Latakia

Syria Battles Wildfires for Fourth Day as Jordan and Turkey Send Help

Syrian authorities said some 100 square kilometers (40 square miles) of forest had "turned to ash" in wildfires as firefighters from neighboring Jordan arrived Sunday to battle a fourth day of blazes in the province of Latakia. Syrian emergency workers have faced tough conditions, including high temperatures, strong winds, rugged mountainous ...

Syria Battles Fierce Wildfires in Latakia for Third Day as Turkey Sends Assistance

Syrian emergency workers were battling forest fires raging in the coastal province of Latakia on Saturday for a third day in tough conditions as neighboring Turkey sent assistance. An AFP correspondent saw strong winds fanning the flames in forest areas and farmland in Qastal Maaf, around a dozen kilometers (eight miles) from the Turkish border, ...

Syrian Authorities Evacuate Citizens Amid Major Forest Fires

Syrian rescuers were evacuating residential areas in the coastal Latakia province because of major forest fires, authorities said on Friday. Fires have been spreading across large parts of Syria, particularly the coast, for several days, with firefighters struggling to control them due to strong winds and an intense drought. Abdulkafi Kayyal, ...

Fear Among Syrian Christians After Deadly Attacks

Members of Syria's small Christian community on the coast are living in fear after attacks killed more than 1,000 mostly Alawite civilians, with Christians reportedly caught up in the violence. "The current conflict in Syria does not concern me, but we are its victims," said Ruwayda, a 36-year-old Christian from the port city of ...

Syria President Calls for Unity After Reports of Mass Killings

President Ahmed al-Sharaa called for national unity and peace on Sunday amid a growing international backlash following the killing of Alawite civilians in the worst violence since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad. United Nations rights chief Volker Turk said the killings "must cease immediately", while the Arab League, the United ...

Syria Church Leaders Condemn ‘Massacres Targeting Innocent Civilians'

The leaders of Syria's three main Christian churches issued a joint statement Saturday condemning "massacres targeting innocent civilians", following reports of mass killings of Alawite civilians by the security forces. Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said "532 Alawite civilians were killed in the coastal ...

Syria: A New Phase of Conflict Between Pro-Assad Forces and the Authorities?

The Pandora’s box that opened in Syria in 2011 is far from closed. After the civil war that broke out 14 years ago, a new phase of tensions has begun in the wake of former President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster and his exile in Russia. On Thursday, fighting intensified across the country, particularly in the west, as supporters of the former ...

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 ...

Syria Monitor Reports 11 Killed in Ex-Assad Bastion, Clashes in South

A Syria war monitor said Wednesday that four civilians had been killed in a security operation in a former pro-government bastion this week, while clashes in the south had left at least seven security personnel and gunmen dead. Restoring and maintaining security across Syria remains one of the most pressing challenges for the country's new ...