Category: Syria

Syrian cease-fire crumbles as government forces advance around Damascus

BEIRUT - A Syrian cease-fire backed by Russia and Turkey is crumbling five days after it began, with government forces pushing offensives around Damascus and rebels threatening to suspend participation in further talks. The truce was to have been followed by a meeting between government representatives and mainstream rebel factions in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

Water crisis in Syrian capital as government attacks valley

This frame grab from video provided By Yomyat Kzefeh Hawen Fi Dimashq , a Damascus-based media outlet that is consistent with independent AP reporting, shows Syrian re… , via AP). This frame grab from video provided By Yomyat Kzefeh Hawen Fi Dimashq , a Damascus-based media outlet that is consistent with independent AP reporting, shows Syrian re… , via AP).

Syria rebels suspend talks with government over violations

The cease-fire deal brokered by Russia and Turkey is to be followed by talks between mainstream rebel factions and government representatives in the Kazakh capital of Astana. But in a statement posted late Monday, 10 rebel factions said they are suspending any talks related to the Astana negotiations or any discussions related to the cease-fire “until it is fully implemented.”

Airstrike in Syria kills 8 jihadi militants

An air raid has struck several cars in northwestern Syria, killing at least eight people, including al-Qaida-linked fighters and a senior commander with a Chinese Islamic militant faction, an activist group and a local jihadi commander said Monday. The attack occurred late Sunday on a road leading from the town of Sarmada to the Bab al-Hawa area on the border with Turkey, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a local commander with the Fatah al-Sham Front, an al-Qaida-linked group.

The economic war against ISIL: Airstrikes and financial measures aim to deplete militants’ funding

The Islamic State starts the new year with a drastically depleted bank account, counterterrorism officials say, following months of intensified efforts to deprive the Islamists of oil profits and other revenue used to finance military operations and terrorists attacks abroad. Coalition aircraft in the past 15 months have destroyed more than 1,200 tanker trucks – including 168 vehicles struck in a single air raid in Syria in early December – while also using new weapons and tactics to inflict lasting damage on the terrorists’ remaining oil fields, U.S. and Middle Eastern officials say.

United Nations backs Russian-Turkish Syria efforts as cease-fire wavers2 min ago

Beirut, Jan 1: The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution supporting efforts by Russia and Turkey to end the nearly six-year conflict in Syria and jump-start peace negotiations, as a fragile country-wide cease-fire wavered.The resolution also calls for the “rapid, safe and unhindered” delivery of humanitarian aid throughout Syria. And it anticipates a meeting of the Syrian government and opposition representative in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana in late January.

UN Security Council to vote on Syria cease-fire agreement

UNITED NATIONS >> The U.N. Security Council will vote Saturday on a resolution that would endorse the cease-fire agreement in Syria brokered by Russia and Turkey, and reiterate support for a roadmap to peace that starts with a transitional government. The resolution also calls for “rapid, safe and unhindered” access to deliver humanitarian aid throughout the country.

Syria’s cease-fire holding despite minor violations

A nationwide Syrian cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey that went into effect at midnight held Friday despite minor violations, marking a potential breakthrough in a conflict that has disregarded high-level peace initiatives for over five years. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported clashes early Friday between troops and rebels in the central province of Hama and near the capital, Damascus.

Syria’s cease-fire holding despite minor violations

Osama Abu Zeid of the the main moderate Syrian opposition group Free Syrian Army, shows what he said is a copy of the five-point cease-fire agreement for Syria, during a news conference in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016. Abu Zeid said that his group, one of the 13 armed opposition factions, had agreed to abide by the nationwide cease-fire agreement that will go into effect at midnight Thursday.

Cease-fire begins in war-ravaged Syria

A Syrian shopkeeper waits for customers next to paintings of of President Bashar Assad, and Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, center, at the Souk Tawil market in Damascus, Syria. BEIRUT – A cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey went into effect in war-ravaged Syria tonight, a potential breakthrough in the six years of fighting that have left more than a quarter-million people dead and triggered a refugee crisis across Europe.

Russia-Turkey cease-fire deal offers new hope for Syria

” The cease-fire agreement brokered by Russia and Turkey and approved by the Syrian government and some of its most powerful rebel opponents is a potential turning point in the Syrian civil war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and laid waste to huge parts of the country over the past six years. Thursday’s announcement comes days after government forces recaptured the northern city of Aleppo, scoring its most symbolic and strategic victory in the conflict.

Russia: Syria ceasefire deal reached

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a ceasefire between the Syrian government and the opposition, Russian state media TASS reports. “Reports have just arrived that several hours ago there was a development that we all have looked and worked for for so long,” Putin said.

Rebels deny Russian claims of regime talks

Syrian youths collect wood from rubble to be used for heating and cooking, on December 27, 2016, in the Damascus rebel-held eastern suburb of Zamalka. / AFP / AMER ALMOHIBANY A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on December 28, 2016, on page 1.

A look at key events in Syriaa s Aleppo since March 2011

After the government’s capture of the rebel-held east of the city, here’s a look at key events in Aleppo since the start of Syria’s uprising nearly six years ago: – March 2011: Protests erupt in the southern city of Daraa over the detention of a group of boys accused of painting anti-government graffiti on a school wall. On March 18, security forces fire on a protest in Daraa, killing four people in what activists regard as the first deaths of the uprising.

5 things to know about Syriaa s Aleppo

Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces and years of fighting have laid waste to much of the city of Aleppo, but he has won it back after nearly six years of war. The president now looks more secure than ever since the 2011 uprising against his family’s four-decade rule.

Last remaining rebels and civilians await Aleppo evacuation

When the province announced last week that it had found a buyer for Thunder Bay’s casino, it was reassuring to learn that the more than 300 pe BEIRUT – Hundreds more Syrians left the rebels’ last foothold in eastern Aleppo in convoys of buses escorted by the Syrian Red Crescent and the international Red Cross on Tuesday under a cease-fire deal brokered by Ankara and Russia. The evacuations came as Moscow was hosting the foreign ministers of Iran and Turkey in three-way talks on Aleppo’s future and prospects for peace in Syria.

US, Russian militaries sharing more information on Syria

Russian talks on their separate fights against the Islamic State group are becoming more productive and more frequent, American officials said, with both sides trading information in real time and even outlining some of their strategic objectives in the months ahead. The progress dispels the notion that ties between the former Cold War foes are “frozen.”