Syria

For U.S. Soldier Turned Aid Worker, The Goal Was To Help Syrians

1:47pm November 19, 2014

by Alison Meuse

Abdul-Rahman Kassig went to Iraq as a U.S. soldier and returned to the Middle East to establish an aid group. Here's a look at what motivated him to undertake a risky mission that cost him his life.

The population of the Syrian city of Douma — a rebel enclave — has dropped from 750,000 to about 250,000 since the start of the Syrian conflict. Photographer Saeed al-Batal (a pseudonym) has captured life in this city under siege. Here, a scene from D

World News

A Syrian's Struggle To Get By

5:52pm November 18, 2014

We rarely hear from the Syrian civilians trapped by the country's civil war. NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks to a Syrian filmmaker and photographer who describes life in a rebel enclave outside Damascus.

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Once Tolerated, Westerners Are Now Targeted By Radical Islamists

2:43pm November 18, 2014

by Greg Myre

The kidnapping and killing of Westerners isn't a new phenomenon in the Middle East. But the last time around, it stopped after just a few years. This time there's no end in sight.

Peter Kassig, who changed his first name to Abdul-Rahman when he converted to Islam, is shown with a truck filled with aid supplies for Syrian refugees.

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Slain Aid Worker Shows 'One Person Can Make A Difference,' Parents Say

5:01pm November 17, 2014

by Krishnadev Calamur

In a statement, Paula and Ed Kassig remembered their 26-year-old son, Peter Kassig, also known as Abdul-Rahman Kassig, as both a realist and an idealist. Kassig was killed by the Islamic State group.

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ISIS Issues Video Showing Beheading Of American Aid Worker

4:37pm November 17, 2014

The self-declared Islamic State released a new video Sunday that shows the beheading of hostage Peter Kassig, who was kidnapped in Syria last year.

Iraqi soldiers walk in Jurf al-Sakhr, south of the capital Baghdad, on Monday after Iraqi military forces retook the area from Islamic State militants. Iraqi forces, supported by U.S. airstrikes, have made limited gains in recent months, but critics are q

With Limited Gains, U.S. Bombing Campaign Faces Growing Criticism

2:25pm October 30, 2014

by Tom Bowman

U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic State began nearly three months ago, yet there have been relatively few changes on the battlefield. Many analysts say the U.S. effort may not be sufficient.

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An explosion following an airstrike is seen in the Syrian town of Kobani from near the Mursitpinar border crossing in the southeastern town of Suruc, in Turkey's Sanliurfa province, on Wednesday.

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Kurdish Fighters Begin Using Turkish Crossing To Reach Kobani

11:00am October 29, 2014

by Scott Neuman

Syrian rebels and Iraqi peshmerga fighters have been allowed to use Turkish territory to enter the fight against militants of the self-declared Islamic State.

Three female members of Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and an Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighter stand near the front line in Makhmur, in northern Iraq, on Aug. 9. The Turkish and Iraqi Kurds have been fighting together against the Islamic State.

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Facing The Islamic State Threat, Kurdish Fighters Unite

1:17pm October 28, 2014

by Alice Fordham

Kurdish groups have often quarreled among themselves, or at least kept their distance. But Kurds from Iraq and Turkey have been fighting side by side in northern Iraq against the Islamic State.

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The pillars at Gobekli Tepe resemble those at Stonehenge — but predate them by several thousand years.

In Southeast Turkey, A Long History Of Bloodshed And Worship

7:46pm October 24, 2014

by Peter Kenyon

A vast plain near Syria is no stranger to military carnage. But a place known as "Potbelly Hill" holds ruins built in ancient times, possibly for ritual purposes, long before organized religion.

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U.S.-Led Strikes In Syria Have Killed 553, Activists Say

6:23pm October 23, 2014

by Eyder Peralta

Most of those killed — 464 — were fighters with the Islamic State. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also counted 32 civilians among the dead.