Turkey turns up pressure on allies in Syria

Turkey is using the jihadis’ march into Afrin to push its rebel allies in Syria to reorganize as a coherent, disciplined force. But what happens next if the factions fail to do so by the reported year-end deadline?

Turkey

Turkish-backed faction blocks fuel en route to Idlib

The Free Syrian Army’s Third Legion is reportedly preventing fuel from reaching Idlib, which is controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, after the recent fighting between the two parties.

Syria

Culture

Syrian Kurds ban niqab in schools in northeast Syria

The decision to ban the niqab at schools by the US-aligned Syrian group has angered some Arab constituents.

Syria

Syrian man sentenced in Turkey for burning two alive under Islamic State

A Turkish court has sentenced a Syrian man for ordering the burning executions of two Turkish nationals in 2016, but many aspects of the grisly murder remain in the dark.

Turkey

US blacklists Syrian military officials over 2013 chemical attack

Three Syrian military officers were designated for their alleged participation in the August 2013 sarin gas attack on Ghouta.

Syria

Islamic State regains momentum in Syria's Kurdish areas

The Islamic State has launched several attacks against the Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria amid lax security by the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Syria

Russia oversees Syrian forces’ military exercises in northwest Syria

Russia is testing the readiness of the Syrian government forces in their area of deployment on the outskirts of Idlib, in what some fear is a prelude to a wide-scale military operation to uproot the opposition in northwest Syria.

Syria

Syrian jihadist group HTS, armed groups agree to uneasy truce

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has seized several cities and towns in areas under the control of the Turkish-backed factions after days of clashes between rival factions.

Syria

Chechen fighters leave Syria to battle Russians in Ukraine

Abdul Hakim al-Shishani, a veteran of the Chechen-Russian war in the 1990s and commander of the Ajnad al-Kavkaz group fighting Syrian government forces in Latakia, arrived in Ukraine with a group of Chechen fighters to battle Russian forces.

Syria

Syrian government retaliates for killing of soldiers by Islamic State

The Syrian government and Russia accused the Islamic State of blowing up a troop bus of the Syrian army’s Fourth Division in its main headquarters near Damascus.

Syria

Ukrainian breakaway region sends delegation to Syria

Syria, which has a history of supporting pro-Russia breakaway regions, recognized Donetsk and Luhansk earlier this year.

Syria

Is Turkey using HTS to strengthen its hand in Syria?

Amid Ankara’s overtures to Damascus, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — the radical group controlling Idlib — has seized Afrin and is seeking a deal to expand its control further into territories held by factions allied with Turkey.

Turkey