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Syria

July 27, 2024

Damascus Governorate 3:23 pm

35°C

Antonio Masiello/Getty Images

Quick Take

Italy appoints ambassador to Syria in latest sign of European thaw

Syria’s relations with the international community are gradually improving amid the ongoing civil war.

MAXIM SHEMETOV/AFP via Getty Images

Russia, Turkey FMs meet in Laos, discuss Syria reconciliation efforts

The two top diplomats’ talks come after the Russian and Syrian presidents discussed the Turkish president’s invitation to hold a three-country leaders' summit with his Syrian counterpart after more than a decade of hostilities.

Ezgi Akin

By Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

VALERY SHARIFULIN/AFP via Getty Images

Syria’s Assad meets Putin in Russia amid Turkey dialogue push

Russia has been the main backer of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces against rebels throughout the Syrian civil war.

Beatrice Farhat

By Beatrice Farhat

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

An undated image of Baraa al-Qaterji (L) with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

Quick Take

Syrian businessman with ties to Assad killed in suspected Israeli airstrike

If confirmed, the strike would be a bold step for Israel's clandestine operations in Syria, taking out an Assad regime insider from a family that has long brokered oil shipments, arms deals and illicit financing across the civil war's front lines.

Latest News

Regional View

Syrians in Turkey change attire, avoid cars after mob attacks

Syrians attend the burial of a man killed during clashes with Turkish troops, in Afrin in northern Syria on July 2, 2024.

Quick Take

Iraq aims to host first meeting between Turkey's Erdogan, Syria's Assad

A composite image of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erodgan (L) and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Analysis

As Erdogan woos Assad, is Turkey-Syria reconciliation rhetoric or reality?

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.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

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

Saudi Arabia and Syria resume regular flights as thaw with Assad advances

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman greets Syrian President Bashar Assad during the Arab summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Friday. Saudi Press Agency / Saudi Press Agency via AP

Beatrice Farhat

By Beatrice Farhat

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Regional View

In managing water crisis, can Turkey and Iraq bridge gap without Syria?

The Euphrates river near Dura Europos (Tell Salhiye), Syria. Iraq is just several miles downstream.

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

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

Danny Makki

In London, reporting on Syrian politics and culture

Lyse Mauvais

In Amman, reporting on humanitarian crises

AFP via Getty Images

Quick Take

What we know about latest airstrikes in northeast Syria

Syria's Deir ez-Zor has witnessed significant fighting in recent weeks.

LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images

Quick Take

ISIS kills 11 truffle hunters in Syria amid signs of resurgence

Syrians hunt the prized mushrooms due to the dismal economic situation in the country, braving attacks by a resurgent Islamic State.

Tripoli

Quick Take

Switzerland charges Rifaat Assad with war crimes in Syria’s Hama massacre

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's brother, Rifaat al-Assad, has also been convicted of financial crimes in France.

Members of the Khabour Guards (MNK) Assyrian Syrian militia, affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), walk in the ruins of the Assyrian Church of the Virgin Mary, which was previously destroyed by Islamic State (IS) group fighters, in the village of Tal Nasri south of the town of Tal Tamr in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on Nov. 15, 2019.

Regional View

Turkish strike kills 3 members of Kurdish-allied Christian force in northeast Syria

Wednesday's drone strikes are in line with Turkey’s ongoing campaign to degrade and destroy the SDF and the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeast Syria.

UWAYDA24/AFP via Getty Images

Quick Take

Syria: One killed in Suwayda as protests resume against Assad government

The death marks the first time a protester has been killed since the protests in Suwayda began last year over Syria’s dire economic situation.

People check the damage on a building reportedly hit in an Israeli air strike in the Kafr Sousa district of the Syrian capital Damascus on February 21, 2024. At least two people were killed on February 21 in an Israeli attack on Damascus, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Syrian state media.

Syria says Israel behind multiple attacks in Damascus, at least 3 killed

The strikes occurred in a district close to housing state security agencies.

Beatrice Farhat

By Beatrice Farhat

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images

Russia sets up observation points in Syria near Golan Heights

New Russian observation posts have popped up in southwest Syria amid increased tensions between pro-Iranian groups and Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Beatrice Farhat

By Beatrice Farhat

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

An ambulance leaves from Santa Maria Church as anti-riot police officers block the street after an attack in Istanbul, Turkey, Jan. 28, 2024.

Regional View

How and why ISIS-K has resurged in Turkey

The latest attack on an Istanbul church signals the militant group’s resurgence in Turkey.

A man walks past a poster of President Bashar al-Assad, a candidate in the presidential election, Damascus, Syria, May 17, 2021.

Congress pushes White House to toughen anti-Assad policy

The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation meant to combat the normalization of Syria's long-shunned regime.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Smoke billows from an Israeli airstrike as flares fall on the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, near the border with Israel, Jan. 19, 2024.

Quick Take

Suspected Israeli strikes in Syria amid escalation with Hezbollah in Lebanon

A Hezbollah commander in Lebanon was injured in an Israeli strike as foreign diplomats worked to de-escalate tensions on the Israel-Lebanon border.

Salih Muslim, the diplomatic relations official for the Kurdish Movement for a Democratic Society, and the former co-chairman of the main Kurdish leftist Democratic Union Party (PYD), speaks during an interview in his office on August 2, 2018.

Interview

Syrian Kurdish leader Salih Muslim warns of 'forceful response' to Iran-linked attacks

Muslim's spoke to Al-Monitor two days after an attack on an SDF training camp in Deir Ezzor by Iran-backed militias left six dead.

Salih Muslim

With Salih Muslim

PYD co-chairman

A Royal Air Force Typhoon FRG4s is being prepared to conduct further strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen at RAF Akrotiri on Feb. 3, 2024.

Quick Take

Pentagon vows more strikes against Iran-backed groups, rejects open-ended campaign

The Pentagon says it isn't planning for an open-ended campaign of retaliation against Iran-backed groups, even as Israel vows to expand its war in Gaza on to the Rafah area.