Syria

Read recent Syrian news stories and current events on Newser.com

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Lebanon Turns Back Fleeing Syrians

Security forces round up refugees

(Newser) - Syrians fleeing across the border into Lebanon this weekend got a rude awakening: Lebanese security forces rounded them up and sent them right back. Hundreds of residents of the town of Tell Kalakh—including some wounded in Bashar al-Assad’s violent crackdown—came across the border hoping for refuge from...

Syria Torturing Activists for Facebook Passwords

Activists say social media no longer safe

(Newser) - Syrian activists say it’s not safe to use their Facebook or Twitter networks anymore—because they’ve been infiltrated by the Assad regime. “Some of our people who have been taken have been broken under the most severe torture, and they have revealed passwords and names,” one...

Time for Obama to Ditch Syria's Dictator

Bashar al-Assad is a butcher, not a useful ally

(Newser) - When protesters first took to the streets in Syria, the government’s response was brutal: It opened fire. Four days later, Hillary Clinton called dictator Bashar al-Assad “a reformer.” The US and its European allies have been sluggish throughout this Arab spring, but “nowhere has that fecklessness...

1 Child Killed, Another Arrested, in Syria Protests

Military continues crackdown on protesters

(Newser) - Gunfire and shelling rattled a city in central Syria today and killed a 12-year-old boy, as President Bashar Assad's autocratic regime expanded its military crackdown on a seven-week uprising by sending tanks and reinforcements to key areas, activists said. Authorities also reportedly arrested a 10-year-old boy, apparently to punish...

Syrian Tanks Roll in New Crackdown

Coastal town Banias is now under siege, eyewitnesses say

(Newser) - Syrian tanks rolled into the Mediterranean coastal town of Banias today in an escalating crackdown by President Bashar Assad, a day after clashes with anti-government protesters left at least 30 dead nationwide, activists and an eyewitness said. Details of the troop deployment in Banias, for weeks the scene of demonstrations...

Syrians Defy Army, Take to Streets

Six die in clashes in Homs, Hama

(Newser) - Protesters took to the streets in Syria today, and were met with gunfire from the waiting military. A large number of troops had been deployed across the country in preparation for this “Day of Defiance,” the BBC reports. At least six have been killed, five in Homs—Syria’...

Syrian Troops Leave Daraa, but Arrests Start Elsewhere

Human rights group says 8K in custody or missing since protests began

(Newser) - Syrian troops slowly began to leave Daraa today, ending an 11-day siege against its citizens. But at the same time, security forces began rounding up people in the suburbs of Damascus, sweeping through the town of Saqba and arresting men between the ages of 18 and 50. Human rights groups...

Syria Charges Hundreds With ‘Maligning the State’

Hundreds face three-year stints in jail

(Newser) - Hundreds of the Syrians rounded up in recent days have been charged with “maligning the prestige of the state,” an offense punishable by a three-year prison term, a human rights group tells Reuters . “Mass arrests are continuing across Syria in another violation of human rights and international...

Rights Group: Syria Has Arrested 1K ‘Arbitrarily’

But experts warn of chaos if regime falls

(Newser) - The International Committee of the Red Cross demanded “immediate and unimpeded” access to Syrians wounded in clashes with the government today, as the government’s crackdown continues, the AP reports. One human rights group says more than 1,000 people have been arrested since Saturday. “They are picking...

Syrian Forces Go House to House, Arresting Hundreds

Protests continue despite crackdown

(Newser) - Syrian security forces went from house to house today, rounding up hundreds of people in an attempt to quell the pro-democracy unrest stirring across the country, human rights activists tell Reuters . "They are continuing their arrest operation in all the cities of Syria. They have lists and they are...

Syria Forces Shell Restive Daraa

Tank fire reported in contested town

(Newser) - Syrian army tanks today shelled the old quarter of Daraa, a city at the heart of the country's six-week-old uprising and rolled in more reinforcements to the area, which has been under siege for nearly a week, said an eyewitness. Residents have remained defiant: Unable to leave their homes,...

