Syria

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Inside Bashar Assad’s detention centers, where ‘death was the least bad thing’

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Handcuffed and squatting on the floor, Abdullah Zahra saw smoke rising from his cellmate’s flesh as his torturers gave him electric shocks.

https://apnews.com/article/syria-prisons-torture-assad-missing-ad4c676858c8016ea5fd4f7a4946353e?

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Searching for Justice and the Missing in the New Syria

When human rights attorney Noura Ghazi received the news in early December that Bashar al-Assad had fled Syria, she was overcome with shock. The regime had dictated the terms of her family’s life for as long as she could remember. When she was just 5 years old, the regime imprisoned her father for his labor activism. Her husband, in turn, was detained during the first years of the Syrian civil war. She would later learn that Assad’s government had executed her husband in prison. Now Assad was gone.

https://theintercept.com/2025/01/09/syria-assad-war-crimes-document-accountability/?

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Syria’s southern rebels loom large as the country’s new rulers try to form a national army

NAWA, Syria (AP) — As insurgents raced across Syria in a surprise offensive launched in the country’s northwest late last year, officials from several countries backing either the rebels or Syria’s government met in Qatar on what to do.

https://apnews.com/article/syria-hts-security-fighters-assad-damascus-c65efc166f2642e0f0993a6f2d002090?

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Another car bomb in a northern Syria city kills at least 19, mostly women

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Another car bomb exploded on the outskirts of a city in northern Syria on Monday, killing at least 19 people and leaving over a dozen wounded, hospital workers and emergency responders said.

https://apnews.com/article/syria-manbij-bombing-assad-c75d54d0361f6a474b69c6d813eb5c70?

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Clashes in Syria between government forces and Assad loyalists kill more than 200

BEIRUT (AP) — Fighters siding with Syria’s new government stormed several villages near the country’s coast, killing dozens of men in response to recent attacks on government security forces by loyalists of ousted President Bashar Assad, a war monitor said.

https://apnews.com/article/latakia-syria-clashes-assad-loyalists-alawites-ef7496972e037db8e90c77a5f498d721?

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2 days of clashes and revenge killings in Syria leave more than 1,000 people dead

BEIRUT (AP) — The death toll from two days of clashes between Syrian security forces and loyalists of ousted President Bashar Assad and revenge killings that followed has risen to more than 1,000, a war monitoring group said Saturday, making it one of the deadliest acts of violence since Syria’s conflict began 14 years ago.

https://apnews.com/article/syria-alawites-sectarian-killings-coast-assad-hts-610cdee1d5762d3ecb75c700fb7cf5f2?

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Syria violence

Armed men loyal to the Syrian government carried out field executions and spoke of purifying the country, according to eyewitnesses and video, providing a gruesome picture of a crackdown against remnants of the former Assad regime that spiraled into communal killings. Syria has seen the worst outbreak of violence since the ousting of former President Bashar al-Assad late last year, after armed men descended on Alawite heartlands on Thursday in what Syrian authorities said was an attempt to put down an insurgency by rebels still loyal to the former government. A UK-based independent monitoring group, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, said that at least 642 people have died in the violence, including scores of civilians who were killed after government forces committed “widespread field executions” of young men and adults. Syria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, on Sunday blamed the violence on the remnants of Assad’s forces and said his government would hold accountable anyone involved in the deaths of civilians. “We will not tolerate the remnants of Assad’s forces,” he said. “They have only one option: to surrender themselves to the law immediately.”

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Syria’s government signs a breakthrough deal with Kurdish-led authorities in the northeast

Syria's interim government signed a deal Monday with the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s northeast, including a ceasefire and the merging of the main U.S.-backed force there into the Syrian army. Read More.

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Syrian leader signs constitution that puts the country under an Islamist group’s rule for 5 years

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria’s interim president on Thursday signed a temporary constitution that leaves the country under Islamist rule while promising to protect the rights of all Syrians for five years during a transitional phase.

https://apnews.com/article/syria-constitution-assad-alsharaa-4caa2074f20155c2399451d9669e435b?

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Syria massacre

A CNN investigation zeroes in on the events in Sanobar, a town of several thousand members of Syria’s minority Alawite community in Latakia governorate. The attacks on the village, where swathes of farmland surround small clusters of buildings, reveal fresh details about the intensity of some of the sectarian violence that swept Syria’s coast earlier this month. Drawing on interviews with seven survivors, satellite imagery and verified footage from the ground, CNN was able to shed light on the scale of the carnage in the town, where government-aligned forces subjected largely unarmed villagers to summary executions, looting, arson and sectarian slurs, and bodies were piled up in two mass graves.

