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January 16, 2026

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Members of the Kurdish forces hold a portrait of Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler which reads "Shame on the killers of innocents in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood" during a protest by Syrian Kurds against violence they say was committed by Syrian government forces during recent clashes in Aleppo's Kurdish neighbourhoods, in the Kurdish-controlled northeastern city of Qamishli on Jan. 13, 2026.

Syria declares 'closed military zone' east of Aleppo as Kurds protest

The Syrian government accused the Kurdish-led SDF of mobilizing in the area, reflecting ongoing turmoil following a ceasefire.

President of Syria Ahmed al-Shara arrives for the 80th session of the UN’s General Assembly (UNGA) at UN Headquarters on Sept. 23, 2025 in New York City. — Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Syria’s Sharaa heads to Davos, ending years of global isolation

The World Economic Forum begins on January 19 and ends on January 23, hosting a cohort of around 400 political leaders.

Sheikh Hikmat Salman al-Hijri is pictured at Qanawat, the headquarters of the Druze spiritual presidency, on Dec. 28, 2024, in Suwayda, Syria.

Syria Druze leader Hijri calls for independent entity, says country ‘heading toward partition’

Controversial Druze spiritual leader Hikmat al-Hijri, in Syria’s southern province of Suwayda, praised Israel as the only party he said intervened to stop the killing of Druze during a wave of unrest last summer.

Israel military vehicles drive along the border fence into Israel, near the town of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, on July 17, 2025. Syrian government forces have withdrawn from the whole of Sweida province after days of sectarian bloodshed in the heartland of the Druze minority, a war monitor and witnesses said July 17, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

What Syria and Israel’s new communications cell really signals

The deal reached in Paris under US mediation reflects a rare step toward managing tensions but stops short of halting Israeli military strikes or producing a broader security pact.

Rina Bassist

By Rosaleen Carroll , Rina Bassist

Latest News

Exclusive

Closed-door breakdown in Syria-Kurdish talks foreshadowed Aleppo clashes

Bakr ALKASEM / AFP via Getty Images

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Sharaa tells Iraq's Barzani Kurds integral to Syria amid fears of Aleppo spillover

Safin HAMID / AFP via Getty Images

Interview

Top Syrian Kurdish official Foza Yusuf says war with Damascus lose-lose for all

An undated image of Foza Yusif.

Foza Yusuf

Foza Yusuf

Top Syrian Kurdish official

Turkey's Fidan says Israel ties harden SDF stance as Syria clashes grow

ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Danny Makki

In London, reporting on Syrian politics and culture

Ali Hashem

In Doha, reporting on Iran, regional politics, conflict

Cagatay Cebe

In Istanbul, reporting on security and counterterrorism

Syria war crimes trials can 'reduce the accountability gap,' UN rights chief says

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said Germany's recent conviction of a former Syrian regime officer marked an important first step.

Kurdish forces blame Turkey for Euphrates River water drop in northeast Syria

The Syrian Democratic Forces claim Turkey caused a drop in the Euphrates River water level that will harm residents and their economic activities in the areas they control in northern and eastern Syria.

Syria 'a living nightmare' after decade of war, UN chief says

Some 60% of Syrians are at risk of hunger this year, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

Why is Syrian military deploying in Kurdish-held areas?

The Syrian government seeks to strengthen its military presence in Ain Issa and the area overlooking the M4 international highway, which are under control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Intel: US hinders Syria’s return ‘to normal,’ UAE foreign minister says

Flanked by Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Abu Dhabi's top diplomat criticized the US-led campaign to economically isolate Syria under President Bashar al-Assad.

United Arab Emirates

Syria’s Armenian community resilient, but faces uncertain future

Syrian Armenians, despite the fragility of their presence in the region, are determined to stay and rebuild.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad meets with his Russian counterpart at the headquarters of the Russian forces in the Syrian capital Damascus on January 7, 2020. - Putin met his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad during an unprecedented visit to Damascus as the prospect of war between Iran and the United States loomed over the region. (Photo by Alexei Druzhinin / SPUTNIK / AFP) (Photo by ALEXEI DRUZHININ/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)

Syrian President Assad, wife test positive for COVID-19

The president and first lady Asma are in good health and getting treated at home. The country has yet to obtain vaccines, and the UN fears cases are much higher in Syria than reported.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY MAHER MOUNNES
A Syrian man and two youths sell locally extracted and refined fuel from a makeshift refinery in Qamishli, a Kurdish-majority city in Hasakeh province, on July 15, 2015. A Kurdish local administration decided to take matters into its own hands, restarting extraction at 150 wells and creating around 20 makeshift refineries producing around 15,000 barrels of oil a day, more than the barely 10,000 bpd that Syria's government generates. AFP PHOTO / YOUSSEF KARWASHAN

Fuel shortage chills northeast Syria as oil production lags

The fuel shortage in northeast Syria has left civilians struggling to find cooking and heating fuel this winter.

Yazidis refugees carry their belongings on January 3, 2017 in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey as they change their refugee camp and move to Midyat, further south.
The population of Yazidis reaches 700,000, the majority residing in northern Iraq where persecution from Islamic State jihadists led to as many as 40,000 Yazidis fleeing their ancestral homes to the Sinjar Mountains in northwestern Iraq, where they were trapped without food or water. / AFP / ILYAS AKENGIN (Photo credit should read ILYAS AKE

Online ‘auctions’ of Yazidi captives speak of ongoing Islamic State activity in Turkey

The rescue of a 7-year-old Yazidi captive in Ankara raises questions about how hard Turkey is trying to tackle Islamic State militants in the country.

Belgian children and some women to be repatriated from IS camp in Syria.

The Belgian prime minister said the children in the notorious al-Hol camp could become “the terrorists of tomorrow.” Women will be repatriated on a case-by-case basis.

Freedom House: Syria, Western Sahara worst in world for political rights

The think tank also downgraded Jordan to "not free" in its 2021 democracy rankings.

Syrian rebel fighters play a game by candle light, due to electricity cuts on May 26, 2013 in Adana, near the northeastern city of Deir Ezzor. Syria's opposition denounced as "too little, too late" an EU decision to lift an arms embargo on rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. AFP PHOTO / RICARDO GARCIA VILANOVA (Photo credit should read Ricardo Garcia Vilanova/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey to supply electricity to opposition-held areas in Syria

Authorities affiliated with the opposition in the cities of Tell Abyad and Ras al-Ain in northern Syria recently signed an agreement to import Turkish electricity, as the Syrian regime forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces continue to control the feeding stations of these areas.