Category Archives: Syria

G7: Trump’s demands for Russia’s readmission cause row in Biarritz

Posted on by

US president argues Putin should be included in discussions on Iran, Syria and North Korea

Donald Trump has rowed with his fellow G7 leaders over his demand that Russia be readmitted to the group, rejecting arguments that it should remain an association of liberal democracies, according to diplomats at the summit in Biarritz.

The disagreement led to heated exchanges at a dinner on Saturday night inside the seaside resort’s 19th-century lighthouse. According to diplomatic sources, Trump argued strenuously that Vladimir Putin should be invited back, five years after Russia was ejected from the then G8) for its annexation of Crimea.

Continue reading...

Netanyahu hails Israel strikes against Syria to foil Iran ‘killer drone attack’

Posted on by

Israeli prime minister says Iran has ‘no immunity anywhere’ after military says Tehran drone plot thwarted

The Israeli air force struck in Syria to prevent an Iranian force from launching an attack on the Jewish state with drones armed with explosives, the army said on Sunday.

Although Israel operates regularly in Syria, it rarely acknowledges its actions so swiftly, with its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, warning arch-foe Iran it had no immunity from his state’s military.

Continue reading...

‘It’s not legal’: UN stands by as Turkey deports vulnerable Syrians

Posted on by

Government pressure leaves agency silent despite claims of forced returns of LGBT refugees and others under police crackdown

When summer began, Ward’s* biggest worry was her sick boyfriend.

A Syrian with a gentle voice, and all her identity documents in order, Ward thought she could convince doctors in Istanbul, where she lived, to see her boyfriend, another refugee, without papers.

Continue reading...

I’ve spent years reporting from Syria. The world has tuned out, but hope still exists | Sara Firth

Posted on by
Every day the mounting horrors are broadcast in real time, but it feels like nobody is watching any more

This is often how the news comes in: “Regime airstrikes on Tuesday killed nine civilians in rebel-held northwest Syria, the target of months of regime and Russian bombardment, says the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.” Working for an international news channel, we follow up these stories with our sources on the ground, the local monitoring group or news agency. Where possible we go to verify for ourselves. Usually, though, I’m miles away on the other side of the border in Hatay, Turkey. Safe.

Related: Rebels withdraw from key Syrian town as pro-Assad troops advance

Continue reading...

Rebels withdraw in key Syrian town as pro-Assad troops advance

Posted on by

Move by insurgents in Khan Sheikhun marks a milestone for Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold

Insurgent groups have withdrawn from Khan Sheikhun in north-west Syria, clearing the way for pro-government forces to enter the town, in a milestone moment in the war for Idlib province, the country’s last major rebel stronghold.

The development came hours after Turkey deployed tanks and armoured cars deep into Syria, partly in response to days of advances by forces fighting on behalf of the Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad.

Continue reading...

Turkish convoy in Syria hit by airstrikes, Ankara claims

Posted on by

Reported strike came after large number of Turkish forces crossed border into Idlib province

Turkey has sent significant numbers of tanks and troops deep into Syria in an apparent bid to reinforce the town of Khan Sheikhun, where 92 people died in a 2017 sarin gas attack, one of the war’s most infamous atrocities.

Columns of Turkish forces, amounting to Ankara’s largest incursion into Syria of the eight-year conflict, crossed the southern border into Idlib province early on Monday, accompanied by Arab proxy forces.

Continue reading...

Isis suspect Jack Letts stripped of British citizenship – report

Posted on by

Muslim convert, 24, has had his British citizenship revoked, according to the Mail on Sunday

The Muslim convert Jack Letts, who is suspected of leaving Britain to join the Islamic State, has been stripped of his British citizenship, it has been reported.

Jack Letts was 18 when he left his Oxfordshire home in 2014 before marrying in Iraq and moving to Raqqa in Syria. Captured by Kurdish forces as he attempted to flee to Turkey in May 2017, the 24-year-old, dubbed “Jihadi Jack”, has since been held in jail in northern Syria.

Continue reading...

Begum lawyer says legal ploy could stop her return to Britain

Posted on by

Citizenship appeal for UK Isis teenager being ‘deliberately delayed’

Shamima Begum’s attempt to overturn the decision to revoke her UK citizenship is being deliberately delayed, according to her lawyers, to give police time to charge the former Islamic State member with a terrorism offence.

Almost six months have passed since Begum lodged an appeal against the decision, by the former home secretary, Sajid Javid. Yet the 19-year-old, who joined Isis aged 15 and remains in Syria, is still waiting for a date to be set with the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), which adjudicates on cases where the home secretary has revoked someone’s nationality on grounds of national security.

Continue reading...

Syria: new Idlib clashes sow ‘total panic’ among civilians, UN says

Posted on by

Senior official says government offensive would be ‘playing with fire’ after truce collapses

Fresh fighting around Syria’s jihadi-controlled enclave of Idlib has triggered “total panic” among civilians in recent days, according to a senior UN official who warned that a feared government offensive in the area was “playing with fire”.

The renewed violence, which followed the breakdown of a brief ceasefire, came as international concern about Syria mounts. The British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, said on Thursday that he was appalled by the deteriorating situation in the enclave, which is home to about 3 million people.

Continue reading...

Syria safe zone plan may just be wishful thinking

Posted on by

Lack of detail and strong opposition from Kurds means plan is unlikely to provide solution to region’s problems

The announcement by Turkey and the US that they will set up a safe zone in Kurdish-run north-eastern Syria allays fears of an imminent Turkish incursion into the country, but will strain Washington’s ties with a force that helped defeat Islamic State.

