Category: Syria Crisis

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Child Soldiers In Syria: Assad Army Forces Minors To Fight, And Die

Syrian Army soldiers at a chekpoint in Damascus in June
Syrian Army soldiers at a chekpoint in Damascus in June Pan Chaoyua/Xinhua/ZUMA

AL-HALBOUNI — Adel, a teenager, worked with his father at their small shop near al-Halbouni, not far from Damascus. By age 17, he had dropped out of school to support his family, as their financial situation grew desperate after years of war. Adel wasn’t a supporter of Syria’s government, but that didn’t prevent him from being forced to fight on its behalf. He was arrested at one of the army checkpoints in the town of Qudsaiya in the Damascus countryside, then sent off to battle. “We were on our way to work,” Adel’s father recounts. “We got stopped at a […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

ISIS Plunders, Jihad And The Illicit Antiquities Market

Ruins in the ancient city of Palmyra are among Syria's many priceless treasures.
Ruins in the ancient city of Palmyra are among Syria's many priceless treasures. Andrey Nekrasov - Vwpics/VW Pics/ZUMA

Amid the mayhem of civil war, huge money is to be made from stealing and selling archeological treasures from Iraq and Syria. ISIS ambitions are fueling an already huge black market.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Fighting ISIS In Kobani, A Syrian Kurd Tells His Story

The battle for Kobani has been raging since Sept. 16
The battle for Kobani has been raging since Sept. 16 Barbaros Kayan/Depo Photos/ZUMA

KOBANI — Sardar is a 26-year-old fighter in the ranks of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, known by its Kurdish acronym, the YPG. A former blacksmith, he has taken up arms for the past five years, since he first became involved with the militant group. In his eyes, it is the core of a Kurdish army that will someday represent the future state of Kurdistan. His priority now is to defend the city of Ain al-Arab, also known by its Kurdish name Kobani. The city has been under attack by ISIS since September. “Compared with the weapons used by ISIS, […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

ISIS, The Caliphate Of Madmen Starts To Crumble

Turkish troops on the outskirts of Kobani
Turkish troops on the outskirts of Kobani Ahmet Ozturk/Xinhua/ZUMA

The ISIS terror group believes that if it is Allah’s will, the organization will take over much of the world. But at the moment, Allah doesn’t seem to be on their side.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

The Fall Of Jamal Maarouf, Symbol Of The Moderate Syrian Rebellion’s Demise

Syrian Martyrs’ Brigade leader Jamal Maarouf
Syrian Martyrs’ Brigade leader Jamal Maarouf coolchanneltv via Instagram

REYHANLI — At the beginning of this year, Jamal Maarouf was regarded as the new white knight of the Syrian insurrection. Over the course of just a few days in January, Maarouf and his men drove ISIS jihadists out of northern Syria’s Idlib province. Armed by the United States and Saudi Arabia, the leader of […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Horror And Despair In Raqqa, Syrians Living Under ISIS Rule

Women wearing "the shield" in Raqqa
Women wearing "the shield" in Raqqa Raqqa Facebook page

RAQQA — Ever since ISIS captured the Syrian city of Raqqa in early 2014, residents have been consumed by fear and caution. The terrorist group has banned a dangerously long list of goods and behaviors, all of which carry a heavy punishment if violated. Most noticeably, ISIS has forbidden women from leaving their homes without the supervision of a male relative, and they must wear what is deemed proper attire, dubbed “the shield” — a long, loose dress that covers them from head to toe. Smoking is banned, while it is also illegal to sell tobacco, recordings of secular music, […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

In The Golan Heights, Where Sunni, Shia And IDF Meet

IDF soldiers on the Golan Heights bordering Syria
IDF soldiers on the Golan Heights bordering Syria Jinipix/Xinhua/ZUMA

From the Israeli side of the border, a view of how the whole of the Middle East seems to be maneuvering.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Exclusive: Inside The Secret Beirut Hospital Treating ISIS

In another Beirut hospital
In another Beirut hospital European Commission DG ECHO

In a secret location in the Lebanese capital, a 60-bed hospital treats ISIS and other Islamic extremists whose backers must pay cash in advance. Enemies share doctors where medicine is a blind business, and cash is king.

