The Islamic State group has imposed an “Afghan-style” dress code on men in its Syrian stronghold Raqa to help its fighters blend into the civilian population, a monitor and activists said Monday. “For more than two weeks, Afghan-style clothing… has been imposed by Daesh,” said Abu Mohamed, an activist with the “Raqa is Being Slaughtered … Read more
Sheltering from the wind under a gnarled olive tree Saturday, young Jumana and her two children are among tens of thousands of people displaced by the fighting in northern Syria. The 25-year-old stirs rice and bulghur wheat into a clay pot, heated by a small fire she has managed to light from damp olive branches … Read more
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
Syrian troops backed by Russian jets completed the recapture of the historic city of Palmyra from the Islamic State group Thursday, the Kremlin and the army said, in another blow to the jihadists. Bolstered by air strikes and ground troops from their ally Moscow, Syrian forces battled through the desert for weeks to reach Palmyra. … Read more
In another devastating blow to ISIS, Syrian troops backed by Russian jets have finally recaptured Palmyra from jihadis. The Kremlin and the army confirmed they had regained control of the historic city, as ISIS fled the area. Bolstered by air strikes and ground troops from their ally Moscow, Syrian forces had battled through the desert for … Read more
Islamic State group fighters withdrew from much of the Syrian oasis city of Palmyra overnight, a monitor said Thursday, but government forces paused before entering its ravaged ancient ruins because of mines. Russian-backed Syrian troops pushed into a western neighbourhood of the city late on Wednesday after fierce clashes with the jihadists. By Thursday morning, … Read more
Turkish-backed rebels seized two villages from US-supported forces on Wednesday as they sought to expand their control in northern Syria, rebels and a monitor said. The rebels advanced east from the town of Al-Bab, which they captured last week from the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, into territory controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces. The … 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
Worried over Turkish advances in Syria’s north, the Damascus regime has formed an alliance of convenience with the country’s Kurds to prevent their common enemy from gaining ground. President Bashar al-Assad’s government has repeatedly criticised Turkey’s operation in Syria, which saw Ankara in late August send troops across the border where they are working with … 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
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 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
Turkey said Wednesday fewer than 100 jihadists were still holed up in the flashpoint Islamic-State Syrian town of Al-Bab, as rebel commanders predicted its capture was imminent. The fight for Al-Bab has seen the bloodiest clashes of Ankara’s half-year campaign inside the conflict-torn country and its capture would be one of the most significant reverses … Read more
Turkey said Wednesday fewer than 100 Islamic State jihadists were still holed up in a flashpoint Syrian town which has seen the bloodiest clashes of Ankara’s half-year campaign inside the conflict-torn country. Speaking to NTV television, Defence Minister Fikri Isik said half of the town of Al-Bab was in the hands of Turkish troops and … Read more
An alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters seized more than a dozen villages in eastern Syria on Tuesday in their drive to encircle the Islamic State group bastion of Raqa. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) made a major incursion into the oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor as part of their push for Raqa, field … 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