Syria
Syrian oppo starts cooperating with Russia
Russia’s Defense Ministry and the leaders of the Syrian opposition set up coordinating group for joint cooperation against the Islamic State terrorists in Syria, Col.-Gen. Andrey Kartapolov, chief of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff, said on Tuesday, according to RIA Novosti. "We have set up...
Syrian rebels use caged captives as ‘human shields’
Prisoners believed to be regime officers used as shield near Damascus as Assad forces intensify bombing of rebel areas. Syrian rebel groups have locked people in cages and driven them to areas near Damascus to use as human shields against heavy government air raids. A video posted online by the Shaam News Network, an...
AP: Activists say suspected Russian jets hit Syria’s Palmyra
Suspected Russian warplanes bombed the outskirts of Islamic State-held Palmyra on Monday, sending smoke rising out of an area that includes a historic castle overlooking the Syrian city's Roman ruins, activists said, according to The Associated Press. An activist in Palmyra who goes by the name Nasser al-Thaer said at least...
Islamic State takes over Syrian town in Homs province: monitor
Islamic State fighters took control of the Syrian town of Maheen in the southwest of Homs province on Sunday after an attack on government forces in the area, Reuters reported. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 50 fighters on the government side were killed or wounded, and that clashes...
Syria conflict: Russia’s scars from Afghanistan
It is more than 26 years since Soviet troops pulled out of Afghanistan. But today Russia, once again, is at war outside the former Soviet Union — in Syria. The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow met some veterans of that Soviet war to find out what lessons were learnt. Modern Russia often claims it has learnt the lessons...
Analysis: With Syria deployment, Obama crosses own red line
WASHINGTON (AP) — Even as President Barack Obama sent U.S. troops back to Iraq and ordered the military to stay in Afghanistan, he insisted Syria would remain off limits for American ground forces. Now the president has crossed his own red line. His deployment of up to 50 U.S. special operations troops into northern Syria...
Syria conflict: Russia warns US of ‘proxy war risk’
Russia has warned of the risk of a "proxy war" in the Middle East after the US said it would send special forces to Syria. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this increased the need for co-operation between the US and Russia. US officials said "fewer than 50" troops would "train, advise and...
Fox News: Russia flying Iranian weapons shipments into Syria, sources say
Russia has helped Iran deliver weapons into Syria twice a day over the past 10 days, western intelligence sources tell Fox News. "Those sources say Russian cargo planes transported the weapons. The planes were spotted earlier this month on the tarmac at the Russian air base in Latakia, Syria's primary port city,"...
Poll: 54% of Russians support airstrikes in Syria, while 59% not willing to accept refugees
About 41% of Russian citizens believe that the operation in Syria will take away money needed to solve social problems, according to the findings of a survey by the Levada Center, an independent Russian polling and sociological research organization, Ukrainian online newspaper RBC-Ukraine reports. The survey shows that Russians...
Russia’s Syria intervention: One month in
The deployment of a Russian strike force of 34 combat jets and 21 helicopters showed how billions invested in the armed forces by President Vladimir Putin had paid off. Within days of arriving they were flying attack missions, and have now clocked up something like 1,000 of them. President Putin wanted to show the world that he...
Iran to be invited to key Syria talks, U.S. says: media
Iran is likely to be invited for the first time to international talks with the U.S. and Russia in Vienna this week over the Syrian conflict, according to the U.S. State Department, BBC News reports. "Whether they come or not is up to Iranian leaders," said U.S. state department spokesman John Kirby, according to BBC...
Syrian opposition: Russian airstrikes kill over 200 civilians
Most of the deaths of civilians in Syria lately have been caused by indiscriminate Russian aerial attacks, the National Coalition of Opposition and the Revolutionary Forces (NCORF) claims. The data are reported by The Associated Press quoting the Syrian opposition's UN representative Najib Ghadban, according to Ukrainian...