Syrian war

AMMAN, April 5 – Islamist rebels shot down a warplane on Tuesday in an area south of the city of Aleppo where insurgents are battling the Syrian army and allied militias, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The monitor said a plume of smoke was seen as the plane caught fire before it fell

MOSCOW, March 28 – The presidents of Russia and Iran agreed on Monday to step up bilateral contacts, including over the Syrian conflict, in which both countries are allies of President Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian government and Western-backed opposition are currently holding U.N.-mediated peace talks as part of a diplomatic push launched with U.S.-Russian support

By John Irish and Suleiman Al-Khalidi GENEVA, March 24 – Syrian government and opposition parties at peace talks in Geneva are expected to agree on Thursday to a document drawn up by a U.N. special envoy outlining basic principles in what one diplomat described as a “baby step” forward. With a fragile ceasefire in place

BEIRUT, March 16 – Kurdish-controlled areas of northern Syria are expected to declare a federal system on Wednesday, a Syrian Kurdish official said, taking matters into their own hands after being excluded so far from political talks to resolve the Syrian war. The step that will combine three Kurdish-led autonomous areas of northern Syrian into

DUBAI, March 16 – Iran’s foreign minister has called Russia’s decision to withdraw its forces from Syria “a positive sign”, while a senior security official said the move was pre-planned and not a surprise to Tehran. President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly announced on Monday that most Russian forces would be withdrawn from Syria after deploying in

JERUSALEM, March 16 – Israeli President Reuven Rivlin will ask Russia on Wednesday to ensure that its partial pullout from Syria does not embolden Iranian and Hezbollah forces there, an Israeli official said. Rivlin is in Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose withdrawal announcement on Monday blindsided world powers. Israel believes the Russian

By Sofia Barbarani KAWERGOSK, Iraq, March 15 – Women nudge their way through a throng of customers to buy freshly baked bread as children laden with books scurry to school. Down the road a man sits in a barber’s shop, waiting for a shave. Life appears to be almost normal in Kawergosk camp, home to

By John Davison BEIRUT, March 14 – Syria’s five-year-old conflict has created 2.4 million child refugees, killed many and led to the recruitment of children as fighters, some as young as seven, U.N. children’s fund UNICEF said on Monday. Its report “No Place for Children” said more than 8 million children in Syria and neighbouring

BEIRUT, March 13 – The Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front seized bases and weapons from a Western-backed rebel group in overnight fighting in northwestern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday. Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Observatory, said the Nusra Front had also detained dozens of members of the 13th Division rebel group,

By Tom Körkemeier and Alastair Macdonald BRUSSELS, March 10 – European Union interior ministers expressed reservations on Thursday over easing visa requirements for Turkey, a key element of a tentative deal with Ankara that Brussels and Germany hope will halt the mass influx of refugees and migrants to Europe. EU and Turkish leaders agreed in