Syria

Read recent Syrian news stories and current events on Newser.com

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Syria Helicopter Crashes; Rebels Capture Crew

Regime often uses choppers to drop barrel bombs on rebels

(Newser) - Syrian insurgents captured several government airmen after their helicopter crashed in a rebel-held area of northwestern Syria on Sunday, activists said. The Idlib Media Center and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the helicopter went down near Jabal al-Zawiya, some 6 miles north of the town of Maarat...

Syria: We Shot Down US Drone
 Syria: We Shot Down US Drone 
Mar 18, 2015 1:00 AM CDT

Syria: We Shot Down US Drone

US not sure how Predator went down

(Newser) - Syria's air defenses have shot down a US reconnaissance aircraft in a northwestern province along the Mediterranean coast, according to state media. A US official says a Predator drone went down in Syria yesterday, but it's not clear whether it was shot down. The official, who spoke on...

3 More UK Teens Try to Join ISIS, Busted

Males were in Turkey, allegedly en route to Syria

(Newser) - British police say three male teenagers have been detained in Turkey because they were planning to travel to Syria. Police said two of the male teens detained in Turkey are 17 years old, and the third is 19. Their names haven't been released. Counterterrorism officers learned on Friday the...

New Mission in Iraq, Syria: Save Ancient Treasures From ISIS

Precious antiquities being destroyed by militants

(Newser) - ISIS militants have trashed museum pieces in Mosul with sledgehammers, bulldozed the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, and yesterday destroyed the Hatra ruins in Iraq, reports the BBC . But while the New York Times catalogs everything that antiquities ministers and workers are doing to stave off the annihilation of some...

Syria: Nusra Front Commander Killed
Syria: Nusra Front Commander Killed
Mar 6, 2015 12:02 AM CST

Syria: Nusra Front Commander Killed

Blast hits meeting of al-Qaeda affiliate's leaders

(Newser) - The military commander of al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate was killed yesterday in an explosion targeting a meeting of senior militants that also killed and wounded a number of other fighters, according to a state-run Syrian news agency. SANA says Abu Hommam al-Shami was killed in a military operation carried out...

&#39;Jihadi John&#39; Identified
 'Jihadi John' Identified 
Feb 26, 2015 7:59 AM CST

'Jihadi John' Identified

ISIS' masked man is Mohammed Emwazi from London

(Newser) - Jihadi John has a real name, and the BBC and the Washington Post report that name is Mohammed Emwazi. The masked executioner in several ISIS beheading videos—including the first one of James Foley —was born in Kuwait, raised comfortably in West London, and has a degree in computer...

What's Driving British Teen Girls to Join ISIS?

Aqsa Mahmood went from 'Harry Potter' fan to radical 'poster girl'

(Newser) - Three missing London teenagers appear to have traveled to Syria to join ISIS, despite their parents' impassioned pleas—and one catalyst in the decision may have been a like-minded young woman from Scotland. Aqsa Mahmood, who at 20 is just a few years older than the trio, was once a...

ISIS Kidnaps 70 Christian Villagers
 ISIS Kidnaps 70 Christians 
Feb 24, 2015 7:23 AM CST

ISIS Kidnaps 70 Christians

Syria fighters overrun several Assyrian villages

(Newser) - ISIS has abducted at least 70 Assyrian Christians, including women and children, after overrunning a string of villages in northeastern Syria, according to two activist groups. The extremist fighters swept through the villages nestled along the banks of Khabur River near the town of Tal Tamr in Hassakeh province around...

Turkish Troops Enter Syria to Evacuate Tomb

Operation shifted ancient remains of Ottoman leader

(Newser) - Hundreds of Turkish troops backed by tanks took part in an overnight operation into neighboring Syria to evacuate dozens of besieged soldiers guarding an Ottoman tomb and remove the remains amid fears the shrine was threatened by ISIS militants. The mission to the tomb of the grandfather of the founder...

Cops Fear 3 UK Schoolgirls Are on Their Way to Syria

British police hope they can intercept girls in Turkey before they find ISIS

(Newser) - Three London teens on their winter break are believed to have skipped town and headed to Syria to join up with ISIS, British police said today, per the BBC . Shamima Begum, 15, and two classmates—Kadiza Sultana, 16, and a 15-year-old friend whose parents asked for anonymity—reportedly got on...

