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Syria

April 21, 2025

Damascus 3:32 am

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DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

With SDF in sight, Turkey assesses gains as Trump eyes Syria withdrawal

Turkey is weighing its security gains and diplomatic risks as Washington reconsiders its military footprint in Syria.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

An Israeli army Merkava main battle tank crosses the barbed-wire fence into the UN-patrolled buffer zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights near the UN Quneitra checkpoint on March 2, 2025.

Analysis

Fragile optimism over Turkey-Israel deconfliction talks in Syria: What to know

As Turkey and Israel seek a better understanding of each other’s positions in Syria, deconfliction talks aim to prevent clashes but offer little hope for broader reconciliation.

Ezgi Akin

Rina Bassist

Jared Szuba

By Ezgi Akin , Rina Bassist , Jared Szuba

Sharaa MBZ UAE

Analysis

With Sharaa's visit, UAE opens door to post-Assad Syria, but how far will it go?

Does renewed contact between the United Arab Emirates and Syria signal a deeper political alignment or a cautious attempt to manage regional dynamics without fully endorsing the new Syrian order?

Francesco Schiavi

By Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Women are seen walking at the Roj Camp in northeast Syria, on April 8, 2025.

Exclusive

Syria's Kurds say Trump aid cuts are feeding radicalism in ISIS camps

In an interview at Syria’s Roj camp, the head of intelligence for the Women’s Protection Units warns that US funding cuts are fueling a resurgence of ISIS ideology among detained women and children, deepening an already volatile security crisis.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

In Paris, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

US weighs plans to slash troop presence in Syria by more than half

US forces patrol oil fields near Syria's northeastern border with Turkey in the Qahtaniyah countryside in the far northeast corner of Hasakeh province on Sept. 3, 2024.

Lebanon’s PM Nawaf Salam makes first Syria visit, meets Sharaa as border tensions loom

Sharaa

Exclusive

Syrian Kurd commander: Aleppo power-sharing deal could be model for nation

Mazloum Kobane

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

In Paris, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Syria’s Sharaa looks to boost ties with Turkey, Azerbaijan during Antalya visit

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives to the Antalya Diplomacy Forum on April 11, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

In Paris, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jared Szuba

Pentagon Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Danny Makki

In London, reporting on Syrian politics and culture

Ali Hashem

In Doha, reporting on Iran, regional politics, conflict

Cagatay Cebe

In Istanbul, reporting on security and counterterrorism

An anti-government fighter tears down a portrait of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, after jihadists and their allies entered the northern Syrian city, on November 30, 2024.

Russia state media says Syria's Assad and his family in Moscow

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled Syria after rebels claimed they seized Damascus.

Turkey's Foreign Affairs Minister, Hakan Fidan delivers a press conferense after his meeting with his Greek counterpart in Athens, on November 8, 2024. (Photo by Aris MESSINIS / AFP) (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images)

With Assad gone, Turkey urges Syrian opposition to unite, warns against PKK

The top Turkish diplomat struck a composed tone following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad and called for unity among the Syrian opposition.

Syrian anti government fighters celebrate as they pour into the captured central-west city of Hama on Dec. 6, 2024.

Syrians cheer fall of Assad, region reacts

The Syrian rebels have taken Damascus and say they have toppled President Bashar al-Assad’s regime after his family ruled Syria for more than half a century.

OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

As rebels advance south, how much trouble is Syria's Assad in?

Syrian rebel groups have taken Aleppo and Hama and moving south to Homs, inching closer to Damascus in an urgent threat to the Assad regime.

By Rosaleen Carroll

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Anti-government fighters brandish their guns as they ride a vehicle in Syria's northern city of Aleppo on Nov. 30, 2024.

US sees increasing possibility that Syria’s Assad falls

The administration expects the Syrian rebels to capture the central city of Homs within days, if not sooner.

Debra Tice, the mother of Austin Tice, arrives to speak at the National Press Club on May 3, 2024 in Washington, DC. The National Press Club holds a forum on World Press Freedom Day to discuss what the status is of the cases involving U.S. Journalists Austin Tice, who was kidnapped in August 2012 while reporting in Syria, Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested in March 2023 on spying charges in Russia, and Alsu Kurmasheva, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist who is detain

Austin Tice's family says captive journalist still alive as Syria’s war rekindles

The Tice family met with White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan as Syrian rebels advanced on the strategic city of Homs.

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Syria’s US-backed Kurdish forces seize Deir ez-Zor as Assad hangs by thread

The developments came as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham pressed its lightning offensive against Syrian government forces and is closing in on the country’s third-largest city, Homs.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses media during a joint press conference with German Chancellor after their meeting at the Dolmabahce Presidential Office in Istanbul on Oct. 19, 2024.

As Turkey weighs next steps in Syria, Erdogan says target is Damascus

Rapid rebel advances in Syria have shifted negotiations between Turkey, Iran and Russia to whether the Syrian government will survive.

Fighters deploy in Atareb, in the western areas of Syria's northern Aleppo province, amid clashes between the Syrian army and fighters of the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham along with allied factions, Nov. 28, 2024.

Syria rebels advance, Jordan closes border as Assad loses ground: What to know

The Islamist-led rebels who launched a surprise assault on government-held Aleppo are now at the gates of Homs, after taking Hama, as clashes in Daraa threaten the government’s presence in the south.

Syrian anti-government fighters celebrate as they pour into the captured city of Hama, Dec. 6, 2024.

Analysis

Israel cheers disintegration of Iran axis, mulls collapse of Assad's Syria

While pleased about the seeming collapse of the Iran-led "axis of resistance," Israeli leaders are concerned about its speed and Syria's possible disintegration.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

YPJ Commander in Chief Rojhelat Afrin pictured at YPJ headquarters near Al-Hasakh with YPJ spokesperson Heval Roksana and YPJ Field Commander Heval Kurdistan, Nov. 23, 204.

Interview

US-allied Syrian Kurdish woman commander: ISIS poised to carry 'fight to new level'

As Islamic State militants reportedly made advances in Syria on Thursday, the commander in chief of the Women’s Protection Units warned in an exclusive interview that the group’s plans included taking “over entire villages.”

Rojhelat Afrin

Rojhelat Afrin

Women’s Protection Units Commander in Chief

This combination of file photographs created on July 7, 2024, shows Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) in Ankara on May 29, 2023, and Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on July 16, 2023.

Turkey’s Erdogan ups rhetoric, says Assad must ‘urgently engage' with rebels

Erdogan is urging the Syrian government to urgently launch a dialogue with rebels in a bid to end the civil war after insurgents captured Hama.