Of these, 3,678 of them have already gone back to their home country. For German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, this is proof of the migration policy that he has been promoting: "Those who have no prospect of staying receive targeted support for their voluntary repatriation." This "targeted support" includes the cost of the flights and 1,000 (ca. $1200) per adult and 500 for minors.
Syrian government forces entered areas of northeastern Syria over the weekend, in a move to expand its territorial control over the country, driving away Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters who held the territory. IS fighters and their families were being held in prisoner camps overseen by the SDF, but as the Syrian army advance, the SDF said it had to abandon their post at northeastern al-Hol camp, holding mostly women and children, and al-Aqtan prison for IS fighters.
The Syrian government's takeover of key oil and gas fields from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the country's northeast has raised hopes for the revival of its dilapidated energy sector after years of war and international sanctions. Syrian officials announced on Sunday that the government forces had taken control of several oilfields, including al-Omar, Syria's largest, and the Conoco gas complex in the country's north and northeast.
On Sunday, the Syrian government declared it had taken control over the areas Aleppo previously under the control of the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF. And the Kurdish forces announced they were pulling back. During the fighting, buildings were destroyed, at least two dozen people were killed and reports say that more than 140,000 people were displaced. But then on Tuesday this week, the Syrian government accused the Kurdish paramilitary of regrouping
Two meetings, held almost simultaneously towards the end of December, offered a stark illustration of the competing strategic visions now shaping the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. In Damascus, Turkiye's foreign, defence and intelligence chiefs met Syrian officials on December 22 as Ankara continued to prioritise the consolidation of state authority and stabilisation after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria.
We do have an understanding regarding Syria. Now, with Syria, you know, your new president, I respect him, he's a very strong guy and that's what you need in Syria. You can't put a choir boy, you can't put somebody that's a perfect person, everything's nice, no problems in life. You have the opposite there, he's a strong guy. We get along with him great. I can't ask for any more, he's been with us all the way.
Recent clashes in coastal Syria not the fault of government Quotable Gamal Mansour of the University of Toronto says Syria's authorities are still in a fragile state-building phase, and the clashes in coastal Syria have exposed gaps in control. Video Duration 01 minutes 05 seconds 01:05 Video Duration 01 minutes 17 seconds 01:17 Video Duration 01 minutes 04 seconds 01:04 Video Duration 01 minutes 21 seconds 01:21
On December 8, 2024, as the regime of Bashar al-Assad collapsed, Mukhtar was at his home in Idlib Governorate, in northwestern Syria. (For safety reasons, he asked to use a pseudonym.) A researcher with the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC), he watched videos of rebel forces rolling into the Syrian capital, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, whose precursor had been affiliated with Al Qaeda.
By the time the red sun slipped beyond the horizon, the playground was empty except for one little girl, nine-year-old Fouziah Alalawi, who stood staring at the bend where her father always appeared to pick her up from school. It was February 20, 2013, and war had become the background of her childhood: the distant thunder of shelling, the sharp percussion of gunfire, and the sudden quiet that made the adults tense.
With the fallout from the war in Syria as a backdrop, director Nour Alkheder longs for her father through memories, imagination and the fragments of a life uprooted by conflict. As Alkheder reflects on what was lost and what remains, she confronts the emotional weight of nostalgia and the love that binds her to her father and her homeland. I Love You More explores what it means to long for someone,
Syrians have marked the first anniversary of the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad with fireworks and jubilant celebrations in major cities, amid renewed optimism for long-lasting freedom and safety after 14 years of war. Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa told large crowds in Damascus on Monday that the country had turned the page from a dark chapter in its history and now looks towards a promising future.
