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Syria

October 16, 2026

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An attendee walks past signage displayed inside the venue for the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC) in Bangkok on October 14, 2026. (Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP via Getty Images)

Syria to rejoin Arab group at IMF, leaving Russian-led constituency

Syria will rejoin the Arab constituency at the International Monetary Fund beginning Nov. 1 and has applied for membership in the EBRD.

Mihrac Ural, who was also known as Ali Kayali, was arrested

Explainer

Syria arrests Mihrac Ural, ex-Assad militia head also wanted by Turkey

The Turkey-born militia chief and a longtime ally of the Assad-regime, was sought by Ankara over the deadly Reyhanli bombings and by Damascus over his alleged role in massacres on the Mediterranean coast.

In first, Israel’s Netanyahu says he held call with Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa

It is the first publicly disclosed contact between the leaders of Israel and Syria, which lack formal relations and have fought several wars. Sharaa’s government began US-mediated talks with Israel in 2025.

Demonstrators ride through a street while waving Syrian flags

Analysis

Why Syria and Iraq are taking different approaches to armed groups

In a break from past policies, the new governments in Damascus and Baghdad are clamping down on militant groups with the capacity or desire to harm regional partners.

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Baghdad, reporting on Iraqi politics

Latest News

Culture

Syria reopens Aleppo's 1,300-year-old Great Umayyad Mosque after 13 years

A view of the Great Umayyad Mosque during the reopening ceremony, Oct. 8, 2026.

Analysis

Why Syria sending troops to Yemen would be a risky bet for Sharaa

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh, Oct. 6, 2026.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Culture

Syria's Kurds, Arabs find common cause in battle for language rights

Youths play the daf, an Iranian frame drum, during a protest demanding the right to education in the Kurdish language in Al-Qamishli, Syria, on September 22, 2026. The demonstrations follow a decision by the Syrian Interim Government to allocate only Kurdish language classes in schools. (Photo by Amjad Kurdo / Middle East Images / 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

Is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham doing Turkey’s job in Idlib?

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the rebel group dominating Idlib, is turning up pressure on radical jihadis, facing accusations of acting at the behest of Turkey.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a press conference at the State Department in Washington, DC on June 24, 2020. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Pompeo dismisses Rouhani’s terms for talks as Iran admits ‘no plan B’ for Syria

Israel, Iran and the United States are all not backing down in Syria, but US-Iran prisoner talks may still have a chance.

A patrol of US military vehicles is seen near the flying yellow flags of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and green flags of its constituent Women's Protection Forces (YPJ) in the town of Tal Tamr in the northeastern Syrian Hasakeh province along the border with Turkey on February 8, 2020. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP) (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

US-backed Syrian Kurdish militia offers rare apology to rivals amid unity talks

The apology is testament to the group's determination to see unity talks between the Kurdish National Council and the PYD through to a successful end.

EDIRNE, TURKEY - MARCH 08: Refugees and migrants walk on a road towards the Pazarkule Border Crossing between Turkey and Greece on March 08, 2020 in Edirne, Turkey. Thousands of refugees and migrants have flocked to the Greece, Turkey border after Turkey announced that it would open border gates for a period of 72hrs to allow refugees to cross into European countries after thirty three Turkish soldiers were killed in a Syrian air raid in Idlib. (Photo by Burak Kara/Getty Images)

Syria risks another wave of migration, UN food agency warns

The United Nations' World Food Program director told the AP more Syrians will flee the country unless the international community steps in with additional aid.

Netherlands isn’t required to repatriate Islamic State families in Syria, court rules

The Netherlands isn't required to bring home from northern Syria a group of 23 Dutch women suspected of joining the Islamic State or their 56 children.

The ruins of buildings are pictured on July 1, 2019 at the site where the US military carried out a strike against Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists in Syria's northwestern Aleppo province. - The US military said today it had targeted jihadists in an embattled northwestern opposition bastion in northwest Syria the previous day. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the raid in Aleppo province killed six commanders and other jihadists from the Hurras al-Deen group. (Photo by Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (Ph

Intel: Al-Qaeda branch confirms US drone killed Zarqawi relative in Syria

An al-Qaeda branch in northwest Syria has confirmed that a US drone strike earlier this month killed one of the group’s most senior leaders, a veteran Jordanian jihadi who had been close to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Syrian demonstrators look at a poster bearing the portraits of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (C-R) and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (C) in the central Saadallah al-Jabiri square in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on January 7, 2020, to mourn and condemn the death of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani (portrait-L), and nine others in a US air strike in Baghdad. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran hunkers down in Syria after Caesar Act sanctions

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it has no backup plan and is not leaving Syria.

Sheen Ibrahim, Kurdish fighter from the People's Protection Units (YPG) looks for drones operated by Islamic State militants in Raqqa, Syria June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic - RC1D3CB0FA70

Turkish drone strike kills three Kurdish women in Syria

The leader of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces called on the United States and Russian to stop what he called Turkey's "policy of massacres against the Kurds" after last night's drone strike.

Suspected Israeli airstrikes hit various locations in Syria

Syria said it downed several missiles it says came from Israel, but there are also reports of casualties.

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British charity worker detained by HTS in Idlib

Tauqir Sharif was kidnapped by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham on Monday, according to a statement from his aid organization in northwest Syria.

France repatriates children from Islamic State camp in northeast Syria

Ten children are being repatriated to France from the notorious al-Hol camp, according to a northeast Syrian official. Thousands of foreign and local children remain there.

A foreign prisoner, suspected of being part of the Islamic State, lies on top of an examining table next to a doctor inside a prison in Hasaka, Syria, January 7, 2020. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic SEARCH "ISLAMIC STATE PRISONERS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. - RC2YYE9HG8VE

Syrian doctor accused of prison torture arrested in Germany

The suspect faces charges of crimes against humanity and grievous bodily harm.