News related to
Syria

Photo Syrian Army soldiers driving past the Arch of Triumph in Palmyra, in the Homs Governorate. Credit Omar Sanadiki/Reuters BEIRUT, Lebanon — Islamic State fighters appeared close to retaking Palmyra, Syria, on Saturday, just nine months after Syrian government forces drove them from the desert city, where they had terrorized residents and blown up irreplaceable ancient monuments. Residents said Islamic State militants were battling soldiers in the […]

Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for December 11, 2016, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. newslide Abu Dhabi Kids’ camp Register your children, ages 7 to 18, for the ZSC Academy Tennis Camp, led by highly qualified coaches. Intermediate- and higher-level players can keep on top of their game this […]

By John Irish | PARIS PARIS Backers of the Syrian opposition appeared resigned to the fall of eastern Aleppo on Saturday, with the United States urging Russia to show “grace” when officials meet in Geneva to try to reach a deal for civilians and fighters to leave the city. Syrian government and allied forces have in the last two weeks driven rebels from most of their territory […]

AMMAN Islamic State militants entered the ancient city of Palmyra on Saturday in eastern Syria after advancing to its outskirts for the first time since losing the city earlier this year, a war monitor said. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human rights said the militants had entered Palmyra after they had taken strategic heights near the city and captured the northern part of the city and mountains […]

PARIS: US Secretary of State John Kerry and leading diplomats are trying to find solutions for Syria’s desperate opposition, as Syrian government forces squeeze rebels out of Aleppo after a devastating blitz.With tens of thousands of civilians fleeing, Kerry said he is working to ensure their safety and to save Aleppo “from being absolutely, completely destroyed.”Kerry and European and Arab diplomats are meeting members of Syria’s opposition […]

Photo President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey visiting the mausoleum of an Islamic scholar in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, last month. Credit Pool photo by Kayhan Ozer, via Associated Press ISTANBUL — Almost a century after the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his supporters believe that they can restore the empire’s former glory. Stroll through the streets of any Turkish city and you […]

By Laila Bassam and John Davison | ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT Syrian’s military and Russian warplanes bombarded rebel-held districts of Aleppo on Saturday as Damascus’s allies said victory was near, but insurgents fought back and army advances halted after rapid gains during the week. The United States said it was meeting a Russian team in Geneva to find a way to save lives, but an agreement looked […]

Advertisements

ANKARA Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday that Syrian rebel forces risk being killed elsewhere if they left the city of Aleppo, and doubted that talks among their backers in Paris would yield concrete results. “What is going to happen to rebel forces if they leave Aleppo? Will they not get killed in other places?” Cavusoglu told Turkish broadcaster TRT from Paris, adding “nobody is […]

MOSCOW More than 20,000 civilians have left eastern Aleppo on Saturday and over 1,200 rebels opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have laid down their arms, Interfax news agency cited the Russian Defence Ministry as saying on Saturday. (Reporting by Alexander Winning, editing by Louise Heavens) ‘); $(‘.second-article-divide’).append($(‘.slider.slider-module’)); $(‘.third-article-divide’).append(”); var median = (relatedItemsTotal / 2); var $relatedContentGroupOne = $(‘.related-content.group-one ul’); var $relatedContentGroupTwo = $(‘.related-content.group-two ul’); $.each($relatedItems, function(k,v) […]

MANAMA Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri on Saturday hailed a “special relationship” with Saudi Arabia, denying reports that the two powerful Arab nations had fallen out after Egypt expressed support for the Russian intervention in Syria. Egypt voted in favour of a Russian-backed U.N. resolution on Syria in October that excluded calls to stop bombing Aleppo, which Saudi Arabia strongly opposed. The kingdom informed Egypt last month […]

MANAMA The United States is sending 200 additional military personnel to Syria to help the campaign to drive the Islamic State militant group from Raqqa, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Saturday. Speaking in Bahrain at the Manama Dialogue conference on Middle East security, Carter said the 200, including special forces trainers, advisers and explosive ordnance disposal teams, would join 300 U.S. special force troops already […]

By Warren Strobel, Yara Bayoumy and John Irish | WASHINGTON/PARIS WASHINGTON/PARIS Key U.S. allies in Europe are quietly expressing concern over President-elect Donald Trump’s approach to Syria, warning that his pledge to work more closely with Russia, Damascus’ main backer, will do little to diminish the terrorist threat emanating from Syria. The diplomatic persuasion campaign has taken on new importance in recent days as the Syrian army, […]