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Syria Crisis

A Rude Welcome For Syrian Refugee Children In Jordan

A 14-year-old Syrian boy inside the al-Ramtha refugee camp
A 14-year-old Syrian boy inside the al-Ramtha refugee camp Osie Greenway/ZUMA

Since Syrians began fleeing the war zone for safety in their neighboring country, schools are overcrowded, jobs are scarce and tensions are high. Especially vulnerable are school children.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Even Syria’s Safest City Is Not The Haven It Once Was

Posters of the missing or dead loved ones are hung around the city's walls
Posters of the missing or dead loved ones are hung around the city's walls Syria Deeply

In Tartus, on Syria’s western coast, residents in relative calm. But even here, a new sectarian melting pot and a flagging war economy are beginning to take their toll.

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Society Syria Crisis

With Blond Dolls And Kitchen Knives, ISIS Teaching Children How To Behead

Homework
Homework Syria Deeply

Boys in the eastern city of Raqqa are forced into military training, and say their ISIS instructors show them how to decapitate blond-haired, blue-eyed dolls with kitchen knives.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

A Post-Westphalian Caliphate? Deconstructing ISIS Ambitions

Dangerous pieces
Dangerous pieces Worldcrunch montage

CAIRO — Since the group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) declared a caliphate, much has been written about the movement — but still more remains unclear. How seriously should we take their rise? How does ISIS define Islamic law, and how would it be implemented? There are also more basic […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

What If ISIS Gets Its Hands On Chemical Weapons?

Protest in Aleppo on Aug. 21 to mark the one-year anniversary of the Ghouta massacre.
Protest in Aleppo on Aug. 21 to mark the one-year anniversary of the Ghouta massacre. Karam Almasri/Pacific Press/ZUMA

A year after a chemical attack killed nearly 1,000 civilians in the Syrian rebel stronghold of eastern Ghouta, new fears that the Islamist radical group is building its own chemical stockpile.

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Migrant Lives Syria Crisis

Landing On A Hopeful Shore, Italy’s 100,000th Migrant

On Lampedusa island
On Lampedusa island Wang Qingqin/Xinhua/ZUMA

A former cook for the Free Syrian Army, Iftikar al Daye is the 100,000th migrant who has arrived in Italy since the beginning of the year, and a symbol of hope for fleeing refugees.

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Society Syria Crisis

In A Broken Syria, Romeo And Juliet Casualties Of War

In Raqqa, in north central Syria, in November 2012.
In Raqqa, in north central Syria, in November 2012. Beshr O

Sectarian differences have long created problems for some marriages among Shia, Sunni and others. But with the death and hatred of war, romantic tragedies abound.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Kurdish Women Fighters Help Halt ISIS In Syria

Kurdish women training to be fighters.
Kurdish women training to be fighters. Kevin Mc Kiernan/ZUMA

As Islamic terrorists press forward in Syria, female fighters and commanders now make up a third of Kurdish forces. “Women can fight better than men,” one says.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Marah’s Syria Diary: A Wartime Proposal From My Father’s Friend

Syria, an older man, an impossible choice.
Syria, an older man, an impossible choice. Yin Bogu/Xinhua/ZUMA

DAMASCUS — As part of a collaboration between Syria Deeply and Rookie, we’re publishing the memoirs of a teenage girl living in the midst of Syria’s war. Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, shares her stories of life in the war. She recently moved to Damascus to continue her education, in the face of the ongoing war that has destroyed her local schools. Her father was killed in the violence and she now lives with distant relatives in the capital. Earlier installments can be read here and here. He is a handsome man in his 50s, […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

How ISIS Could Turn Assad Into A Western Ally

ISIS fighters in Aleppo, Syria
ISIS fighters in Aleppo, Syria Medyan Dairieh/ZUMA

The jihadist movement is not only reshaping the situation in Syria — it might completely shift alliances across the region. Will Assad ally with Turkey, Iraq and even the West against ISIS?

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

From Syria To Iraq, Can Allies Of Circumstance Take Down Jihadists?

A Syrian bomb maker from Deir Al Zour, in eastern Syria, in 2013.
A Syrian bomb maker from Deir Al Zour, in eastern Syria, in 2013. Kontinent/ZUMA

ISTANBUL — The Syrian regime today presents itself to the international community as a partner in “fighting terrorism,” and Bashar al-Assad is happy to leave his enemies on the northern front (where the Nusra, Islamic Front, Free Syrian Army, and YPG fight ISIS) to wear each other out. The proposed anti-terror partnership would function just […]

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Society Syria Crisis

Women Terrorizing Women For ISIS, Syria’s Female Jihad

The all-female al-Khansaa's brigade in Syria.
The all-female al-Khansaa's brigade in Syria. via Syria Deeply

Radicalized Islamic men aren’t the only ones punishing non-compliant civilians in Syria. Now women zero in on other women for not following the group’s strict brand of Sharia law.

