The Syrian government has interrogated students and carried out violent assaults on their protests and military attacks on schools, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.Both government forces and opposition armed groups have used schools as military bases,...

The capture of Qusair by Syrian troops spearheaded by Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi'ite Islamist militia, risks turning the war in  Syria  into a wider sectarian battle between Sunni and Shi'ite forces that will sweep through the country's neighbors. The fall of the town after...

Some 200 Russian Islamists who back North Caucasus insurgents are fighting in Syria for Al-Qaeda, the head of the Russian security service (FSB) said Thursday, Russian news agencies reported.   "The fact that around 200 fighters from Russia are fighting on the side of the Caucasus...

The capture by Syrian pro-government forces of the strategic Qusayr region is a major victory for President Bashar al-Assad, who is now better placed than ever if a US-Russian plan for peace talks materialises. The nearly three-week battle for Qusayr in central Syria exposed the central role...