When rebel forces took over Syria, they pledged to unite the country’s disparate armed groups into a unified national army. The biggest challenge for them by far has been in northeastern Syria, an autonomous region run by the country’s Kurdish minority where suspicion of the new leadership runs deep. In past years, the rebels and…
The Islamic State has shown renewed vigor in Syria, attracting fighters and increasing attacks, according to the United Nations and U.S. officials, adding to the volatility of a country still reeling since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad. The group is still nowhere near as strong as it was a decade ago, when it controlled…
Turkey’s military has kept up deadly attacks in Syria and Iraq on fighters linked to the Kurdish insurgent group P.K.K. in the two weeks since the movement’s founder called on his followers to lay down their arms and disband. The P.K.K. leadership, which is based in the Qandil Mountains of Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region, responded…
The Kurdish-led militia that controls northeastern Syria agreed on Monday to merge with the country’s new government, marking a major breakthrough for Damascus in its efforts to unify a country still wrestling with violent turmoil. The agreement, announced by the office of Syria’s presidency and signed by both parties, stipulated that the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic…
In the Syrian capital, Damascus, the country’s new leader has hosted a national unity conference and welcomed foreign dignitaries as crowds gather at cafes, speaking out freely for the first time in decades. But 400 miles away in northeastern Syria, a region beyond the control of the Damascus government, battles that have been going on…
Syria’s interim government is bringing together people from the country’s many religions and sects for a two-day national dialogue that began on Monday. What is the national dialogue? Ahmed al-Shara, the country’s interim president, whose rebel coalition seized control of Syria in early December, promised to hold a national dialogue to discuss the formation of…
President Trump’s funding freeze has thrown into confusion the future of a Syrian desert camp holding thousands of Islamic State members and their families, the camp’s director and people familiar with it said, describing it as a potential security threat in the region. The camp, Al Hol, which houses some 39,000 people, has been whipsawed…
President Trump’s sweeping executive order to halt foreign aid threatens to freeze a U.S. program supporting security forces inside a notorious camp in the Syrian desert that holds tens of thousands of Islamic State members and their families, Syrian and U.S. officials said. The order has also wreaked havoc on another U.S. organization in Syria…