Syrian Troops Retake Mosque
 Syrian Troops 
 Retake Mosque 
Apr 30, 2011 11:28 AM CDT

Syrian Troops Retake Mosque

Violence continues in Daraa after US penalties

(Newser) - Syrian army troops backed by tanks and helicopters today took a prominent mosque that had been controlled by residents in a besieged southern city, killing four people, a witness said. The operation in Daraa came a day after President Bashar Assad unleashed deadly force to crack down on a months-old...

Syrian Forces Again Open Fire; 42 Protesters Dead

Government troops try to quell uprest in Daraa, Damascus

(Newser) - Security forces opened fire today on demonstrators trying to break an army blockade on the southern city of Daraa, while thousands of others across Syria defied a protest ban and denounced President Bashar Assad's harsh crackdown on a six-week uprising. At least 42 people were killed, including 15 in...

Hundreds Quit Syria's Government

Even as UN fails to condemn the violence

(Newser) - More than 230 members of Syria’s ruling Ba’ath party resigned in protest today over the government’s violent crackdown on protests, even as the UN failed to condemn the massacre, the Guardian reports. The death toll from the crackdown has now reportedly climbed to at least 500. But...

US to Freeze Syrian Assets, Impose Sanctions

Europe also considering action

(Newser) - With the bloodshed mounting in the streets of Daraa , the Obama administration is preparing sanctions against Syria, including freezing the assets of top Syrian officials, the LA Times reports. That may not have a ton of impact, since Syrian officials don’t own all that many US assets to begin...

White House Blasts Syrian Government

Defends protesters; threatens 'targeted sanctions'

(Newser) - The National Security Council has condemned the “brutal violence” launched by Syria’s government against protesters, NPR reports. The crackdown is “completely deplorable and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” said an official statement. In response, “the United States is pursuing a range of...

Syria Closes Border With Jordan, Tanks Roll Into Daraa
 Syrian Tanks Roll Into Daraa 
Apr 25, 2011 8:04 AM CDT

Syrian Tanks Roll Into Daraa

Government closes border with Jordan, attacks civilians

(Newser) - Syria closed off its border with Jordan today as troops and tanks poured into the border city of Daraa—the original hotbed of the protests that have erupted across the country. Bodies were seen strewn throughout the streets of the city, witnesses tell Reuters , with one human rights campaigner accusing...

Syria Protests: Forces Fire on Funerals, Kill at Least 3
 Syria's Two-Day 
 Death Toll Rises to 120 
UPDATED
Apr 23, 2011 12:59 PM CDT

Syria's Two-Day Death Toll Rises to 120

Two lawmakers resign over government force

(Newser) - The death toll from two days of violence in Syria reached 120 today as security forces fired on tens of thousands of mourners who shouted for the regime's downfall during funeral processions, a human rights group said. Ammar Qurabi, the head of Syria's National Organization for Human Rights,...

75 Protesters Dead; Syria Fears Worse Tomorrow

Violence could escalate after so many funerals

(Newser) - Most wire accounts are putting the day's death toll among protesters in Syria at about 75, making it what al-Jazeera calls the"deadliest day" yet in the nation's unrest. President Obama condemned the "outrageous use of violence" by the government of Bashar al-Assad, notes the BBC , and...

Syrian Police Open Fire on Protesters

 Syrian Police Open 
 Fire on Protesters 
at least 49 dead
Apr 22, 2011 11:15 AM CDT

Syrian Police Open Fire on Protesters

At least 27 dead, witnesses and human rights groups say

(Newser) - Syrian security forces fired tear gas and live bullets into crowds of protesters at rallies across the country today. At least 49 people were killed, according to human rights groups, and witnesses tell the AP that one of them was an 11-year-old boy. The state-run news agency reports that officers...

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