Syrian government forces are waging a systematic campaign of enforced disappearances to terrorise the population, amounting to a crime against humanity, a UN-mandated probe said Thursday. "Enforced disappearances are perpetrated as part of a widespread campaign of terror against the...

  The al Qaeda-affiliated groups in Syria have started working with crime syndicates and racketeering thugs for kidnappings, arms-smuggling, and widespread looting. Syria’s insurgent militias are becoming ever more enmeshed with organized crime, blurring the line...

 Deadly twin blasts in Lebanon's capital Beirut Tuesday claimed 23 lives, including that of an Iranian diplomat, and injured 146, with an Al Qaeda-aligned group claiming responsibility. Ali Hassan Khalil, Lebanon's caretaker health minister, said that the toll from the blast,...

Over the last few weeks, the growing plight of Syria’s civilian population has drawn belated international attention to the country’s failing health system. In late October, in the eastern part of the country, the World Health Organization confirmed an outbreak of polio—a highly...