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by Omar Haj Kadour KHAN SHEIKHUN, Syria (AFP) — A suspected chemical attack in rebel-held northwestern Syria killed dozens of civilians including children and left many more sick and gasping on Tuesday, causing international outrage. The attack on the town of Khan Sheikhun killed at least 58 civilians and saw dozens suffer respiratory problems and symptoms including vomiting, fainting and foaming at the mouth, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. Syria’s opposition […]
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.
UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The United States believes the Syrian people do not want President Bashar al-Assad to remain in power and does not accept that he could stand in elections, Ambassador Nikki Haley said Monday. Haley told a news conference that Assad is a “war criminal,” “a hindrance to peace for a long time” and that his treatment of Syrians was “disgusting.” The ambassador was asked about whether US Secretary of State […]
by Nina LARSON Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The United Nations on Friday said “incremental” progress was made during a fifth round of talks between Syria’s warring parties, but warned the “real peace negotiations” had yet to begin. Syrian government and opposition representatives had been “serious and engaged” during the latest nine days of talks in Geneva, UN mediator Staffan de Mistura told reporters. He said all sides were “keen and ready to […]
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 […]
by Maya Gebeily with Delil Souleiman at Tabqa Dam Agence France-Presse BEIRUT, Lebanon – Four Syrian towns are to be evacuated under an agreement between pro-government forces and rebels, in the latest of a series of deals to end crippling years-long sieges. The agreement, brokered by rebel supporter Qatar and regime ally Iran, is expected to involve more than 30,000 people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The deal reached late Tuesday involves Zabadani […]
by Maher al-Mounes with Maya Gebeily in Beirut Agence France-Presse DAMASCUS, Syria – Syrian government forces clashed with rebels and hammered opposition-held areas of east Damascus on Monday, before calm returned to the capital after a surprise assault. In the north of the country, meanwhile, a Kurdish militia said the Russian military is to train Kurdish forces fighting the Islamic State group. Rebels and allied jihadists, led by former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, early […]
by Jean-Luc Renaudie Agence France Presse JERUSALEM, Israel (AFP) — Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Sunday threatened to destroy Syrian air defense systems after they fired ground-to-air missiles at Israeli warplanes carrying out strikes. “The next time the Syrians use their air defence systems against our planes we will destroy them without the slightest hesitation,” Lieberman said on Israeli public radio. Israeli warplanes hit several targets in Syria on Friday, with Prime Minister Benjamin […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — At least 42 people were killed and dozens more wounded on Thursday in air strikes on a village mosque in northern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. “The raids by unidentified warplanes targeted a mosque in Aleppo province during evening prayers, killing 42 people, most of them civilians,” said the head of the Britain-based Observatory Rami Abdel Rahman. “More than 100 people were wounded,” he said, adding that many […]
by Mariëtte Le Roux Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — More than 800 health workers have died in “acts of war crimes” in Syria since 2011, in hospital bombings, shootings, torture and executions perpetrated mainly by government-backed forces, researchers said Wednesday. The Syrian government and its ally, Russia, have turned the violent withholding of healthcare into a weapon of war, according to an analysis published in The Lancet medical journal. This “weaponization” of healthcare, […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Violence against children in war-ravaged Syria was “at its worst” in 2016, the United Nations children’s agency said Monday as the conflict nears its seventh year. The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund said that cases of children being killed, maimed, or recruited into armed groups were the “highest on record” last year. “The depth of suffering is unprecedented. Millions of children in Syria come under attack on a daily basis, […]
