Washington, United States | AFP | A senior Republican senator said Sunday that President Donald Trump had promised to stay in Syria to finish the job of destroying the Islamic State group — just days after announcing he would be withdrawing troops immediately. “The president understands the need to finish …
Read More »Netanyahu seeks to calm Israeli concerns over Trump’s Syria pullout
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought on Sunday to calm domestic concerns over US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from Syria, saying his country will still act against Iran there. Trump last week said the Islamic State group had been defeated and he was …
Read More »Trump stuns allies by ordering US troops home from Syria
Washington, United States | AFP | US allies were stunned Thursday after President Donald Trump declared victory over the Islamic State group in Syria and abruptly ordered the withdrawal of US ground troops from the country. The decision runs counter to long-established US policy for Syria and the region. It …
Read More »Now, Trump orders full withdrawal of US troops from Syria
Washington, United States | AFP | The United States will withdraw all of its troops from Syria, a US official said Wednesday, after President Donald Trump claimed America has “defeated ISIS” in the war-ravaged country. The stunning move will have extraordinary geopolitical ramifications — and plunges into uncertainty the fate …
Read More »Trump plans full withdrawal of US troops from Syria
Washington, United States | AFP | The United States will withdraw its troops from Syria, a US official told AFP on Wednesday, after President Donald Trump said America has “defeated ISIS” in the war-ravaged country. The move will have extraordinary geopolitical ramifications and throws into question the fate of US-backed Kurdish …
Read More »Sudan’s Bashir visits Damascus, meets Assad: Syrian presidency
Damascus, Syria | AFP | Sudan’s President Omar al-Bachir visited Damascus on Sunday, the Syrian presidency said, in his first such visit to the war-torn country since the start of the conflict. “President Omar Hassan al-Bashir… arrived this afternoon on a visit to the Syrian Arab Republic,” the presidency said. …
Read More »Syria conflict: 2017 deadliest year for children, UN aid official reports
Damascus, Syria | UN | More than 900 children in Syria were killed last year, making 2017 the deadliest year for children in the country’s ongoing conflict, a senior United Nations official told the Geneva-based Human Rights Council on Tuesday, warning that the grim statistics may only be the tip …
Read More »Four million Syrian children have only known war since birth: UNICEF
Damascus, Syria | UNICEF | Half of Syria’s children, that’s four million, have grown up only knowing a life of violence, as the war-battered country enters its eighth year of conflict, the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) said on Thursday. “Every eight-year-old in Syria has been growing up amidst danger, …
Read More »Amnesty launches drive to track impact of US strikes
Beirut, Lebanon | AFP | Amnesty International on Wednesday launched a crowdsourcing data project using satellite imagery to assess damage from US-led coalition air strikes last year on the Syrian city of Raqa. The rights group said it expects up to 5,000 digital activists to sign up for the month-long …
Read More »Netanyahu welcomes US vote against UN Golan resolution
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday welcomed a US decision to vote for the first time against an annual UN resolution condemning Israel’s occupation of the Golan Heights. “I would like to thank President (Donald) Trump and Ambassador (Nikki) Haley on this important and just …
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