At least six people were killed in a bomb attack on a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims from Lebanon near a historical marketplace in Damascus, Syria, on Sunday. In a statement released via Twitter, Jabhat al Nusra, or the Nusra Front, a branch of al Qaeda in Syria, claimed responsibility for the attack and applauded the suicide bomber they said was ...
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Rebel leader promises Damascus rocket storm
A Syrian rebel leader has vowed a resumption of rocket fire on Damascus beginning Wednesday. Zahran Alloush, the leader of the Islam Army, made the vow in a statement released Tuesday and said the barrage would come in response to a series of deadly regime air raids on the Damascus suburbs. “Because the capital is full of military barracks, intelligence ...
Read More »Dozens killed as regime, rebels trade salvos around Damascus
Syrian regime forces and rebel fighters traded salvos of rockets and mortar bombs Thursday in and around Damascus, killing over 70 people. Outside observers said anti-government forces struck first, after a rebel commander vowed to hit government-held areas of the capital to avenge the past week’s strikes by government warplanes on opposition-held suburbs. That commander, Zahran Alloush of the Islam ...
Read More »Christians flee jihadis after Syria abductions
BEIRUT: Hundreds of Assyrian families have fled their homes in northeastern Syria after a mass kidnapping of their community by ISIS, activists said Wednesday. Some 1,000 families have fled their villages in Hassakeh since Monday’s abductions, said Osama Edward, director of the Sweden-based Assyrian Human Rights Network. About 800 of them have taken refuge in the city of Hassakeh and ...
Read More »UPDATED: Syria rebels reject envoy plan to freeze Aleppo fighting
Syrian rebel forces in Aleppo on Sunday rejected UN envoy Staffan de Mistura’s plan for a freeze in fighting in the divided northern city, dealing a blow to his peace efforts. “We refuse to meet with Mr Staffan de Mistura if it is not on the basis of a comprehensive solution to Syria’s drama through the exit of (President) Bashar ...
Read More »At least 1,500 children work on the street in Lebanon
At least 1,500 children, nearly three-quarters of them Syrian, beg on the street and work as roadside vendors, with a some involved in illicit activities, according to the joint study, the first of its kind in Lebanon, conducted by the International Labour Organisation, the U.N. Children’s Fund UNICEF and charity Save the Children International. “More than 70 percent of the ...
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