Syria

Pentagon Says 2 Men Killed In Baghdadi Raid Were Combatants But Offers Little Evidence

7:59pm October 27, 2020

by Daniel Estrin

After NPR reported claims of civilian deaths in the operation against the ISIS chief, Central Command says the men showed "hostile intent," but it found no weapons or signs they fired at U.S. forces.

Queue Listen Now

"You have to be calm because people are scared, the civilians and the patients are scared, and they can't see you scared," Dr. Omar Ibrahim says of his years as a surgeon in a Syrian war zone.

Health & Safety

Whatever Happened To ... The Only Brain Surgeon Working In Aleppo From 2014 To 2019?

3:38pm September 09, 2020

by Fran Kritz

Dr. Omar Ibrahim went from Aleppo to Idlib province in Syria to continue treating injuries from shelling. Now, after six years of doing surgery in a war zone, he is starting a new chapter in his life.

Syrian refugee Mohammad al-Saleh near Amman. He and his wife are farm laborers and were working in the fields when their tent caught fire in June, killing their four youngest children.

World News

'No Hope': A Deadly Tent Fire In Jordan Leaves Syrian Refugee Farm Workers In Despair

8:01am August 22, 2020

by Jane Arraf

The Saleh family lost four young children in a fire that broke out in their tent in June, when the parents were working in farm fields. Syrian refugees make up about 70% of Jordan's farm workers.

A medic checks the temperature of a Syrian worshipper before entering the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus to attend Friday prayer on May 15. To try to slow the coronavirus outbreak, the Syrian government has banned mass prayers and asked Syrians to stay home o

Syria Is Overwhelmed By Coronavirus As Govt Conceals Outbreak, Health Worker Says

4:37pm July 31, 2020

Medical workers in and outside the country say there's a lack of medicine and tests.

Syrian Oscar-nominated filmmaker Feras Fayyad answers journalists' questions outside a courtroom during a break in a trial against two Syrian defendants accused of state-sponsored torture in Syria, on April 23, in Koblenz, Germany.

World News

Syrian Filmmaker Speaks Out On Torture: 'I Was Holding This Pain For A Long Time'

2:33pm July 01, 2020

by Deborah Amos

Oscar-nominated documentary maker Feras Fayyad delivered the first witness testimony in a crimes against humanity trial against a former Syrian government official in Germany.

An employee of a Syrian pharmaceutical factory works on the production line of the hydroxychloroquine drug on April 28, in the government-controlled city of Homs.

Factories In Syria Ramp Up Production Of Hydroxychloroquine Amid Soaring Demand

2:01pm May 11, 2020

by Ruth Sherlock

"Hydroxychloroquine is included in the [Syrian] national case management guidelines for COVID-19," though there's no evidence that it's effective, a World Health Organization representative tells NPR.

In a courtroom in the western German city of Koblenz, a former high-ranking Syrian intelligence officer, charged with crimes against humanity, will go to trial on Thursday.

World News

Suspects In Syrian Crimes Against Humanity Trial Will Face Accusers In German Court

4:13pm April 22, 2020

by Deborah Amos

In a first, Syrian witnesses and plaintiffs, some of whom survived torture in a Damascus prison, will see a former high-ranking Syrian official in court on charges of crimes against humanity.

Queue Listen Now

A soldier holds his hands up trying to tell the children he is out of lollipops. Kurdish refugees are streaming in to Tal Tamr and nearby villages in Syria.

In Tal Tamr, Syrian Kurds Seek Safety And Shelter From Turkish Attacks

5:00am April 15, 2020

Dozens of Kurdish families fled to the northeast Syrian village of Tal Tamr last fall, escaping a Turkish invasion. U.S. forces help provide some security, but the families face an uncertain future.

1st Lt. Shelby Koontz and Rumi meet after her overnight shift ends. They sit for a scratch session next to the dog house that the soldiers built for Rumi on base.

'Raccoon Dog' Wandered Onto Army Base In Syria And Helped Center Soldier

5:34am April 10, 2020

by Marisa Peñaloza

When Rumi wandered onto a military base in Syria, 1st Lt. Shelby Koontz took her in. She didn't want to abandon Rumi when her deployment ended, so Koontz used social media to find her a forever home.

Capt. Alex Quataert points out the areas the soldiers are visiting on the map.

U.S. Forces In Syria Tackle A More Complex — And Possibly Dangerous — Mission

4:59pm March 26, 2020

American soldiers are helping secure oil fields in northeast Syria — not only from ISIS extremists, but from Syria and Russia as well. It's a relatively new mission for these troops.