Syria

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Syrians' New Woe: Soaring Crime

Ban Ki-moon warns: No one will win this war

(Newser) - As the Syrian conflict rages on, police officers have abandoned their stations and the civilian infrastructure has all but disappeared. The result: soaring crime. Despite rebel attempts to monitor the situation, kidnapping and theft have become commonplace, the New York Times reports, relaying the tale of a kidnapped businessman (released...

Fight for Aleppo Intensifies as Both Sides Claim Advantage

Assad appoints new PM

(Newser) - Syrian government troops launched a fresh ground assault to retake Aleppo yesterday, and shelling continues today, but conflicting reports on the state of the fight persist. State media claims "huge numbers" of rebels have been killed and that Bashar al-Assad's forces control the particularly strategic Salah al-Din district,...

Angry Syria Rebels to US: 'All We Get Is Words'

America should be offering more help, they say

(Newser) - Anti-American sentiment is growing in Syria, where rebels are increasingly frustrated that the US is not giving them more support. "All we get is words," says a Free Syrian Army spokesperson. The Syrian opposition says it does not want direct military intervention, but it has asked many times...

Syria's Assad Gets Public Backing From Iran

He appears on state TV for first time in weeks

(Newser) - Syrian President Bashar Assad made his first appearance on state TV in nearly three weeks today in a show of solidarity with a senior Iranian envoy. The day's contrasts couldn't have been more vivid: Assad and Iran's Saeed Jalili vowed to defeat the rebels and their backers,...

As Aleppo Shelling Continues, Rebels Get More Daring

But Syrian rebels may be making progress

(Newser) - The battle for Aleppo has been going on for more than two weeks now, and the fighting spread to new parts of Syria's biggest city today. Government troops have been shelling the parts of the city the rebels control, but the opposition continues to attempt to expand its hold,...

Syrian PM Defects: Rebels
 Syrian PM Defects: Rebels 
Aug 6, 2012 6:19 AM CDT

Syrian PM Defects: Rebels

But government claims Riad Hijab was fired

(Newser) - The Syrian opposition is claiming a big defection to its side: Prime Minister Riad Hijab. Hijab, who became prime minister two months ago, would be the highest-level defection of the uprising so far, the AP reports. An opposition source tells CBS that Hijab and his family are already out of...

Pro-Syrian Regime Hackers Hit Reuters

Hackers seize agency Twitter account, post 22 fake messages

(Newser) - As Bashar al-Assad's forces continue to pound Syria's biggest city , his allies on the Internet have laid siege to Reuters . One of the news agency's Twitter accounts was hacked yesterday, and 22 fake messages were posted, many of them spreading false news about heavy rebel defeats or...

Regime to Wage Huge Attack on Aleppo in Days: Rebels

Assad's forces are pounding city, but more troops are apparently en route

(Newser) - Assad's forces continue to pound Aleppo today, with state TV announcing that the regime is "cleansing the terrorist filth" from the country. Reuters reports that tanks are shelling the city as a helicopter sprays the rebels with machine-gun fire, and a correspondent there reported violent street fighting in...

Syrian Forces Pound Aleppo, Damascus

Government wants to retake two most important cities

(Newser) - The UN General Assembly may have formally condemned the violence in Syria yesterday, but today Bashar al-Assad's regime made clear what it thinks of the rebuke: Not much. Government forces are reportedly waging a fierce assault on rebel positions in Aleppo, and they've also launched an attack on...

UN Condemns Syrian Assault
 UN Condemns Syrian Assault 
Aug 3, 2012 2:35 PM CDT

UN Condemns Syrian Assault

Symbolic resolution passes by overwhelming margin

(Newser) - The UN General Assembly gave Syria a fierce, albeit entirely symbolic, rebuke today for the violent crackdown on dissent that has plunged the country into a civil war. The Assembly voted 133-12 in favor of a resolution condemning the violence, with 31 abstaining, the AP reports. "The conflict in...

