Syria’s President Assad not stepping down anytime soon

“If you are in the middle of a war, you are the chief of staff of the whole government and army, you don’t flee,” President Bashar al-Assad said in regards to the possibility of him stepping down and leaving his post. “If you are the captain of the ship, when you have a storm, you […]

‘We’re scared for our lives’: Some Syrians view Trump’s win as the ‘most dreadful turn of events imaginable’

The Syrian government seems pleased with US President-elect Donald Trump’s stunning victory last week. The government last week signaled its relief that Hillary Clinton lost, saying it was “happy” she did not win because “she’s the one who considered all these terrorist, Islamist, jihadist groups as moderate rebels.” And Syrian President Bashar Assad followed up Tuesday by saying Trump […]

Three Green Berets killed by ISIS infiltrator after CIA ignored warnings

Green Berets Matthew Lewellen, Kevin McEnroe, and James Moriarty approached the Prince Faisal Airbase in Jordan in their vehicle along with one Jordanian military officer. They were assigned the IA mission, meaning inter-agency, as a part of the CIA’s Timber Sycamore covert operation to train and arm so-called moderate Syrian rebels. At the gate there […]

Russian warplanes from Mediterranean carrier join Syria attacks

BEIRUT — With waves of air attacks and missile strikes, Russian forces launched a major new offensive Tuesday against rebel-held areas in Syria, as activists reported the first airstrikes in nearly a month on the battered and besieged eastern districts of Aleppo. A Russian carrier group off Syria — ordered to the Mediterranean Sea by Russian […]

Russian Jet Crashes Off Syria While Trying to Land on Carrier Kuznetsov

A Russian fighter jet crashed off the Syrian coast on Monday while trying to land on an aging aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean, Russian military officials said. The Russian Defense Ministry blamed a technical failure for the crash of the jet, a MIG-29, according to a ministry statement carried by the Interfax news agency. The […]

Men ‘used Syria aid convoys to transport items for terrorists’

Four men used aid convoys bound for Syria to transport items that would be used to commit terrorism offences, a court heard. Syed Hoque, 37, of Stoke-on-Trent, allegedly handed over £3,000 and a further sum of £1,500 on 21 December 2013, to help his nephew, who was fighting against the regime in the war-torn country. […]

Assad on missing journalist Austin Tice: “We don’t have him.”

Austin Tice, a former Marine Corps officer turned freelance journalist has now been missing in Syria since August of 2012.  Abducted from the neighborhood of Darayya in Damascus, a hotspot in the Syrian uprising, little has been heard about Tice aside from a YouTube video released in September, 2012.  The video shows a restrained Tice surrounded by […]

Syrian Rebels Brace for a Trump Cutoff, and Look for a Silver Lining

The hours are ticking down to what the Syrian government and its main ally, Russia, say could be the most devastating aerial assault yet on besieged rebel-held districts in the Syrian city of Aleppo. The Obama administration has offered no military lifeline even to rebel groups it has vetted and backed. But Donald J. Trump, the […]

Syrian government texts east Aleppo residents to leave

The Syrian government has sent text messages to residents and rebels in eastern Aleppo telling them to leave the area within 24 hours. Government forces said that they were preparing a major offensive to push opposition fighters out of the besieged eastern half of the city. “To the armed people in the neighbourhoods of east […]

‘Crashing waves’ of jihadis, fray nerves in Mosul.

A week after his tank division punched through Islamic State defenses on the southeast edge of Mosul, an Iraqi army colonel says the fight to drive the militants out of their urban stronghold is turning into a nightmare. Against a well-drilled, mobile and brutally effective enemy, exploiting the cover of built-up neighborhoods and the city’s […]