Syrian rebels

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Blinken: US Has Been in Touch With HTS in Syria

Secretary of state also says US has a message for the Syrian people: 'We want them to succeed'

(Newser) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that American officials have been in direct contact with the Syrian rebel group that spearheaded the overthrow of President Bashar Assad's government but is designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States and others. Blinken is the first US official...

Syrian Troops Withdraw From the South
Opposition Troops Reach
Damascus Suburbs
updated
Dec 7, 2024 5:30 PM CST

Opposition Troops Reach Damascus Suburbs

Syrian army abandons the key city of Homs

(Newser) - The rebel offensive in Syria has picked up speed, with forces moving into the suburbs of the capital, Damascus. Government forces have abandoned the central city of Homs, per the AP , and the location of President Bashar Assad was unknown. The army withdrew from much of southern Syria earlier Saturday,...

Understanding Syrian Unrest Starts With 3 Letters: HTS

Rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham led the right to seize Aleppo from the government

(Newser) - Syria's long-running civil war has been off the radar for a while, but the stunning, out-of-the-blue capture of Aleppo —the nation's largest city—by rebels has changed that in a hurry. Those catching up with events will have to get familiar with a new acronym, HTS, short...

Aleppo Takeover a 'Huge Embarrassment' for Assad

Syria's armed forces are now prepping for counterattack on insurgents

(Newser) - Thousands of Syrian insurgents fanned out inside Aleppo in vehicles with improvised armor and pickups, a day after they entered Syria's largest city facing little resistance from government troops, according to residents and fighters. Witnesses said two airstrikes on the city's edge late Friday targeted insurgent reinforcements and...

Assad Wins Back 'Coveted Prize' in Syria's Civil War

Loss of M5 is a massive blow to rebels

(Newser) - It is arguably one of the most coveted prizes in Syria's civil war, and after eight years of fighting, Syrian President Bashar Assad has got it back. The Damascus-Aleppo highway, or the M5, is known to Syrians simply as the "International Road." Cutting through all of Syria'...

Syria 'Evicts Terrorists' From Rebel Highway

The government takes more ground from insurgents

(Newser) - Syrian government forces captured new areas from insurgents in their efforts to control a key highway in the northwest Saturday, as Turkey sent more reinforcements into the war-torn country, state media and opposition activists said, per the AP . The weekslong government offensive has created a humanitarian crisis with about 600,...

US Launches Airstrikes on Syrian Regime-Backed Troops

It was self-defense, officials say

(Newser) - The US military launched airstrikes on Syrian government-backed troops Wednesday after as many as 500 attackers began what a US military official says appeared to be a coordinated assault on Syrian opposition forces accompanied by US advisers in Deir el-Zour province. The official says the strikes were in self-defense after...

'Capital of the Revolution' Now Looks Like This

4 years later, Homs is in sorry shape

(Newser) - Sumaya Bairuty walked through abandoned streets pocked with shell craters amid rows of destroyed buildings, at times climbing over giant sand barriers before reaching her parent's apartment in Homs. The 38-year-old English-language teacher, who works in Damascus, visits by bus once a week to spend two days with her...

Trump Blames Obama for Syria Chemical Attack

Trump Blames Obama
for Syria Chemical Attack
THE RUNDOWN
Apr 5, 2017 6:46 AM CDT

Trump Blames Obama for Syria Chemical Attack

He cites failure to enforce 'red line' after chemical attack

(Newser) - An apparent chemical attack that killed scores of people Tuesday is being called one of the worst atrocities of the Syrian civil war—and President Trump blames his predecessor. The "heinous" actions of the Assad regime "are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution,"...

'Fragile' Ceasefire Begins in Syria
'Fragile' Ceasefire
Begins in Syria
Dec 30, 2016 8:18 AM CST

'Fragile' Ceasefire Begins in Syria

Minor violations reported, but it's still holding

(Newser) - A ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey went into effect in war-ravaged Syria at midnight, 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. If it holds, the truce between the Syrian government and...

