Syria

US launches retaliatory strikes against ISIS in Syria after deadly ambush

The US has launched another round of retaliatory strikes against the Islamic State in Syria following last month's ambush that killed two US soldiers and one American civilian interpreter in the country. The large-scale strikes, conducted by the US alongside partner forces, occurred around 12:30 pm ET, according to US Central Command. The strikes hit multiple Islamic State targets across Syria. Saturday's strikes are part of a broader operation that is part of President Donald Trump's response to the deadly ISIS attack that killed Sgt Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, Sgt William Nathaniel Howard, and Ayad Mansoor Sakat, the civilian interpreter, in Palmyra last month. Our message remains strong: if you harm our warfighters, we will find you and kill you anywhere in the world, no matter how hard you try to evade justice, US Central Command said in a statement Saturday. The administration is calling the response to the Palmyra attacks Operation Hawkeye Strike. Both Torres-Tovar and Howard w

Syrian forces enter Aleppo area after days of clashes with Kurdish fighters

Syrian security forces began deploying on Saturday in a neighbourhood in the northern city of Aleppo after days of intense clashes with Kurdish fighters that killed and wounded dozens. Syria's state news agency SANA reported that two Kurdish fighters blew themselves up in the middle of security forces without inflicting casualties, as gunfire was still heard in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Maqsoud around noon Saturday. Since the early hours, Syrian security forces were sweeping the neighbourhood after calling on residents to stay home for their own safety. Hundreds of people who fled the neighbourhood days earlier were waiting at Sheikh Maqsoud's entrances to be allowed in once the military operations were over. Clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish northern neighbourhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid, after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge their forces i

Syria announces ceasefire after days of clashes with Kurdish fighters

Syria's Defence Ministry announced a ceasefire on Friday after three days of clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo that displaced tens of thousands of people. The statement said the ceasefire was effective at 3 am in the neighbourhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid and gave armed groups six hours to leave the area. It said departing militants would be allowed to carry their personal light weapons and would be provided with an escort to the country's northeast, which is controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. Aleppo Governor Azzam al-Gharib toured the contested neighbourhoods with an escort of security forces overnight. There was no immediate public response from the SDF, and it was not clear if Kurdish forces in Aleppo had agreed to the deal. US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack welcomed the announcement in a statement on X and extended profound gratitude to all parties the Syrian government, the Syrian Democra

Syrian govt and Kurdish-led forces hold talks to discuss military merger

Syrian government officials held talks Sunday with the commander of the main Kurdish-led force in the country over plans to merge it with the national army, state media reported, adding that no tangible results had been achieved. The leadership in Damascus under interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa inked a deal in March with the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which control much of the northeast. The SDF was to merge with the Syrian army by the end of 2025, but there have been disagreements on how it would happen. A major sticking point has been whether the SDF would remain a cohesive unit in the new army or whether it would be dissolved and its members individually absorbed. The SDF said in a statement Sunday that a delegation led by top commander Mazloum Abdi held talks with government officials in Damascus related to the military integration process. The SDF later said talks had ended, with details to be released later. The SDF has tens of thousands of fighters

British, French warplanes strike suspected IS arms facility in Syria

British and French warplanes carried out an airstrike in central Syria on an underground facility where members of the Islamic State group are suspected to have stored weapons and explosives, the British defence ministry said Sunday. The strikes occurred Saturday evening on the structure in the mountains just north of the historic town of Palmyra in the country's Homs province, the ministry's statement said. Britain and France are part of the US-led coalition that has been fighting IS militants for more than a decade. The ministry said the British military used Typhoon FGR4 fighter jets supported by a Voyager refuelling tanker and were joined by French aircraft in the joint strike. The British air force used Paveway IV guided bombs to target a number of access tunnels down to the facility, the statement said, adding that while a detailed assessment is now underway, initial indications are that the target was engaged successfully. This action shows our UK leadership, and determinati

4 killed in Syria during clashes between Alawites, counterdemonstrators

Clashes broke out on Syria's coast between protesters from the Alawite religious minority and counterdemonstrators on Sunday, killing at least four people and injuring dozens of others, health officials said. The clashes came two days after a bombing at an Alawite mosque in the city of Homs killed eight people and wounded 18 others during prayers. Thousands of protesters gathered in the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartous, and elsewhere. Officials have said that preliminary investigations indicate that explosive devices were planted inside the mosque in Homs, but authorities have not publicly identified a suspect in Friday's bombing. Funerals for the dead were held on Saturday. A little-known group calling itself Saraya Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its Telegram channel, in which it indicated that the attack intended to target members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam whom hard-line Islamists consider to be ...

