Syria

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

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No Release for Seized UN Monitors

Their release had been expected today

(Newser) - The Philippine government was under the impression that Syrian rebels would release 21 UN monitors today—but that hasn't happened, it says. Officials say the rebels maintain that they won't release the monitors until Syrian government forces exit the Jamlah area, near the Golan Heights. "I don'...

Now Syrian Rebels Claim They Rescued UN 'Guests'

Video making demands for their release pulled offline

(Newser) - You got it all wrong, a Syrian rebel group protested today. They weren't abducting UN peacekeeping troops in the Golan Heights yesterday, they were rescuing them. The rebel group, known as the Yarmouk Martyrs' Brigade, has pulled down a video they'd posted on Facebook saying they wouldn't...

Syrian Opposition Detains 20 UN Peacekeepers

They had been monitoring Israel-Syria ceasefire

(Newser) - The UN Security Council has strongly condemned the detention of more than 20 peacekeepers monitoring the ceasefire between Israel and Syria by armed members of the Syrian opposition and demanded their immediate and unconditional release. Russia's UN Ambassador, the council president, says talks are underway between UN officials and...

Syria&#39;s Refugee Tally: 1M
 Syria's Refugee Tally: 1M 
Mar 6, 2013 4:04 AM CST

Syria's Refugee Tally: 1M

And half of them are children, according to UN report

(Newser) - A million people have now fled Syria to avoid the war raging there—and half of them are children, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reported today . "Syria is spiraling towards full-scale disaster," commissioner António Guterres said. "We are doing everything we can to help, but...

Syrian Rebels Seize Key Provincial City

Fighters smash statue of President Assad's father

(Newser) - Syrian rebels today captured most of the key north-central city of Raqqa, possibly dashing President Bashar al-Assad's hope of ever reclaiming northern and eastern Syria, the New York Times reports. The rebels posted a video of them destroying a statue of al-Assad's father—former President Hafez al-Assad—in...

49 Syrian and Iraqi Troops Killed in Border Ambush

Fears increase that civil war will spill over into Iraq

(Newser) - At least 42 Syrian soldiers and seven Iraqi soldiers were killed in an ambush near a border crossing in Iraq today, sharpening fears that Syria's civil war could spill into Iraq and destabilize the region, the AP reports. The Syrian soldiers ( Reuters reports the group also included government...

Kerry: Time for Iran Nuke Talks Is 'Finite'

UN watchdog prevented from entering Iran military site

(Newser) - Talks with Iran on its nuclear program can't simply drag on forever, John Kerry and the Saudi foreign minister are warning. "There is a finite amount of time," Kerry said during a Riyadh press conference on his first overseas trip as secretary of state. Diplomacy, he said,...

Kerry Unveils $60M in Aid for Syria Rebels

But purely of the 'non-lethal' variety

(Newser) - The US intends to step up its "non-lethal" aid to the Syrian opposition, John Kerry announced after a meeting of the "Friends of Syria" group in Rome today. The Obama administration will ask Congress for $60 million in aid, along with food rations, and medical supplies, the BBC...

US May Give Direct Aid to Syria Rebels

Washington Post: Expected policy shift does not include weapons

(Newser) - The Washington Post reports that the US is poised to give direct aid to Syrian rebels for the first time. That doesn't mean weapons, however. Think body armor, military vehicles, humanitarian assistance, and maybe military training. John Kerry is expected to hash out the details this week and next...

In Sea Change, Saudis Arming Syrian Opposition

Plus, opposition agrees to attend international summit

(Newser) - A big shift in the Syrian conflict: Saudi Arabia is arming the opposition. It's a decidedly more activist approach than had previously been taken by regional and Western powers, the New York Times reports, and it signals an attempt to counter the weapons Iran is sending to Bashar al-Assad'...

Huge Blast Rocks Damascus
 Huge Blast Rocks Damascus 
Feb 21, 2013 7:46 AM CST

Huge Blast Rocks Damascus

Kids dead, Russian embassy damaged

(Newser) - A powerful car bomb exploded in central Damascus today, blowing out the windows of the Russian embassy, and killing at least some children at a nearby school. The bomb detonated at a security checkpoint between the embassy and the Baath Party Headquarters, the BBC reports. Activists say at least 31...

Damascus Plunged Into Darkness

Power outage strikes Syria's capital, much of nation's south

(Newser) - A power outage plunged Damascus and southern Syria into darkness today, Syria's state news agency said, while anti-regime activists reported a string of tit-for-tat, sectarian kidnappings in the country's north. The news agency, SANA, quoted Electricity Minister Imad Khamis as saying that the failure of a high voltage...

Syrian Rebels' New Cash Source: Stolen Artifacts

Fighters have become 'archeologists': rebel

(Newser) - Short on funds, Syrian rebels have been turning to a new source of income: selling snatched artifacts. "Some days we are fighters; others we are archeologists," says a rebel who counts ancient Sumerian tablets among his finds. Fighters, who control most of the top archeological areas, say a...

5K Syrians Fleeing Every Day
 5K Syrians Flee Every Day 
Feb 8, 2013 4:35 PM CST

5K Syrians Flee Every Day

It's a 'full-on crisis,' says UN official

(Newser) - The number of Syrian residents fleeing their country is rising fast, says the UN refugee agency. It puts the number at 5,000 day, bringing the total who have fled so far to nearly 800,000, reports Reuters . That's a 25% increase in January alone, reports the New York ...

54 Countries Aided CIA in Post-9/11 Interrogations

US helpers ranged from UK to Syria: report

(Newser) - The US was far from alone in its controversial counterterror practices after 9/11: More than a quarter of the world's countries helped the agency, a new report says. Some partners hosted secret interrogation prisons; some arrested suspects; others let the CIA refuel its planes at their airports, the New ...

Israeli Strike Hit Syrian Chemical Weapons Facility

Meanwhile, Iran says Israel 'will regret' attack

(Newser) - Israel's airstrike inside Syria just happens to have damaged the country's top chemical and biological research center, though it wasn't the primary target of the attack, US officials tell the New York Times . A senior military official said Israel's actual targets were trucks carrying missiles and...

Assad: Syria Can Handle 'Any Aggression'

As Ehud Barak confirms Israel was behind Wednesday's aggression

(Newser) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says his military is capable of confronting any "aggression" that targets the country. The comments by Assad are the first since an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday that US officials say was targeting a convoy of anti-aircraft weapons inside Syria bound for Hezbollah. Assad's remarks...

Syria, Iran Threaten Israel in Wake of Strike

Russia expresses concern

(Newser) - Syria today threatened to retaliate for an Israeli airstrike , and its ally Iran chimed in, too, saying there will be repercussions for the Jewish state over the attack. Syria's ambassador to Lebanon said Damascus "has the option and the capacity to surprise in retaliation." He said he...

Israeli Fighter Jets Strike Inside Syria

Reports say Israel hit a truck convoy carrying weapons to Lebanon

(Newser) - Israeli jets have struck a target inside Syria for the first time in more than five years, reports the New York Times and Reuters . Reports are conflicting on what they hit: Syria says the jets struck a scientific research center, but sources tell Reuters they hit a convoy of trucks...

65 Bodies Found With Hands Bound in Syria

Meanwhile, rebels take regime intelligence compound

(Newser) - The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is reporting what it calls a "new massacre" near Aleppo. At least 65 people have been found dead, all apparently shot in the head, and all with their arms tied behind their backs, Reuters reports. The death toll could rise as high as...

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