Fighter jets and tanks unleashed deadly new raids in hotspots across Syria as the country, as the head of the now-defunct UN observer team in Syria left Damascus. The observer mission officially ended on at midnight last Sunday amid escalating violence
UN Syria monitoring mission gets final 30 day extension
The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved on Friday a 30-day extension to a U.N. monitoring mission in Syria that had been deployed as part of international envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan to end the 16-month conflict that has killed thousands, despite an earlier
UN Vote on Syria Delayed Until Thursday
The U.N. Security Council delayed a vote on a new Syria resolution until Thursday in a last-minute effort to get key Western nations and Russia to agree on measures to end the dramatically escalating violence. International envoy Kofi Annan contacted several governments Tuesday and urged the council to postpone
Latest Syrian Defectors Are From Higher Ranks
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syria’s armed forces have been slowly bleeding defectors and deserters since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began 16 months ago. But now the military arrivals reaching Syria’s neighbors are more likely than ever to have stars on their epaulets.
Turkish Border Is Crucial Link in Syrian Conflict
ANTAKYA, Turkey — The onetime ragtag militias of the Syrian opposition are developing into a more effective fighting force with the help of an increasingly sophisticated network of activists here in southern Turkey that is smuggling crucial supplies
Confidential report finds Iran shipping arms to Syria
A confidential U.N. report reveals Iran is exporting arms to the Syrian government in violation of a ban on weapons sales, the same day President Bashar al-Assad blamed the violence in his country on the work of foreign-backed fighters.
U.S. is in a “holding pattern ” on Syria, report
Fifteen months into the crisis in Syria, and the Obama administration is, as one U.S. official describes it, in “a holding pattern,” waiting for Russia to abandon its support for President Bashar al-Assad, waiting for sanctions to topple the economy and waiting for an organized Syrian opposition to present a coherent vision for a post-Assad […]
Syria’s television confessions fail to convince many
Syria’s state media is fighting hard to cast the country’s unrest as an Islamist terrorist conspiracy rather than a popular uprising against the dynastic rule of President Bashar al-Assad. State television airs interviews with men confessing to acts of violence, sullying the image of Assad’s opponents. But the interviews are mocked by many Syrians
UN team in Syria evacuated from tense town
A team of international observers was evacuated Wednesday from a tense town in northern Syria a day after their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb, a U.N. spokesman said. The team’s vehicles were struck by the blast Tuesday during a mission in the northern town of Khan Sheikhoun. None of the observers was wounded, […]
Syria’s neighbors funding, arming rebels, report
Syrian rebels battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad have begun receiving significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, an effort paid for by the Gulf nations and coordinated in part by the United States, according to opposition activists and U.S. and foreign officials.