Syria

World News

Syrian Army Amasses Outside Kurdish-Held Manbij, As Turkish Force Looms Over Border

3:22pm December 28, 2018

Weeks ago, Turkey threatened to send its military over the border if Kurdish militants didn't leave Manbij. Now the U.S.-backed Kurds seem to be making a deal with the Syrian regime.

A church near the school was destroyed during the fight to oust ISIS from Raqqa, Syria.

Determined To Seek An Education, Teenagers In Raqqa, Syria, Create Their Own School

1:20pm December 28, 2018

With their city in ruins and little international help, a group of teenagers decided to take matters into their own hands. They recruited teachers, found a building and set up classes for themselves.

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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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Brett McGurk, the special presidential envoy to the coalition fighting the Islamic State, announced his resignation days after Secretary of Defense James Mattis also resigned.

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U.S. Envoy To The Coalition Against ISIS Resigns Over Trump's Syria Policy

6:21pm December 22, 2018

by Shannon Van Sant

Brett McGurk's decision to accelerate his departure from the Trump administration comes on the heels of Secretary of Defense James Mattis' resignation earlier this week.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan celebrated President Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, where Turkey has launched attacks on U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters.

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Turkey Warmly Embraces Trump's Syria Withdrawal And Delays A Planned Offensive

1:46pm December 21, 2018

by Colin Dwyer

"Of course, this is not an open-ended waiting process," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan added, saying he still intends to launch an operation against U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in northern Syria.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tells NPR that the U.S. remains committed to the Kurds, American allies in the Syrian war, even as the U.S. plans to withdraw troops from the country.

Despite Remaining ISIS Threats, Pompeo Says U.S. Made 'Caliphate In Syria Go Away'

5:18pm December 20, 2018

by Peter Granitz

In an interview with NPR, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expanded on remarks by President Trump, who declared the U.S. had "won against ISIS" amid news that the Pentagon would pull troops from Syria.

U.S. Gen. Joseph Votel (center), the top U.S. commander for the Middle East, visited a military outpost at al-Tanf in southern Syria, where the U.S. trains Syrian opposition forces, in October. President Trump is planning to withdraw the U.S. forces from

After U.S. Troops Leave Syria, What Happens Next?

11:43pm December 19, 2018

by Greg Myre

The limited U.S. force has had a large impact on Syria's war, beating back ISIS and bringing relative calm to one corner of the country. President Trump's critics fear those gains could be lost.

American troops look toward the border with Turkey from a small outpost near the town of Manbij, northern Syria, in February.

White House Orders Pentagon To Pull U.S. Troops From Syria

2:06pm December 19, 2018

by Laurel Wamsley

U.S. troops have been in Syria since late 2015. The move is a reversal of U.S. policy: Earlier this month, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said troops would stay to stabilize the country.

People walk through Ain Issa, one of the camps that holds displaced Syrians as well as foreign wives of ISIS fighters and their children. Thousands of foreign women and children languish in shelters in northeastern Syria, unwanted by their home government

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Foreign Wives And Children Of ISIS Are Held In Syria With Uncertain Future

12:39pm December 07, 2018

Kurdish officials in northeastern Syria say they are holding 550 foreign women whom they captured after defeating ISIS, as well as about 1,200 foreign children.

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Raqqa's first responders use a digger to push through the rubble of a building likely destroyed in an airstrike carried out by the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS.

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'Entire Families Wiped Out': U.S. Airstrikes Killed Many Civilians In Syria

11:45am November 09, 2018

Rescuers working to dig out and identify corpses from last year's anti-ISIS offensive in Raqqa estimate there were "thousands" of civilian casualties. The U.S.-led coalition acknowledges 104.