Latest news with #SyrianCivilWar
CTV News
7 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Explosion in northern Syria kills at least 6 people and injures dozens
This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets, Syrian Civil Defense workers run at the explosion scene in Maarat Misrin village, in Idlib province, north Syria, Thursday, July, 24, 2025. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP) DAMASCUS, Syria — At least six people were killed and dozens injured in an explosion in northern Syria's Idlib province, officials said Thursday. There was no official statement on the cause of the blast. The U.K.-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the explosion took place in an ammunition depot. The Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, reported that at least six people were killed in the blast, which took place in the town of Maarat Misrin north of the city of Idlib on Thursday. 'This is the death toll only of those recovered by Syrian Civil Defense teams, who continue to search for those trapped under the rubble,' the White Helmets said in a statement. Syrian Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management Raed al-Saleh in a post on social media platform X that teams were transporting the wounded and dead despite 'continued recurring explosions in the area, which are hampering response efforts.' The state-run news agency, SANA, reported four people killed and 116 injured, citing health officials, without giving further details. Syria is struggling to recover from a nearly 14-year civil war that ended with the ouster of former President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive. During the war, which killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country's pre-war population of of 23 million, Idlib was an opposition-held enclave. The country's current interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa formerly led Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an insurgent group based in Idlib that spearheaded the offensive that unseated Assad. The Associated Press
New York Times
23-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
A Long, Overdue Reporting Trip Through Syria
Times Insider explains who we are and what we do and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together. For more than a decade, I lived in Lebanon as a New York Times correspondent and bureau chief, and much of my work focused on the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011 and tore the country apart for 13 years. During that time, I visited areas in northern and eastern Syria where the government had lost control. But I had no access to most of the country, including its largest cities and the sites of major battles, because the regime of President Bashar al-Assad refused to let me visit the areas it controlled. So after rebels toppled Mr. al-Assad in December, effectively ending the war, the whole country suddenly opened up. My colleagues and I could not only enter Syria but drive around, see the locations of events we had covered from afar and meet with Syrians we had previously known only through online chats over Skype and WhatsApp. The scale of loss — more than half a million people were killed — was hard to comprehend, and nearly everyone we met spoke of loved ones who were dead or missing. The destruction of Syria's cities and villages felt postapocalyptic. Rebuilding is expected to take decades and cost tens of billions of dollars that Syria doesn't have. To capture Syria's new reality, I set off with the photographer David Guttenfelder and other colleagues in February to drive across the country, interviewing dozens of Syrians along the way about their hopes and fears for the future and documenting their lives. The resulting article was published last month. Executing the journey required a lot of research and planning, but once we were on the road three things were essential: cash, gas and the right team. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CBS News
07-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
U.S. ending terrorist designation for Syrian rebel group whose leader now runs Syria
The State Department said Monday it will lift Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's designation as a foreign terrorist organization, months after the group's leader defeated the Assad regime and swept to power as Syria's president. The change will take effect on Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. The group, formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, has been on the U.S.'s list of foreign terrorist organizations for more than a decade, dating back to its affiliation with al Qaeda. The terrorist designation makes it harder for the group or its leaders to accept assistance from Americans, work with American banks or travel to the U.S. Rubio said the revocation of the group's terrorist status "recognizes the positive actions taken by the new Syrian government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa." Led by al-Sharaa, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, helped lead a stunning offensive that swept into Damascus late last year, ending the Assad family's 54-year grip on Syria. Since then, al-Sharaa has served as Syria's interim president, and has sought to portray his government as a moderate and inclusive force — and a possible bulwark against Iranian influence. Al-Sharaa said earlier this year that HTS will be disbanded, along with all the other rebel groups that fought the Assad government during Syria's bloody 13-year civil war. Rubio cited that move, and the new government's "commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms," in his decision to lift the terrorist designation. President Trump made a surprise announcement in May that he would lift sanctions against Syria, a significant boost to the country's new government. Syria had faced severe U.S. sanctions for more than a decade, a holdover from the Assad family's brutal dictatorial rule that restricted Syria's economy and made it difficult to accept foreign money. Mr. Trump also met with al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia in May. "Young, attractive guy, tough guy, strong past," Mr. Trump said about the new Syrian leader. But HTS's past as a hardline Islamist rebel group has made some observers wary. Al-Sharaa participated in the insurgency against U.S. forces in Iraq in the 2000s, before he was sent to Syria to help lead the al Qaeda-allied Jabhat al-Nusra in the fight against Bashar al-Assad's government. Jabhat al-Nusra was designated by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization in 2014, and al-Sharaa had a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head until last year. More than a decade ago, the group broke with insurgent leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and refused to merge with his now-infamous organization, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. Since 2016, al-Sharaa's group has distanced itself from al Qaeda, and al-Sharaa has said he disagrees with some of the global terrorist organization's methods. He told PBS's "Frontline" in 2021, "our involvement with al Qaeda in the past was an era, and it ended."
