US President Donald Trump’s warning to the Syrian government not to carry out a chemical weapons attack appears to have worked, Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said Wednesday. “It appears that they took the warning seriously,” Mattis said, referring to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. White House spokesman Sean Spicer warned Monday night that … Read more
The US says it has identified “potential preparations” for another chemical attack in Syria, and issued a stark warning to the Syrian government. The White House said the activities were similar to those made before a suspected chemical attack in April. Dozens died in that attack and prompted President Donald Trump to order a strike … Read more
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday urged US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to prevent “provocations” against Syrian government forces, the foreign ministry said. In a phone call initiated by Tillerson, Lavrov “called on Washington to take steps to prevent provocations against Syrian government forces carrying out operations against terrorists,” it said in a … Read more
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad led Eid al-Fitr prayers in the central city of Hama on Sunday, appearing in public outside the capital for the first time in a year. Assad’s office published images of him praying inside the brightly-lit Al-Nuri mosque at dawn on Sunday before greeting worshippers outside. He was flanked by Islamic Endowments … Read more
Syrian regime forces on Friday broke into the eastern Deir Ezzor province for the first time since 2014, a monitor said, after seizing territory from Islamic State group jihadists. Government forces control part of Deir Ezzor city and the adjacent military airport, but IS holds the vast desert province and most of the provincial capital. … Read more
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Tuesday that the recent downings of a Syrian jet and of an Iranian-made drone could be “very dangerous” and lead to an escalation of the war in Syria. Guterres also sought to downplay expectations of a breakthrough in the next round of UN-led peace talks on Syria starting on July … Read more
A US warplane shot down an Iranian-made drone operated by pro-regime forces in southern Syria early Tuesday, officials said, in the latest incident in rising tensions between the two sides. It comes days after a US warplane shot down a Syrian government fighter jet in the north of the country, prompting a furious reaction from … Read more
The U. S. continues to expand military presence in Syria. Nowadays, Washington is setting up a second base at Syria’s Al-Zakf to the northeast, Reuters reported. Abu al-Atheer, military spokesman for the U. S.-backed Maghawir al-Thawra opposition group, told Reuters U.S. forces had spread from their initial location in Al-Tanf to set up a second … Read more
A new round of Syria peace talks could happen next month in Geneva, the United Nations envoy said Wednesday, following repeated failed attempts to stem the bloodshed. Staffan de Mistura told reporters during at a conference in Norway that fresh negotiations aimed at ending Syria’s six-year-old civil war could start at the end of the … Read more
A new round of Syria peace talks could happen next month in Geneva, the United Nations envoy said Wednesday, following repeated failed attempts to stem the bloodshed. Staffan de Mistura told reporters during at a conference in Norway that fresh negotiations aimed at ending Syria’s six-year-old civil war could start at the end of the … Read more
Syrian government troops and allied forces reached the Iraqi border for the first time since 2015 on Friday, a monitor said, risking fresh tensions with US-led forces nearby. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said dozens of pro-regime forces had arrived at the point on the Syria-Iraq border around 70 kilometres north … Read more
Russian-backed peace talks on Syria in Astana have been pushed back, Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry said Thursday, as key players wrangle over the future of fragile safe zones in the war-torn country. Moscow earlier said that it was calling a fresh round of negotiations in the Kazakh capital for June 12-13 to try to shore up … Read more
Syria’s Kurds were once a marginalised minority, but now they are leading the charge for the Islamic State group’s Raqa bastion and hoping to cement their gains in the war. The surprise turnaround in their fortunes is the result of several factors, including the Syrian regime’s decision to focus attention elsewhere and a key alliance … Read more
US-led coalition forces in Syria are reinforcing their garrison near the crucial Al-Tanf border crossing amid a buildup of pro-government troops nearby, a US military official said Thursday. “We have increased our presence and our footprint and prepared for any threat that is presented by the pro-regime forces,” Colonel Ryan Dillon, spokesman for the coalition … Read more
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview published Tuesday, said he was “convinced” the Syrian government was not behind an alleged chemical attack in the country last month that killed dozens. In an interview with the online news feed of the conservative French daily Le Figaro, Putin added that he agreed with his French counterpart … Read more
The United Nations is working to obtain security assurances needed to dispatch an international team of experts to the site of last month’s suspected sarin gas attack in Syria, a UN official said Tuesday. At least 88 people died in the April 4 alleged attack at Khan Sheikhun, in rebel-held Idlib province, which the United … Read more
US-led air strikes on Syria killed a total of 225 civilians over the past month, a monitor said on Tuesday, the highest 30-day toll since the campaign began in 2014. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the civilian dead between April 23 and May 23 included 44 children and 36 women. The US-led air … Read more
Despite little progress in the latest round of Syrian peace talks, negotiations are set to resume in June, the UN envoy said Monday. Staffan de Mistura told the Security Council that “important gaps remain between the parties on major issues” following the sixth round in Geneva held last week. The Syrian government and the opposition … Read more
The Syrian government says its forces have regained total control of the central city of Homs after rebels left the last district under their control. About 700 rebels and their families, a total of nearly 3,000 people, were evacuated on buses from al-Wair district, government officials say. “The city of Homs is completely clear of … 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