Syria
Fifth year of Syria’s war the worst yet, aid groups say
Thirty aid agencies believe UN Security Council members have undermined their own commitments on Syria. They say the past 12 months has seen a "horrendous escalation in violence" and civilian displacement. In a new report entitled "Fueling the Fire," which was released on Friday, a group of non-government...
Syria conflict: Truce ‘boosts peace talks’, leaders agree
The truce broadly holding in Syria will create momentum behind peace talks, major European powers say. The leaders of Russia, Germany, France, Italy and the UK had a telephone conversation on Friday after which they agreed to use the "positive dynamic", said the office of UK PM David Cameron. EU countries asked Russia...
West faces up to Putin aggression
"You are invited to take part in a real-time war game with our top experts and an elite team of journalists to examine the nature of Moscow's future activity in the Middle East." It's not often an email like this drops into the inbox. My mission, should I choose to accept it, would be to join one of the teams...
U.N. aims to restart Syria peace talks on March 9
The United Nations will delay the next round of Syria peace talks by two days to allow the cessation of hostilities in force since Saturday to take hold, U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said. International observers have acknowledged violations of the agreement intended to halt nearly five years of fighting while reporting...
Syria conflict: UN steps up aid deliveries as truce holds
An aid convoy has reached one of several besieged towns in Syria, as the UN takes advantage of a partial truce brokered by the US and Russia. The UN and its partners are stepping up deliveries of food, water and medicine, and plan to reach more than 150,000 people over the next five days. They hope to help 1.7 million in...
Syrian war: UN to expand aid amid partial truce
The UN says it plans to deliver aid to about 150,000 Syrians in besieged areas over the next five days amid a partial truce in the country's civil war. It said it was ready to help an estimated 1.7 million people in hard-to-reach areas by the end of March. A cessation of hostilities began on Saturday and there have been...
Syrian war: Russia reports nine truce violations
The truce in Syria has been violated nine times in the past 24 hours, says Russia, but is otherwise holding. A temporary cessation of hostilities was agreed as part of a US-Russian plan and is now in its second day. Reports say warplanes have attacked villages to the west of Aleppo. It it is unclear whether the planes were...
SYRIA CRISIS: Landmark ceasefire begins after almost five years of bloody civil war
A LANDMARK but fragile temporary ceasefire has come into force in Syria after almost five years of civil war. The truce, agreed by 97 fighting groups including the Syrian government and Russian airforce, came into effect at midnight local time. But the United Nations quickly warned that the fragile ceasefire will be breached...
Syria conflict: Temporary truce comes into effect
The first major truce in Syria's five-year civil war has come into effect. The "cessation of hostilities" began at midnight (22:00 GMT Friday) with early reports suggesting that guns had fallen silent over major battlefields. UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said fighting had "calmed down"...
A look at proposed cease-fire set to begin in Syria
Secretary of State John Kerry told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday that the agreement has already allowed five or six Syrian communities to receive 114 trucks carrying assistance and that 80,000 people now have supplies for a month that they did not have a week ago. The truce is needed before U.N.-led peace...
Russia and US agree ceasefire in Syria as Putin calls it a chance to stop ISIS ‘bloodshed’
THE US and Russia, who are opposite sides in Syria's bloody civil war, have agreed on a new plan for a cease-fire in the war-ravaged country to begin on Saturday. The truce would mean an end to fighting between the Syrian regime and all major opposition groups except for al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate and the Islamic State...
Syria conflict: US-Russia brokered truce to start at weekend
The US and Russia have announced that a planned cessation of hostilities in Syria will come into effect at midnight on 27 February. Their statement said the truce did not include so-called Islamic State (IS) and the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front. World powers agreed on 12 February that a truce would come into effect within a...