AMMAN, Jordan: A months-old Syrian government decision to start issuing passports to Syrians who fled their war-ravaged country is quietly contributing to the large exodus of refugees to Europe. With new passports in hand, Syrians who fled to neighboring countries such as Jordan can now fly to Turkey legally and from there, start the dangerous trek to Europe with the ...

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters have taken the last major oilfield according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). SOHR reported that ISIS fighters captured the Jazal oilfield late Sunday after battle with government forces in the central province of Homs. Syria-based activist said that they first attacked army camps around the Jazal field, and then attack the oilfield. The Jazal field is ...

The drowned child washed up on a Turkish beach captured in a photograph that went around the world Wednesday was three-year-old Alan Kurdi. He died, along with his five-year-old brother Galib and their mother Rehan, in a desperate attempt to reach Canada. The Syrian-Kurds from Kobane died along with eight other refugees early Wednesday. The father of the two boys, ...

Satellite images have confirmed another famous temple in the Syrian city of Palmyra has been destroyed, according to the United Nations. The UN training and research agency (UNITAR) released images today showing before and after the explosion on 30 August at Palmyra’s ancient temple of Bel by Islamic State. The image shows almost nothing remains according to UN satellite analysts Unosat. Last ...

An ancient temple of Baalshamin in the Syrian city of Palmyra was blown up by Islamic State (IS) militants according to Syrian officials and activists. The blast caused devastating damage to the temple and killed a prominent Syrian archaeologist, Khaled al-Asaad while he was working at the site. The temple is Unesco-listed and believe to be nearly 2,000 years old and one of the city’s best-known buildings. It was “an immense ...

Stephen O’Brien, the humanitarian chief of the United Nations said that he is “horrified” by the attacks on civilians in Syria at a press conference in Damascus on Monday. “Attacks on civilians are unlawful, unacceptable and must stop,” O’Brien said. He was “particularly appalled” by air strikes which killed at least 96 people on Sunday in the rebel-held town of Douma. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights who monitors the conflict ...

A 15-year-old Swedish girl has been captured by ISIS after running away from her Swedish foster home with her boyfriend in Syria. The ministry spokesman Gabriel Wernstedt said on Monday, “We have been informed that a Swedish minor is in Syria. We are in contact with family members,” refusing to disclose any other details in the case. The girl, whose name ...

Around 1,000 rockets, mortar shells and homemade projectiles were fired by Syrian rebels at two besieged Shiite towns in Idlib province on Monday, a monitoring group said. There were reports of dead and injured in the heavy fire on Fuaa and Kafraya that started on Sunday night according to the Observatory for Human Rights. Fuaa and Kafraya has been captured by an alliance, known as the ...

Mazen Darwish, an award-winning human rights activist in Syria has been released after three years in jail. Mr Mazen, the director of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), was arrested in Damascus February 2012 with his two colleagues. He was jailed for reporting on the government’s crackdown on protesters in the early days of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad as activists ...

Syria’s opposition National Coalition has accepted an invitation to hold talks in Russia with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whose country is a key ally of the Damascus regime, a coalition member said Wednesday. Its deputy leader Hisham Marwa told AFP coalition chief Khaled Khoja received an invitation at the start of August to visit Moscow. “We have decided to go ...