A series of local truce deals in and around Damascus between the Syrian regime and rebel forces are being used for short-term political gain and are likely to be short-lived, opposition sources predict. The truces, struck in the key rebel-held areas of Yarmouk,...

  They arrived with bulldozers and ordered him to leave. When the Syrian restaurant owner asked why, he was threatened with detention. The security forces that had arrived unannounced that morning denied him permission to remove anything from the shop his...

There is reason for pessimism about this week’s conference in Geneva on the Syrian civil war. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has shown that he cannot be dislodged through force, and the rebels insist that they have no interest in any plan that does not involve his immediate departure...

  Al Salam Mosque in the northern Damascus district of Barzeh opened its doors and people started to hear Athan after 11 months of siege since the truce between rebels and Assad regime entered into force this week. Rebels of Barzeh have agreed a local ceasefire with the regime...