-
Syria
In Syria, seized weapons caches boost rebels’ hopes after weeks of setbacks
-
Al Nusrah Front
Syrian Kurds’ flight drags Iraq deeper into neighbor’s war
-
Iraq
Iraq’s Kurdistan region sets quota for Syrian refugees
-
Jordan
Jordan king urges Muslim clerics to fight Syria sectarian strife
-
Syria
Regime forces launched an assault in Deir al-Zor, trying to regain territory seized by a coalition headed by the Al Nusrah Front and the Qatar-backed Ahfad al-Rasul Brigade. Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and from the Al Nusrah Front detained over 30 Syrian Kurdish civilians last night in Aleppo province; activists report the civilians are being tortured. ISIL, the Al Nusrah Front, and allied rebel battalions clashed with Kurdish YPG forces in Hasakah. The Al Nusrah Front claimed it killed 43 Syrian troops in a suicide truck bombing in Hama on Aug. 10.
-
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
Morocco takes down al-Qaeda cell
-
Syria
Battalions of the Tajamo’ Alwiyat wa Shuhada’ Souriya, Haraket Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiya, Suqour al-Sham, and Al Nusrah Front said they will launch a series of attacks on checkpoints in the Ariha area of Idlib province. “Persons close to” the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed that a missing Catholic priest is still alive, but offered no proof. The UN demanded that its investigative team in Syria be granted free access to all sites where chemical weapons are said to have been used.
-
Syria
Aleppo: A city where snipers shoot children
-
Syria
A Libyan emir of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was reportedly killed in clashes with regime forces in Latakia. The Islamist Jund al Sham battalion claimed an attack in Homs that killed nine civilians. Control of the main crossing between rebel-held and regime areas of Aleppo has been given to the rebel Ahrar Sureya brigade, which opposition activists have accused of torture and extortion in Aleppo. The head of the Syrian National Coalition said that ethnic minorities would have a place in a post-Assad Syria.
-
United States
Syrian refugees pour into Iraq as Baghdad asks US for military help
-
Syria
Rebels killed at least 11 people, including six civilians, in an attack on a checkpoint in Homs. Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant attacked a Yazidi Kurdish village in Hasakah province. ISIL forces in Hasakah attacked a Kurdish Red Crescent ambulance with an IED and machinegun fire, killing two paramedics and injuring a third. Kurdish fighters in Hasakah clashed with fighters from ISIL, the Al Nusrah Front, and rebel groups. Some rebel brigades in Deir Azzour split from the Free Syrian Army. A number of secular Syrian activists have left Syria for Lebanon because of the…
-
Lebanon
Even as War Rages, Economies of Syria and Lebanon Stay Intertwined
-
Syria
A regime bombardment in Aleppo city reportedly killed at least 15 civilians and injured scores more. Clashes continued between Kurdish and Islamist forces in Hasakah, in Raqqah, and in Aleppo. Earlier this week, the head of the Syrian National Coalition urged the formation of a new unified rebel force to combat Hezbollah and restore order in eastern Syria, where rebel-held areas are “chaotic.” He said the new force should include “the elite” and be under the command of Free Syrian Army chief General Salim Idriss.
