Residents in northeast Syria brace for winter as oil smugglers thrive

While Deir ez-Zor is shipping oil other places thanks in part to a man named Hyena, many of its residents are suffering from poverty and the cold.

Syria

White House provides lifeline to US ties with Turkey and Saudi Arabia

Turkish and Saudi leaders look to Trump to prevent relations with the United States from going bad to worse.

Saudi Arabia

Israel’s love of Kurds weaponized by their foes

Israel's support of Kurdish autonomy in Syria is not always welcomed — at least publicly — by Syria's Kurds.

Israel

Will Turkish lira save economy in Syria's opposition-held areas?

As Syria's currency plunges against the dollar, the opposition's Syrian Interim Government plans to replace the Syrian pound with the Turkish lira in the areas it controls.

Syria

Russia, US headed for new lows over terrorism, Syria

Despite claims that the Russian foreign minister's visit to Washington was genial and productive, by the time Sergey Lavrov landed back in Moscow, some of the areas of potential cooperation had already grown more snarled.

Syria

Security situation in Aleppo’s al-Bab still not stable

Following angry public protests in Aleppo’s city of al-Bab due to the deteriorating security conditions, police forces are intensifying efforts to prevent terrorist incidents.

Syria

London summit exposes Turkey’s isolation, lack of clout in NATO

Seasoned diplomats say despite Ankara’s tarnished image in the alliance, Turkey has confirmed its Western orientation.

Syria

Oil trail reveals Turkey funding Syrian Kurdish rivals

Through oil, Turkey is helping to indirectly subsidize the very same Syrian Kurdish administration that it's seeking to crush.

Syria

Turkish-backed forces loot Ras al-Ain

Some residents of Ras al-Ain braved the ongoing chaos there to check on their houses, but found them destroyed or confiscated by opposition and pro-Turkish factions.

Syria

Turkey’s Kurdish sweep backfires

President Erdogan’s Syria plan has had unintended ramifications: Saudi Arabia and the UAE are now cozying up to the Kurds, the Kurds are uniting, and the Russians are guiding the solutions on the ground.

Syria

US pushes to reintegrate militants after Islamic State fight

A senior State Department official told Al-Monitor the administration is working to help Middle Eastern and African countries reintegrate thousands of fighters who joined the Islamic State and its affiliates.

Saudi Arabia

Intel: Here’s how many US troops Trump wants to keep in Syria

After months of uncertainty and ambiguity surrounding US troop levels in Syria as part of President Donald Trump’s mission to secure the war-torn country’s northeast oil fields, the Pentagon is finally disclosing a number.

Syria