At Least 70 Killed as Syria’s Security Forces Clash With Assad Loyalists
The skirmishes along the Mediterranean coast were among the bloodiest since rebels ousted the dictator Bashar al-Assad and installed a transitional government.
The skirmishes along the Mediterranean coast were among the bloodiest since rebels ousted the dictator Bashar al-Assad and installed a transitional government.
The conflict poses a challenge for the new interim president as he tries to unify Syria and extend his authority over the entire country.
An uneasy calm prevailed in the town on the outskirts of Damascus on Sunday, two days after a gunfight between local men and security forces.
The group, the P.K.K., made its declaration days after its long-imprisoned leader urged the movement to disarm and disband, but there are still many questions about the prospects for ending…
The Assad dictatorship is out, but Syria’s economy is in chaos after a civil war and recent policy shifts. The situation is putting a damper on a typically festive season.
Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the guerrilla Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., called on his fighters to lay down their arms after decades of fighting the Turkish state.
Comics had already been trying to foster stand-up in Syria before Bashar al-Assad’s fall. Now, they are telling jokes in a liberated country, while warily eyeing the new government.
The country’s new leaders had billed a two-day “national dialogue” in Damascus as the start of a process to build an inclusive government. But some who attended came away disappointed.
The attacks in southern Syria are part of a new policy aimed at protecting what Israel calls its “security zone” in the region. Syria’s new government has condemned that policy.
Ahmed al-Shara’s unlikely path from membership in Al Qaeda to head of state has raised questions about how he intends to govern Syria.