Syrian armed forces

Car-bomb attack in northern Syria kills 3 Turkish soldiers

Jan. 17, 2020 7:53 AM EST

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A car bombing has killed three Turkish soldiers in a Turkish-controlled area in northern Syria, Turkey's Defense Ministry said. The ministry said the attack occurred late on Thursday as the soldiers were carrying out road checks in northern Syria, in an area that is under the control...

Turkey says 4 of its soldiers killed in northeast Syria

Jan. 9, 2020 6:30 AM EST

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey's defense ministry says four Turkish soldiers have been killed in northeastern Syria. The ministry said the soldiers were killed in a car bombing attack Wednesday while they were conducting road checks. The Turkish military death toll stands at 20 since October, when Turkey launched...

This image released by the Syrian Presidency shows Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad, center, in Damascus, Syria on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020. Putin's visit is the second to the war-torn country where his troops have been fighting alongside Syrian government forces since 2015. (Syrian Presidency via AP)

Russia's Putin visits Syria to meet Assad, a key Iran ally

Jan. 7, 2020 5:04 PM EST

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Damascus on Tuesday for a meeting with President Bashar Assad, a rare visit that comes amid soaring tensions between Iran and United States following the U.S. drone strike that killed a top Iranian general. While the official statements...

FILE - In this Nov. 22, 2013 file photo, Iraqi and Lebanese Shiite fighters from a group called the Hussein Brigade, loyal to Syria's President Bashar Assad, use a helmet to draw a sniper into view during clashes against the Sunni-dominated Free Syrian Army in the town of Hejeira, Syria, outside the capital Damascus. As Iran's frontman in Syria since 2011, Qassem Soleimani, Commander of Iran's Quds Force, brought in and organized thousands of Shiite militiamen from outside Syria to back President Bashar Assad's overstretched military, providing firepower and skills. (AP Photo/Jaber al-Helo, File)

Iranian general transformed Syria's war in Assad's favor

Jan. 7, 2020 7:37 AM EST

BEIRUT (AP) — When Syrian President Bashar Assad made a rare visit to Tehran last year, the powerful Revolutionary Guard commander Qassem Soleimani was there to greet him, along with Iran's supreme leader and president. Iran's foreign minister wasn't, and he resigned in protest at being excluded from talks...

A boy carries a portrait of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in the U.S. airstrike in Iraq, prior to the Friday prayers in Tehran, Iran, Friday Jan. 3, 2020. Iran has vowed

Iran vows revenge for US attack that killed powerful general

Jan. 3, 2020 10:07 PM EST

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iran promised to seek revenge for a U.S. airstrike near Baghdad's airport that killed the mastermind of its interventions across the Middle East, and the U.S. said Friday that it was sending thousands more troops to the region as tensions soared in the wake of the targeted killing. The...

Civilians flee a Syrian military offensive in Idlib province on the main road near Hazano, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2019. Syrian forces launched a wide ground offensive last week into the northwestern province of Idlib, which is dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants. The United Nations estimates that some 60,000 people have fled from the area, heading south, after the bombings intensified earlier this month. (AP Photo/Ghaith al-Sayed)

UN council to hear latest on offensive in Syria's Idlib

Jan. 2, 2020 5:20 PM EST

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council is going to receive a closed briefing on the ongoing offensive in the last rebel stronghold in Syria at the request of France and the United Kingdom. Vietnam’s U.N. Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, the council president for January, told a news conference...

Truckloads of civilians flee a Syrian military offensive in Idlib province on the main road near Hazano, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2019. Syrian forces launched a wide ground offensive last week into the northwestern province of Idlib, which is dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants. The United Nations estimates that some 60,000 people have fled from the area, heading south, after the bombings intensified earlier this month. (AP Photo/Ghaith al-Sayed)

Shelling hit school killing 6 in rebel-held Syrian village

Jan. 1, 2020 7:41 AM EST

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian government forces shelled a rebel-held village in the country's northwest on Wednesday, hitting a school and killing at least six people, opposition activists said. The attack in Idlib province, the last rebel stronghold Syria, was part of an ongoing offensive in which Syrian troops...

Fighters from the Kataeb Hezbollah, or Hezbollah Brigades militia, inspect the destruction at their headquarters in the aftermath of a U.S. airstrike in Qaim, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 30, 2019. The Iranian-backed militia said Monday that the death toll from U.S. military strikes in Iraq and Syria against its fighters has risen to 25, vowing to exact revenge for the

Iran-backed Iraqi militia vows revenge to US strikes

Dec. 30, 2019 2:20 PM EST

BAGHDAD (AP) — An Iranian-backed Iraqi militia vowed Monday to retaliate for U.S. military strikes in Iraq and Syria that killed 25 of its fighters and wounded dozens, raising concerns of new attacks that could threaten American interests in the region. The U.S. attack — the largest targeting an...

FILE - In this June 30, 2019 file photo, President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea. President Donald Trump starts the new year knee-deep in daunting foreign policy challenges at the same time he'll have to deal with a likely impeachment trial in the Senate and the demands of a reelection campaign. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Trump faces raft of foreign policy challenges in new year

Dec. 30, 2019 2:23 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump starts the new year knee-deep in daunting foreign policy challenges at the same time he'll have to deal with a likely impeachment trial in the Senate and the demands of a reelection campaign. American troops are still engaged in America's longest war in...

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, left, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, right, listen as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers a statement on Iraq and Syria, at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

US strikes hit Iraqi militia blamed in contractor's death

Dec. 30, 2019 2:15 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. carried out military strikes in Iraq and Syria targeting an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia blamed for a rocket attack that killed an American contractor, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Sunday. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the strikes send the message that the U.S. will...

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