Syria

Syria Remains Tense as New Leadership Struggles to Establish Authority

Syria remains fraught with tensions on Saturday, as the new leadership — emerging from a rebellion led by the Islamists of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and responsible for overthrowing former President Bashar al-Assad — struggles to assert its authority across the entire country. Operations in Latakia The new authorities launched a sweeping ...

UNHCR: 58 000 People Have Returned to Syria since the Fall of the Assad Regime

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced in a report Friday that some 58 000 people have returned to Syria since December 8, following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.   “Refugees have returned from Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan, with the main destinations being the governorates of Raqqa, Aleppo, Homs, and Daraa, ...

Silent Protest in Damascus Demands Justice for Assad Regime's Disappeared

A silent crowd gathered in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Friday to press the new authorities about the fate of relatives who went missing under Bashar al-Assad and to demand justice for their loved ones. The fate of tens of thousands of people who disappeared under Assad, who was ousted on December 8 by a coalition of Islamist-led rebels, is a ...

Over 30,000 Syrians Returned Home Through Turkey in 17 Days

Nearly 31,000 Syrians have returned home since the fall of strongman Bashar al-Assad, Turkey's interior minister said Friday, the figure rising by about 5,000 in just three days. "The number of people who went back is 30,663," interior minister Ali Yerlikaya told the TGRT news channel, saying "30 percent" of them had been ...

Damascus Governor: Syria's New Government Seeks Peaceful Relations With Israel

Three weeks after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, the new Syrian government says it wants to establish cordial relations with Israel. This was stated by the governor of Damascus, Maher Marwan, during an interview with NPR in his office in the Syrian capital. Speaking on behalf of Syria's new leader, Ahmed el-Sharaa, Marwan stressed that ...

Fifty Tons of EU Aid Expected in Syria on December 31

Some 50 tons of EU-funded medical supplies that were flown to Turkey from Dubai are expected to enter Syria on December 31, a UN health official told AFP on Friday. The supplies, which were sent from a European Union stockpile in Dubai, landed in Istanbul early on Thursday and were to be driven to the border in the coming days. "The supplies are ...

Syrian Authorities Arrest Official Responsible for Saydnaya Death Penalties

Syria's new authorities have arrested a military justice official who under ousted president Bashar al-Assad issued death sentences for detainees in the notorious Saydnaya prison, a war monitor said Thursday. The confirmation by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights of his detention came a day after deadly clashes erupted in the coastal ...

Syria's Ahmad al-Sharaa Meets with Iraqi Intelligence Chief

Syrian official Ahmad al-Sharaa met with Iraqi intelligence chief Hamid al-Shatri, who was sent as an envoy by the Iraqi prime minister. The meeting, as reported by the General Command, also saw the participation of Syrian Foreign Minister Assad Hassan al-Shaibani and the newly appointed head of Syrian intelligence, Anas Khattab. The discussions ...

'No More Fear': Stand-Up Comedy Returns to Post-Assad Syria

In post-Assad Syria, stand-up comedians are re-emerging to challenge taboos, mocking the former president and his regime and even testing the waters with Damascus's new rulers. Melki Mardini, a performer in the Syrian capital's stand-up scene, is among those embracing newfound freedoms. "The regime has fallen," he declares from the stage, ...

Syria Monitor Reports 9 Dead in Clashes Over Attempted Arrest of Assad-Era Official

A Syria war monitor said nine people were killed Wednesday in clashes in Tartus province after security forces sought to arrest an officer under deposed leader Bashar al-Assad who was linked to a notorious prison. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said "six members of the General Security force" of Syria's new ...

Syria Rescuers, Activist Say Site Outside Damascus Believed to Be Mass Grave

A key Syrian rescue group and an activist told AFP on Wednesday a burial site outside Damascus was likely a mass grave for detainees held under former president Bashar al-Assad and fighters killed in the civil war. In a vast walled area located near the Baghdad Bridge, some 35 kilometres (22 miles) from the capital, AFP journalists visiting the ...