-
Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham
Syrian War Fueling Attacks by Al Qaeda in Iraq, Officials Say
-
Syria
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant summarily executed two Shiite teenagers in Nubbul on the outskirts of Aleppo; ISIL claimed to have killed them in response to “a lack of commitment in an exchange of abductees,” activists said. Rebels clashed with regime and Hezbollah forces in Thiyabiya. The Liwa’ Jabhet al-Akrad brigade retreated from areas of Aleppo province to avert retaliation by ISIL against Kurdish civilians in those areas. Unknown gunmen killed the sheikh and imam of the al-Kabir mosque in Minbej city in Aleppo. Saudi Arabia has recently supplied rebels in southern Syria with new antitank guided…
-
Iran
Jordan Asks for Assistance in Securing Syrian Border
-
Al Qaeda
Watching Syria’s War
-
Syria
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a priest who had tried to negotiate prisoner releases with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was killed after being detained in an ISIL prison for over two weeks. ISIL fighters took over the Raqqah city base of the Qatar-backed Ahfad al-Rasool brigade after a week of clashes. ISIL fighters along with rebels from several battalions took over the Hamdiyah military center in Idlib. ISIL and Al Nusrah Front fighters in Hasakah launched rockets at Ras al-Ain, which is currently held by Kurdish forces. The Kurdish YPG clashed with ISIL and…
-
Syria
The Al Nusrah Front claimed 10 bombings in Aleppo between July 26 and Aug. 3. The fate of an Italian priest who disappeared after going to Raqqah on July 29 to meet with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is unknown; a report yesterday said he had been executed. Syrians protested outside an ISIL base in Aleppo against the detention of activists and armed interference with civilians. An anti-Assad activist recently disappeared in Aleppo. Rebel groups are joining forces in Hama. The UN is still negotiating with Syria over the entry of the UN investigative team, which will…
-
Lebanon
Lebanon – Tripoli awash with weapons in absence of state
-
Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham
Al-Qaeda expands in Syria via Islamic State
-
Jordan
US eyeing Syrian opposition alliances, chemical weapons moves
-
Qatar
Arms Shipments Seen From Sudan to Syria Rebels
-
Syria
The US military’s top general said that the Assad regime is moving its chemical weapons frequently to keep them secure. Protesters in Raqqah city have demonstrated against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant for the past 15 days, demanding the release of hundreds of detained persons, including a missing priest. ISIL fighters attacked the headquarters of the Ahfad al-Rasul brigade in the city; residents protested ISIL’s order to leave, and asked rebel fighters to support them. Regime forces bombarded several towns and neighborhoods in Deir Izzor province; the Al Nusrah Front launched a rocket at a building housing…
-
State Department confirms al Qaeda in Iraq leader has relocated to Syria
Al Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has claimed responsibility for a deadly string of bombings inside Iraq on Aug. 10. The State Department also confirmed that the ISIL’s emir has relocated to Syria.
-
Syria
Kurdish forces are extending their control in northeastern Syria; a member of the Free Syrian Army’s military council said the FSA would fight to keep the Kurds from dividing Syria. Rebel forces currently hold areas in the north near the Turkish border and a corridor along the Euphrates river to Iraq, while the regime controls the coastal enclave of Latakia as well as much of central and southern Syria. Two suicide car bombers detonated in Hama. Rebels are reportedly collaborating with al Qaeda affiliates Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in detaining, torturing, and…
-
Syria
Regime airstrikes in Latakia have reportedly killed at least 30 people in Latakia and Raqqah; many of the rebels in Latakia are said to be from the Al Nusrah Front. Massoud Barzani, the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, vowed to defend Kurdish citizens in Syria against al Qaeda-linked forces. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it has documented the deaths of 106,423 people since the start of the conflict in March 2011, but estimated that the actual number of casualties is twice that. A regime airstrike aimed at Islamist rebels in Raqqah reportedly killed at least 13 civilians. Islamist fighters…
-
Al Qaeda
Saudi Arabia Steps Up Efforts To Oust Syria’s Assad
-
Free Syrian Army commander celebrates victory with al Qaeda affiliate
FSA commander Abdul Jabbar al Okaidi celebrates the takeover of the Minnigh airport with Abu Jandal, a known al Qaeda leader. “We’re here to kiss every hand pressed on the trigger,” al Okaidi said.
-
Syria
Regime forces reportedly executed 12 civilians in Aleppo, including a woman. The Al Nusrah Front, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and rebel fighters bombarded a village in Raqqah.The Qatar-backed Ahfad al-Rasul brigade clashed with ISIL in Raqqah. In Hasakah, a motorcycle bomb detonated, and the Al Nusrah Front, ISIL, and rebel fighters attacked barriers erected by the Kurdish YPG. Besieged Sunni residents of rural Homs fear the advance of regime forces.
