(The New York Times)- When the World Health Organization wanted to know how the war in Syria was affecting the mental health of those forced to flee their homes, the agency hired someone known less for her expertise than for her connections: The consultant, Shukria Mekdad, is the wife of Faisal...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian and Russian warplanes have carried out at least 30 raids on the northern countryside of Homs province, targeting rebel-held areas by internationally banned bombs, activists said Thursday, 48 hours before the provisional planned ceasefire takes into effect. An Ahrar...

Syria's state-run news agency and an opposition monitoring group say regime troops have recaptured a town in Aleppo province from ISIS militants. The victory is key for Syria's military access to the provincial capital, Aleppo city. SANA says the army took the town of Khanaser on Thursday,...

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that a recent deal to halt hostilities in Syria does not bind Turkey. "All must know that this ceasefire is only valid for Syria and the warring sides in the country. If any of them poses a threat to Turkey's security, it becomes non-binding for us,"...

  (Zaman Al Wasl)- The Kurdish autonomous administration banned Arab displaced families from entering territory it controls in northern Hasakah province as a top Kurdish official demands the U.N. to endorse a plan making Kurdish-held areas a safe zone. The self-management forces,...

The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, like Islamic State, seeks to divide Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday, adding that the country's territorial integrity must be preserved. "The aim of the PYD and YPG is clear, just like Daesh they want to divide...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Bashar al-Assad dismissed on Wednesday the head of military intelligence in central Homs province, appointing a war-crime perpetrator instead after an ISIS double car bombings killed about 60 people on Sunday. Al-Assad has appointed General. Hassan Da'bool instead of General....

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syria's main opposition grouping said Wednesday it would respect a provisional ceasefire in Syria "for two weeks", ahead of the proposed start of the truce this weekend. "The High Negotiations Committee believes a provisional truce for two weeks would provide a chance to...

 A powerful Islamist rebel faction has claimed it bombed a gathering of Russian officers near Syria’s Latakia on February 21, the same day reports emerged of a mystery blast in the area. Ahrar al-Sham announced Wednesday afternoon that it conducted a special operation alongside the...

The United Nations on Wednesday carried out its first humanitarian airdrop in Syria to reach thousands of people facing severe food shortages in a city besieged by Islamic State jihadists. "Earlier this morning, a WFP plane dropped the first cargo of 21 tonnes of items into...

 (Zaman Al Wasl- Reuters)- The Syrian army and Islamic State militants waged fierce battles on Wednesday around Khanaser, a strategic town southeast of Aleppo, where an attack by the jihadist group has cut the main land route to the city during three days of fighting. A regime military...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- The Tribes Army, or Jaysh al-Ashaer, rebel group operation in northeastern Syria, has joined a Kurdish-led alliance that backed by the United States and Russia, source told Zaman al-Wasl on Wednesday. As the Syrian Democratic Forces press more gains west and east Syria, taking...

The outlawed PKK’s Syrian affiliate PYD has been committing war crimes in the areas it captured in Syria by forcing people to migrate, said a report issued by the Turkey-based Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) on Tuesday. According to the report, the PYD terrorist...

The government of  Bashar al-Assad and rebel groups accepted a plan for a cessation of hostilities to begin on Saturday and the United States warned it would be hard to hold the country together if the fighting did not stop. With hostilities reported on several fronts,...

Islamic State fighters have tightened their grip on a Syrian regime supply route to Aleppo on Tuesday as the army battled to retake the road as part of its campaign to seize the city, Reuters reported. The Islamic State assault has targeted a desert road which the...

The Syrian regime said on Tuesday it accepted a halt to "combat operations" that does not include the Islamic State group, the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, or groups connected to it, in line with a U.S.-Russian plan. It said it would coordinate with Russia to decide which groups and areas...

 Syrian regime says accepts halt to combat operations on basis that military efforts continue against ISIS, Nusra: statement

The United States and Russia announced plans for a "cessation of hostilities" in Syria that would take effect on Saturday but exclude groups such as Islamic State and al Qaeda's Nusra Front, a loophole Syrian rebels immediately highlighted as a problem. Monday's agreement,...

Islamic State attacked the Syrian government's main supply route from Damascus to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Monday, a day after the group targeted Damascus and Homs in some of the bloodiest car bomb attacks of the war. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighting and air...

 ISIS Monday released the last of some 230 Assyrian Christians kidnapped a year ago in Syria after the receiving millions of dollars in ransom, Christian officials said. Younan Talia, of the Assyrian Democratic Organization, told The Associated Press that about 40 remaining Christian...