Iran exploits quake relief mission to fly weapons to Syria – sources
Amman, JordanReuters Iran has used earthquake relief flights to bring weapons and military equipment into its strategic ally Syria, nine Syrian, Iranian, Israeli and Western sources said. The sources told Reuters that the goal was to buttress Iran’s defences against Israel in Syria and to strengthen Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Reuters is the first to report […]
Essay: Syria’s earthquake survivors struggle in a disaster made far worse by civil war, bombed-out hospitals and currency collapse
In an article first published on The Conversation, US-based academic ORA SZEKLEY says the consequences of the earthquake in Syria can be explained in part by the country’s devastating civil war…
Syria’s Assad meets senior Arab lawmakers in Damascus
Damascus, Syria Reuters A delegation of senior Arab parliamentarians met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Sunday, another sign of thawing ties after more than a decade of isolation over the conflict in Syria. The heads of the Iraqi, Jordanian, Palestinian, Libyan, Egyptian and Emirati houses of representatives, as well as representatives from […]
Israeli missile strikes building in central Damascus, five dead
Amman, JordanReuters An Israeli rocket strike early on Sunday hit a building in central Damascus, killing five people and damaging several buildings in the densely populated district, witnesses and officials said. The strike hit near a security complex around which Syria’s ally Iran has installed bases, two intelligence sources said. Police officers stand near a […]
Rescues dwindle in Turkey after earthquake as aid trickles into Syria
Kahramanmaras/Antakya, Turkey Reuters Two people were reported to have been pulled alive from the rubble in Turkey on Thursday, more than 10 days after a massive earthquake hit the region, but such rescues have become increasingly rare, leaving anger to smoulder as hope dies. A 17-year-old girl was extracted from the ruins of a collapsed […]
UN chief says Syria’s Assad agrees to expand UN aid access from Turkey
United NationsReuters Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has agreed to allow United Nations aid deliveries to opposition-held northwest Syria through two border crossings from Turkey for three months, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday. Assad agreed to open the crossings of Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra’ee, Guterres said in a statement after UN aid chief […]
Children rescued from ruins days after earthquake, but death toll tops 23,700
Antakya, Turkey/Jandaris, Syria, Reuters Rescue crews saved a 10-day-old baby and his mother trapped in the ruins of a building in Turkey on Friday and dug several people out from other sites as President Tayyip Erdogan said authorities should have reacted faster to this week’s huge earthquake. The confirmed death toll from the deadliest quake […]
Children among 547 detained Syrians declared dead – rights monitor
Beirut, LebanonReuters Ever since Yehya Hijazi and his two sons were detained in 2012 by the Syrian Government, their relatives had clung onto the hope they were still alive and might be released one day. But after a decade of silence from the authorities, their hopes were shattered when the independent Syrian Network for Human […]
Syria may “return to larger-scale fighting”, UN warns in new report
Reuters Syria’s simmering 11-year war is at risk of boiling up once again with a return to large-scale combat after several frontlines across the country flared up in recent months, the United Nations warned on Wednesday in a new report. “Syria cannot afford a return to larger-scale fighting, but that is where it may be […]
As Assad tightens grip on Syria, many refugees lose hope
Amman, JordanReuters When Syrian refugee Lara Shahin fled Damascus at the start of Syria’s conflict she thought her family would be back within months to help rebuild the country. Nine years later, an election dismissed as a sham by refugees across the region is set to grant President Bashar al-Assad another seven years in power […]