Russia has started flying surveillance missions with drone aircraft in Syria, two U.S. officials said Monday, in what appeared to be Moscow's first military air operations in Syria since staging a rapid buildup at an airfield there. The U.S. officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of...

Rebels who have inflicted big losses on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad say Russia's intervention in support of its ally will only lead to an escalation of the war and may encourage the rebels' Gulf Arab backers to pour in more military aid. Russia's deployment is prompting a...

Among the tens of thousands fleeing war and despair in the Middle East, one group feels a special relief in reaching Europe: those who have escaped areas ruled by Islamic State extremists and the harsh scrutiny of their religious police. These refugees tell of how a Western-style...

Seventy-five Syrian rebels trained to fight jihadists under a beleaguered US programme have crossed from Turkey into northern Syria, a US-backed rebel faction and a monitoring group said Sunday. "Seventy-five new fighters trained in a camp near the Turkish capital entered Aleppo province...