Bashar Al-Assad

Syrians Commemorate Uprising Anniversary for First time since Assad's Fall

Syrians gathered on Saturday to commemorate the 14th anniversary of their uprising in public demonstrations in Damascus for the first time since president Bashar al-Assad was toppled. The demonstration in Damascus's Umayyad Square is the first in the capital after years of repression under Assad, during which the square was the sole preserve of ...

Syria Forces Beef Up Security Amid Reports of Mass Killings of Alawites

Syrian security forces deployed heavily in the Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean coast on Saturday, after a war monitor reported that government and allied forces killed at least 745 civilians from the religious minority in recent days. Residents of the region continued to report killings of civilians after deadly clashes broke out on ...

UN: Over 300,000 Returned to Syria Since Assad's Fall

More than 300,000 refugees have returned to Syria since president Bashar al-Assad was overthrown, while nearly a million more people displaced inside the country have returned to their homes, the United Nations said on Friday. Since Assad was toppled by Islamist-led rebels on December 8, "we've now crossed the 300,000 returns" mark, ...

Over 70 Killed in Syria Clashes Between Govt forces, Assad Loyalists

More than 70 people were killed and dozens more wounded in Syria in fighting between government security forces and militants loyal to deposed ruler Bashar al-Assad, a war monitor said Friday. "More than 70 killed and dozens wounded and captured in bloody clashes and ambushes on the Syrian coast between members of the Ministry of Defense and ...

Latakia: Assad Loyalists Kill More Than 70 Security Forces in Most Violent Attack Since Ouster

More than 70 people were killed and dozens more wounded in Syria in fighting between government security forces and militants loyal to deposed ruler Bashar al-Assad, a war monitor said Friday. "More than 70 killed and dozens wounded and captured in bloody clashes and ambushes on the Syrian coast between members of the Ministry of Defense and ...

Syrian Whistleblower "Caesar" Reveals Identity

A Syrian whistleblower, who smuggled tens of thousands of pictures depicting torture under Bashar al-Assad, on Thursday revealed his identity for the first time, two months after the longtime ruler was toppled. "I am First Lieutenant Farid al-Madhan, the (former) head of the forensic evidence department at the military police in Damascus, known ...

Syria: UN Reports "Systematic" Looting During War

A United Nations commission said Thursday it had documented the systematic destruction and pillaging of displaced people's property during Syria's war, warning of demographic change nearly two months after Bashar al-Assad's ouster. The Independent International Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on Syria has documented "pillages of such large scale that ...

Bashar al-Assad's Cousin Atif Najib Arrested in Latakia

Syria's new authorities on Friday announced the arrest of a cousin of ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, accused of orchestrating a crackdown in Daraa, where the 2011 uprising began. Atif Najib, the former head of political security in Daraa in southern Syria, was arrested in Latakia, on the country's west coast, the official SANA news agency ...