Syria Peace Talks May Resume In July
A new round of Syria peace talks could happen next month in Geneva, the United Nations envoy said Wednesday, following repeated failed attempts to stem the bloodshed. Staffan de Mistura told...
Tag: Bashar al-Assad
Syria Peace Talks May Resume In July
A new round of Syria peace talks could happen next month in Geneva, the United Nations envoy said Wednesday, following repeated failed attempts to stem the bloodshed. Staffan de Mistura told...
Trump Promises Press Conference On Islamic State Fight
US President Donald Trump on Monday promised to reveal details of his long-awaited plan for fighting the Islamic State group, saying a press conference will come within weeks. "We have had tremendous...
US-Backed Syria Force Advances In Raqa, Battles For Base
US-backed Syrian fighters said they had seized a second district of Raqa on Sunday and launched a renewed assault on a base north of the city, as they pursued an offensive against the Islamic State...
US-Backed Force Says Seized First Western District In Raqa
US-backed Syrian fighters captured their first western district of the Islamic State group's bastion Raqa on Sunday, days after seizing an eastern neighbourhood from the jihadists. A statement by the...
Syria Army Says It Holds Fifth of Key Desert Territory
Syrian pro-government forces now hold more than a fifth of the country's strategic desert, the army said Saturday, after reaching the eastern border with Iraq for the first time since 2015. The...
Erdogan Vows To Stand By ‘Qatari Brothers’ Amid Crisis
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan requested the full removal of a Saudi-led blockade of Qatar after approving the deployment of Turkish troops there, saying Riyadh needed to put brotherhood ahead of...
Pro-Syria Regime Drone Shot Down After It Fires On Coalition
A US warplane shot down a pro-regime drone in Syria on Thursday after it fired at coalition forces, officials said, marking a new escalation of tensions in the war-torn country's south. No one was...
Turkey In ‘difficult Position’ Over Support For Qatar
Turkey is keen to support its close ally Qatar in a diplomatic crisis with Doha's Gulf neighbours, but has found itself with little room to manoeuvre given its ties with Riyadh, analysts say. "This...
When IS Group Reign Ends, Who Will Rule Syria’s Raqa?
The battle by US-backed forces to oust the Islamic State group from its Syrian bastion of Raqa will solve one problem but create another: who will then govern the city? The Syrian Democratic Forces...
Turkey’s Parliament To Debate Troop Deployment To Qatar
Turkey's parliament will debate on Wednesday a bill that would allow its troops to be deployed to a Turkish base in Qatar, following a bitter feud between Doha and its neighbours in the Gulf. The...
US Coalition Strike On Pro-Assad Forces An ‘act of Aggression’
Moscow on Wednesday condemned a US-led coalition strike on pro-regime fighters in Syria as an "act of aggression" that targeted the most effective forces battling "terrorists" in the war-torn...
Gun Attacks and Suicide Bomb In Tehran, At Least Two Dead
Gunmen and a suicide bomber have carried out apparently coordinated attacks on Iran's parliament and the tomb of revolutionary founder Ruhollah Khomeini, state media said Wednesday, with at least two...
Syrian Army Pushes Into Raqa Province
Syria's army advanced into Raqa province Tuesday, a monitor and a military source said, on the same day US-backed forces pushed into its provincial capital held by the Islamic State group. "Regime...
Gulf Crisis Presents Opportunities, Uncertainties For Iran
Viewed from Tehran, the extraordinary spat between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours has many advantages, experts say, but it is also worried about yet more volatility in the troubled neighbourhood....
Tillerson Tells China To ‘step Up’ On North Korea
China and other nations must strengthen efforts to curb North Korea's nuclear weapons programme, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Monday, while also calling out Beijing over its South China...
Syria’s Assad Says War’s ‘worst Is Behind Us’
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has said the worst of his country's six-year war "is behind us" after a string of advances by his forces backed by key ally Russia. In recent months, Assad's troops...
Putin Scorns US Claims Over Trump-Russia Ties
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Americans must stop their “hysteria” about an alleged Russian deal with US President Donald Trump. “This is simply some kind of hysteria. You can’t...
Coalition Forces Reinforce At Key Tanf Garrison In Syria
US-led coalition forces in Syria are reinforcing their garrison near the crucial Al-Tanf border crossing amid a buildup of pro-government troops nearby, a US military official said Thursday. "We have...
US-Led Strike Kills Founder of IS Propaganda Agency
A US-led coalition air strike on eastern Syria has killed a founder of the Islamic State group's notorious Amaq propaganda agency, Syrian opposition activists said on Wednesday. Rayan Mashaal, also...