Global Conflict Tracker
← Back to Conflict

Latest News

Conflict in Syria

Russian Military Enters Rebel Enclave in Southwest Syria

  • A Russian military delegation entered into a rebel-held enclave in Deraa today, to begin negotiations for handing over control of the city to the Syrian regime (Reuters)

Syria Accuses Israel of Attacking Air Force Base

  • Syria’s state media said military air defenses thwarted an Israeli missile attack against an airbase near Homs that is known to host Iranian forces (Haaretz)
  • Separately, coalition forces continue to target the Islamic State, conducting twenty-two air strikes across Syria last week (U.S. Central Command)

Syrian Government Assault on Southwest Resumes

  • Talks between Syrian rebels and Russian intermediaries collapsed yesterday, leading to a resumption of intense airstrikes by Syrian and Russian warplanes on rebel-held territory across the south of the country. The UN said 60,000 displaced people have gathered at the border crossing with Jordan, and that an estimated 320,000 have been displaced in recent weeks (Reuters)

Jordan to Hold Talks with Russia Over Ceasefire in Southwestern Syria

  • Jordan’s foreign minister said his country will host talks with Russia this week over a ceasefire in southwestern Syria. The UN said today that at least 270,000 people have been displaced in the recent government offensive (Reuters)
  • Separately, rebels in Bosra al-Sham in Syria’s southern Deraa province have surrendered to forces loyal to President Assad, according to state media (Al Jazeera)

Syrian Refugees Flee Bombardment Near Israeli Border

  • The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it delivered aid overnight to several thousand Syrian refugees who have fled a government-led offensive in the south to camps in the Golan Heights. The IDF has said it will not allow Syrian refugees to cross over the border, citing national security concerns (Haaretz)
  • An estimated 120,000 people have been displaced since the Syrian offensive began last week (Reuters)

Death Toll Doubles in Southwest Syria Offensive

  • Air strikes yesterday and today killed at least forty-six people in rebel-held parts of Deraa province, bringing the death toll to ninety-three people since the government began its assault in southwest Syria last week (Reuters)

Syrian Air Strikes Hit Hospitals Inside De-Escalation Zone

  • A monitoring group reported that three hospitals inside rebel-held territory were hit by air strikes overnight as the government continues an offensive to retake territory that also includes dropping barrel bombs and shelling towns (Agence France-Presse)
  • Separately, the United States continues to target the Islamic State, conducting thirty-five air strikes across Syria and Iraq last week (U.S. Central Command)

Tens of Thousands Flee Syrian Government Assault

  • Some forty-five thousand civilians have fled a government-led assault in southwestern Syria, near the Israeli and Jordanian borders, as a cease-fire brokered by the United States, Jordan, and Russia breaks down (Al Jazeera)
  • Up to two hundred thousand people could flee the region, according to the United Nations (IRIN)

Russia Strikes Southwestern Syria Despite Pact

  • Washington had warned against violations of a cease-fire brokered by Russia, Jordan, and the United States, but also reportedly told rebel groups that they should not base their battlefield decisions “on the assumption or expectation of a military intervention.” Russian airstrikes hit an opposition-held town in southwest Syria over the weekend (Reuters)

UN Says War Crimes Committed in Eastern Ghouta

  • UN investigators accuse government-backed forces of likely crimes against humanity, including the deliberate starvation of civilians, during the government’s five-year siege of the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta (Agence France-Presse)
  • The report detailing their investigation reportedly omits details on chemical attacks this year included in earlier drafts (New York Times)

Syrian Army Escalates Shelling of Rebel-Held Territory in Southwest

  • The Syrian army stepped up attacks of opposition-held territory in the southwest as it prepares for a campaign to regain the area bordering Jordan and the Golan Heights (Reuters)

Foreign Representatives Discuss New Syrian Constitution

  • Russian, Iranian, and Turkish envoys are meeting in Geneva, under UN auspices, alongside Syrian opposition representatives to discuss setting up a committee that would draft a new constitution (Al Jazeera)

