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
US-backed forces battled Islamic State group fighters around a key northern Syrian town on Monday, a monitor said, hours after seizing a military airport from the jihadists. The capture of Tabqa airbase late Sunday comes as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) prepare an attack on IS’s de facto Syrian capital Raqa, seeking to surround the … Read more
At least 16 civilians were killed and dozens wounded on Saturday in an air strike on a rebel-held area outside Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said. It said it was not immediately clear who was responsible for the strike on the town Hammuriyeh in the opposition bastion of Eastern Ghouta, which has … Read more
The international coalition battling the Islamic State group will begin a final push on the jihadists’ Syrian stronghold Raqa in the coming days, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Friday. But on the ground, the US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance spearheading the battle for the jihadist group’s de facto Syrian capital faces several key obstacles before … Read more
Jihadists and allied rebels claimed more ground against Syrian government forces in central Hama province on Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said. The Britain-based group said the jihadists and allied fighters have taken 15 towns and villages from government troops since they began the surprise offensive on Tuesday. It reported heavy fighting … 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
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
Rebels and jihadists on Tuesday launched a fresh assault on east Damascus, two days after Syrian government forces rebelled an initial attack just a few kilometres from the centre of the capital. An AFP journalist in east Damascus and a monitor both reported a large explosion at dawn followed by fierce clashes, shelling and government … Read more
Rebels and jihadists on Tuesday launched a fresh assault on east Damascus, two days after Syrian government forces repelled an initial attack, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “There was a big blast at dawn, most likely due to a car bomb attack by the rebels against a regime position between the districts of … Read more
Syrian warplanes hammered opposition-held neighbourhoods of Damascus on Monday after regime forces pushed back a surprise assault that saw rebels try to fight their way into the city centre. Rebels and allied jihadists, led by former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, launched an attack early Sunday on government positions in east Damascus, initially scoring key … Read more
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 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
The US has denied hitting a mosque in Syria where activists say dozens of people, mostly civilians, were killed. The Pentagon said the US targeted an “al-Qaeda gathering across the street from a mosque”, and released footage showing that a mosque next to a destroyed building remained standing. It said the photo was taken less … Read more
The US said it carried out an air strike in Syria against an Al-Qaeda meeting but denied deliberately targeting a mosque where a monitor said on Friday 46 people were killed. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said most of the dead in the Thursday evening raid on Al-Jineh, in the northern province of Aleppo, … 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
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
Air strikes thought to have been conducted by a US-led coalition Thursday killed 14 civilians, including six children, in a northern Syrian village held by the Islamic State group, a monitor said. “The raids hit the village of Al-Matab after midnight and were likely carried out by the coalition,” said Rami Abdel Rahman of the … Read more
Two people were killed on Wednesday in bombardment of a Syrian rebel bastion near Damascus, a monitor said, less than 24 hours after Russia announced a freeze in fighting there. “A young man and a woman were killed in air strikes on Douma,” the largest town in the Eastern Ghouta region, said Rami Abdel Rahman, … Read more
US-backed Syrian fighters have turned over several villages in the country’s north to government forces under a deal to avoid conflict with Turkey, a spokesman told AFP on Tuesday. The Manbij Military Council, part of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, announced the planned handover last week. “Some villages and points on the western side of … Read more