of the strike. At around 8:40 pm Eastern Time (0040 GMT) on Thursday, the US military fired 59 … Read more
The world’s chemical weapons watchdog said Thursday it has opened an “ongoing investigation” into the suspected chemical attack in Syria that killed at least 86 people. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said it has “initiated contact with the Syrian authorities” and is requesting information about Tuesday’s attack on Khan Sheikhun. “This is … Read more
The European Union and the UN host a two-day conference starting Tuesday on Syria’s future, with Russian-backed President Bashar al-Assad as firmly in place as ever despite efforts to oust him. EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini has billed the gathering in Brussels as a follow-up to a donors’ conference last year in London, which … Read more
A bomb attack on a bus in Syria’s third city Homs killed five people and wounded at least seven on Wednesday, state media reported. The blast hit a small bus carrying passengers in the Al-Zahraa neighbourhood, which has repeatedly been targeted in bombings. Most of the neighbourhood’s residents belong to the same Alawite religious sect … Read more
Four Syrian towns are to be evacuated under an agreement between pro-government forces and rebels, in the latest of a series of deals to end crippling years-long sieges. The agreement, brokered by rebel supporter Qatar and regime ally Iran, is expected to involve more than 30,000 people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The … Read more
US-backed forces battled the Islamic State group around a key Syrian town Monday, hours after the capture of an airbase brought them closer to besieging the jihadists in their stronghold Raqa. Backed by air power from the US-led coalition that has been bombing IS since 2014, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are laying the groundwork … Read more
At least 33 people have been killed in an air strike on a school in a village west of the Islamic State-held Syrian city of Raqqa, a monitoring group says. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the building in al-Mansoura was being used as a shelter for displaced people when it was hit on … Read more
At least 33 people were killed in a US-led coalition strike on a school used as a centre for displaced people near a jihadist-held Syrian town, a monitor said Wednesday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike south of Al-Mansoura, a town held by the Islamic State group in the northern province of … Read more
At least 33 people were killed in a US-led coalition strike on a school used as a centre for displaced people near a jihadist-held Syrian town, a monitor said Wednesday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike south of Al-Mansoura, a town held by the Islamic State group in the northern province of … 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
Hundreds of rebels and civilians left the last opposition-held district of Homs on Saturday under a controversial Russian-supervised deal to bring Syria’s third city under full government control. The evacuation of Waer, a northwestern district of the city that has been under siege by the army for years, is the latest in a series of … Read more
Hundreds of rebels and civilians began leaving the last opposition-held district of Syria’s Homs on Saturday under a controversial deal that will bring the whole city under government control. The Russian-supervised evacuation of Waer was agreed earlier this month and is expected to last several weeks. The new agreement aims to finalise implementation of a … Read more
Syria’s government and opposition said Monday they had agreed a Russian-supervised deal to complete the evacuation of fighters and civilians from the last rebel-held part of Homs city. The new agreement aims to finalise implementation of a “reconciliation deal” that has already seen several phases of rebel evacuation from Waer district, but which had stalled … Read more
Syria’s children “hit rock bottom” in 2016, with more killed than in any other year of the civil war, the United Nations children’s organisation says. At least 652 children died – 255 of them in or near a school – last year, a 20% jump from the number killed during 2015, Unicef said The figure … Read more
Violence against children in war-ravaged Syria was “at its worst” in 2016, the UN’s children’s agency said Monday as the conflict nears its seventh year. UNICEF said that cases of children being killed, maimed, or recruited into armed groups were the “highest on record” last year. “The depth of suffering is unprecedented. Millions of children … Read more
Firas al-Khatib, once the pillar of Syria’s national team before joining the opposition, was Sunday called into the squad for 2018 World Cup qualification matches. The 33-year-old forward, who hails from the central city of Homs, nicknamed the capital of the uprising that set off Syria’s six-year war, is now on a contract with Al-Kuwait … Read more
Atop the ruins of Syria’s famed Palmyra theatre, recently recaptured from the Islamic State group, teenage musician Angel Dayoub sings an old Arabic favourite: “We’re coming back, oh love, we’re coming back.” The 15-year-old’s voice floats over the ancient Roman theatre, heavily damaged then abandoned by IS jihadists on Thursday as Russian-backed government forces drew … Read more