Syria

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

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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...

Trump Alters Syria Troop-Withdrawal Plan

About 400 troops are staying behind

(Newser) - Under pressure from the Senate , President Trump is leaving behind about 10% of America's 2,000-troop fighting force in Syria—and will leave them there indefinitely, the Military Times reports. "A small peacekeeping group of about 200 will remain in Syria for a period of time," says...

A Refugee Mother's Anguish After Fire: 'All 7 Are Dead?'

Ibrahim and Kawthar Barho lost all of their children in house fire; Ibrahim Barho is clinging to life

(Newser) - Friends say a family in Canada was set to move next week from the home they rented and head back to the district in Nova Scotia where they'd first landed as refugees from war-torn Raqqa, Syria, in 2017. Now the family of nine has been tragically reduced to two...

US Woman 'Deeply Regrets' Joining ISIS

Hoda Muthana wants to come back to US 4 years after fleeing Alabama for Turkey, then Syria

(Newser) - Hoda Muthana was recently picked up by Kurdish forces in Syria, along with her toddler son, and is now the only US citizen among about 1,500 foreign women and children in the al-Hawl refugee camp not far from where the last of the Islamic State is said to be...

ISIS Caliphate Is Down to Its 'Last Breath'

US-backed forces corner ISIS in the shadow of a small hill

(Newser) - From a self-proclaimed caliphate that once spread across much of Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State group has been knocked back to a speck of land on the countries' shared border, the AP reports. In that tiny patch on the banks of the Euphrates River, hundreds of militants are hiding...

Eschewed by UK, Teen Who Joined ISIS Gives Birth in Syria

Shamima Begum, 19, wants to return home to Britain with her baby

(Newser) - The family of a British teenager who ran away to join the Islamic State group said Sunday she has given birth to a baby boy. The family's lawyer said that 19-year-old Shamima Begum and her latest baby are in good health. Begum is living in a refugee camp in...

UK 'Won't Hesitate' to Block Return of ISIS Schoolgirl

Minister says Begum could lose citizenship

(Newser) - Shamima Begum, who ran away from her London home to join ISIS when she was 15, now wants to go home —but authorities have signaled they will try to block her return. "My message is clear," Home Secretary Sajid Javid tells the Times of London. "If...

She Left London to Join ISIS. Now She Wants to Go Home

Shamima Begum due to give birth 'any day'

(Newser) - Four years after she left London as a 15-year-old schoolgirl to join ISIS, the group is on the verge of losing the last of its territory—and Shamima Begum has decided she wants to go home. The Times of London found the 19-year-old in a refugee camp in eastern Syria,...

ISIS Down to Its Last Scrap of Land

Group's last stronghold in Iraq and Syria is the size of Central Park

(Newser) - The territory of the sprawling caliphate ISIS declared in 2014 should be completely liberated from the group by next week, President Trump announced Wednesday at a meeting of coalition partners. "Their land is gone. It's a big factor—their land is gone," the president told a gathering...

Hours Before SOTU, Senate Republicans Break With Trump

Senate approves legislation warning against withdrawal from Syria, Afghanistan

(Newser) - Hours before President Trump was to deliver his State of the Union address Tuesday, the Senate once again made clear it disagrees with him on Syria and Afghanistan. In a 77-23 vote, senators approved a Middle East policy bill that will be sent to the House; it includes a provision...

Hostage Last Seen in Video 2 Years Ago May Be Alive

John Cantlie was kidnapped in 2012

(Newser) - In November 2012, British war photographer John Cantlie and American journalist James Foley were kidnapped in Syria and held by ISIS. In August 2014, Foley was beheaded. Now comes word that the British government believes Cantlie is still alive more than six years later, and still being held by ISIS....

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