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Ahmad al-Sharaa's new Syrian government integrating Kurdish forces, suppressing ISIS remnants, and courting US diplomatic recognition
Russia sent a sanctioned cargo ship to resupply its air base in Syria in May, the first such mission since Assad's fall from power, according to U.S. officials and satellite images reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.
3 MIN READThe Trump administration has informed Congress that it intends to proceed with planning for a potential reopening of the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, according to a State Department notification sent to congressional committees on Feb. 10.…
3 MIN READSyria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, removed his brother from a senior government post on Saturday as part of a broader reshuffle, state media reported, addressing accusations of nepotism that had drawn comparisons to the…
3 MIN READSyria’s interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa removed his brother, Maher al-Sharaa, from a top government post in a reshuffle announced Saturday, state news agency SANA reported. The changes come as Syria’s new leadership tries to consolidate…
3 MIN READSyria is marketing itself as a neutral haven and alternate oil transit route as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran expands, with its new government framing the country as a “bridge to security” rather than a battlefield. The Associated Press…
4 MIN READAssailants killed Shiite cleric Farhan al-Mansour near Damascus by hurling a grenade into his car, state media reported Friday. The attack occurred in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab, where security was boosted and authorities said…
3 MIN READU.S. forces completed their withdrawal from Qasrak air base Thursday when a final convoy of soldiers and equipment departed the site in Syria's Hasakah province, officials for both sides confirmed. The Syrian army has now taken full…
3 MIN READGerman Chancellor Friedrich Merz met Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Berlin on Monday and raised the prospect that many Syrians living in Germany could return to Syria over the next few years, saying some are needed to help…
3 MIN READAn argument between two men in Suqaylabiyah, a predominantly Christian town in central Syria, escalated into sectarian attacks that damaged homes, shops and cars, the Associated Press reported. The assault, carried out by scores of men on…
3 MIN READSyrians protested Sunday in Bab Touma, a Christian neighborhood in Damascus, against new government limits on alcohol sales and consumption under Syria’s Islamist-led interim authorities. Demonstrators chanted for personal freedom and…
3 MIN READSyrian Kurds have returned to Afrin, a district in northern Syria, to mark Nowruz for the first time since exile, Associated Press reported. The return comes after the government of interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa declared Nowruz…
3 MIN READA notorious camp in Syria that housed tens of thousands of women and children with alleged links to the Islamic State group has been emptied, with its final residents transferred over recent weeks, according to Syrian officials. Fadi…
4 MIN READThe Syrian military said it would open a “humanitarian corridor” for civilians to evacuate a contested area east of Aleppo on Thursday, as fighting and tensions persisted between government forces and Kurdish-led units. The announcement…
3 MIN READThe Islamic State group released an audio message late Saturday calling Syria's interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa a "puppet without a soul" controlled by Western countries and urging followers to attack Jewish and Western targets. The…
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A camp in northeastern Syria that had housed families of suspected Islamic State members is now largely empty after hundreds of women and children were repatriated to their countries or transferred to other facilities in recent weeks,…
5 MIN READSyrian authorities turned back a group of Australian women and children on Monday after they left the Roj camp in Syria for repatriation attempts, according to camp officials. The group of 34 people from 11 families had been planning to…
3 MIN READDAMASCUS, Syria — The first post-Assad edition of the International Damascus Book Fair drew crowds and included titles that had long been banned, publishers said after the event wrapped Monday. Kurdish books were offered in the Syrian…
3 MIN READNearly a month after clashes between government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Aleppo, most displaced residents in the Sheikh Maqsoud area have returned, many saying the turnaround has been unusually quick. The…
3 MIN READThe U.N. refugee agency said Sunday that a large number of residents have left Syria’s al-Hol camp, where relatives of suspected Islamic State militants had been housed. UNHCR’s Syria representative, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, said Syrian…
3 MIN READSyria’s president Ahmad al-Sharaa and two top ministers were the targets of five foiled assassination attempts last year, the U.N. chief said in a report on threats posed by Islamic State militants released to the U.N. Security Council.…
3 MIN READSyria and Saudi Arabia signed multibillion-dollar investment agreements on Saturday aimed at rebuilding Syria’s economy after years of war. The deals include a telecommunications development, a low-cost airline and plans for an…
