Syria

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

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Syria Refugee Crisis Passes Tragic Milestone

This is worst crisis in a generation, UN says

(Newser) - The number of Syrians who have fled abroad since the outbreak of civil war in their country has risen to more than 4 million, the largest number from any crisis in almost 25 years, the United Nations says. A recent wave of people leaving Syria and an update of Turkish...

US Has Only Trained 60 Anti-ISIS Syrian Rebels

The goal was 5,400 for the year, but vetting has been tricky

(Newser) - The Pentagon's plan to train an army of moderate Syrian rebels to defeat ISIS hasn't gotten off to the best start, officials admit: The $500 million program, which involves hundreds of US troops and training sites in Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, has only trained 60 vetted...

ISIS Video Shows Mass Execution

Syrian soldiers are shot in ancient amphitheater of Palmyra

(Newser) - Earlier this week, Islamic State militants publicly destroyed more priceless relics in the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria, reports the Washington Post . Today, the group released a video showing it making use of the city in an even more heinous way—to stage a mass execution of Syrian soldiers,...

ISIS Beheadings Hit a Terrifying New 'First'

First females beheaded by sword in Syria: Syrian Observatory

(Newser) - The Islamic State has beheaded two female civilians in Syria "by the use of sword in public" for the first time, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The women were killed alongside their husbands in Deir Ezzor and Mayadin over the past two days. All were accused...

ISIS Targets Tombs in Ancient City

Officials fear Palmyra's Roman ruins could be next

(Newser) - ISIS militants have destroyed two historic mausoleums in Palmyra, Syria's top antiquities official says, raising fears that the extremists could next target the town's famed Roman ruins . The head of the government's Antiquities and Museums Department says the extremists destroyed the grave of Muhammad bin Ali, a...

American 'Martyr' Killed in Syria

Keith Broomfield was fighting alongside Kurdish YPG forces

(Newser) - A 36-year-old American has been killed fighting ISIS alongside Kurdish fighters in Syria, NBC News reports, citing a State Department official. Keith Broomfield, originally from Massachusetts, reportedly died in battle outside Kobani; a Kurdish official there confirms an American died. "American YPG fighter Keith Broomfield fell martyr near Suluk,...

Why Hasn't ISIS Destroyed This Ancient City?

No looting or widespread damage in Syria's Palmyra ... yet

(Newser) - The ancient Syrian city of Palmyra was overrun by ISIS last week, but while most expected the militants to loot and destroy, the group has been uncharacteristically calm, the New York Times reports. According to residents, ISIS members started "acting like municipal functionaries" after taking over the city, the...

ISIS&#39; Ruin of Palmyra Would Be &#39;Genocide&#39;
What Humanity Would Lose
If Palmyra Is Destroyed
OPINION
May 22, 2015 10:33 AM CDT

What Humanity Would Lose If Palmyra Is Destroyed

Expert: 3.8K-year-old city is 'mirage out of a fairy tale'

(Newser) - The ancient city of Palmyra, housing a 3,600-foot-long colonnade, marketplace, amphitheater, castle, and numerous tombs, is an archaeological treasure. "It makes Rome blush," says archaeologist Stephennie Mulder. "When you approach the site, it rises out of the desert like some sort of a mirage out of...

Pentagon: Syria Strike 'Likely' Killed 2 Kids

Civilian casualties acknowledged for first time

(Newser) - For the first time, the Pentagon has acknowledged that one of the thousands of airstrikes the US-led anti-ISIS coalition has carried out since last August probably killed civilians. After a monthslong investigation, Central Command released a statement saying two children were "likely" killed in a November strike in Syria...

Report: ISIS Now Controls 50% of Syria

Destroying priceless artifacts in Palmyra may be a top priority

(Newser) - Two big ISIS headlines this morning: The first, an assertion by the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that the militants "now control 50% of Syria." The group estimates ISIS holds about 37,000 square miles, an area about the size of Indiana . The Guardian reports...

ISIS Takes Ancient City, Putting Ruins at Risk

Palmyra falls in Syria to the Islamic State

(Newser) - It's the second major victory for the Islamic State within a week, this time in Syria instead of Iraq . ISIS fighters have taken control of the ancient desert city of Palmyra, reports Reuters . The city is important not only as a military target—for one thing, ISIS now controls...

US Raid Netted 'Treasure Trove' of ISIS Intelligence

Sources say slain militant kept US hostage as slave

(Newser) - The Syria raid that resulted in the death of ISIS commander Abu Sayyaf has yielded some priceless intelligence, lawmakers say, even though Sayyaf ended up dead instead of in custody, the Guardian reports. House Homeland Security committee chief Michael McCaul tells Fox News the Friday raid netted "a treasure...

US Tries to Capture ISIS Honcho, Kills Him

Abu Sayyaf helped direct ISIS' oil, gas, financial operations

(Newser) - Last night, US Special Operations attempted to capture a senior ISIS commander and his wife in Syria. The rare raid didn't go as planned. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter today said that Abu Sayyaf fought back and was killed; the US troops involved were unharmed. They did manage to...

At Heart of Assad War Crimes Case: Smuggled Reports

Investigators also uncover traces of sarin, ricin in Syria

(Newser) - Documents smuggled out of Syria over three years contain enough evidence to put President Bashar al-Assad and 24 senior officials in front of a war crimes tribunal, investigators say. The Commission for International Justice and Accountability, working with 50 Syrian investigators, managed to get its hands on half a million...

Rescue Workers: Syria Still Using Chemical Weapons

Witnesses say chlorine gas keeps coming, but UN won't officially point finger

(Newser) - In 2013, Syria agreed to get rid of its chemical weapons , a promise allegedly broken multiple times last year . Now more evidence reported by rescue workers and citizens has piled up that toxins continue to be deployed via chlorine bombs in the war-torn country, the New York Times reports. The...

Feds: Ohio Man Planned Prison Terror Strike

He went to Syria weeks after getting US passport

(Newser) - An Ohio man who allegedly planned a terror strike on a US prison now faces spending decades in one. Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud was indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday on charges of supporting a terrorist organization and lying to the FBI, reports the Columbus Dispatch . According to the indictment,...

Pentagon: ISIS Is Losing Serious Ground

In Iraq, anyway; Syria's a different story

(Newser) - Iraqi forces have retaken about a quarter of the territory ISIS seized last year, according to an encouraging Pentagon analysis—some 5,000 to 6,500 square miles in the country's north and center, reports USA Today . "[ISIS] is no longer the dominant force in roughly 25% to...

UN: Syrian Camp Overrun by ISIS 'Beyond Inhumane'

ISIS reportedly controls 90% of Yarmouk

(Newser) - The head of a UN agency for Palestinian refugees says the situation at Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus is "more desperate than ever." Pierre Krahenbuhl says it has been impossible for the UNRWA to send food or convoys into Yarmouk—home to 18,000, including 3,500 children—...

Refugees Flee Camp as ISIS, Syria Fight

Yarmouk situation is degenerating rapidly

(Newser) - Hundreds of residents of a Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital Damascus fled today after shelling by government forces and clashes between Islamic State fighters and Palestinian militants, activists said. An activist said many residents started fleeing the Yarmouk camp after midnight as the fighting let up. The camp...

Syria Helicopter Crashes; Rebels Capture Crew

Regime often uses choppers to drop barrel bombs on rebels

(Newser) - Syrian insurgents captured several government airmen after their helicopter crashed in a rebel-held area of northwestern Syria on Sunday, activists said. The Idlib Media Center and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the helicopter went down near Jabal al-Zawiya, some 6 miles north of the town of Maarat...

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