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MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Moscow slammed the United States strike on a Syrian airbase Friday as “aggression against a sovereign state,” and suspended a bilateral agreement to help avoid clashes in the skies over the war-torn country. “President (Vladimir) Putin considers American strikes on Syria aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international norms, and under an invented pretext,” said the statement by the Kremlin press service posted on the official website. […]
by Alex PIGMAN Agence France-Presse BRUSSELS, Belgium – For Diaeddin Al Zamel, the call to save Syria at a EU-UN conference in Brussels was not supposed to be a punch to the gut. The gathering was meant to be an all-too-typical plea for aid from rich donors — but then came the text message from the world’s bloodiest battleground. A source on the ground said the town of Khan Sheikhun in Idlib Province had […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Police in southern Spain Tuesday staged raids targeting assets of the family of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, a judicial source said. The raids, in the Puerto Banus marina area of the plush resort of Marbella, are the result of a corruption investigation launched in France against Assad’s uncle, Rifaat al-Assad, the source said.
by Dave Clark Agence France Presse UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The United States admitted Thursday that it is no longer focused on ousting Bashar al-Assad as it seeks a new strategy to end Syria’s civil war. American officials have been shifting away from their former insistence that he must go for some time, but now they have made it explicit. In New York, the US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley condemned […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) – Government air raids on northwest Syria killed at least 11 people overnight, mostly civilians, a monitoring group said Monday, while the military said its forces made advances in Aleppo province. “Government warplanes carried out air strikes after midnight on several areas in the town of Ariha” in Idlib province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights’ head Rami Abdel Rahman. “The preliminary toll is 11 killed, including at least seven civilians,” […]
by Sara Hussein Agence France-Presse BEIRUt, Lebanon (AFP) – A dozen Syrian rebel factions have suspended talks on new peace negotiations, accusing President Bashar al-Assad’s regime of violating a four-day-old ceasefire with attacks near Damascus that continued Tuesday. The decision threatens the process sponsored by regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey, which began with a truce and is meant to lead to negotiations in the Kazakh capital Astana this month. The ceasefire has brought […]
by Karam al-Masri with Maya Gebeily in Beirut Agence France-Presse ALEPPO, Syria (AFP ) – Thousands of traumatised Syrians left the rebel enclave of Aleppo on Monday under a complex evacuation agreement that will see regime forces exert full control over the battered city. Families had spent hours waiting in below-freezing temperatures, sheltering from the rain in bombed-out apartment blocks and waiting desperately for news on a new wave of departures. The operations resumed on […]
by Rim Haddad and Karam al-Masri Agence France Presse ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) – The Syrian government suspended the evacuation of civilians and fighters from the last rebel-held parts of Aleppo on Friday, leaving thousands of people trapped and uncertain of their fate. Russia, which helped to broker the deal with Turkey, said its operation was now “complete” with all women and children moved from the city. Ankara and a Syrian military source said the evacuation […]
by Hui Min NEO Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) – The fall of Aleppo has unleashed a mixture of outrage and impotence in the West, in which fury at the relentless carnage has mingled with guilt over the failure to stop it. Even the European public — who marched in the millions over the siege of Sarajevo or against the Iraq War — stayed at home as the Russian-backed Syrian regime smashed the country’s […]
by Rim Haddad with Maya Gebeily in Beirut Agence France Presse ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) – A convoy of ambulances and buses left rebel territory in Aleppo on Thursday in the first evacuations under a deal for opposition fighters to leave the city after years of fighting. The rebel withdrawal will pave the way for President Bashar al-Assad’s forces to reclaim complete control of Syria’s second city, handing the regime its biggest victory in more than five […]
by Rim Haddad Agence France Presse ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) – Once renowned for its bustling souks, grand citadel and historic gates, Aleppo’s Old City has been rendered virtually unrecognisable by some of the worst violence of Syria’s war. For centuries, Aleppo was Syria’s economic and cultural powerhouse, attracting tourists from around the world to its celebrated heritage sites. But now, only gaunt stray cats roam the rubble-strewn alleyways of its Old City, a UNESCO World […]
ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) – by Karam al-Masri with Sara Hussein in Beirut Syria’s army battled to take more ground from rebels in Aleppo Thursday after President Bashar al-Assad said victory for his troops in the city would be a turning point in the war. Three weeks into a major offensive to retake all of Aleppo, government troops have captured about 85 percent of territory rebels controlled in the city’s east and were continuing to push […]
