BEIRUT—On the day Syrian anti-aircraft missiles downed an American-made Israeli F-16 fighter jet, a banner boasting of the feat in both Arabic and Hebrew script went up in a village in southern Lebanon. To the northeast, loyalists of Bashar al-Assad, … Read More
Israel has viewed Iran’s growing footprint in neighbouring Syria with alarm [File: Omar Sanadiki/Reuters] A surge in Israeli-Syrian cross-border incidents has turned into the “biggest” confrontation between the two countries in decades, and confronted Russia with a new dilemma: how to preserve … Read More
(CNN)As if the broken, angry, dysfunctional Middle East needed another conflict, along came an unprecedented escalation between Israel, Iran and Syria to make the region even more volatile and dangerous. In the predawn hours of Saturday, an Iranian drone penetrated Israeli airspace … Read More
WASHINGTON/BEIRUT: US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis dismissed concerns on Thursday that the United States was being dragged into a broader conflict in Syria, after a major clash with pro-Syrian government forces overnight that may have left 100 or more of … Read More
Kurdish protestors against the Turkish operation in Afrin outside the EU building in Lebanon on January 28. Wael Hamzeh/EPA When Turkish ground troops rolled into Afrin, a Kurdish enclave in northern Syria, in January, the regime was making a considered political calculation. … Read More
AMMAN, Jordan — Russian jets intensified their raids on rebel-held towns and cities in Syria’s northern Idlib province on Sunday night, a day after rebels shot down a Russian warplane and killed its pilot. Civil defense sources said air raids struck … Read More
PHOTO: Hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees are at risk of being forced to return as violence continues.(Reuters: Muhammad Hamed, file photo) RELATED STORY: Syrian refugees fleeing violence shot at and beaten at Turkish border, HRW says RELATED STORY: After years of bombing … Read More
(CNN)Kurdish families huddle on blankets in a dimly lit cave. Others hide in the rubble of a bombed-out building, gathered around a campfire. Those that have basements seek shelter there. This is life in Afrin. Turkey’s cross-border military offensive against … Read More
Turkish forces continue to attack Kurdish fighters in northwest Syria. Former FBI counter-terrorism agent Ali Soufan talks with NPR’s Michel Martin about how to preserve the U.S.’s relationship with both sides. MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: We’re going to start the program … Read More
United Nations (CNN)US Ambassador Nikki Haley and Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia traded verbal jabs Tuesday over the use of chemical weapons in Syria. The two ambassadors gave back-to-back speeches at a hastily called meeting of the UN Security Council, … Read More