1 week ago Germany reopens its embassy in Syria, 13 years after it was closed

Germany has reopened its embassy in Damascus, 13 years after it was shut in the early days of Syria’s civil war

Politics

2 w. ago At least 16 killed after unexploded bomb from civil war goes off in Syria

Blast in coastal Latakia city reportedly occurred when a scrap dealer unknowingly handled old bomb

Events

2 w. ago The reluctant collaborator: surviving Syria’s brutal civil war – and its aftermath

At 18, Mustafa was told his only way out of prison was to join the regime forces. After 14 years, his past as one of Assad’s fighters could get him killedMustafa was 16 when he was detained and beaten by the police for the first time. It was early 2011, and the first stirrings of the Arab spring had grown into anti-government demonstrations across the Middle East. In Syria, a sense of anxious anticipation hung in the air, and the government was responding with propaganda films and TV shows designed to fire up nationalist sentiment. A friend of Mustafa’s hired him to play an extra in one of these shows. The job didn’t pay much, but it was more fun than the long hours Mustafa spent working in a restaurant kitchen. Tall and handsome, with dark eyes and long eyelashes, Mustafa dreamed that maybe one day he could join the long list of Syrians who starred on Arab TV dramas.The youngest of three brothers and a sister, Mustafa had grown up in a crowded working-class district in the eastern ...

Events

2 w. ago Beatings, bribery, boredom: one man’s struggle to survive Syria’s brutal civil war

At 18, Mustafa was told his only way out of prison was to join the regime forces. After 14 years, his past as one of Assad’s fighters could get him killedMustafa was 16 when he was detained and beaten by the police for the first time. It was early 2011, and the first stirrings of the Arab spring had grown into anti-government demonstrations across the Middle East. In Syria, a sense of anxious anticipation hung in the air, and the government was responding with propaganda films and TV shows designed to fire up nationalist sentiment. A friend of Mustafa’s hired him to play an extra in one of these shows. The job didn’t pay much, but it was more fun than the long hours Mustafa spent working in a restaurant kitchen. Tall and handsome, with dark eyes and long eyelashes, Mustafa dreamed that maybe one day he could join the long list of Syrians who starred on Arab TV dramas.The youngest of three brothers and a sister, Mustafa had grown up in a crowded working-class district in the eastern ...

Events

2 w. ago A Syrian man barely escaped a wave of sectarian killings. His brothers did not

This past weekend’s sectarian violence was possibly among the bloodiest 72 hours in the modern history of Syria after 14 years of civil war — and it threatens to open an endless cycle of vengeance

Events

2 w. ago How did deadly Syria clashes start and who is responsible for civilian killings?

More than 1,000 people are believed to have died so far in fighting between security services and Assad loyalistsClashes between Syrian security services and fighters loyal to the ousted Assad regime erupted on Wednesday, kicking off five days of still-ongoing fighting which has killed more than 1,000 people, including 745 civilians, according to a war monitor.The clashes, some of the deadliest in the country since the beginning of its civil war in 2011, were the biggest challenge Syria’s new authorities faced since taking power in December. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Syria's worst violence in months reopens wounds of the civil war

An ambush on a Syrian security patrol by gunmen loyal to ousted leader Bashar Assad escalated into clashes that a war monitor estimates have killed more than 1,000 people over four days

Events