Kayla Mueller's Boyfriend: She Wouldn't Lie to Save Herself

Omar Alkhani said he was her husband, but Mueller didn't go for the story

(Newser) - Kayla Mueller's Syrian photographer boyfriend says he went back in 2013 to the detention cell in Syria where he had once been held with Mueller to plead for her release. For a few seconds, Omar Alkhani even saw her face when captors removed her covering to prove it was...

Report: US Sat on Info About Hostages' Location

Daily Beast says US waited a month to act on British intelligence

(Newser) - A few weeks after the US staged a failed rescue mission last July to retrieve ISIS hostages Kayla Mueller , James Foley , and Steven Sotloff , the Muslim insurgents started sending out a gruesome chain of beheading videos. Now US and UK officials are saying that the hostages had been moved just...

Assad: Syria's in the Loop on Anti-ISIS Airstrikes

But there's no dialogue with the US, Syrian president says

(Newser) - Bashar al-Assad says his government is receiving messages from the US-led coalition about airstrikes against ISIS taking place in his country. In a BBC interview today, the Syrian president admits that there hasn't been direct cooperation, and the messages are coming from third parties—including Iraq—not the US...

ISIS: US Hostage Died in Jordan Airstrikes

Group claims American woman died when Syrian building collapsed during bombing

(Newser) - An incensed Jordan has been making good on its word to dole out "earth-shaking revenge" against ISIS, conducting airstrikes on militant outposts in Syria since a video was released earlier this week showing pilot Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh being burned alive in a cage. Now ISIS is claiming that a...

Angelina Jolie: We Must Help Syria, Iraq Refugees
Angelina Jolie: We Must
Help Syria, Iraq Refugees
OPINION
Jan 28, 2015 11:33 AM CST

Angelina Jolie: We Must Help Syria, Iraq Refugees

We're not doing nearly enough, actress writes

(Newser) - The suffering in the Middle East is the worst since Angelina Jolie first started visiting refugee camps in Iraq in 2007, she writes in a New York Times column today. She tells stories of "displaced Iraqis and Syrian refugees are desperately seeking shelter from the fighting that has convulsed...

Kurds Rejoice as ISIS Pushed Out of Kobani

US-backed fighters declare victory in key border town

(Newser) - Jubilant Kurdish fighters ousted ISIS militants from the key Syrian border town of Kobani yesterday after a 4-month battle—a significant victory for both the Kurds and the US-led coalition. The Kurds raised their flag on a hill that once flew the group's black banner. On Kobani's war-ravaged...

Kerry: We've Killed Half of ISIS' Leaders

Thousands of militants killed, he says after coalition meeting

(Newser) - The US and its allies sought to put a good face on the coalition's deliberate campaign to roll back ISIS yesterday, boasting of having killed thousands of militants while acknowledging that ousting the group from key cities remains a distant aspiration. Speaking to reporters in London alongside the British...

US Troops to Train Syrian Rebels for ISIS Takedown

Train-and-equip plan for moderate Syrian opposition designed to derail insurgents

(Newser) - In continuing efforts to thwart Islamic militants in Syria, the US Defense Department confirmed last night that it's sending 400 troops to train moderate Syrian opposition, Army Times reports. Trainers will set up shop in Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, with the six- to eight-week training sessions tentatively set...

Italian Aid Workers Freed in Syria
 Italian Aid Workers 
 Freed in Syria 
UPDATED
Jan 16, 2015 4:27 AM CST

Italian Aid Workers Freed in Syria

Sources say huge ransom was paid to Nusra Front

(Newser) - Two young Italian aid workers kidnapped in Syria last year and seen pleading for their lives in a video recently released by their captors are free and arrived back in their homeland today, Italian authorities say. The country's foreign ministry says Vanessa Marzullo, 21, and Greta Ramelli, 20, who...

Turkey: Widow of Paris Gunman Is in Syria

She flew to Turkey on Jan. 2, crossed over Thursday, says foreign minister

(Newser) - The 26-year-old woman sought by French police as the widow and potential accomplice of Paris deli shooter Amedy Coulibaly is in Syria, Turkey's foreign minister confirmed today. The timeline that Mevlut Cavusoglu is offering up indicates that Hayat Boumeddiene crossed over into Syria after Wednesday's slaughter at Charlie ...

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