By Laila Bassam and Lisa Barrington | ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT The Syrian army pressed an offensive in Aleppo on Friday with ground fighting and air strikes in an operation to retake all of the city’s rebel-held east that would bring victory in the civil war closer for President Bashar al-Assad. “The advance is going according to plan and is sometimes faster than expected,” a Syrian military […]

By Yeganeh Torbati and Warren Strobel | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S.-led coalition planes destroyed 168 Islamic State oil tanker trucks in Syria, the coalition said on Friday, in the largest strike of its kind and the latest instance of what U.S. officials say has been a successful effort to starve the militant group of revenues. The air strikes targeted the truck fleet near Palmyra, Syria on Thursday, a […]

BEIRUT The Syrian army declared a ceasefire in several areas around Damascus and the northwestern province of Idlib beginning on Friday evening, but did not say how long the pause in fighting would last. There was no immediate comment from rebels on the truce. The areas affected included the government-besieged town of Madaya near Damascus and Kefraya and al-Foua in Idlib, which are surrounded by insurgents. (Reporting […]

BEIRUT Lebanese Hezbollah said on Friday a “promised” victory was imminent for Syrian government forces and their allies in the city of Aleppo. “There are great events taking place now in our region … (such as) what is happening in Aleppo, and the ramifications of the promised and coming victory for the whole battle in Syria and the region,” Hezbollah’s leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a […]

By Gabriela Baczynska | BRUSSELS BRUSSELS Eastern European Union states remain at loggerheads with “frontline” countries such as Greece and Italy over sharing the burden of caring for asylum-seekers reaching EU frontiers, officials said on Friday. Largely uncontrolled arrival of some 1.4 million people from the Middle East and Africa in the past two years, many fleeing Syria’s civil war, has triggered bitter EU infighting. Dispute centres […]

BEIRUT: Syrian troops and allied forces shelled besieged districts of eastern Aleppo Friday, pressing ahead with a massive onslaught to seize remaining parts of the crumbling enclave that had been controlled by the opposition since 2012.Russia announced Thursday that the Syrian army was suspending combat operations to allow for the evacuation of civilians from besieged opposition-held districts, but residents and medics inside eastern Aleppo said there was […]

AMSTERDAM Police acting on a tip-off from the Dutch intelligence agency arrested a 30-year-old “terrorist” suspect and seized an arsenal of weapons in the port city of Rotterdam on Friday afternoon, prosecutors said. Detectives found a Kalashnikov AK-47 rifle, four boxes of illegal highly explosive fireworks, a large depiction of the Islamic State flag, several mobile phones and 1,600 euros in cash when they searched the suspect’s […]

Photo Residents fleeing the violence in Aleppo, Syria, gathered at a government checkpoint in the city on Thursday. Credit Youssef Karwashan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images GENEVA — Hundreds of Syrian men escaping rebel-held areas of Aleppo to go to government-controlled parts of the city are missing, and there were reports of government reprisals, including numerous arrests and several cases of summary killings of people perceived to be […]

BEIRUT The Syrian government on Friday said it was ready to resume dialogue with the Syrian opposition, but without external intervention or preconditions, a statement carried by state news agency SANA said, citing a foreign ministry source. The statement said Syria was responding to comments by United Nations Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura on Thursday that it was time to look again at political discussions, and said […]

Alaa Najd is the inaugural winner of Project Runway Middle East. The aspiring Lebanese designer won the debut season of the talent quest, in a star-studded finale held on December 8 at the Dubai Design District. Broadcast on MBC, Project Runway Middle East is one 26 international versions of the programme that have been launched since the US original began in 2004.​ Some of the big regional […]

GENEVA Hundreds of men from eastern Aleppo have gone missing after leaving rebel-held areas, the United Nations’ human rights office said on Friday, voicing deep concern over their fate at the hands of government forces. U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing the office had heard “worrying allegations that hundreds of men have gone missing after crossing into government-controlled areas” of Aleppo. “Given the […]

TUNIS Libyan forces are trying to secure the city of Sirte after ousting Islamic State from its former North African stronghold in a battle that lasted nearly seven months. Here are some facts about Islamic State in Libya: ORIGINS Islamic State drew on existing pockets of militancy in Libya, establishing its first major presence in Derna, an eastern city with a strong Islamist tradition. It also profited […]

VISHNU RAJA
RYO YAMADA
HITORI GOTOH
IKUYO KITA