Britain: We'll Boost Support for Syria Rebels

Regime's arsenal looks shaky

(Newser) - With Kofi Annan stepping down from his diplomatic post, Britain is trying to pick up the slack in Syria. Foreign Secretary William Hague today promised more "practical but non-lethal support to the opposition," citing "communications" as an example, Reuters reports. "We don't give up on...

Kofi Annan Quits Role as Syria Envoy

Ban Ki-moon accepts Annan's resignation

(Newser) - Kofi Annan said today he will step down as special envoy for Syria effective Aug. 31, delivering a blistering criticism of world powers' failure to unite over the country's escalating violence. At an impromptu press conference, Annan told reporters he cannot go on when the 15-nation council provides no...

Obama OKs Secret Backing for Syria Rebels

Signed order allows CIA to support rebels

(Newser) - Syrian rebels have become much more organized and effective in recent weeks, and it appears the CIA deserves some of the credit. President Obama has signed a secret order, approved earlier this year, allowing the CIA and other American agencies to support rebels seeking to oust Bashar al-Assad, sources tell...

Assad AWOL as Executions Rumored in Aleppo

Free Syrian Army gains anti-aircraft missiles

(Newser) - As the battle for Aleppo grinds on in Syria, President Bashar al-Assad's location remains a big question mark. Today, to mark Armed Forces Day, Assad published a message in the military's magazine encouraging his troops. But, though the president has been seen on TV, he has not appeared...

Rebels Claim Countryside as Aleppo Battle Rages
 Rebels Claim Countryside 
 as Aleppo Battle Rages 
Syria Update
Jul 31, 2012 7:35 AM CDT

Rebels Claim Countryside as Aleppo Battle Rages

The story of how one town drove out the regime

(Newser) - While Syrian troops have expended most of their effort trying to retain the regime's grip on the country's biggest cities—from Homs to Damascus and now Aleppo—rebel uprisings have claimed increasingly large swathes of the countryside, the Washington Post reports. The Post uses as a case study...

Syrian Diplomat Defects as Aleppo Fighting Rages

Rebels seize key strategic points outside the city

(Newser) - Syria's most senior diplomat in London defected today, saying that he no longer wanted to represent a "violent and oppressive" government, the UK Foreign Office announced today. The office says Charge d'Affaires Khaled al-Ayoubi is staying in a safe place in Britain, the BBC reports, and hailed...

Panetta: Aleppo Attack Is 'Nail in Assad's Coffin'

Hundreds of thousands flee onslaught

(Newser) - As brutal fighting continued for control of Syria's largest city, a furious Leon Panetta vowed that the regime's assault on Aleppo would be a "nail in the coffin" of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Some 200,000 residents have fled the besieged city as rebels battle to hold...

Syrian Rebels Hold Off Regime, But Onslaught Continues

Rebels say international community bears responsibility if they're defeated

(Newser) - Government tanks, artillery, and helicopters continued to pound rebel-held Aleppo today, in what could be one of the biggest battles of the Syrian uprising yet, reports the AP . Rebels have so far managed to keep government forces at bay, but the cost has been high, with 29 killed in Aleppo...

29 Dead in 'Fierce' Syrian Assault on Aleppo

Ground troops enter nation's biggest city

(Newser) - Syrian troops have bombed and strafed rebels in the key city of Aleppo for days now in preparation for a major assault—and that assault is under way, report al-Jazeera and the BBC . Ground troops and tanks that had been massing on the city's outskirts poured in today, according...

Helicopters Pound Aleppo
 Helicopters Pound Aleppo 
Jul 27, 2012 7:02 AM CDT

Helicopters Pound Aleppo

Mosques close as civilians flee Damascus, Aleppo

(Newser) - Syrian helicopters have kept up the heavy attacks on Aleppo today, as the military continues to build its force on the city's outskirts in anticipation of a possible all-out invasion of the country's commercial capital, reports the New York Times . But despite the possibility of serious civilian casualties,...

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