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Society Syria Crisis

Child Beggars Multiply On The Streets Of Damascus

A Syrian child comes back into al-Moadamiya, a district on the outskirts of Damascus that has been besieged by the government troops for months, in Syria, March 2, 2014.
A Syrian child comes back into al-Moadamiya, a district on the outskirts of Damascus that has been besieged by the government troops for months, in Syria, March 2, 2014. Jiang Tieying/Xinhua/ZUMA

Children as young as four are the main breadwinners for some families in the Syrian capital.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Syria’s Marriage Brokers: Matchmakers Of Love Or Wartime Traffickers?

In Damascus
In Damascus Qin Haishi/ZUMA

In rural Idlib, marriage offices are fixing people up, but some say they’re exploiting the lonely during wartime by selling desperate women to overseas men.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

The Shady Syrian Oligarchs Who Keep The Regime Afloat

Gas production in Ash Shaddadi, Syria.
Gas production in Ash Shaddadi, Syria. Andree Kaiser/MCT/ZUMA

DAMASCUS — In Syria, it’s business as usual. Despite the desolate landscape of destruction that loyalist troops leave behind and the sanctions imposed by Western countries, a few entrepreneurs in the power’s sphere of influence are still amassing profits, say experts of the Syrian regime. They are lifting the veil on part of this occult […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

A Syrian Mother Talks About Her Son, Sold Into Battle

A young Free Syrian Army soldier in Ma'loula, western Syria
A young Free Syrian Army soldier in Ma'loula, western Syria Niclas HammarströM/Kontinent/ZUMA

The trafficking of young men as soldiers is on the rise in Syria. One mother thought her 16-year-old was being taken to find medical treatment, until she saw a photo of him in uniform.

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Society Syria Crisis

At Milan Train Station, One More Stop For Syrian Refugees

Inside Milan’s Central Station
Inside Milan’s Central Station Arrivi

Italy is often a point of arrival in Europe for immigrants from troubled points east and south. But most will eventually wind up in northern destinations. What have they seen? What will they find?

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Ideas Syria Crisis

As Iran Plays The Nuclear Card, Syria Is Left To Burn

Homs on May 15.
Homs on May 15. Zhang Naijie/Xinhua/ZUMA

-OpEd- PARIS — How often are war crimes being committed in Syria? Is it every time a helicopter from President Bashar al-Assad’s regime drops a barrel bomb on a school, a hospital, an apartment block? Every time a fighter-bomber launches a strike in the middle of a town? Or every time a group of Islamist […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

War Diaries Of A Syrian E.R. Doctor

A Syrian nurse caring for a little girl after her house was bombed by Assad militias, in November 2012.
A Syrian nurse caring for a little girl after her house was bombed by Assad militias, in November 2012. Syria Freedom

An Aleppo ear-nose-and-throat specialist had to suddenly face the treating of war’s horrific injuries, especially after a government barrel-bomb offensive began there in December.

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Ideas Syria Crisis

Deep Meaning, Cheap Labor: How Syrian Refugees Are Changing Turkey

A young Syrian refugee walks in Istanbul's Tarbalasi district
A young Syrian refugee walks in Istanbul's Tarbalasi district Hans Van Rhoon/ZUMA

The number of Syrian refugees in Turkey has reached 900,000. They are our new poor. How we treat them is the great test of a new democracy.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Marah’s Syria Diary, Part 2: Lost Dreams

Syrian refugee children play in a school in Damascus
Syrian refugee children play in a school in Damascus Qin Haishi/ZUMA

A teenage girl living in one of Syria’s besieged cities shares her stories of life in a time of war. She dreams of getting an education, but the ongoing violence has destroyed local schools.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Marah’s Diary, Part 1: Childhood Hunger In Syrian War

A Syrian girl walks past Syrian army soldiers in Harasta, near Damascus
A Syrian girl walks past Syrian army soldiers in Harasta, near Damascus Qin Haishi/Xinhua/ZUMA

As part of a collaboration between Syria Deeply and Rookie, we’re publishing the memoirs of a teenage girl living in the midst of Syria’s war. Marah, as she’s chosen to be known, lives in a city under siege. She was 15 years old when the uprising began. This is the first in her series of articles. My city was once magnificent. In spring, it bloomed. We used to wake up to the sound of birds chirping and to the fragrant scent of flowers. Today, spring is here again. But what kind of spring is this? We now wake up to […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Syrians Search For DIY Alternative Energy Sources

Making do with what's available in Damascus
Making do with what's available in Damascus Yin Bogu/Xinhua/ZUMA

With power outages and deep shortages, some civilians are finding new ways to heat homes and cook meals, by using the natural resources around them — and even bomb craters.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Syria’s Silent War Crime: Systematic Mass Rape

A Syrian woman looks over Damascus
A Syrian woman looks over Damascus Li Muzi/Xinhua/ZUMA

Evidence is piling up that the Damascus regime has used rape – of daughters in front of fathers, wives in front of husbands – as a targeted weapon.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Is Turkey Planning A Military Intervention In Syria?