3 MIN READSecurity forces affiliated with Syria’s Interior Ministry entered the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria on Tuesday as part of a deal with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, the Associated Press reported. The…
3 MIN READSyria signed a memorandum of understanding for its first offshore oil and gas development, with Chevron and a Qatar-based company, Damascus-based state media reported. The agreement was signed in the presence of the U.S. special envoy to…
3 MIN READA United Nations aid convoy delivered humanitarian supplies to Kobani, a besieged Kurdish enclave in northeast Syria, on Monday, marking the first aid delivery to reach the area since fighting between Syrian government forces and…
3 MIN READIraq's Supreme Judicial Council announced Sunday that it will prosecute and try Islamic State militants being transferred from prisons and detention camps in Syria under a U.S.-brokered deal. The decision came as the U.S. military moved…
3 MIN READSyria's defense ministry announced Saturday that it has extended a ceasefire with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces for another 15 days, following the expiration of an initial four-day truce. The extension comes as U.S. forces…
3 MIN READBAGHDAD and Washington said the transfer of Islamic State detainees from northeast Syria to detention centers in Iraq began after Baghdad requested the move. The transfer started after Syrian government forces seized parts of the al-Hol…
3 MIN READThe U.S. military has started transferring many Islamic State group detainees held in northeast Syria to secure locations in Iraq, the U.S. Central Command said. The transfer began Wednesday amid fighting in the area between Syrian…
3 MIN READThe United States withdrew military and diplomatic support from Syria's Kurdish-led forces in January 2026, allowing the new Syrian government to seize most of their territory in northeast Syria. The shift marked a reversal of years of…
4 MIN READThe U.S. military on Wednesday began transferring Islamic State detainees held by Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria to secure facilities in Iraq, marking a significant shift in the region's security architecture as Syria's government…
3 MIN READSyrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Sunday signed an agreement with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, announcing a ceasefire and a framework for dismantling the SDF’s control in Syria’s northeast. The Syrian government said it…
4 MIN READSyria’s Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces are set to merge into Syria’s national army and police forces after days of clashes with the government announced a ceasefire, ending the latest fighting round, the Associated Press reported on…
5 MIN READSyrian government forces entered Deir Hafer and Maskana in northern Syria on Saturday after Kurdish-led fighters said they would evacuate the area to avoid conflict, the Associated Press reported. The move followed days of fighting between government troops and the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in and around Aleppo, where Kurdish fighters withdrew from three neighborhoods. In the first hours after the withdrawal, AP reported seeing tanks, armored vehicles and military convoys enter Deir Hafer.
Syrian government forces and Kurdish-led fighters clashed in northeastern Syria, hours after a ceasefire and integration agreement was announced between Damascus and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. The breakouts involved prisons holding Islamic State group detainees, according to the army and the SDF. In a separate development, SDF chief commander Mazloum Abdi was reported to be in Damascus to discuss the Sunday deal, and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the SDF against delaying compliance.
Syria has begun circulating new banknotes as it seeks to stabilize the economy after the fall of President Bashar Assad’s government. The rollout started Saturday in Syria, with a presidential decree saying “old Syrian currency” will be gradually withdrawn through exchange centers.
The U.S. military said nearly 25 Islamic State operatives were killed or captured in Syria this month following an ambush that killed two U.S. troops and an American civilian interpreter, U.S. Central Command said Tuesday. The command said it carried out 11 missions over the past 10 days, following initial strikes Dec. 19 on Islamic State weapons sites and infrastructure across central Syria. Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads the command, said, “We will not relent,” as the U.S. pursues operations with regional partners.
IDLIB, Syria — A bombing at the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque in Homs during Friday prayers killed at least eight people and wounded 18 others, authorities said. Syria’s Interior Ministry said preliminary investigations indicate explosives were planted inside the mosque, while a group calling itself Saraya Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility.
The U.S. military said it carried out multiple missions in Syria over the past 10 days, killing or capturing nearly 25 Islamic State operatives. The operations followed an ambush on Dec. 13 near Palmyra that killed two U.S. National Guard members and a civilian interpreter, according to U.S. officials. The U.S. said the missions followed initial strikes on Dec. 19 that hit 70 targets across central Syria.
Mosque bombing in Syria’s city of Homs during Friday prayers killed at least eight people and wounded 18 others, authorities said.
