Syria

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

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ISIS Backers Escape Camp in Northern Syria

Military situation is 'deteriorating rapidly,' American official says

(Newser) - Hundreds of Islamic State supporters escaped from a holding camp in northern Syria on Sunday amid heavy clashes between invading Turkish-led forces and Kurdish fighters. A US military official said the situation was "deteriorating rapidly," the AP reports. The official, who was not authorized to disclose operational details...

SecDef: US Troops Caught Between Advancing Armies

Esper says US 'preparing to evacuate' troops from Syrian north

(Newser) - Amid growing chaos in Syria, the US is "preparing to evacuate" and President Trump has ordered all US troops to withdraw from the country's north to avoid a conflict between Turkey and Kurdish fighters, Defense Secretary Mark Esper told CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday. The approximately 1,...

Trump: I&#39;m an &#39;Island of One&#39; on Syria
Trump: I'm an 'Island of One' 
Oct 13, 2019 6:21 AM CDT

Trump: I'm an 'Island of One'

Says US cannot fight 'endless wars,' defends decision to get out of Syria

(Newser) - President Trump said Saturday that he is an "island of one" for removing US forces from northeastern Syria. But the AP reports that he remained steadfast and defended a move that drew widespread bipartisan criticism that he has endangered stability in the Middle East and risked the lives of...

Turkey Boasts Big Victory in Syria
Turkey Boasts
Big Victory
in Syria
Oct 12, 2019 4:00 PM CDT

Turkey Boasts Big Victory in Syria

As the Arab League condemns 'Turkey's aggression'

(Newser) - Turkey's military said it captured a key Syrian border town under heavy bombardment Saturday in its most significant gain since an offensive against Kurdish fighters began four days ago, with no sign of relenting despite mounting international criticism, the AP reports. Turkish troops entered central Ras al-Ayn, according to...

Pentagon: Turkey Attacked Where It Knew US Troops Were

Meanwhile, a reported ISIS escape and a climbing death toll

(Newser) - As Turkey's push into Syria continues into its fourth day, with further ground and air assaults in the region, news is trickling in on the casualties. Per Reuters , the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that 74 Syrian fighters led by Kurds have died so far, with civilian deaths...

Thousands of 'Betrayed' Kurds Flee Offensive

Turkey says it has lost one soldier and 'neutralized' hundreds of 'terrorists'

(Newser) - More than 60,000 people in northern Syria have fled a Turkish offensive that is now in its third day, aid groups say. Turkish forces pushed further into the region Thursday, carrying out air and ground attacks against Syrian Kurdish fighters, reports Reuters . The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says...

Trump Offers Bizarre Reason for Abandoning Kurdish Allies

'They didn't help us in Normandy,' he says

(Newser) - President Trump angered critics including fellow Republicans with bizarre remarks Wednesday downplaying the importance of the alliance between US and Kurdish forces against ISIS, and of alliances in general. The president defended his decision to allow a Turkish offensive in northern Syria by pointing out that Kurdish fighters did not...

Erdogan Tweets Operation 'Peace Spring' Has Started

As WaPo looks at the prisons holding ISIS militants in the region

(Newser) - And so it begins. The AP reports Turkey's President Erdogan announced in a tweet that the incursion into northern Syria has begun. He said the operation, dubbed "Peace Spring," intends to eliminate "the threat of terror" against his country. The AP reports Turkey has launched airstrikes...

In Tweets, Subtle Shifts From Trump on Turkey
Pat Robertson Has Savage
Response to Trump Move
the rundown
Oct 8, 2019 1:16 PM CDT

Pat Robertson Has Savage Response to Trump Move

President could lose 'mandate of Heaven' if he facilitates the slaughter of the Kurds

(Newser) - President Trump on Tuesday took to Twitter to double down on his claims that he's not siding with Turkey over America's Kurdish allies with his decision to pull a small number of troops from northern Syria, a decision that apparently paves the way for Turkey to attack the...

Trump: I'm 'Not Siding With Anybody' in Syria

Turkey pushes back against threat to 'obliterate' economy

(Newser) - President Trump says he's "not siding with anybody" in the widening gyre of northern Syria—but it's a claim all sides have trouble believing. The president, asked Monday why his government was siding with Turkey instead of America's Kurdish allies, said he was merely sticking to...

