Idlib

The Syrian Army and Iranian-backed militias deployed a new batch of reinforcements to the frontline in southern Idlib and western Aleppo. According to local sources, fresh troops reinforced by armoured vehicles and battle tanks were placed near Saraqib, Kafranbel, and Urma as-Sughra. These areas were the hottest points of the…

Nearly 200 Syrian asylum seekers are stranded in northern Cyprus after they were pushed back in the middle of the sea by authorities in the government-controlled south. Quarantined and under threat of deportation, they have become the latest victims of a multiplying border shutdown as countries grapple with the advance…

(Reuters) - In the world’s largest refugee settlement in Bangladesh, filmmaker Mohammed Arafat has been making public safety videos to warn about the dangers of coronavirus. The 25-year-old is worried that the disease will devastate the vast, crowded camps that house more than one million Rohingya, members of a mostly…

An outbreak of COVID-19 would be yet another catastrophe for war-torn Syria. DW spoke with three people in besieged Idlib province about how they are dealing with the threat of pandemic. On March 23, Syria's health minister confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the country. Since then there have…

When is a terrorist group not a terrorist group? Apparently when US foreign policy requires it not to be. This is precisely the case regarding Al Qaeda’s Syrian branch – Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) – the most recent rebrand of Jabhat Al Nusra – which currently occupies the northern…

On March 23, Russian and Turkish forces carried out a second limited joint patrol in southern Idlib. The patrol involved six armoured vehicles and took place along a short chunk of the M4 highway west of the government-controlled town of Saraqib. This part of the highway remains the only safe…

By Stephanie NebehayGENEVA (Reuters) - An immediate nationwide ceasefire is needed across Syria to enable an "all-out-effort" to stamp out the coronavirus and prevent it from ravaging a beleaguered population, the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Tuesday.Prisoners and millions of displaced people, especially…

Syrians climb atop Turkish military vehicles as they attempt to block traffic on the M-4 highway, which links the Syrian provinces of Aleppo and Latakia, before the joint Turkish and Russian military patrols arrive, at al-Nayrab, about 14 km from Idlib on March 15. Photo: OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP Russian President Vladimir…

Turkey continues to use the ceasefire in the Idlib de-escalation zone, established on March 6 and still generally respected, to strengthen its military presence in northwestern Syria, learned BulgarianMilitary.com. Over the past half-moon since the entry into force of the “silence regime”, hundreds of units of new armored vehicles, long-range…

FILE PHOTO: Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu looks on during a news conference after bilateral talks between Italy and Russia at Villa Madama in Rome, Italy February 18, 2020. REUTERS/Guglielmo MangiapaneMOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad discussed ensuring a lasting ceasefire in the…