At least 11 civilians were killed and dozens more wounded on Saturday in air strikes on a central Syrian village that a monitor said were likely carried out by Russia. “The raids targeted a livestock market in the village of Oqayrabat, held by the Islamic State group in Hama province,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head … Read more
A UN chemical weapons watchdog is examining allegations of eight toxic gas attacks in Syria since the beginning of this year, according to a report released Friday. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is tasked with investigating allegations of such attacks in Syria after the government joined the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013. … Read more
A Jordanian army ambulance pulled up at a makeshift clinic a few hundred metres from a desert border camp where tens of thousands of Syrian refugees are trapped in no man’s land. A paramedic clambered out, carrying an emaciated boy around two years old. “Whose child is this?” he shouted as a border guard covered … Read more
UN-sponsored Syria peace talks limped towards a close on Friday after more than a week in Geneva with little sign of progress beyond possible agreement on an agenda for more substantial negotiations. That may seem a low bar by which to judge diplomatic achievement — but for the United Nations’ envoy Staffan de Mistura, simply … Read more
Syria on Thursday accused the opposition High Negotiations Committee of taking UN-backed peace talks “hostage” over its refusal to include terrorism on the agenda, saying the HNC would be responsible if negotiations fail. “Progress in the Geneva round must not be held hostage by the Riyadh platform,” lead Syrian negotiator Bashar al-Jaafari told reporters, referring … Read more
Syria’s main opposition group will not allow terrorism to be added to the agenda of sputtering UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva, its delegation head said Wednesday. “We will not deal with it, and if (UN mediator Staffan de Mistura) adds it in any time we will not deal with it or discuss it,” Yehya Kodmani … Read more
Syria’s army entered the ancient city of Palmyra late Wednesday after fierce battles against the Islamic State jihadist group, a monitor said. “The army has entered a western neighbourhood of Palmyra and has seized control of part of it,” Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP. “There are clashes … Read more
Syrian government forces backed by Russian soldiers advanced Wednesday to the outskirts of ancient Palmyra after battles with the Islamic State group, a monitor and a military source said. “Regime forces and Russian troops are about one kilometre from the city,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. After seizing … Read more
Russia has now blocked seven UN resolutions regarding Syria since unrest erupted there in 2011, almost always with support from China. Moscow is an unconditional supporter of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Damascus, and its latest veto adds to the six previous ones listed below. Six months after the Syrian conflict begins, Russia and China on … 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
A ban on mobile phones, recording devices and “offensive language”: the ground rules handed out at Syrian talks reflect the high tension in the corridors of Geneva, where peace is a long way from anyone’s lips. UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura issued the orders to Syrian government and opposition negotiators gathered for talks which … 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
Several more rounds of Syrian peace talks will be needed to reach any accord, the UN envoy bidding to kickstart the sputtering process has told the rival sides, setting out three key discussion areas. In a paper given to both sides, and seen by AFP Sunday, he said that by the end of the current … Read more
Rescue workers from Syria’s White Helmets group — the subject of an Oscar-nominated documentary — will not attend this weekend’s Academy Awards ceremony because of intensified regime bombing, their leader said Saturday. “I am not going because of our workload due to intensified regime strikes on the provinces of Damascus, Daraa and Homs,” Raed Saleh … 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
Suicide attacks on two security service bases in the heart of Syria’s government-held third city of Homs killed 42 people on Saturday, overshadowing peace talks in Geneva, state television and a monitor said. “There were at least six attackers and several of them blew themselves up near the headquarters of state security and military intelligence,” … Read more
A Syrian migrant went on trial in Austria on Wednesday for allegedly executing 20 wounded government soldiers in his home country. The 27-year-old was arrested in a refugee shelter in western Austria last June after being denounced by a fellow Syrian. He has been charged with 20 charges of “murder as a terror offence” and … Read more
Four Russian military personnel were killed and two injured when their vehicle was targeted with explosives in central Syria last week, a defence ministry statement quoted by Russian agencies said Monday. “Four Russian servicemen died when their car exploded on a radio-controlled IED on February 16, 2017, in Syria,” the statement said. “Two more were … Read more
The leading Syrian opposition body on Sunday lambasted escalating attacks by government forces as a “bloody message” aimed at sabotaging peace talks that are due to open in Geneva next week. The High Negotiations Committee (HNC) said recent attacks near Damascus, Homs city, and elsewhere were “obstructing the efforts aimed at a political transition in … Read more
At least nine people were killed on Saturday when government forces launched a barrage of rockets that hit a funeral on the edges of the Syrian capital, a monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “seven rockets and several shells hit areas on the edges of Qabun”, a northeastern district of Damascus held … Read more