Syria extends the deadline for a probe into coastal killings of Alawites
Beirut, Lebanon AP Syria’s presidency announced it would extend a probe into the killings of Alawite civilians in coastal areas that left hundreds dead after clashes between government forces and armed groups loyal to former President Bashar al-Assad spiralled into sectarian revenge attacks. The violence erupted on 6th March after Assad loyalists ambushed patrols of the new […]
Entire families killed during Syria’s violence, UN says
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters Entire families including women and children were killed in Syria’s coastal region as part of a series of sectarian killings by rival groups, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday. Pressure has been growing on Syria’s Islamist-led government to investigate after reports by a war monitor of the killing of hundreds […]
Damascus faces demands for accountability after civilian killings
Damascus, Syria Reuters Syria’s Islamist-led government on Monday said it had completed a military operation against a nascent insurgency by Bashar al-Assad loyalists, as it faced Western demands for accountability over the reported killing of hundreds of civilians. The violence in Syria’s coastal region marks the biggest test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa since he […]
Syria’s Sharaa scrambles to contain deadliest violence in years
Damascus, Syria Reuters Syria’s leader vowed on Sunday to hunt down the perpetrators of violent clashes pitting loyalists of deposed President Bashar al-Assad against the country’s new Islamist rulers and said he would hold to account anyone who overstepped their authority. The clashes, which a war monitoring group said had already killed 1,000 people, mostly […]
Two days of clashes and revenge killings in Syria leave more than 600 people dead, monitor says
Reuters The death toll from two days of clashes between security forces and loyalists of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and revenge killings that followed has risen to more than 600, a war monitoring group said Saturday, making it one of the deadliest acts of violence since Syria’s conflict began 14 years ago. The clashes, which erupted Thursday, marked […]
Scores killed as Syrian forces seek to crush Alawite insurgency
Damascus, Syria Reuters Syrian security forces battled for a second day on Friday to crush a nascent insurgency by fighters from Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite sect, with scores reported killed as the Islamist-led government faced the biggest challenge yet to its authority. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that more than 130 people had been […]
Assad gives account of last hours before leaving Syria
Beirut, Lebanon Reuters Syria’s Bashar al-Assad issued his first statement since being toppled from power, saying he was evacuated to Russia from the Hmeimim base on 8th December as it came under drone attack, after leaving Damascus that morning with rebel fighters closing in. His written statement was published on the Syrian presidency’s Telegram channel […]
Syrian Christians attend services, schools reopen a week after Assad’s overthrow
Damascus/Latakia, Syria Reuters Syrian Christians attended regular Sunday services for the first time since the dramatic overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad a week ago, in an early test of assurances by the new Islamist rulers that the rights of minorities will be protected. As the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept to power last […]
Russia pulling back but not out of Syria, sources say
Tartous, Syria Reuters Russia is pulling back its military from the front lines in northern Syria and from posts in the Alawite Mountains but is not leaving its two main bases in the country after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, four Syrian officials told Reuters. The ousting of Assad, who along with his late […]
Syrians explore Assad family’s massive summer resort for first time
Latakia, Syria Reuters Syrian cyclist Bassel Soufi rode his bike 40 kilometres from the north-western city of Latakia on Friday to visit the Assad family’s private coastal resort as local residents strolled around the compound for the first time in decades. After the family’s brutal 54-year rule and a 13-year civil war, Syrian rebels ousted […]