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Syria

January 18, 2026

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Breaking | Last Updated: January 16, 2026, 7:48 pm

Syria’s Sharaa declares Kurdish a national language, recognizes Nowruz

Syria's interim president surprised the country's Kurdish citizens with a decree enshrining their culture and language as an "inseparable component of Syria’s unified and diverse national identity."

US special envoy for Syria and Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack attends a flag-raising ceremony at the US ambassador's residence in Damascus on May 29, 2025.

Exclusive

US envoy Barrack to meet Kurdish SDF chief Kobane in bid to avoid Syria escalation

The US special envoy to Syria is expected to meet SDF leader Mazlum Kobane in Erbil amid mounting tensions that threaten to unravel a fragile agreement between the Kurdish-led administration and Damascus.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

From Egypt to Lebanon: What’s at stake for regional states on Trump’s visa ban list?

The State Department claimed that citizens from the affected countries are more likely to use social welfare services at a high rate.

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.

Latest News

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

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

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

Analysis

What Syria and Israel’s new communications cell really signals

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)

Rina Bassist

By Rosaleen Carroll , Rina Bassist

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

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

Trump-Heights settlement in Golan here to stay

Several Israeli families are preparing to move in to the Trump Heights settlement village in the Golan Heights.

Women and children who fled the Islamic State (IS) group's embattled holdout of Baghouz on February 14, 2019, wait in the back of a truck in the eastern Syrian province of Deir Ezzor. - IS jihadists using tunnels and suicide bombers were mounting a desperate defence today of their last square kilometre in eastern Syria.
Kurdish-led forces closed in on the small town of Baghouz where IS fighters and their relatives were hunkered down and met famished and dishevelled people turning themselves in. (Photo by Fa

Why refugees won’t return to Syria

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s call on Syrian refugees to return to the homeland has sparked many reactions, as some still fear returning to cities and towns occupied by Iranian forces accused of violations and abuses against the locals.

A picture taken on November 18, 2020 from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights shows the Israel-Syria border, on November 18, 2020. - Israeli warplanes struck Syria Wednesday, hitting Iranian targets and killing 10 Syrian and foreign fighters in what the Israeli army called a retaliatory attack after explosive devices were found near one of its bases on the occupied Golan Heights. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel reportedly bombs southern Syria

Syrian opposition sources said the airstrikes targeted Iranian militias near the capital Damascus.

Smoke rises during a reported air strike by Russian forces targetting the outskirts of the town of Al-Bara, in the southern countryside of the rebel-held Idlib province, on November 13, 2020. (Photo by Mohammed AL-RIFAI / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED AL-RIFAI/AFP via Getty Images)

Opposition factions in Idlib prepare for imminent Syrian government offensive

After Turkey withdrew from observation posts within regime-controlled areas, Syria and Russia stepped up their attacks in Idlib, raising fears of an imminent battle.

The influential head of Lebanon's General Security apparatus, Abbas Ibrahim, is pictured during an interview at his office in the capital Beirut on July 22, 2020. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon’s intelligence chief visited Damascus amid efforts to free Austin Tice

Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim suggested efforts to secure the American journalist's release continued after Ibrahim visited Washington last month.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem dies at 79

The career diplomat was a steadfast supporter of the Syrian president's bloody crackdown on the opposition.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (on screen) addresses via video link the opening session of the international conference on the return of refugees held in Damascus on November 11, 2020. - Syria's government kicked off a two-day Russia-backed conference in Damascus towards facilitating the return of millions of Syrian refugees to the war-torn country, despite reservations within the international community. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Opposition leader sees warning in Russian cease-fire violations in Syria

The Syrian Opposition Coalition's president blames Russia for the failure of political process.

How will US removal of Turkestan Islamic Party from terrorism list affect Syrian file?

The Turkestan Islamic Party, which is mainly made up of fighters from the Uighur minority in China and is one the largest non-Syrian fighting group in Idlib, has been removed from the US terrorist exclusion list.

A rebel fighter from the Ahrar al-Sham brigade walks past the debris of damaged buildings in the rebel-held besieged town of Harasta, in the Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of Damascus, on November 16, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / ABDULMONAM EASSA (Photo credit should read ABDULMONAM EASSA/AFP via Getty Images)

Shakeup rattles major Islamist group in Idlib

Ahrar al-Sham, once one of the largest factions of the Syrian opposition, has divided into two wings: one with ties to the Free Syrian Army and another close to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

Indiana woman gets 6 years in prison after smuggling cash for the Islamic State

Prosecutors say Samantha Elhassani also brought her two children to live in IS-controlled territory in Syria.

James Jeffrey, top US official on Syria and Islamic State, retiring

The veteran diplomat will be replaced by his Syria deputy, Joel Rayburn, and top counterterrorism official Nathan Sales.

Mazloum Abdi (Kobani), commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), speaks with AFP during an interview in the countryside outside the northwestern Syrian city of Hasakah, in the province of the same name, on January 24, 2019. - Any deal between Syria's Kurds and the Damascus regime should respect the "special status" of Kurdish-led forces who fought the Islamic State (IS) group, Kobani said. The SDF control around a third of Syria after expelling jihadists from a large northeastern swathe of t

Interview

Syrian Kurdish commander sees chance to ease tensions with Turkey under Biden

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Mazlum Kobane said the former vice president's victory may well spell change in Ankara’s behavior.

Mazlum Kobane

Mazlum Kobane

SDF commander in chief