Ankara summit: Changing the rules of engagement

April 6th, 20180 Turkey, Iran and Russia pledge to work for stability in Syria ANKARA — Turkey, Iran and Russia pledged on Wednesday to accelerate efforts to bring stability to Syria, underlining their joint commitment to the country a day after President Trump raised the prospect of withdrawing U.S. troops. A statement by the three countries after...

Russia: The Syrian offensive in eastern Ghouta is almost over

March 30th, 20180 BEIRUT — The massive Russian-backed Syrian military offensive in the suburbs east of Damascus is almost over, with rebels holed up in just a single town after abandoning the rest of the eastern Ghouta enclave, Moscow declared on Thursday. Russia and the rebel faction controlling Douma, the last Ghouta town still in insurgent hands,...

Germany condemns Turkish military offensive in Syria

March 23rd, 20181 BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday Turkey's military offensive in Syria's northern town of Afrin was unacceptable and she criticized Russia for "just watching" the continuing attacks by Syrian forces on eastern Ghouta. Speaking in the lower house of parliament, Merkel said the government also condemned the...

Syria rebels depart eastern Ghouta town on government buses in first surrender

March 23rd, 20180 BEIRUT/DAMASCUS — Syrian rebels withdrew in busloads from a town in eastern Ghouta on Thursday and handed it over to the Syrian army, the first such surrender since one of the fiercest campaigns of the seven-year war began more than a month ago. The Ahrar al-Sham group's decision to accept the army's terms and abandon the town of...

Fighting intensifies in eastern Ghouta as UN pleads for ceasefire

February 23rd, 20180 The United Nations Security Council will vote on Friday on a draft resolution demanding a 30-day truce in Syria to allow aid deliveries and medical evacuations, but it was not immediately clear if the text had won the support of Syrian ally Russia. The vote comes as warplanes pounded eastern Ghouta, the last rebel enclave near Syria's...

Air strikes kill 31, including children, in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta

February 7th, 20180 BEIRUT — Air strikes killed 31 civilians including 12 children in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region near Syria’s capital Damascus on Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. It said Syrian government air strikes and artillery hit the towns of Douma, Beit Sawa and Hammouriyeh in the insurgent-controlled...