Amman, Jordan | AFP | The UN children’s fund on Tuesday expressed “outrage” over the killings of children in Syria by issuing a blank statement, adding in a footnote that “no words will do (them) justice”. The statement came after a ferocious Syrian regime bombing campaign pounded the rebel-held enclave …
Read More »77 dead as Syria enclave pounded ahead of expected ground assault
Hammuriyeh, Syria | AFP | Heavy Syrian bombardment killed at least 77 civilians in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta on Monday, a monitor said, as regime forces appeared to prepare for an imminent ground assault. The escalation came as pro-government forces were also expected to enter the northern Kurdish-controlled enclave of Afrin, …
Read More »For single Syrian women, search for soulmate comes up empty
Damascus, Syria | AFP | Syrian student Nour wistfully examines her bare ring finger, then scans fellow classmates around her at Damascus University. Amid the sea of women, there’s no eligible single man in sight. At 30, Nour says she is eager to get married — but Syria’s protracted conflict …
Read More »US vows investigation into Syria attack involving Russians
Washington, United States | AFP | US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Saturday vowed to investigate an attack involving Russian citizens on American-allied forces in Syria but stopped short of accusing Moscow of orchestrating the assault. Russia has acknowledged that five of its citizens were killed in a US-led coalition …
Read More »France will ‘strike’ if proven Syria used chemical arms: Macron
Paris, France | AFP | France will launch attacks if proof emerges that the Syrian regime has used banned chemical weapons against its civilians, President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday. “We will strike the place where these launches are made or where they are organised,” Macron told the presidential press corps. …
Read More »Captured foreign jihadists must be dealt with: Mattis
Rome, Italy | AFP | US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday that doing nothing with foreign fighters captured in Syria “was not an option” after a meeting of the US-led anti-Islamic State group coalition in Rome. During the fierce offensive to oust the IS group from its former stronghold Raqa, …
Read More »Israeli strikes were ‘heavy blow’ to Iranian, Syrian forces: Netanyahu
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israeli air strikes in Syria the previous day were a “heavy blow” to Iranian and Syrian forces in the war-torn country. “We inflicted on Saturday a heavy blow to Iranian and Syrian forces,” Netanyahu said at the start …
Read More »Israel will not allow Iran ‘entrenchment’ in Syria: PM
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Saturday not to allow Iran to establish a military presence in Syria, after Israel launched air raids on what it said were Iranian targets in its Arab neighbour. “Israel wants peace but we will continue to defend ourselves with determination …
Read More »UN says probing suspected chemical weapons use in Syria
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | United Nations war crimes investigators on Tuesday said they were investigating fresh reports that chemical weapons were being used in rebel-held zones in war-ravaged Syria. The UN Commission of Inquiry on the human rights situation in Syria voiced alarm that it had received “multiple reports …
Read More »Erdogan says premature to say who supplied Syria tank weapon
Istanbul, Turkey | AFP | Turkey has information concerning the source of an anti-tank missile that killed five Turkish soldiers in Syria but it is too early to announce its country of origin, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday. The soldiers were killed on Saturday in a strike on a …
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