Hezbollah has been “instrumental” in keeping Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in power, a report on the Iranian propaganda network PressTV asserted Friday. “Hezbollah has of course given many martyrs to protect Syria and Hezbollah has been very instrumental, even before Russia got involved into equation,” commentator Shabbir Hassanally told the...

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The recent influx of Iran-backed Iraqi Shiite militias into Syria has helped tilt the fight for Aleppo in favor of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, and possibly portends the emergence of the militias as “a larger, externally focused force” throughout the Middle East, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The Iraqi Shiite militia al-Nujaba,...

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The leader of a coalition of Sunni rebels fighting against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad expressed that his group, which includes Islamists, has no desire to go to war with Israel, Eli Lake of Bloomberg View reported Thursday. Mohammed Alloush, the political leader of Jaish al-Islam, which translates to “Army of Islam,” which...

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Thousands of Iran-backed Shiite troops are massing in northern Syria for a battle to take the rebel-held eastern part of Aleppo, The Guardian reported Thursday. Around 5,000 of the estimated 6,000 fighters come from countries outside Syria, such as Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Most of the troops’ commanders are Shiites devoted to...

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Residents in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo said that they had been attacked by barrel bombs dropped by a government helicopter less than hour after a ceasefire went into effect, The New York Times reported Monday. A rebel group in the southern province of Dara’a also claimed to have killed...

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Seventy-three Syrian aid groups have suspended their cooperation with the United Nations because of what they characterized as the world body’s “complacency” to the Syrian government’s “deliberate manipulation” of aid, The New York Times reported Thursday. The organizations announced their decision in a letter to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the...

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U.S. and European officials have expressed concerns about Syria’s chemical weapons program after a watchdog revealed that it found traces of deadly nerve agents at sites that were not previously declared by the Damascus regime. The director-general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ahmet Uzumcu, wrote in a summary...

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The bombing of four hospitals by the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad “could amount to war crimes,” UNICEF said in a statement on Tuesday. Four hospitals and a blood bank in the rebel-held eastern part of Aleppo were hit by airstrikes on Sunday and Monday, disrupting facilities that provide “key life-saving health services for...

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As the White House moves towards deeper coordination with the Russian military and intelligence agencies backing Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, members of Congress are being urged to support bipartisan legislation that would impose new sanctions upon the Damascus regime. Writing in The Washington Post, Josh Rogin reports: On Thursday, the House Foreign...

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Syrian regime forces cut off the last road into rebel-held areas of Aleppo on Thursday, effectively laying siege to eastern portions of the city just a day after the Syrian army announced a 72-hour ceasefire, Reuters reported. “Currently nobody can get in or out of Aleppo,” said Zakaria Malahifji, a senior official...

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