The Syrian government ignored most United Nations requests to deliver humanitarian aid to some of its 4.6 million people in hard-to-reach and besieged areas in 2015 and only 620,000 received help, according to Stephen O’Brien, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, in a briefing on the humanitarian situation in Syria on Wednesday. It comes just two days before UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura is to facilitate intra-Syrian talks in Geneva. “The continued suffering of the Syrian […]
Tag: syria
Air strikes in Homs; rebels fight back in Sheikh Maskin
Amateur videos posted to social media websites purported to show air strikes on rebel positions in Homs province of Syria on Wednesday (January 27), as well as intense fighting for control of the strategic town of Sheikh Maskin. Fighting raged as plans to hold the first negotiations to end the civil war in Syria for two years were in doubt. The main Syrian opposition group said on Wednesday that they would not show up for […]
Humanitarian issues most important part of peace talks – Syrian opposition
The Saudi-backed Syrian opposition said on Tuesday (January 26) that they would only take part in the Geneva peace talks this week if certain humanitarian issues in the war-torn country were addressed. The group said they would decide on Wednesday (January 27) whether they would take part in the talks, saying it welcomed an invitation to the negotiations but was seeking clarifications from the United Nations. The High Negotiations Committee (HNC), which groups arm political […]
Intensive military operations continue at Russian airbase in Syria
Military operations have been carried out continuously at Russia’s Hmeymim airbase in the Syrian city of Latakia, with the roar of aircraft a common occurrence since Russian forces arrived last September. With Mi-24 attack helicopters hovering over the airbase, fighter jets from the Sukhoi-designed fleet, including the Russian Air Force’s latest Su-34 model, have been taking off from the base to conduct airstrikes against terrorist targets in the war-stricken country. “The Russian air force has […]
Syrians displaced by fighting returns home in south Damascus
Hundreds of Syrian families displaced by armed conflicts returned to their homes in south Damascus on Wednesday as part of a truce between the government and local rebels reached last year. About 4,000 residents of Qadam Municipality, who fled the fighting in the last three years, returned to their hometown on the buses provided by the government. “I feel so happy. How I wish that all Syrians could go back to their homes and that […]
Seven countries to intensify campaign against IS
U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter won agreement from defense ministers from France and five other nations on Wednesday to intensify the campaign against IS militants in Iraq and Syria. A bilateral meeting was held firstly between Ashton Carter and Jean-Yves Le Drian, France’s Defense Minister, to discuss the issue before the closed-door meeting among the defense ministers from the other five countries, including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy and Germany. This is the […]
Aid convoy enters besieged Syrian town Madaya
Civilians in Madaya, a rebel-held town in Syria, finally saw the arrival of four trucks carrying relief aids on Monday. The inter-agency humanitarian aid is part of a deal concluded recently between the government and rebels to alleviate the suffering of thousands of starved people. Madaya, sitting in north of the capital Damascus, is among the three besieged towns where the trucks must simultaneously enter according to the deal. Madaya is held by rebels and […]
Syria’s U.N. ambassador Ja’afari discusses starving, besieged areas of Syria
Syrian United Nations Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari discussed the besieged towns of Syria on Monday (January 11) after reports emerged that tens of thousands of civilians have been trapped for months without supplies and are starving to death. Trucks carrying food and medical supplies reached Madaya near the Lebanese border and began to distribute aid as part of an agreement between warring sides, the United Nations and the Red Cross said on Monday. A U.N. spokesman […]
China says not planning to send military ships to Syria
China’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday (October 14), that the country had no plans to send its military ships to Syria to fight with Russian forces already there, after reports in overseas media that it was planning to do so. Chinese media has picked up Russian and Middle Eastern news reports that China would fight alongside Russia in Syria, and that China’s sole aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, could participate too. Chinese media has also described […]
Russia is not striving for leadership over Syria – Putin
Several hundreds of Palestinians protested on Tuesday (October 13) at the border area between Israel and Gaza in the wake of a series of street attacks in Jerusalem and near Tel Aviv on a “Day of Rage” declared by Palestinian groups. Protesters waved flags belonging to different Palestinian political parties as they marched towards the border with Israel. Israeli forces threw tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd. At least 14 demonstrators were overcome by […]
No civilians hurt in Syria as a result of Russian air strikes – Putin
Civilian population was not hurt in Syria as a result of Russian air strikes, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday (October 1) at a meeting of the civil society and human rights council. Putin pointed out Russia was not the first country to carry out air raids in the Middle Eastern country struck by civil war. “Other countries have been carrying out strikes on the Syrian territory for more than a year, without the UN […]
Russia all talk, no substance in fighting Islamic State
France’s foreign minister took a swipe at Russia on Tuesday (September 29) saying that it has talked a lot about striking Islamic State, but that if it wanted to prove its real intentions in Syria then it should stop “media strikes” and carry out real ones. “Those who are against Daesh [Islamic State], are those who strike Daesh. There’s no question about it. It’s simple,” Laurent Fabius told reporters in New York at the French […]