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?? U.S. slashing military presence in Syria

U.S. military vehicles are parked near al-Tanf garrison, Syria, during an exercise in 2023. Photo: Terry Vongsouthi/DVIDS

The U.S. will shrink its military footprint in Syria over the coming months, bringing troop levels below 1,000. Why it matters: President Trump tried to pull all American forces from the country during his first term, Axios' Colin Demarest writes. The VP and his family — along with Turkey, Iran and Russia — is one of several foreign powers with a foothold in Syria as the country rebuilds after the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad. The Pentagon's Sean Parnell announced the reduction yesterday, citing "the significant steps we have made toward degrading ISIS' appeal and operational capability regionally and globally." Keep reading.

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What would lifting US sanctions on Syria mean to the war-torn country? President Donald Trump’s announcement that the U.S. will ease sanctions on Syria could eventually facilitate the country’s recovery from years of civil war and transform the lives of everyday Syrians. Read more.

Why this matters: Experts say it will take time, and the process for lifting the sanctions — some of which were first introduced 47 years ago — is unclear. Still, the move could bring much-needed investment to the country, which is emerging from decades of autocratic rule by the Assad family as well as the war. It needs tens of billions of dollars to restore its battered infrastructure and pull an estimated 90% of the population out of poverty.   Trump’s pledge has already had an effect: Syrians celebrated in streets across the country, and Arab leaders in neighboring nations that host millions of refugees who fled Syria’s war praised the announcement. After Trump’s announcement, Syria’s currency gained 60% on Tuesday night — a signal of how transformational the removal of sanctions could be.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Live updates: Trump visits main US military base in Middle East as violence flares in Gaza   WATCH: Moment of Israeli airstrike on building in Jabaliya in Gaza Strip caught on camera   Trump marvels at wealth of his Arab hosts while he eyes White House and Air Force One upgrades

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A New Syria, An Old Struggle

Palestinian Refugees in Syria See Little Hope — Even After Assad

https://theintercept.com/2025/06/17/palestinians-syria-yarmouk-refugee-camp-assad/?

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Church attack

A suicide bomber attacked a Greek Orthodox church in Syria on Sunday, killing at least 20 people and injuring dozens more, the country’s health ministry said. The attacker reportedly opened fire on the congregation of Mar Elias Church in Damascus and then blew himself up using an explosive vest. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Syria’s Ministry of Interior Affairs told CNN that it was carried out by a “suicide bomber affiliated with the terrorist organization ISIS.” The United States’ Special Envoy for Syria, Thomas Barrack, called the attack an act of “cowardice."

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Here's what triggered the latest deadly sectarian clashes in Syria, and why it matters

Clashes in Syria between Bedouin tribes, government forces, and the Druze minority have left dozens dead, raising fears of escalating violence. The fighting began Monday in Sweida province after a Druze man was attacked at a Bedouin checkpoint, sparking tit-for-tat violence. Read More.

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Syrian government and Druze minority leaders announce a new ceasefire

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian government officials and leaders in the Druze religious minority announced a renewed ceasefire Wednesday after days of clashes that have threatened to unravel the country’s postwar political transition and drawn military intervention by powerful neighbor Israel.

https://apnews.com/article/syria-clashes-druze-israel-92a72655b85fba1d0b12cc36ffe2cef3?

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Syria Hostilities

Syria’s government and Druze leaders reached a new ceasefire yesterday. The announcement came after Israel launched dozens of airstrikes into the country, striking the military headquarters in Damascus and an area near the presidential palace.    Israel says its campaign aims to defend Syria’s Druze population (more, w/video) and keep Syria’s military and Islamist militants from its borders. Tit-for-tat attacks between Druze militias and Bedouin fighters in Syria’s southern Sweida province have killed more than 300 people in recent days, according to a local war monitor. The fighting among religious minorities—and Israel’s involvement—poses the greatest threat to date for Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. See a documentary on al-Sharaa’s rise to power here.   Separately, an Israeli-backed aid group accused Hamas of spurring a stampede yesterday that killed at least 20 Palestinians near a food distribution site in central Gaza. Hamas denied the allegations.

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> Bedouin fighters withdraw from Druze-majority city of Sweida in southern Syria as truce to end weeklong fighting appears to hold, as of this writing (More) 

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Severe drought tests Syria as it rebuilds from a 14-year civil war

The worst drought in decades is gripping much of the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, drying out rivers and lakes, shriveling crops and leading to dayslong tap water cutoffs in major cities. The situation is particularly dire in Syria, where experts say rainfall has been declining for decades and where the fledgling government is trying to stitch the country back together following a 14-year civil war that left millions impoverished and reliant on foreign aid. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

WATCH: Worst drought in decades threatens food and water security in Syria and wider Middle East

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Druze seek Sweida autonomy and turn toward Israel, adding new twist to Syria’s tensions When Syrian government forces entered the minority Druze enclave of Sweida this summer, it backfired. Sectarian attacks on Druze civilians have hardened their opposition to the new authorities in Damascus and pushed them toward Israel, and led some in the minority sect to go as far as calling for secession. Read more.

