Syria’s new president has spoken often about the urgency of merging the many armed groups that fought to topple the strongman Bashar al-Assad into a unified national army. But the spasm of violence that erupted this month in northwestern Syria,…

Syria’s new president has spoken often about the urgency of merging the many armed groups that fought to topple the strongman Bashar al-Assad into a unified national army. But the spasm of violence that erupted this month in northwestern Syria,…
Armed groups and foreign fighters linked to the government but not yet integrated into it were primarily responsible for sectarian massacres in Syria’s coastal region over the past week, a war monitoring group said in a new report. The U.S.…
Gunmen attacked a position held by Syrian security forces in Damascus overnight, a war monitor said on Monday, raising fears that the deadly violence sweeping Syria’s coastal region could spread to other parts of the country. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory…
Most of the civilians killed in the recent clashes were Alawites, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has monitored the Syrian conflict since 2011. Who are the Assad loyalists taking up arms? There does not yet…
Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Shara, appealed on Sunday for calm and for unity as he moved to reassure the nation after days of clashes that a monitoring group said had killed hundreds of people. “We must preserve national unity and…
Three days of clashes between forces from Syria’s new government and fighters loyal to the ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad have killed more than 300 civilians and scores of combatants from both sides, a war monitoring group said on Saturday. The…
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, has reported attacks on Alawite civilians, frequently by unknown gunmen. The country’s new rulers have pledged to bring all armed groups under the state’s control, but the security situation remains…