Ankara, Turkey | AFP | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said he was “extremely saddened” by France’s position after Paris offered to mediate with the Syrian Democratic Forces dominated by a Kurdish militia deemed a terrorist group by Ankara. “We are extremely saddened by France’s… wrong stance on …
Read More »Trump says US withdrawing from Syria ‘very soon’
Richfield, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump insisted Thursday that US forces would pull out of Syria “very soon” and lamented what he said was Washington’s waste of $7 trillion in Middle East wars. In a populist address to industrial workers in Ohio, Trump said US forces …
Read More »Strike on Syria’s Ghouta kills 15 children sheltering in school: monitor
Beirut, Lebanon | AFP | An air strike on a school in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta late Monday killed 15 children and two women who were using its basement as a bomb shelter, a monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the bombing raid hit Arbin, a key town …
Read More »New convoy of food aid enters Syria’s rebel Ghouta: ICRC
Beirut, Lebanon | AFP | A new convoy carrying desperately needed food aid entered the rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta near Syria’s capital on Thursday, the International Committee of the Red Cross told AFP. “The convoy entered Ghouta and is going to Douma now,” ICRC’s communication coordinator Pawel Krzysiek said. …
Read More »Children increasingly exposed in Syria conflict: UN
Beirut, Lebanon | AFP | Children are at more risk than ever in Syria’s devastating conflict, the United Nations said Monday as the war approached its eighth year. Twice as many children were killed in the war in 2017 than in the previous year, the UN children’s agency UNICEF said in …
Read More »Erdogan slams NATO for failing to back Syria campaign
Istanbul, Turkey | AFP | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday angrily lashed out at NATO, accusing the Western military alliance of failing to back Turkey’s campaign against Kurdish militia in Syria. Erdogan’s latest comments were among the toughest he has directed in recent times against NATO, which Turkey joined …
Read More »Nine civilians killed as Syria regime strikes shake Ghouta
Douma, Syria | AFP | At least nine civilians were killed Tuesday in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta as fresh regime air strikes and clashes shook the rebel enclave outside Damascus, a monitor and AFP correspondents said. Regime air strikes killed nine civilians in the town of Jisreen early Tuesday, the Britain-based …
Read More »France, US ‘will not tolerate impunity’ on Syria chemical weapons
Paris, France | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron and his US counterpart Donald Trump vowed there would be “no impunity” in the event of further chemical weapons use in Syria in a telephone call Friday. The leaders also urged Russia to put “maximum pressure” on its ally Damascus to …
Read More »Syria regime strikes rebel enclave as aid trucks wait
Wafideen Checkpoint, Syria | AFP | Syrian and Russian forces kept up military pressure on rebel-held Eastern Ghouta Thursday as their controversial unilateral truce failed to yield a humanitarian breakthrough. More than 40 trucks loaded with aid were unable to reach the 400,000 people living in the battered enclave, prompting …
Read More »Aid convoy blocked in Syria despite UN ceasefire order: official
United Nations, United States | AFP | About 40 trucks are loaded and ready to ferry relief supplies to Syria’s bomb-and-siege shattered Eastern Ghouta, but there has been no let up in fighting despite a UN ceasefire resolution, a top UN official said Wednesday. Mark Lowcock, the UN under secretary-general for …
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