But this elation, for Ahmad and Areej, does not — cannot — translate into an intention to return to Deir al-Zour, at least in the foreseeable future. ISIS has remained active in eastern Syria, and U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who control large parts of the region, are currently clashing with the Syrian National […]

There seem to be no limits to the dark revelations laid bare by the downfall of Syria’s 54-year Assad regime. Prisons have emptied, exposing the instruments of torture used on peaceful protesters and others considered opponents of the government. Stacks of official documents record thousands of detainees. Morgues and mass graves hold the gaunt, broken-bodied […]

Israeli soldiers have raided Syrian border villages, prompting nervous residents to huddle in their homes. They have captured the country’s highest peak, have set up roadblocks between Syrian towns and now overlook local villages from former Syrian military outposts. The stunning downfall of Syria’s longtime leader, Bashar al-Assad, closed a chapter in the country’s decade-long […]

Iran’s top ranking general in Syria has contradicted the official line taken by Iran’s leaders on the sudden downfall of their ally Bashar al-Assad, saying in a remarkably candid speech last week that Iran had suffered a major defeat but would still try to operate in the country. An audio recording of the speech, given […]

The business owners arrived one by one, but all were united in their mission on a chilly December morning: Salvage anything from the pulverized market in this hillside city in southern Lebanon. A photo studio operator and his son trudged through debris and twisted metal to recover dust-coated negatives and camera lenses. A clothes shop […]

The Biden administration on Monday lifted some restrictions on humanitarian aid to Syria but kept sweeping sanctions in place just weeks after rebel forces toppled the Assad family’s 50-year authoritarian grip on the country. The authorization by the Treasury Department is a sign of how Washington is taking tentative steps to navigate its approach to […]

For much of her life, Sumaya Ainaya spent weekend and summer nights on Mount Qasioun, which overlooks the city of Damascus, joined by other Syrians drinking coffee, smoking hookah and eating corn on the cob roasted on grills nearby. But soon after the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011, the military under President Bashar al-Assad […]

new video loaded: From Fighters to Policemen in a Post-Assad Damascus transcript Back transcript From Fighters to Policemen in a Post-Assad Damascus As the rebels who ousted Syria’s longtime dictator, Bashar al-Assad, transition from insurgents to administrators, maintaining order in the streets of the capital has become a top priority. Until recently, these men were […]

“I’m very excited but also very overwhelmed. It’s an amazing feeling.” When Sawsan Abou Zainedin fled Bashar al-Assad’s rule more than a decade ago, she thought she might never return. Now, after the fall of the regime, she’s headed to her hometown in southern Syria to see her father for the first time in seven […]

new video loaded: Searching for Syria’s Disappeared transcript Back transcript Searching for Syria’s Disappeared Taher al-Zain’s father disappeared 12 years ago at the height of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Now, like thousands of other Syrians, he is trying to find clues about what happened, and whether or not his father may still be alive. Taher al-Zain […]