Mosque bombing in Syria's Homs kills 8, wounds 18 during Friday prayers

A bombing at a mosque located in the Syrian city of Homs during Friday prayers killed at least six people and wounded 21 others, authorities said. Images released by Syria's state-run Arab News Agency showed blood on the mosque's carpets, holes in the walls, shattered windows and fire damage. The Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque is located in a predominantly Alawite area of the Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood in Homs, Syria's third-largest city. SANA, citing a security source, said that preliminary investigations indicate that explosive devices were planted inside the mosque. Authorities were searching for the perpetrators of the attack. A security cordon was placed around the mosque, Syria's Interior Ministry said in a statement. Tensions have flared across several parts of Syria in recent weeks as long-running sectarian, ethnic and political fault lines continue to destabilize the country, even as large-scale fighting has subsided. The country has experienced several waves of sectarian

Clashes flare as Turkish officials visit Syria ahead of Kurdish integration

Clashes erupted between Syrian security forces and Kurdish fighters on Monday as top Turkish officials visited Damascus ahead of a deadline to implement a deal between the government and Kurdish-led forces in the country's northeast. Syria's state-run SANA news agency reported that two civilians were killed and 15 were wounded by shelling, and that dozens of families fled two neighbourhoods of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, which has seen previous outbreaks of violence. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, said 17 people were wounded and a woman was killed. The conflicting casualty reports could not immediately be reconciled. Late on Monday evening, the Syrian defence ministry announced an order to halt fire. It was not immediately clear how the new clashes in Aleppo's Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh neighbourhoods started. Syria's Civil Defence agency said two of its emergency responders were wounded after fighters with the Kurdish-led SDF opened fire on their ...

Jordan confirms its air force joined US strikes on Islamic State in Syria

Jordan confirmed Saturday that its air force took part in strikes launched by the United States on Islamic State group targets in Syria in retaliation for the killing of three US citizens earlier this month. The US launched military strikes Friday on multiple sites in Syria to eliminate Islamic State group fighters and weapons in retaliation for an attack by a Syrian gunman that killed two US troops and an American civilian interpreter almost a week earlier. The Jordanian military said in a statement that its air force participated in precise airstrikes... targeting several ISIS positions in southern Syria, using a different abbreviation for the Islamic State group. Jordan is one of 90 countries making up the global coalition against IS, which Syria recently joined. The US military did not say how many had been killed in Friday's strikes. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, reported that at least five people were killed, including the leader and members

US launches retaliatory strikes on 70 targets in Syria after Trump threat

The US Central Command said that fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery targeted ISIS infrastructure and weapon sites

Oil, sanctions, and war. US blockade on Venezuela recalls past conflicts

The US has ordered a total blockade on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers, stepped up naval presence and seized ships, raising fears that it may be moving towards a military conflict with Caracas

Trump vows retaliation after ISIS gunman kills 3 Americans in Syria

Speaking at the White House, the president described the victims as 'three great patriots' and characterised the incident as an assault on both Washington and Damascus

A year after Assad's fall, Syrians and their country struggle to heal

A year ago, Mohammad Marwan found himself stumbling, barefoot and dazed, out of Syria's notorious Saydnaya prison on the outskirts of Damascus as rebel forces pushing toward the capital threw open its doors to release the prisoners. Arrested in 2018 for fleeing compulsory military service, the father of three had cycled through four other lockups before landing in Saydnaya, a sprawling complex just north of Damascus that became synonymous with some of the worst atrocities committed under the rule of now ousted President Bashar Assad. He recalled guards waiting to welcome new prisoners with a gauntlet of beatings and electric shocks. They said, You have no rights here, and we're not calling an ambulance unless we have a dead body,' Marwan said. His Dec. 8, 2024 homecoming to a house full of relatives and friends in his village in Homs province was joyful. But in the year since then, he has struggled to overcome the physical and psychological effects of his six-year imprisonment. He

Syria's reforms promising but democracy still lacking: Amnesty chief

The secretary general of Amnesty International said Saturday that the new authorities in Syria have taken steps to show commitment to reform, transitional justice and reconciliation but says democracy is still lacking. A year after the fall of President Bashar Assad's government, Agnes Callamard, who visited Damascus this week, said that having legal reform plans before parliament, committees for transitional justice and welcoming international rights groups and other experts were signs that change is happening in Syria. All of those things are very good signs but they are not very deep, Callamard said in an interview with The Associated Press. Messages left with Syrian officials seeking comment Saturday were not immediately returned. After the fall of Assad in an offensive led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham of interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, Syria remains unstable. Forces loyal to the government were blamed for taking part this year in sectarian violence against members o

Trump hosts Syria's interim Prez Al-Sharaa in landmark White House visit

President Donald Trump is hosting Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the White House on Monday, welcoming the once-pariah state into a US-led global coalition to fight the Islamic State group. It's the first visit to the White House by a Syrian head of state since the Middle Eastern country gained independence from France in 1946, and comes after the US lifted sanctions imposed on Syria during the decades the country was ruled by the Assad family. Al-Sharaa led the rebel forces that toppled former Syrian President Bashar Assad last December and was named the country's interim leader in January. Trump and al-Sharaa who once had ties to al-Qaida and had a USD 10 million US bounty on his head first met in May in Saudi Arabia. At the time, the US president described al-Sharaa as a "young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past, very strong past. Fighter." It was the first official encounter between the US and Syria since 2000, when former President Bill Clinton met with Hafez Assad, .

