Syria Conflict

Syria

Syria claims Hezbollah cell plotting attacks arrested in Damascus: What we know

Syrian authorities have announced the arrest of a Hezbollah cell in Damascus.

His Excellency the President of the Republic, Ahmed al-Sharaa, meets at the People's Palace in the capital, Damascus, with the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Alexander Novak.

Russia sends second Syria delegation since Assad’s fall to safeguard military interests

Russia has been engaged with Syria’s new authorities as it seeks to maintain its presence and role in the region after the fall of its long-time ally, President Bashar al-Assad, last year.

Jordanian soldiers stand guard near the "Gate of Peace" at the Jordan Valley site of Baqura, east of the Jordan River, on Nov. 13, 2019.

As youth unemployment nears 50%, can conscription ease Jordan's economic woes?

Jordan is reinstating mandatory military service for young men to address rising youth unemployment, promote national identity, and counter domestic and regional security threats.

This picture shows pumpjacks in an oil field and smoke plumes rising in the background, following reported Turkish drone strikes near the town of al-Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province, close to the border with Turkey, on Nov. 23, 2022.

Exclusive

UK-based oil firm victim of standoff between Damascus, Syria’s Kurds

Gulfsands Managing Director John Bell outlines his company’s plans and Syria’s energy prospects in an exclusive interview.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

Syria seizes Captagon with Turkish backing amid drug trade boom

A member of the security forces with Syria's new government stands over pills of Captagon during a raid in Latakia on Jan. 19, 2025.

Syria exports first oil in 14 years after sanctions lifted: What to know

HUSSEIN FALEH/AFP via Getty Images

After weeks of threats, is Turkey softening line on Syrian SDF?

SDF fighters wave flags and flash victory signs from a vehicle during a convoy procession in Aleppo, Syria, on April 9, 2025.

US eases export controls to boost Syria's recovery

People unload containers at the port of Latakia in western Syria on Dec. 30, 2024.

Seized drugs, including Captagon, are displayed for the media in the town of Marea, in the northern Aleppo countryside, on May 24, 2022, following clashes among different Turkey-backed factions in Syria. - A decade of appalling civil war has left Syria fragmented and in ruins but one thing crosses every frontline: the drug fenethylline, commercially known as captagon. The stimulant -- once notorious for its association with Islamic State fighters -- has spawned an illegal $10-billion industry that not only

Breaking | Last Updated: May 23, 2023, 2:50 pm

New US sanctions target Syria's Captagon trade linked to Assad

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on six individuals in Syria and Lebanon, including two cousins of President Bashar al-Assad, who are linked to the Syrian regime's Captagon production and export.

Displaced families celebrate with their children the Eid al-Fitr Muslim holiday, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, at a luna park in Afrin, Aleppo province, Syria, May 3, 2022.

Syrians in Damascus spend Ramadan in darkness

The usual decorations and hubbub synonymous with the holy month are missing this year in Syria, amid a devastating war, economic crisis and the fallout from a deadly earthquake.

Commander of U.S. Central Command Gen. Kenneth McKenzie testifies during a Senate Armed Services hearing on Capitol Hill March 15, 2022 in Washington, DC. The committee met to receive testimony on the posture of U.S. Central Command and U.S. Africa Command, two of the eleven unified combatant commands in the U.S. Department of Defense. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Former US officials sound alarm on Biden's Syria policy

A group of former US officials including Marine General Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie Jr. and former Syria envoy James Jeffrey are urging the Biden administration to counter the region's rapprochement with Syria.

An aerial picture shows Syrian refugees living in Turkey waiting to take a bus through the northern Bab al-Hawa border crossing, on February 17, 2023, as they return to Syria in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake. - Turkey this week allowed Syrians under its protection who hold ID cards from one of the quake-hit provinces to leave for between three and six months, a rule change designed to reunite families on both sides of the border hit by the February 6 disaster, which has killed more than 41,000 people

60,000 Syrians have left Turkey, Turkish defense chief says

Syrian refugees in Turkey remain a central theme ahead of the country's critical May 14 elections.

A merchant presents desert truffles at a stall in a market in the city of Hama in west-central Syria on March 6, 2023.

Islamic State kills 15 truffle hunters in Syria, as clashes resume in Aleppo

The two incidents demonstrated the continued dangers of the Syrian civil war, even as the conflict has wound down somewhat.

US-made armoured vehicles bearing markings of the US Marine Corps are seen on a road north of Raqa in northern Syria on March 27, 2017. US-backed forces battled the Islamic State group around a key Syrian town, after the capture of an airbase brought them closer to besieging the jihadists in their stronghold Raqa.Operations are currently focused on the strategically important town of Tabqa on the Euphrates River, and the adjacent dam and military airport. / AFP PHOTO / DELIL SOULEIMAN (Photo credit should r

Second attack on US military in Syria following Pentagon’s airstrikes

The US military said it struck Iranian-affiliated targets in eastern Syria in response to an earlier drone attack.

An Algerian flag is displayed on a small boat used by migrants to cross The Alboran Sea, in an open-air warehouse in Almeria, southeast Spain, on October 15, 2021. - At least 309 migrants, 13 of them minors, have died in the western Mediterranean since the start of the year, figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) show. The number of Algerians arriving on the coast of southeastern Spain or the Balearic Isles has soared in recent months. A confidential document compiled by the Spanish

Algeria disbands migrant smuggling network to Europe, arrests nine Syrians

The arrest of the network coincided with a migrant boat capsizing off the coast of Tunisia, killing five people.

A picture taken on February 19, 2020, shows a general view of the airport of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo upon the relaunch of commercial flights. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel strikes Syria’s Aleppo airport for second time in two weeks

The reported strike follows increased Israeli military planning against Iran, and comes in midst of Arab openness to the Assad government

An AS332 Super Puma military helicopter flies during a graduation ceremony for Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga officers.

Iraqi Kurdish authorities hand over remains of Syrian Kurdish elite forces from mystery helicopter crash

Circumstances of the helicopter crash have raised even more questions about the mission of those onboard.

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson speaks during an International Donors Conference for Turkey and Syria.

US announces $50 million in earthquake aid for Syria, Turkey

The funding announcement brings the total US contribution since the Feb. 6 disaster to $235 million.

UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed welcoming his Syrian counterpart Bashar Al-Assad on Sunday in Abu Dhabi

Analysis

Assad's UAE visit aims to facilitate aid routes, Syria's return to Arab League

Proposals to facilitate humanitarian aid and bring Syria back into the Arab League topped the agenda in the Syrian president’s second visit to the United Arab Emirates since the beginning of the civil war.

By Salim A. Essaid

Assad Putin

Why has the Kremlin upped its protocol for Syria's Assad in Russia?

Public ceremonies for the Syrian leader, in contrast to his previous secret meetings, suggest that Assad is in a stronger position to negotiate with Moscow.