The fall of Assad is just the beginning: The struggle for Syria has resumed

Syria constantly manages to surprise us anew. With the death of Hafez al-Assad in 2000, his son Bashar survived against all the odds and contrary to all predictions. At the beginning of the civil war in 2011, most experts wrote him off. Notably, Ehud Barak …

From Syria with Hate

About two weeks ago, seemingly out of the blue, an army of Sunni Islamists and fellow travellers spilled out of Syria’s Idlib region.  Their offensive met with little resistance – the ‘official’ Syrian Army (whose soldiers are majority Sunni, too) simply …

‘Resistance was not a choice’: how Syria’s unlikely rebel alliance took Aleppo

Abu Obeida, the commander of the Northern Storm Brigade, left his mud-camouflaged Toyota running as he got out to inspect the dirt road running through the no man’s land that separated his rural base north west of Aleppo from a Hezbollah position 200 …

Inside the Final Days of the Assad Regime in Syria

As rebels advanced toward the Syrian capital of Damascus on Dec. 7, the staff in the hilltop Presidential Palace prepared for a speech they hoped would lead to a peaceful end to the 13-year civil war. Aides to President Bashar al-Assad were brainstorming …

US diplomats meet representatives of Syria's Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham in Damascus

US diplomats discussed the principles of transition in Syria and regional events in a meeting with representatives of Syria's Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in Damascus on Friday, a US State Department spokesperson said. While in Damascus, the …

Syria's new rulers name Asaad al-Shibani as foreign minister, state news agency says

Turkey will do 'whatever it takes' if Syria government cannot address Kurd militia issue

Turkey will do "whatever it takes" to ensure its security if the new Syrian administration cannot address Ankara's concerns about US-allied Kurdish groups it views as terrorist groups, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday. Turkey …

HTS Leader al-Sharaa: 'Syria is tired of wars', wants to be part of Arab world

Ahmed al-Sharaa, the head of Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), said that Syria will not be used to destabilize any other Arab nation in an interview with Arab-language newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday. “Syria is tired of wars and being used for others’ …

US force in Syria is larger than previously known, Pentagon says

Updated: Dec. 20, 9:54 a.m. The U.S. military has some 2,000 troops in Syria—more than twice the figure of 900 that the Pentagon has cited for years, a spokesman said Thursday.  The higher number includes “temporary rotational forces that deploy to meet …

UN rights experts call for protection of mass graves and evidence in Syria

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on Syria called on the new Syrian government to protect mass grave sites and relevant documentation, in a statement issued on Friday. The statement comes after the CoI visited former prisons and …