JK Rowling Fan in Aleppo Is Now Homeless

'In between death and life now, please keep praying for us'

(Newser) - Days after JK Rowling sent her Harry Potter books , 7-year-old Bana Alabed no longer has a home in which to read them. Since September, Bana's mother has amassed 136,000 followers on Twitter by revealing the horrifying realities of life in Aleppo, Syria, which led Rowling to reach out....

Families Try to Flee Aleppo, Rebels Stop Them: Report

As conditions have gone from 'terrible to terrifying and now barely survivable'

(Newser) - A Syrian monitoring group alleged Tuesday that rebels are preventing dozens of families from fleeing eastern Aleppo as Russian-backed government forces intensify their bombardment of the besieged quarter, the AP reports. Such claims are difficult to verify and often distorted due to propaganda, but Syrian and Russian state media maintain...

Years Later, Celebrities Finally Get Behind Syria Group

A bunch of them are lobbying for the Nobel Peace Prize for the White Helmets

(Newser) - The Syrian civil war has been going on for years, and celebrities are finally now getting involved. A number of them, including George Clooney, Ben Affleck, Justin Timberlake, and Zoe Saldana, have signed an open letter to the Nobel Peace Prize committee urging that this year's prize go to...

US Troops to Train Syrian Rebels for ISIS Takedown

Train-and-equip plan for moderate Syrian opposition designed to derail insurgents

(Newser) - In continuing efforts to thwart Islamic militants in Syria, the US Defense Department confirmed last night that it's sending 400 troops to train moderate Syrian opposition, Army Times reports. Trainers will set up shop in Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, with the six- to eight-week training sessions tentatively set...

CIA: When We Arm Rebels, It Almost Never Works

Obama asked for review when deciding on Syria

(Newser) - When President Obama was trying to decide whether to arm rebels fighting the Syrian government, he asked the CIA to examine its long track record on such things. The review's conclusion? It's usually a waste of time and money—and sometimes only makes matters worse, reports the New ...

Senate Backs ISIS Bill, but Some Big Names Balk

Rand Paul, Elizabeth Warren in the 'no' camp

(Newser) - The Senate today followed the lead of the House and passed a spending bill that gives President Obama the authority to train and arm Syrian rebels in the fight against ISIS. The measure passed easily, 78-22, but the Hill notes that some potential presidential candidates were in the "no"...

House OKs US Help for Syrian Rebels Fighting ISIS

Senate expected to pass it tomorrow

(Newser) - The House voted grudgingly today to give the US military the authority to train and arm Syrian rebels fighting ISIS. The 273-156 vote crossed party lines to an unusual degree in a Congress marked by near ceaseless partisanship. Top Republican and Democratic leaders backed the plan seven weeks before midterm...

45 Peacekeepers Held Captive in Syria Are Freed

Qatar says it helped broker release

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda-linked militants have released 45 Fijian peacekeepers captured two weeks ago in Syria , ending the UN's fourth crisis over abducted soldiers in the Golan Heights since March 2013. The Fijians were captured on the Syrian-controlled side of the contested buffer zone between Syria and Israel by fighters from the...

Peacekeepers Pull Off 'Greatest Escape' From Syria Militants

They were outnumbered in Golan Heights

(Newser) - Under cover of darkness, 40 Filipino peacekeepers escaped their besieged outpost in the Golan Heights after a seven-hour gunbattle with Syrian rebels, Philippine officials said today. Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents still hold captive 44 Fijian troops .The getaway, combined with the departure of another entrapped group of Filipino troops, marked a major...

44 Fiji Peacekeepers Captured by Syria Rebels

Militants force members of UN mission from Golan Heights post, also trap Filipino troops

(Newser) - The UN says that 44 of its Fijian peacekeeping troops have been captured by militants in Syria, while 75 of its Filipino peacekeepers are surrounded by insurgents who want them to surrender their weapons, reports the AP . All of the soldiers are said to be alive, and leaders from both...

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