Syria

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Russian Soldier Reportedly Calls In Airstrike on Himself

'He was discovered and surrounded by terrorists'

(Newser) - A Russian special forces soldier appears to have pulled a move straight out of an action movie, calling down an airstrike on himself after he was discovered by ISIS troops in Syria, Reuters reports. According to AFP , the soldier was on a week-long mission identifying ISIS targets and passing the...

Syria Poised to Retake Ancient Town From ISIS

Militants have already destroyed relics in Palmyra

(Newser) - Syrian government forces backed by Russian airstrikes pushed Thursday into the ancient town of Palmyra, which has been held by the Islamic State group since May, state TV reported. The advance came after the troops managed this week to capture several hills and high ground around the town, famed for...

Putin Pulling Russian Troops From Syria

Mission 'generally accomplished'

(Newser) - Surprise, surprise: Vladimir Putin is pulling most of his troops out of Syria with his own version of "mission accomplished":
  • “I consider the objectives that have been set for the Defense Ministry to be generally accomplished," he said Monday, per RT.com . "That is why I
...

Germany Nabs List of 22K Suspected ISIS Fighters

Potential 'law enforcement gold mine' reveals recruits from at least 50 countries

(Newser) - Germany is in possession of what one expert tells the BBC could be a "law enforcement gold mine": an apparent list of 22,000 or so foreigners from about 50 countries—including "a handful of Americans," per the Guardian —who headed to Syria to fight for...

US: Strike Killed ISIS 'Minister of War'

Omar the Chechen was 'battle-tested' leader, Pentagon says

(Newser) - ISIS honcho Omar the Chechen—also known as Abu Omar al-Shishani and Tarkhan Batirashvili—was almost certainly killed alongside a dozen fighters in an American airstrike in Syria last week, US officials say. The Georgian national, whose red beard and willingness to appear in videos made him one of the...

'Last American in Damascus': I Will Never Leave Syria

Thomas Webber has lived there for 40 years, loves it, and says they'll have to carry him out

(Newser) - Thomas Webber stoops to check his car for bombs every morning before heading out, but the 71-year-old American has no plans to leave Damascus, a city he has called home for more than four decades, the AP reports. He's one of the very few Americans not of Syrian origin...

Nanny Says Beheading Girl, 4, Was Revenge on Putin

Gulchekhra Bobokulova says she is angry at Putin for Syria airstrikes

(Newser) - A nanny from Uzbekistan accused of decapitating a 4-year-old girl and brandishing her head outside a Moscow subway station said during an apparent interrogation captured on video that the killing was an act of revenge against President Vladimir Putin for Russian airstrikes in Syria. Gulchekhra Bobokulova, 38, was detained in...

ISIS' Finances Have Taken a Beating

Militants missing energy drinks, Snickers bars

(Newser) - Faced with a cash shortage, the Islamic State has slashed salaries in its so-called caliphate, asked Raqqa residents to pay utility bills in black market American dollars, and is now releasing detainees for $500 each, reports the AP . The extremists who once bragged about minting their own currency are having...

Missiles Hit Syrian Hospitals, Killing 23—But Was It Russia?

Doctors Without Borders says it's either Russia or Syria

(Newser) - Rebel-held Syrian towns took missile fire Monday and saw at least 23 civilians die in a school and three hospitals—blood that some say is on Russia's hands, Reuters reports. Azaz, a town near Turkey, took the brunt when airstrikes killed 14 at a children's hospital and a...

After 5 Brutal Years, Glimmer of Hope for Syria

But it doesn't include ISIS, Nusra Front

(Newser) - After five brutal and unrelenting years of civil war, there may finally be a glimmer of hope for Syria—or what's left of it. After extensive talks in Munich, world powers have agreed upon what they refer to as a "cessation of hostilities" between the regime and rebels...

1 in 10 Syrians Killed, Wounded During War
 1 in 10 Syrians Killed, 
 Wounded During War 
NEW REPORT
Feb 11, 2016 9:03 AM CST

1 in 10 Syrians Killed, Wounded During War

Human life, infrastructure, and economy have been 'obliterated'

(Newser) - A recent United Nations report that warned the Assad regime is "exterminating" civilians in Syria at alarming rates is an understatement compared to a new report from the Syrian Center for Policy Research. While other UN numbers, which the group stopped collecting in mid-2015, indicated at least 250,000...

Russia Wants Syria Ceasefire on March 1

The US wants one now

(Newser) - Russia has proposed a March 1 ceasefire in Syria, US officials say, but Washington believes Moscow is giving itself and the Syrian government three weeks to try to crush moderate rebel groups. The United States has countered with demands for the fighting to stop immediately, officials say. The talk of...

UN: Syria Regime Is 'Exterminating' Civilians

Thousands flee government onslaught

(Newser) - The Syrian regime has been engaged in war crimes on a scale that dwarfs even the actions of ISIS, according to a United Nations report that warns of a human rights crisis as the country's civil war approaches its sixth year. The UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights...

Syria: Foreign Troops Will Go Home in Coffins

Minister warns Saudis as Aleppo offensive intensifies

(Newser) - Syria Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem warned Saturday that Saudi or other foreign ground troops entering Syria would "return home in wooden coffins," and called on rebel groups fighting a massive government offensive in the north to "come to their senses" and lay down their weapons. His comments...

Amid Wobbly Syria Talks, ISIS Triple Blast Kills 45

Death toll in Damascus expected to grow with many severely injured

(Newser) - A triple bombing claimed by ISIS killed at least 45 people near the Syrian capital of Damascus on Sunday, overshadowing an already shaky start to what are meant to be indirect Syria peace talks. Syria's state news agency SANA said that the blasts went off in Sayyda Zeinab, a...

Video Allegedly Has Last Statements of Paris Attackers

Men are seen killing captives in Syria

(Newser) - A chilling video released by ISIS shows men believed to have carried out the Paris terror attacks beheading captives and making threats against the West. The video released on Sunday shows some of the attackers in a desert location, probably in Syria, and contains what a narrator says are "...

5 US Citizens Stuck in Starving Syrian Town

Officials say 44 truckloads of aid delivered to Madaya

(Newser) - At least five US citizens are among those suffering in the Syrian town of Madaya, where UN convoys have arrived with much-needed food. "Right now, my kids are starving from hunger," the wife of a 43-year-old naturalized US citizen, who left Pennsylvania in 2006 to start an apple...

Aid Trucks En Route to Starving Syrian Town

UN convoy heading to Madaya, where thousands are trapped

(Newser) - Residents of a Syrian town trapped in the nation's civil war are finally getting some desperately needed relief: UN convoys with food and medicine headed to Madaya on Monday, reports the BBC . Shocking stories have emerged about the plight of the estimated 40,000 people there. Doctors Without Borders...

Starvation of a Syrian Town: 'Nothing Left but Salt, Water'

Madaya has become 'an open-air prison'

(Newser) - Tens of thousands of people are trapped in the rural Syrian town of Madaya, which has been caught in a tug-of-war between rebels and pro-government forces—and Doctors Without Borders says the situation is so bad that at least 23 people have died of starvation since Dec. 1, including six...

Grandpa IDs ISIS Video Kid; Man Sold Bouncy Houses

London man says daughter is an ISIS figurehead in Syria

(Newser) - A London man says the young boy who threatens unbelievers in the latest ISIS video is the son of his daughter. Henry Dare says Grace "Khadijah" Dare came from a Christian family of Nigerian descent but converted to Islam as a teen. She left Britain for Syria several years...

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