Parading in Ankara
Parading in Ankara Tolga Akmen/London News Pictures/ZUMA

Since soon after the conflict began in 2011, Turkey has always been fiercely opposed to Damascus. Now opposition elements of al-Qaeda across the border may be another reason to act.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Survivors Of Syria’s Torture Chambers Describe Horror

Statues in a Syrian museum showing torture methods of detainees
Statues in a Syrian museum showing torture methods of detainees Solin hesso

One tortured by the regime, another by Islamist rebels, both offer evidence of the worst kind of brutality that reigns in Syria today.

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Syria Crisis

Inside The Mind Of A Syrian Jihadist

Center of Kilis, Turkey, near the Syrian border
Center of Kilis, Turkey, near the Syrian border Brian Dell

KILIS — Mohammad, a jihadi rebel from northern Syria, is describing his wedding night. His family had insisted on a non-religious ceremony. At the reception, just as his relatives began to dance and celebrate, he went home. “The music made me uncomfortable,” he says. Believing in the same religious tenets that have led extremists to outlaw music and singing in jihad-held areas of Syria, Mohammad chose to spend the night at home with his sister. On this day, in Kilis, across the border in Turkey, the 35-year-old former salesman is running late, but makes a courtesy call to say he’s […]

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blog Syria Crisis

Final Stop: Why Syrian Refugees Have Ended Up In Gaza

Sunset in Gaza
Sunset in Gaza Emad Nassar/APA/ZUMA

Khaled’s family is one of the 190 from Syria that have recently moved to poor and isolated Gaza. Doors elsewhere for refugees are closing, especially to the Palestinian minority fleeing Syria.

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

Winter In Homs: Life Gets Colder And Darker In This City Under Siege

Homs is known for its harsh winters
Homs is known for its harsh winters samer via Twitter

Life is about to get even bleaker in Homs, as the third winter arrives since the city fell into the center of the Syrian civil war.

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Ideas Syria Crisis

How Syrian Refugees Are Shunned In Post-Morsi Egypt

Some 3,000 other Syrian refugees have left Egypt for Lampedusa since August. Pictured: The port of Alexandria
Some 3,000 other Syrian refugees have left Egypt for Lampedusa since August. Pictured: The port of Alexandria Vyacheslav Argenberg

ALEXANDRIA — It is filthy and squalid here, putrid air and the smell of sewage palpable amid the din and dust from the constant passage of heavy vehicles. Far away, beyond the silhouette of a refinery, the horizon is hardly distinguishable. It is from this shore, in the suburbs of Alexandria, Egypt, that Mohammed tried […]

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Geopolitics Syria Crisis

One Syrian Town’s Notorious ‘Bridge Of Death’

Deir ez-Zor's bridge over the Euphrates River
Deir ez-Zor's bridge over the Euphrates River Wikimedia Commons

DEIR EZ-ZOR — On a pitch-black night, we wait in our taxi on the embankment. A fighter informs us there are wounded on the bridge, and that his comrades are trying to reach them. The official name of this deadly crossing — Siyasiyeh Bridge — has been discarded in favor of something much more apt: the bridge of death. Syria’s eastern city of Deir ez-Zor is effectively divided, split between government-run and opposition-held areas. The rebels briefly gained an upper hand when they captured the Siyasiyeh Bridge in late January, effectively cutting off regime supplies to the adjoining province of […]

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Society Syria Crisis

In Syria, Where Burials Have Become A Luxury

Al-Qusayr makeshift cemetery in Homs
Al-Qusayr makeshift cemetery in Homs 13_spleen

HOMS — I still remember April 18, 2011, when it seemed all of Homs turned out for the funeral of 12 people. Tens of thousands of men and youths exited the grand mosque of Homs, the coffins held aloft amid the multitudes. The procession headed to al-Kateeb cemetery, one of the most revered burial grounds for Muslims in the city. Twenty years ago, Homs residents were forbidden from burying their dead in al-Kateeb cemetery; it was running out of space and the final few places were reserved for only the most prominent sheikhs. They would be the lucky few accorded […]

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