More than 100 chemical weapons sites are suspected to remain in Syria, left behind after the fall of the longtime president, Bashar al-Assad, according to the leading international organization that tracks these weapons. That number is the first estimate of its kind as the group, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, seeks to…
The trainer paced the grounds of a mountain enclave in southwestern Syria, shouting at dozens of new recruits as they drilled sprints between barricades made from old car tires. “You have to practice as if it’s real,” screamed the instructor, Fadi Azam. “Want me to start shooting at you instead to make it real?” he…
As the minutes ticked closer to sundown, the crowd grew more impatient, pressing against the glass display case, shouting and shoving bills toward the young men filling order after order of the Ramadan sweet bread. “If you please—” “What is this stuffed with?” “Sir, take my money!” “Just be patient!” The high-pressure volley of queries,…
Lubna Labaad walked among a flattened wasteland that was once her neighbors’ homes. The only building left standing was a mosque, a years-old message scrawled on its outer wall from when rebels surrendered control of the area to the Syrian regime during the country’s brutal civil war: “Forgive us, oh martyrs.” Now, many former residents…
Gunmen attacked a position held by Syrian security forces in Damascus overnight, a war monitor said on Monday, raising fears that the deadly violence sweeping Syria’s coastal region could spread to other parts of the country. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has monitored the Syrian conflict since 2011, said that unidentified gunmen…
The gunfire began at dawn on Friday in the town of al-Haffa on Syria’s Mediterranean coast. At first, Wala, a 29-year-old resident of the town, leaped off her bed to the corner of the room in her first-floor apartment, flattening herself as the rat-a-tat of gunshots sounded outside her bedroom window. When the commotion grew…
As the commander of a rebel group allied with Al Qaeda during Syria’s long civil war, the man known by his nom du guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, welcomed foreign jihadists, dispatched suicide bombers to blow up military posts and vowed to create an Islamic state. A decade ago, he told a journalist that Muslims should…
In the Syrian capital, Damascus, anticipation was running high on Wednesday. Ahmed al-Shara, who led the overthrow of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad, was expected to address the public for the first time since his rebel coalition seized power almost two months ago. But the speech never came. Instead, a series of critically important decisions were…
The rebel coalition that seized control of Syria last month appointed its leader, Ahmed al-Shara, as president of the country to preside over a transitional period, Syrian state media reported on Wednesday. A spokesman for the coalition, Col. Hassan Abdel Ghani, also declared that the Constitution had been nullified and the legislature and army formed…
The mother of Austin Tice, an American journalist abducted in Syria, said on Monday that she had met with Syria’s new leader in Damascus and expressed hope that “a page will be turned” in the more than decade-long search for her son. Debra Tice gave a news conference in Damascus on Monday after the meeting…