Kurds

A photo taken from Turkey's Sanliurfa province shows smoke rising after Turkish armed forces hit targets in Ras al-Ain, a town east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria, on Monday.

U.S. 'Show Of Force' After Turkish-Backed Fighters Get Too Close To Base In Syria

6:48pm October 15, 2019

by Scott Neuman

The potential risk to U.S. personnel came on the same day Russia said its military is now acting as a buffer between Turkish and Syrian troops along the border.

Syrian government troops on Monday moved into towns in northern Syrian formerly controlled by U.S.-backed Kurdish militants. That sets up a potential clash with Turkish forces.

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Syrian Troops Move To Support Kurds After U.S. Withdrawal

5:34pm October 14, 2019

by Rebecca Hersher

Kurdish forces in northern Syria relied on American troops to help them maintain control of the region. Now, they are aligning themselves with Syrian forces that are backed by Russia.

Turkey-backed Syrian fighters sit atop an armored personnel carrier in the southwestern neighborhoods of the border Syrian town of Tal Abyad on Sunday. The U.S. plans to evacuate its troops from northern Syria amid the Turkish offensive.

Endangered By Turkish Offensive, U.S. Troops Prepare To Evacuate From Syria

6:54pm October 13, 2019

by Laurel Wamsley

The U.S. will pull hundreds of troops amid air strikes and gunfire from Turkish-backed forces. "We're preparing, waiting for the order," a U.S. official close to the troops on the ground told NPR.

A Turkish army officer prepares to unload a tank from a truck to its new position on the Turkish side of the border between Turkey and Syria, in Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey, on Tuesday.

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Turkish Forces Launch Military Attack Against Kurds At Syrian Border

2:48pm October 09, 2019

The incursion comes after the White House announced that U.S. forces would stand aside as Turkey launched the military operation in Northern Syria.

U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters pose for a photo in Baghouz, Syria, in March after the SDF declared the area free of Islamic State militants.

In Major Policy Shift, U.S. Will Stand Aside As Turkish Forces Extend Reach In Syria

1:14pm October 07, 2019

by Scott Neuman

A White House statement late Sunday said Turkey would soon go ahead with a military operation in the country's Kurdish-dominated north and that U.S. forces "will no longer be in the immediate area."

The People's Defense Court in the Rojava district of northeast Syria. Judges here have been holding trials of thousands of ISIS fighters. The Kurdish-led region broke from Syrian government control in 2012 and has developed its own justice system that it

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'Revenge Is For The Weak': Kurdish Courts In Northeastern Syria Take On ISIS Cases

9:42pm May 29, 2019

by Jane Arraf

Kurdish Syrian authorities have tried 7,000 ISIS suspects in a justice system that bans torture and the death penalty. Some of the judges are women, which comes as a shock to ISIS fighters on trial.

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (center) visited Bahrain on Friday.

Pompeo Says The U.S. Troop Withdrawal From Syria Is Just A 'Tactical Change'

6:05pm January 12, 2019

by Sasha Ingber

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is traveling through the Middle East as confusion mounts over U.S. policy in Syria.

Syrian demonstrators wave the national flag during a demonstration in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria on Sunday, asking for the Syrian army's protection as Turkey threatens to carry out a fresh offensive following the U.S. deci

'We Will Curse Them As Traitors': Syrian Kurds React To U.S. Troop Withdrawal Plan

4:00pm December 24, 2018

After President Trump's decision to pull out U.S. troops, residents of northeastern Syria tell NPR they feel betrayed. Syrians, led by Kurdish fighters, have lost thousands in the fight against ISIS.

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Kurdish mathematician Caucher Birkar (right) received the Fields Medal, math's most prestigious prize, during the International Congress of Mathematicians in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday. The medal was stolen soon after.

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Prestigious Mathematics Medal Stolen Minutes After It Was Awarded

6:55pm August 02, 2018

by Sasha Ingber

University of Cambridge professor Caucher Birkar, who fled Iran for the U.K., was among four people who received a Fields Medal in Brazil. Shortly after, his golden prize was gone.

Some of the devastation caused by the fight to remove ISIS from Raqqa, Syria.

U.S. Military Mission In Syria Endures As ISIS Nears Defeat

6:26pm February 15, 2018

by Tom Bowman

Up to 2,000 U.S. troops are in Syria defending Kurdish allies. The threats come from regime forces, Iran, Turkey and even Russia.

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