Syria

Baghdad (AFP) – Iraqi warplanes carried out a raid Sunday targeting Islamic State group commanders in eastern Syria, in the second such strike on the jihadists since mid-April, the premier’s office said. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered the “painful strike” which targeted “a meeting of IS commanders south of Al-Dushashiya in Syrian territory”, a statement […]

Featured

Syria: Did E. Ghouta Gas Reports cause Rebels to surrender en masse in Homs, Hama?

Juan Cole

The Syrian regime and its Russian backers have managed to expel opposition guerrilla groups from the areas just north of the central cities of Homs and Hama. The groups agreed to hand over their heavy and medium weapons and to board buses for either Idlib province or Jarabulus in Aleppo province in the north. The […]

Syria

Syria: Why tales of a western ‘regime change plot’ don’t make sense

Brian Whitaker

There’s a claim circulated endlessly on the internet that the conflict in Syria is a “regime change war” orchestrated by western powers. As far as many of the Assad regime’s defenders are concerned, this is established fact. To quote one of them – Piers Robinson, writing for the Open Democracy website – the existence of […]

Syria

Syrian Government Forces advance against last ISIL Redoubt near Damascus

AFP

Damascus (AFP) – Syrian regime forces advanced Saturday in southern Damascus after fierce clashes with the Islamic State group, state media said, as they pushed an offensive to drive the jihadists out of the capital. Forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad retook control of Qadam’s Mazaniyeh area after destroying IS fortified positions and “inflicting losses of […]

Syria

Assad regime confiscating homes of millions of Syrian Refugees Abroad

contributors

Middle East Monitor | – – Some ten million Syrian refugees are at risk of permanently losing their homes following the announcement of a new law that would allow the Assad regime to confiscate vacated property. “Law Ten”, that came into effect earlier this month, gives Syrian home owners until 10 May to prove ownership […]

Syria

Syrian Gov’t Secures Capital, takes E Qalamoun from Saudi-backed ‘Army of Islam’

contributors

Beirut (AFP) – Syria’s regime Wednesday moved towards sealing its grip on the capital as it retook a new region outside Damascus from rebels and pounded its southern districts to oust jihadists. Seven years into Syria’s civil war, President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has ramped up its efforts in recent weeks towards securing the capital with […]

Chemical Weapons

‘Fake news’: the mainstreaming of Syria conspiracy theories

contributors

By Hanaa Hasan | (Middle East Monitor) | – – The sight of yet another chemical attack on civilians in Douma on Saturday 7 April caused the kind of international outrage that the world now expects and has come to know so well. Scenes of children frothing at the mouth and videos of people shaking […]

Syria

Danger: ISIL is defeated, but Raqqa’s people are Devastated and waiting for Accountability

contributors

Akshaya Kumar, Deputy United Nations Director | (Human Rights Watch) | – – UN Security Council Meeting Should Address Plight of Raqqa’s Residents The United Nations Security Council meets again today on Syria – for the sixth time in just over a week. While it’s tempting to ask what the deadlocked council will achieve with […]

Syria

Who has won the Syrian War in the wake of the fall of ISIL?

contributors

Seyed Ali Alavi | ( OpenDemocracy.net) | – – ISIL may have been defeated, but the battle for Syria’s political soul is far from over. A Syrian army checkpoint in the town of Jaib al-Dikir in the countryside of Raqqa province, Syria, Dec. 23, 2017. Picture by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua News Agency/PA Images. All rights reserved. […]