Syrian Army Shells Town in De-Escalation Zone

  • The Syrian military and allied forces bombarded towns in the southwestern Deraa region, killing at least six people. The attacks on areas inside the so-called de-escalation zone come as the Assad regime reportedly prepares an assault to take back the territory bordering Jordan and Israel (Reuters)

UN Calls for Probe Into Suspected Russian Strikes in Syria

  • At least forty-seven civilians, including a first responder, were reportedly killed in an attack last week on the rebel-held town of Zardana, north of Idlib. Moscow said the reports on the strikes have “nothing to do with reality” (BBC)

Syrian Government Claims Control Over Capital

  • The Syrian military said it now has full control over the city of Damascus after ousting militants from the Islamic State from a Palestinian refugee camp outside the city and two nearby neighborhoods (Voice of America)

Syrian Regime Pushes to Retake Islamic State Enclave Outside Damascus

  • Syrian government forces over the weekend fought to retake the last remaining pockets of territory held by the Islamic State near Damascus, battling the militants in an enclave south of the capital (Reuters)

Assad Meets With Putin in Sochi

  • Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made a surprise visit to the Russian city to discuss terrorism, a political settlement to the Syrian crisis, and rebuilding the Syrian economy with Russian President Vladimir Putin (TASS)
  • Putin told his Syrian counterpart he expects “foreign armed forces” to withdraw from Syria following a political settlement, though it was unclear to which forces he was referring (New York Times)

Israel Strikes Iranian Forces in Syria

  • Israel launched a major attack on Iranian forces in Syria, the Israeli military said today after alleging that Iran’s Quds Force attacked Israeli military positions in the Golan Heights. Israel’s defense minister said the Iranian missiles either fell short of their targets or were successfully intercepted (Reuters) and claimed the counterattack “hit almost all of the Iranian infrastructure in Syria” (Reuters)
  • There were no injuries reported among Israeli positions, though explosions were heard throughout last night (Washington Post)

Conflicting Reports of Israeli Missile Strike in Syria

  • Syrian state media reported that the Air Defense Forces intercepted two Israeli missiles targeting the Damascus countryside yesterday and that two people were killed in an explosion, while a monitoring group said that the missiles hit an Iranian weapons depot and killed fifteen pro-government fighters (BBC)

Syria Rescue Groups Says U.S. Has Halted Funding

  • The White Helmets, a volunteer rescue organization in Syria, said it has not received money in weeks from the U.S. government, which supplies a third of its funds. The State Department said its support is “under active review” (CBS)

U.S., Allies Renew Fight Against Islamic State in Syria

  • The U.S. State Department announced yesterday that the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) will begin an offensive to oust militants from the Islamic State from the country’s northeast. Operations in the region stalled after SDF fighters left to join Kurdish forces in Afrin fighting Turkish troops earlier this year (Hill)

Sixteen Dead in Syria Strikes Targeting Iranian Bases

  • Missile strikes hit bases used by Iran and its proxies in the city of Hama and close to Aleppo, in the northwest, according to a UK-based monitoring group. No group has claimed the attacks, though Syria and Russia have blamed Israel for bombings of other Iranian targets in the country (New York Times)

Millions of Syrians at Risk of Losing Homes

  • A new property law in Syria stipulates that citizens who have fled the country must return by May to claim their homes or risk forfeiting the residences to the state, raising fears that refugees and opponents of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime could face permanent exile (Guardian)

International Donors Pledge $4.4 Billion for Syria

  • The pledges at a Brussels conference earlier this week fell short of the $7 billion sought by the United Nations. The total does not yet include a commitment from the United States, which has been providing more than $1 billion annually in recent years to address the Syrian humanitarian crisis (Voice of America)

Inspectors Enter Suspected Attack Site in Syria

  • International chemical weapons inspectors reached the city of Douma, the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack by the Syrian regime, nearly two weeks after the attack was reported. Experts say the team could likely still detect if such an attack took place, though evidence could have been tampered with over that time (NBC)