UN approves US-backed effort to lift sanctions on Syria's president

The UN Security Council on Thursday voted to lift a series of sanctions on Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and members of his government days before he is set to arrive in the US for a historic visit to the White House. The US resolution to drop UN sanctions tied to al-Sharaa and Syria's interior minister, Anas Hasan Khattab, stemming from their ties to the al-Qaida militant group, was adopted with 14 members in support. China abstained from the vote. With the adoption of this text, the council is sending a strong political signal that recognises Syria is in a new era since Assad and his associates were toppled in December 2024, Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN, said in his statement after the vote, referring to longtime autocratic leader Bashar Assad. American officials pushed to pass the resolution before Monday, when President Donald Trump is expected to host al-Sharaa in the first visit by a Syrian president to Washington since the country gained independence in ...

Trump to host Syrian President Al-Sharaa in historic White House visit

President Donald Trump will host Ahmad al-Sharaa for talks, a first-ever visit by a Syrian president to the White House, an administration official said Saturday. The official, who was not authorised to comment publicly about the yet to be formally announced engagement, said that the meeting is expected to take place Nov 10. Trump met with al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia in May in what was the first encounter between the two nations' leaders in 25 years and one that could serve as a turning point for Syria as it struggles to emerge from decades of international isolation. The meeting, on the sidelines of Trump's get-together with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, marked a major turn of events for a Syria that is still adjusting to life after the over 50-year, iron-gripped rule of the Assad family. Al-Sharaa once had a $10 million US bounty on his head. Under the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, al-Sharaa had ties to al-Qaida and joined insurgents battling US forces in Ir

What to expect as Syria goes to polls for 1st time since Assad's ouster

Syria is holding parliamentary elections on Sunday for the first time since the fall of the country's longtime autocratic leader, Bashar Assad, who was unseated in a rebel offensive in December. Under the 50-year rule of the Assad dynasty, Syria held regular elections in which all Syrian citizens could vote. But in practice, the Assad-led Baath Party always dominated the parliament, and the votes were widely regarded as sham elections. Outside election analysts said the only truly competitive part of the process came before election day with the internal primary system in the Baath Party, when party members jockeyed for positions on the list. The elections to be held on Sunday, however, will not be a fully democratic process either. Rather, most of the People's Assembly seats will be voted on by electoral colleges in each district, while one-third of the seats will be directly appointed by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa. Despite not being a popular vote, the election results wi

Many Syrians unaware of first parliamentary election since Assad's fall

The streets of Damascus barely showed sign Saturday a parliamentary election was set to take place the next day. There were no candidate posters on the main streets and squares, no rallies, or public debates. In the days leading up to the polling, some residents of the Syrian capital had no idea a vote was hours away, the first since Islamic insurgents ousted former President Bashar Assad in a lightning offensive in December. I didn't know now by chance I found out that there are elections of the People's Assembly, said Elias al-Qudsi, a shopkeeper in Damascus' old city, after being asked for his views about the upcoming election. But I don't know if we are supposed to vote or who is voting. His neighbourhood, known as the Jewish Quarter, although nearly all of its former Jewish residents have left, is one of the few that has a smattering of campaign fliers posted on walls in its narrow streets. The posters announce the candidacy of Henry Hamra, a Jewish former resident of the ...

How Syria's first elections since Assad's ouster are expected to unfold

Syria is set to hold parliamentary elections on Sunday for the first time since the fall of the country's longtime autocratic leader, Bashar Assad, who was unseated in a rebel offensive in December. Under the 50-year rule of the Assad dynasty, Syria held regular elections in which all Syrian citizens could vote. But in practice, the Assad-led Ba'ath Party always dominated the parliament, and the votes were widely regarded as sham elections. Outside election analysts said the only truly competitive part of the process came before election day with the internal primary system in the Ba'ath Party, when party members jockeyed for positions on the list. The elections to be held on Sunday, however, will not be a fully democratic process either. Rather, most of the People's Assembly seats will be voted on by electoral colleges in each district, while one-third of the seats will be directly appointed by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa. Despite not being a popular vote, the election resu