Why this matters: Druze groups have set up a de facto military and governmental body in Sweida, similar to the Kurdish-led authorities in the country’s northeast. It is a major setback for Damascus struggling to exert its authority across the country following a 13-year civil war and win the support of minorities.   When former President Bashar Assad was brought down by Islamist-led insurgents in December, many Druze celebrated, welcoming a new era after over 50 years of autocratic rule in Syria. But in July, armed groups affiliated with Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri clashed with local Bedouin clans, spurring intervention by government forces who effectively sided with the Bedouins. Hundreds of civilians, mostly Druze, were killed, many by government fighters.   Israel has intervened, launching strikes on Syrian forces. Many Druze now see Israel as a lifeline, although skepticism remains. Damascus has tried to appeal to the Druze community, but many remain disillusioned.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ How Syria’s first elections since autocrat Assad’s ouster are expected to unfold   WATCH: Israel shares video of Greta Thunberg as activists say Gaza-bound aid flotilla intercepted   At a mass grave on the outskirts of Damascus, some families learn the fate of missing loved ones

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Stolen Statues in Syria

The theft of six Roman-era statues from Syria’s national museum was likely the result of an individual, not an organized gang, investigators said last week. Officials have not publicly identified a suspect or motive as of this writing. The update comes after Syria’s ministry of culture posted images of the missing pieces (see here). Each nude statue depicts Venus, the Roman goddess of love, and measures between 6 and 9 inches tall. The museum discovered they were missing early Monday, Nov. 10, when staff found a door had been broken from the inside. The collection is among the museum’s oldest and most valuable, though experts maintain the pieces would be difficult to sell on the black market.  The National Museum in Damascus was established in 1919 and also hosts clay cuneiform tablets with the oldest known complete alphabet system. It reopened fully earlier this year after years of partial closure during Syria’s civil war.

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A year after Bashar Assad fled, Syria struggles to heal Monday marks the first anniversary of the ousting of former President Bashar Assad. But as thousands take to the streets to celebrate his fall, Syrians are still struggling to heal after the repressive 50-year rule and a 14-year civil war that killed an estimated half-million people, displaced millions more and left the country battered and divided. Read more.

What to know: Assad’s downfall came as a shock, even to the insurgents who unseated him. In late November 2024, groups in the country’s northwest — led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamist rebel group whose then-leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, is now the country’s interim president — launched an offensive on the city of Aleppo, aiming to take it back from Assad’s forces.    The economy has remained sluggish, despite the lifting of most Western sanctions. While Gulf countries have promised to invest in reconstruction projects, little has materialized on the ground. The World Bank estimates that rebuilding the country’s war-damaged areas will cost $216 billion.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Syrians celebrate a year after Bashar Assad’s fall, in photos   Hamas official says the group ready to discuss ‘freezing or storing’ its weapons   As tensions flare on Israel-Lebanon border, war-torn communities struggle to rebuild

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Mosque bombing in Syria leaves 8 dead and 18 wounded

A bombing at a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs during Friday prayers killed at least eight people and wounded 18 others, authorities said, as long-standing sectarian, ethnic and political fault lines continue to destabilize the country, even as large-scale fighting has subsided. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

Yemen separatists accuse Saudi Arabia of launching airstrikes against their forces Iran seizes an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz Palestinian man kills 2 in car-ramming and stabbing attack in northern Israel, police say

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‘Mass escape’ occurred before IS-linked camp in Syria was closed

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A now-closed camp that housed thousands of people with suspected links to the Islamic State group in northeast Syria has witnessed “mass escape” in the weeks since government forces took control of it, with at least 133 breaches discovered, a Syrian official said Wednesday.

https://apnews.com/article/syria-alhol-escapes-islamic-state-camp-iraq-kurds-5d5fedb8861dd3d254e3d7608074ac44?

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Syria arrests suspected leader of Tadamon massacre

A Syrian former regime official suspected of leading a notorious civilian massacre revealed by the Guardian – and who became one of the country’s most-wanted fugitives after the fall of Bashar al-Assad – has been arrested by security forces, Syria’s interior ministry announced.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/24/syria-arrests-suspected-leader-of-tadamon-massacre?