Syria
Syrian army secures Islamic State-held town in Homs province: state media
BEIRUT Syrian government forces seized full control of the last major town in Homs province held by Islamic State, Syrian state media reported on Saturday, as the army and its allies press a multi-pronged advance into eastern areas held by the jihadist group.
Hezbollah steers Lebanon closer to Syria, straining efforts to stay neutral
BEIRUT Hezbollah and its allies are pressing the Lebanese state to normalize relations with President Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria, testing Lebanon's policy of "dissociation" from the Syrian conflict and igniting a political row.
Syrian rebels to pull out of Lebanon border enclave
BEIRUT Fighters from Saraya Ahl al-Sham, a Syrian rebel group, will start on Saturday to pull out of an enclave in Lebanon on the border with Syria along with some civilians, a senior Lebanese security official said on Friday.
German court sentences three Syrian smugglers over migrant deaths
TRAUNSTEIN, GERMANY A German court sentenced three Syrian men on Friday for running a smuggling ring from Turkey to Europe over the deaths of 13 migrants in the Mediterranean two years ago.
More Syrians returning home, still outnumbered by fresh displacements: U.N.
GENEVA More than 600,000 Syrians returned to their homes in the first seven months of this year, nearly as many as in all of 2016, but they are still outnumbered by those freshly displaced, the U.N. migration agency said on Friday.
Militants trapped in Raqqa center but Syrian Kurd commander sees long battle
RAQQA, Syria U.S.-backed forces now have Islamic State fighters surrounded in central Raqqa, a Syrian Kurdish commander said, but he predicted that driving the militants out could take up to four months. | Video
Syrian army gains ground on Jordan border in southwest
BEIRUT/AMMAN The Syrian army and its allies seized control of at least 30 km (19 miles) of Syria's border with Jordan from rebels in an attack on Thursday, two rebel groups and a Syrian military source said.
Former Syrian rebels flee, hide from army conscription
BEIRUT After fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for six years, rebel soldier Abu Mohammed laid down his arms as part of a peace deal in his home town of Moadamiya last year.
Women recruits prepare to join Syria's Raqqa battle
HASAKA, Syria Women fighters danced to Kurdish songs in a village in northern Syria on Wednesday after completing their military training to join the battle against Islamic State.
U.S. denies bombing Iraqi Shi'ite militia near Syrian border
BAGHDAD The U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State on Tuesday denied responsibility for an attack near the Syrian border which killed dozens of members of an Iraqi Shi'ite militia and, that group said, several of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.
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Syrian Kurd commander sees long battle in Raqqa
U.S.-backed forces now have Islamic State fighters surrounded in central Raqqa, a Syrian Kurdish commander said, but he predicted that driving the militants out could take up to four months.