Latest Syria government News

8 EU members say conditions in Syria should be reassessed to allow voluntary refugee returns

May. 17, 2024 04:41 AM EDT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The governments of eight European Union member states said Friday the situation in Syria should be re-evaluated to allow for the voluntary return of Syrian refugees back to their homeland. In a joint declaration, officials from Austria, the Czech Republic,...

Hundreds of Syrian refugees head home as anti-refugee sentiment surges in Lebanon

May. 14, 2024 10:44 AM EDT

ARSAL, Lebanon (AP) — More than 300 Syrian refugees headed back home to Syria in a convoy on Tuesday, leaving two remote northeastern towns in crisis-stricken Lebanon where anti-refugee sentiment has been surging in recent months. Lebanese officials have long urged the...

Syria's Kurdish-led force hands over 2 IS militants suspected in 2014 mass killing of Iraqi troops

May. 10, 2024 15:01 PM EDT

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s U.S.-backed Kurdish-led force has handed over to Baghdad two Islamic State group militants suspected of involvement in mass killings of Iraqi soldiers in 2014, a war monitor said Friday. The report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights came a day after...

A suspected Islamic State group attack on pro-government force in east Syria kills at least 13

May. 03, 2024 08:48 AM EDT

BEIRUT (AP) — Suspected members of the Islamic State group attacked three posts for Syrian government forces and pro-government gunmen early Friday killing at least 13, an opposition war monitor and pro-government media reported. The attack wounded others who were taken to...

EU announces 1 billion euros in aid for Lebanon amid a surge in irregular migration

May. 02, 2024 16:37 PM EDT

BEIRUT (AP) — The European Union announced Thursday an aid package for Lebanon of 1 billion euros — about $1.06 billion — much of which will go to boost border control to halt the flow of asylum seekers and migrants from the small, crisis-wracked country across the Mediterranean Sea to Cyprus...

Sentencing postponed for Minnesota man who regrets joining Islamic State group

May. 01, 2024 12:47 PM EDT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota man who once fought for the Islamic State group in Syria but now expresses remorse for joining a “death cult” and has been cooperating with federal authorities will have to wait to learn how much prison time he faces after his sentencing hearing set for...

Lebanese Christian leader says Hezbollah's fighting with Israel has harmed Lebanon

May. 01, 2024 04:13 AM EDT

MAARAB, Lebanon (AP) — The leader of a main Christian political party in Lebanon blasted the Shiite militant group Hezbollah for opening a front with Israel to back up its ally Hamas, saying it has harmed Lebanon without making a dent in Israel’s crushing offensive in the Gaza Strip. ...

Migration agency chief warns that even more Syrians will leave Lebanon as donors cut back on aid

Apr. 30, 2024 15:00 PM EDT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The number of Syrian refugees leaving Lebanon is likely to keep rising as donors cut back on aid, the head of the U.N.'s migration agency warned Tuesday, as pressure builds over their arrival on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Amy Pope, director general of the...

Iraq repatriates nearly 700 more citizens linked to the Islamic State group from a Syrian camp

Apr. 29, 2024 10:35 AM EDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq has repatriated hundreds more of its citizens linked to the Islamic State group from a sprawling camp in northeastern Syria, Iraqi and Syrian officials said Monday. Ali Jahangir, a spokesman for Iraq’s Ministry of Migration and Displaced, said the nearly 700...

A Turkish court sentences a Syrian woman to life in prison for a bombing in Istanbul in 2022

Apr. 26, 2024 07:29 AM EDT

ISTANBUL (AP) — A court on Friday sentenced a Syrian woman to life in prison for a deadly explosion on a busy shopping district in Istanbul in 2022, Turkey's state-run news agency reported. Alham Albashir was given seven consecutive life sentences after being convicted on terrorism...