Syrian civil war

UN-backed experts point to new war crimes in Syria conflict

Jul. 7, 2020 12:10 PM EDT

GENEVA (AP) — Investigators commissioned by the U.N.’s top human rights body say Syrian government forces and their Russian allies bombarded civilian sites in Idlib province indiscriminately, while rebels tortured and executed civilians in recent months, acts amounting to war crimes on both sides. ...

Laure Ghosn, whose husband Charbel Zogheib has been missing for the past 37 years, speaks as she holds their wedding portrait during an interview at her home in Sarba, north of Beirut, Lebanon. Ghosn said her husband is held in Syria and hopes that a new wave of sanctions imposed by the U.S. against the Syrian government will force Damascus to reveal the fate of hundreds of Lebanese citizens held in Syria, including that of her husband. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Families of Syria detainees hope for news amid US sanctions

Jul. 6, 2020 1:33 AM EDT

BEIRUT (AP) — Alaa Arnous and his family found the photo of his father Mohammed online last week, the first proof of his fate since he was seized by Syrian government forces seven years ago. The image showed his corpse, his face battered and bruised, his mouth hanging open. The elder Arnous was among...

Families of Syria detainees hope for news amid US sanctions

Jul. 4, 2020 8:42 AM EDT

BEIRUT (AP) — Alaa Arnous and his family found the photo of his father Mohammed online last week, the first proof of his fate since he was seized by Syrian government forces seven years ago. The image showed his corpse, his face battered and bruised, his mouth hanging open. The elder Arnous was among...

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell waits for the start of a meeting, Supporting the future of Syria and the Region, in videoconference format at the European Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, Pool)

Donors: $7.7 billion to tackle Syria humanitarian crisis

Jun. 30, 2020 12:53 PM EDT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union and dozens of donor nations pledged a total of $7.7 billion Tuesday to help tackle the humanitarian crisis deepening in Syria and neighboring countries hosting millions of Syrian refugees as the coronavirus pandemic and economic crises compound the misery of nearly a...

FILE - In this January 13, 2010 file photo, Syrian employees stack packets of Syrian currency in the Central Syrian Bank in, Damascus, Syria. In Syria nowadays, there is an impending fear that all doors are closing. After nearly a decade of war, the country is crumbling under the weight of years-long western sanctions, government corruption and infighting, a pandemic and an economic downslide made worse by the financial crisis in Lebanon, Syria's main link with the outside world. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

UN envoy hopes for new Syria talks and warns of dire economy

Jun. 16, 2020 3:12 PM EDT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. special envoy for Syria said Tuesday he hopes that talks on drafting a new constitution for the country can be held in late August, warning the war-torn nation has plunged into economic crisis with rising fears among its people. Geir Pedersen told the U.N. Security Council...

This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a Syrian White Helmet civil defense worker walking amid the rubble of houses hit by airstrikes, in Balyoun village, southern Idlib province, Syria, Tuesday, June 9, 2020. Syrian activists and a war monitoring group say that dozens of suspected Russian airstrikes have pounded villages on the edge of the last rebel enclave in northwestern Syria, sending thousands of civilians fleeing. The escalation began on Monday and is the most serious breach of a Russia-Turkey brokered cease-fire in place since March. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP)

Airstrikes again hit Syria's rebel area, displace thousands

Jun. 9, 2020 8:26 AM EDT

BEIRUT (AP) — Suspected Russian airstrikes pounded villages on the edge of the last rebel enclave in northwestern Syria, sending thousands of civilians fleeing, activists reported Tuesday — scenes unseen in the area since a cease-fire three months ago. The violence at the edge of Idlib province is...

Syria activists: After 3 months, Russian strikes hit Idlib

Jun. 3, 2020 7:19 AM EDT

BEIRUT (AP) — Russian warplanes carried out early Wednesday the first airstrikes in three months on the last remaining rebel stronghold in northwestern Syria, opposition activists said. There was no immediate word on any casualties. The airstrikes, along with ground bombardment over the past few days,...

Report: Airstrikes in east Syria kill Iran-backed fighters

May. 17, 2020 12:56 PM EDT

BEIRUT (AP) — Unknown warplanes attacked Iran-backed fighters in eastern Syria near the Iraqi border, killing several of the Iraqi militiamen, Syrian opposition activists said Sunday. The strikes late Saturday targeted a base near the border town of Boukamal, killing seven fighters, according to the...

In this April 13, 2020 photo, Tariq al-Obeid, displaced from the eastern countryside of Idlib, Syria, shows a lesson for his children on a mobile phone in Kelly, a town in northern Idlib. Al-Obeid received the education material from a teacher on a private WhatsApp group. As the world moves online, the Syrians in opposition-held areas are too. In the time of coronavirus, the internet is becoming an educational tool, and one to salvage bonds essential for surviving the brutal conflict. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Online English classes revive ties severed by war in Syria

May. 17, 2020 2:09 AM EDT

BEIRUT (AP) — Who got married? Who had a baby? Have we lost anyone? Through crackling internet lines and jumpy connections, a group of Syrian students recently reunited after nearly two years, recreating their English language classes and their small community online from pockets of opposition-held areas. ...

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