Scoop
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
‘A Moral Failure': Security Council Hears About Grave Violations Against Children Caught In War
'From that day on, our home became a travel bag and our path became that of displacement … My childhood was filled with fear and anxiety and people I was deprived of,' she said, speaking via videoconference from Syria. Sila, now 17, described her experiences during the Syrian Civil War to a meeting of the UN Security Council held on Wednesday to discuss the findings of the Secretary-General's latest report on Children and Armed Conflict. The report documented a 25 per cent increase in grave violations against children in 2024, the largest number ever recorded in its 20-year history. ' This year's report from the Secretary-General once again confirms what too many children already know — that the world is failing to protect them from the horrors of war,' said Sheema Sen Gupta, director of child protection at the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). Seema Sen Gupta, director of child protection and migration at UNICEF, briefs the Security Council. 'Each violation against children in every country around the globe represents a moral failure.' The real scale of the harm The report presented to the Security Council is published annually to document grave violations against children affected by war. It relies entirely on data compiled and verified by the UN, meaning that the real numbers are likely much higher than reported. In 2024, the report documented a record 41,370 grave violations — including killing and maiming, rape, abduction and the targeting of infrastructure such as schools which supports children. 'Each child struck by these attacks carries a story, a stolen life, a dream interrupted, a future obscured by senseless violence and protracted conflict,' said Virginia Gamba, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, whose office produced the report. Virginia Gamba, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, briefs the Security Council. While many of these violations occurred during times of conflict — especially as urban warfare is on the rise — grave violations can persist even after a conflict ends. They persist in the unexploded ordinances which still pepper the ground. 'Every unexploded shell left in a field, schoolyard, or alley is a death sentence waiting to be triggered,' said Ms. Sen Gupta. They persist in the spaces which remain destroyed, impeding children from accessing healthcare and education. And they persist in the trauma and injuries which never fully leave a child. Scars that never heal Children who survive the grave violations do not escape unscathed — if they suffered violence, the injuries will stay with them for a lifetime. And even if they were not injured, the trauma remains. 'The physical and psychological scars borne by survivors last a lifetime, affecting families, communities and the very fabric of societies,' said Ms. Gamba. This is why UNICEF and its partners have worked to provide reintegration programmes and psychosocial support for children who are victims of grave violations. Sila said that the trauma of her childhood is still with her, and has pushed her to become an advocate for children in conflicts. 'From that moment on, nothing has felt normal in my life. I've developed a phobia of any sound that resembles a plane, of the dark, and even of silence,' she said. 'This cannot be the new normal' Ms. Gamba called for 'unwavering condemnation and urgent action' from the international community in order to reverse the worrying trends which the report details. ' We cannot afford to return to the dark ages where children were invisible and voiceless victims of armed conflict … Please do not allow them to slip back into the shadows of despair,' she said. Current funding cuts to humanitarian aid are impeding the work of UN agencies and partners to document and respond to grave violations against children. In light of this, Ms. Sen Gupta's call for the Security Council was simple: 'Fund this agenda.' She said that the international community cannot allow this to become 'a new normal,' and reminded the members of the Security Council that children are not and should never be 'collateral damage.' Despite the devastation which the report detailed, there were 'glimmers of hope' according to Ms. Sen Gupta. For example, the Syrian National Army signed an action plan which will prevent the recruitment, killing and maiming of children. Sila also spoke of hope — she hopes that hers is the last generation to suffer these grave violations. 'I am from a generation that survived. Physically,' she said. 'Our bodies survived but our hearts are still living in fear. Please help us replace the word displacement with return, the word rubble with home, the word war with life.'
The Herald
23-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald
Suicide bombing kills 20 at Damascus church
IS has been behind several attempted attacks on churches in Syria since Assad's fall, but this was the first to succeed, another security source told Reuters. Syria's state news agency cited the health ministry as saying 52 people were injured in the blast. A live stream from the site by Syria's civil defence, the White Helmets, showed destruction inside the church, including a bloodied floor and shattered pews and masonry. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led the offensive against Assad before taking over in January for a transitional phase, has repeatedly said he will protect minorities. 'We unequivocally condemn the abhorrent terrorist suicide bombing at the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus,' the Greek foreign ministry said in a statement. 'We demand the Syrian transitional authorities take immediate action to hold those involved accountable and implement measures to guarantee the safety of Christian communities and all religious groups, allowing them to live without fear.' IS had previously targeted religious minorities, including a major attack on Shiite pilgrims in Sayeda Zainab in 2016, one of the most notorious bombings during Assad's rule. The latest assault underscores the group's continued ability to exploit security gaps despite the collapse of its territorial control and years of counterterrorism efforts. Reuters
