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
A former Al-Qaeda affiliate took control of the northern Syrian city of Idlib on Sunday two days after agreeing to end fighting with a rebel group, a monitor said. “Ahrar al-Sham (the rebel group) withdrew from the city of Idlib which is now under the control of (the jihadist) Hayat Tahrir al-Sham,” Rami Abdel Rahman … Read more
A former Al-Qaeda affiliate was locked in fierce clashes Friday with a leading rebel group for control of one of the last major parts of Syria not held by the regime. The clashes in Syria’s Idlib province in the country’s northwest pit the jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) against the key rebel group Ahrar al-Sham, … 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
Infighting between two of the most powerful factions in Syria’s opposition-held Idlib province has killed at least 14 people in the past 24 hours, a monitor said Wednesday. The fighting involves the jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, against one-time ally Ahrar al-Sham, a powerful Islamist rebel group. The Syrian … Read more
Ahrar al-Sham blamed the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) for the attack Ahrar al-Sham blamed the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) for the attack At least 14 fighters from the Ahrar al-Sham rebel group in Syria were killed by bomb attacks on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights … Read more
An alliance dominated by Al-Qaeda’s former Syrian branch has warned rebel groups against implementing a deal on safe zones, saying they would be considered traitors. Tahrir al-Sham, led by the jihadist Fateh al-Sham Front, made the threat late Tuesday in response to an agreement signed by rebel backer Turkey and regime supporters Iran and Russia … 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
Air strikes on two hospitals in rebel-held northwestern Syria on Thursday left 10 people dead including two babies in incubators, a monitor said. They were among 19 people killed as a result of strikes across rebel-held Idlib province on Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. An AFP correspondent in the village of Deir … Read more
An air strike killed 18 civilians including five children in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said. The monitoring group updated its earlier death toll of 15 for the strike on Urum al-Joz, saying three more people had died of serious injuries. It said the strike was … Read more
Autopsy results have revealed that chemical weapons were used in an attack which killed more than 80 people in Syria’s Idlib province, according to Turkey’s justice minister. Thirty-two victims of Tuesday’s attack were brought to Turkey where three subsequently died. “Autopsies were carried out on three of the bodies after they were brought from Idlib. … Read more
Hospitals across Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province are overwhelmed with casualties from a suspected chemical attack that has killed scores of people and wounded hundreds more, a local health official has told Al Jazeera. The attack in the early hours of Tuesday morning in Khan Sheikhoun drew widespread international condemnation, with the UN saying it would … 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
Syrian jihadists and allied rebels seized a key town from government forces on Tuesday in a new offensive in the central province of Hama, a monitor and fighting factions said. The surprise offensive was announced Tuesday by the Tahrir al-Sham alliance, which is dominated by the jihadist Fateh al-Sham Front, once linked to Al-Qaeda. “This … Read more
Dozens of people have been killed after fighter jets struck a packed mosque during prayer time in a rebel-held village in northern Syria, according to a monitoring group and activists. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group tracking developments in Syria’s conflict, said Thursday’s air raids in al-Jina, southwest of Atarib in the … 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 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
Dozens of fighters have been killed in clashes between two jihadist factions in northern Syria, reports say. The battles involved Tahrir al-Sham, formerly an al-Qaeda affiliate, and Jund al-Aqsa, regarded as close to so-called Islamic State (IS). UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the fighting was a “war for influence” in Idlib province. … Read more