US concedes it has double the number of troops in Syria as Biden sends officials to Damascus
The Pentagon announced the US currently has “approximately 2,000” troops in Syria, more than double the previously disclosed number of 900, a Defense Department spokesperson said at a press briefing on Thursday.
From Fighters to Policemen in a Post-Assad Damascus
As the rebels who ousted Syria’s longtime dictator, Bashar al-Assad, transition from insurgents to administrators, maintaining order in the streets of the capital has become a top priority.
Human Rights Watch8d
Syria: Mass Grave in Damascus Should be Protected, Investigated
The state of a mass grave in Damascus and statements by people living in the surrounding area suggest that the area is a mass crime scene and may have been the site of other summary executions
The road back to Damascus: Syria’s new rulers face challenges in de-weaponizing supply chains
Since 2011, the weaponization of regional and global supply chains through economic sanctions has devastated Syria’s economic and social activities.
Al Jazeera English2d
Syria – years of reporting, the road to Damascus and the fall of al-Assad
I didn’t believe I was back. December 8, 4am: We made our way from Beirut to the Masnaa border with Syria because reports were coming in that Damascus had fallen. When we reached the crossing ...
Atlanta Journal-Constitution12d
Syria's new authorities say they've secured the release of an American pilgrim imprisoned by Assad
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — An American citizen who disappeared seven months ago into former Syrian President Bashar Assad's notorious prison system was suddenly discovered Thursday outside Damascus ...
The Jordan Times3d
Turkey's top diplomat meets Syria's new leader in Damascus
Fidan had announced on Friday that he planned to travel to Damascus to meet Syria's new leaders, who ousted Syria's strongman Bashar Al Assad after a lightning offensive. Turkey's spy chief Ibrahim Kalin had earlier visited the city on December 12 ...
France returns flag to Damascus embassy as new Syria authorities build contacts with West
France raised its flag at its Damascus embassy on Tuesday for the first time in 12 years and European Union officials prepared to engage with the new Syrian leadership, a sign of the growing contacts after Bashar al-Assad was ousted as president.
Indiatimes2d
Syria Israel Middle East Crisis Live Updates: Turkey's foreign minister meets HTS leader in Damascus
AFP A Saudi delegation has met Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, a source close to the government told AFP on Monday. The delegation joins a list of visitors to the Syrian capital ...
For Syria’s Christians, Christmas is a time to grapple with hope and fear
Syria's minority Christians protest in Damascus after Christmas tree set afire
Syrian Christians attend Christmas mass for first time since fall of Assad
Syrians hope for a new era of peace in first Christmas after Bashar Assad’s ouster
Christians in Syria lit up a giant Christmas tree and celebrated Mass as they spoke of their hopes for a new era after the ouster of president Bashar Assad (AP video shot by Abdulrahman Shaheen and Hussein Malla).
Syria’s new leaders dissolve rebel factions, merge them under Defense Ministry
The visits came a day after Sharaa — also known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani — met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, the highest-level visit from Lebanon to Syria to date. Arab states had responded cautiously to Assad’s fall and the takeover by HTS-led Islamist rebels.