Trump&#39;s Syria Decision Seen as Significant Policy Shift
Only 150 Troops Involved,
but Stakes Are Much Bigger
the rundown
Oct 7, 2019 10:55 AM CDT

Only 150 Troops Involved, but Stakes Are Much Bigger

Trump defends a Syrian withdrawal, while critics warn of the dangers

(Newser) - The US isn't withdrawing all of its troops from Syria, but it is withdrawing the 150 or so soldiers stationed at two posts near the Syrian border with Turkey. However, the small numbers involved belie the major foreign policy implications at stake. The move will allow Turkey to stage...

White House: Turkey to Invade Northern Syria

US to pull troops ahead of planned offensive

(Newser) - The White House said Sunday that Turkey will soon invade northern Syria, renewing fears of a slaughter of Kurdish fighters allied with the US in a yearslong campaign against ISIS. For months, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been threatening to launch a military assault on the Kurdish forces in...

The Middle East Has a New Kind of War

Israel, Iran, and Syria are involved in drone combat

(Newser) - From the vast deserts of Saudi Arabia to the crowded neighborhoods of Beirut, a drone war has taken flight across the wider Middle East, raising the stakes in the ongoing tensions between the US and Iran, the AP reports. Since the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal last year,...

Iran Calls It an 'Act of Piracy.' The US Just Stirred the Pot

US calls to extend detention of Iranian supertanker seized in Gibraltar

(Newser) - The United States moved on Thursday to halt the release of an Iranian supertanker detained in Gibraltar for breaching European Union sanctions on oil shipments to Syria, thwarting efforts by authorities in London and the British overseas territory to defuse tensions with Tehran. The Gibraltar government confirmed that the US...

Key to Assad&#39;s Reign: Network of Torture Prisons
Key to Assad's Reign:
Network of Torture Prisons
longform
May 12, 2019 2:44 PM CDT

Key to Assad's Reign: Network of Torture Prisons

'New York Times' looks at the brutality in Syria

(Newser) - Reports of torture and deaths in Syria's prisons have been surfacing for years, but leader Bashar al-Assad has dismissed them as the exaggerations of opponents or as aberrations that occur in every country during a time of war. The New York Times , however, takes a deep dive into the...

Explosion Kills US Media Driver in Syria
NBC News Suffers
a Casualty in Syria
Mar 24, 2019 11:35 AM CDT

NBC News Suffers a Casualty in Syria

The Syrian may have died in a 'booby-trapped' house

(Newser) - Dust was settling on the latest victory over Islamic State forces Saturday when a local driver working for NBC News got killed in an explosion. Most media are scant on details, but the AP says the unidentified driver was in a house that doubled as a Syrian Democratic Forces command...

Report Out of Syria: 'Total Elimination' of ISIS Caliphate

US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces says the last ISIS stronghold of Baghouz has been liberated

(Newser) - The Islamic State caliphate in Syria may finally be toppled after almost five years of battle, at least according to word from US-backed forces there. Per CNN and the Guardian , the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces says it has liberated the last ISIS stronghold, the eastern village of Baghouz. The SDF...

Trump Displays Map, Says ISIS Will Be 'Gone by Tonight'

'Caliphate' reduced to tiny sliver of land

(Newser) - ISIS is down to its last scrap of territory and it will be "gone by tonight," President Trump declared Wednesday, showing reporters at the White House two maps of Syria and Iraq. "I brought this out for you—this is a map of everything in the red,...

In Syria, It&#39;s Game On
In Syria, It's Game On
Mar 10, 2019 4:09 PM CDT

In Syria, It's Game On

US-backed forces attack Baghouz

(Newser) - The waiting is over: US-backed forces in Syria are waging an assault to kick ISIS out of its last remaining "caliphate" land, CNN reports. The heavy barrage of mortar fire, explosions, and airstrikes by the Syrian Defense Forces erupted Sunday in Baghouz and officially targeted weapons stores. The forces...

ISIS Fighters Surrender After Fleeing Village With Civilians

Baghouz is the last occupied territory in eastern Syria

(Newser) - About 500 ISIS fighters surrendered to Syrian forces Tuesday, fleeing along with civilians from the assault on the village that was their only remaining refuge in eastern Syria. The evacuation of Baghouz, near the Iraqi border, had been ongoing as a US-led coalition eased its pounding of the village with...

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