The announcement came as Ankara was finalising a troop buildup along its southern border, which it shares with Syrian Kurds. On Sunday, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, had threatened to invade within the next fortnight, creating a conundrum for Washington, which views both the Turks and the Kurds as allies and has increasingly struggled to keep them from conflict.

Continue reading...

Don’t call them Syria’s child casualties. This is the slaughter of the innocents

Posted on by
As violence escalates, more children have died in rebel-held areas in the past month than in all of 2018. But does anybody care?

Murdered children are no longer news. International media coverage of the war in Afghanistan, where child deaths reached an all-time high last year, is sporadic at best. In Yemen it is estimated that at least 85,000 under-fives have died of starvation since 2015, a figure that numbs the mind. In Syria, especially, it is hard to keep count because children are being killed almost every day – and who is really counting?

Harrowing images briefly capture public attention. One of the more recent showed five-year-old Riham struggling amid the rubble of her bombed home in Ariha, in Syria’s north-western Idlib province, to save her baby sister, Tuqa. Riham died later in hospital along with her mother and another sister. Thanks to her efforts, and White Helmet rescuers, Tuqa survived.

Continue reading...

New wave of terrorist attacks possible before end of year, UN says

Posted on by

UN report warns threat from Islamist extremist groups remains high

The United Nations has warned that a recent pause in international terrorist violence may soon end, with a new wave of attacks possible before the end of the year.

In a report, specialist monitors at the UN security council paint a worrying picture of a global Islamist extremist movement that continues to pose a significant threat despite recent setbacks.

Continue reading...

Syrian refugees in Beirut and Istanbul detained and deported

Posted on by

Lives put at risk as thousands face forcible return to warzones under air attack

Countries neighbouring the still rumbling Syrian war are rounding up hundreds of workers and sending many back to volatile parts of the country, raising fears of mass deportations that will imperil large numbers of refugees.

Syrians living in Istanbul and Beirut have been targeted by immigration authorities in recent weeks, with more than 1,000 detained in Turkey’s biggest city last weekend and given 30 days to leave.

Continue reading...

Erdoğan is on a lonely path to ruin. Will he take Turkey down with him? | Simon Tisdall

Posted on by
At odds with the US, Europe, his Arab neighbours and potentially Russia, too, the president is also increasingly unpopular at home

For a reputed “strongman”, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan seems unusually nervous these days. A bombastic speech last week marking the third anniversary of a failed military putsch could not conceal his insecurity. He says he is using his sweeping powers as executive president to build a “new Turkey”. But it appears the old one is tiring of him fast.

“The 15th of July was an attempt to subject our nation to slavery,” Erdoğan declared. “But as much as we will never stop protecting our freedom and our future, those who lay traps for us will never cease their efforts.” It was a typical pitch, blending nationalism with scare stories of secret foes, foreign and domestic.

Continue reading...

Rose seeds from Syria: the refugee family cultivating a new life | Jenny Gustafsson

Posted on by

Sweet-smelling success for Syrians who have settled in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley is dampened by growing anti-Syrian sentiment

When the plastic bucket is filled with roses, Nahla al-Zarda takes it into the kitchen, where she separates the petals from the buds. She soaks them in boiling water, which blushes pink.

“I love this colour. It will be even stronger when the drink is ready,” she says.

Continue reading...

Rebuilding Aleppo: ‘We cannot preserve the place but we can save our memories’

Posted on by

Thousands of Aleppians are using a Facebook group to share their way of life before the Syrian war

Going to the hammam was once a beloved ritual for Aleppo resident Atef Shikhouni and his friends. Recalling the boisterous, joyful experience, the 55-year-old wrote: “Here is a man shouting, ‘Where is the soap?’ while another one is asking for the shampoo and a third wants someone to rub his back. It becomes very noisy. After spending some time in the sauna, it is time for the ‘rubbing man’. He uses a rough loofah to rub my body mercilessly and I pray it will end without any damage.”

But that was before the outbreak of war in Syria. “Today, the bath is cold and has no soul,” the sports teacher wrote in February 2017, shortly after the worst of the fighting in Aleppo had ended. “Cruel are our days, exactly like our bath today.”

Continue reading...

The Syrian refugees changing the UK’s food scene

Posted on by

Mohamad Rahimeh found a talent for cooking in the Calais refugee camp. Now he has a viable business in London

When Mohamad Rahimeh arrived in the Calais refugee camp that was nicknamed “the Jungle”, cooking was the last thing on his mind. He was a political scientist from Syria with a journey from hell behind him. Food was just a means to an end.

But when a close friend fell sick, he rustled up a meal of eggs. A hidden talent was uncovered.

Continue reading...

Syrian teenager left suffering in Athens by UK Home Office ‘failure’

Posted on by

Unaccompanied Syrian fell into despair after waiting more than six months for response to application

A Syrian teenager left suicidal after the Home Office failed to respond to his application to join his family in Britain is finally set to be reunited with his loved ones.

On Thursday, after the Guardian contacted the Home Office, Moustafa’s lawyers were told that his case had been approved and he would be brought to the UK from Athens, where he has been living for a year, as soon as possible.

Continue reading...

Syrians are watching crops burn. These starvation crimes must end | Mohammad Kanfash and Ali al-Jasem

Posted on by

Amid a war that may have cost 500,000 lives, we must hold the Syrian government and others to account for the use of hunger as a weapon

In 2017, we started an agricultural project to help hundreds of families survive the blockade by the Assad government, as part of the Damaan Humanitarian Organization’s programme to support civilians in besieged eastern ghouta in Syria.

The project not only provided sustenance to the besieged population, it offered employment opportunities for many people.

Continue reading...