Sham News has  published an interview  with the deputy Amir of Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar, Abdul Karim Krymsky, a Crimean Tatar, in which he criticizes the Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham for their behavior towards people in Aleppo. Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar is led...

In another split among Chechen jihadists in Syria, at least one member of the jamaat (group) formerly led by Chechen jihadi Sayfullakh Shishani (pictured) — the commander killed last month in the insurgent attack on Aleppo Central Prison — has said he is leaving to join another jamaat,...

Syria has relinquished about a third of its chemical weapons for destruction abroad, The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague said. According to Reuters, the watchdog said Damascus has handed over six consignments of the toxic agents it declared as part of...

“12 member of my family, with many others were on a small old boat, in their frightening journey via Mediterranean sea to Italy” Hosam said. He explained that their journey cost them $3500 for sea trip plus $2000 for land journey in Europe, each. Usually the...

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday berated an Islamic cleric he accuses of plotting to wreck his government, as more voice recordings apparently intended to embarrass the Turkish leader were aired on the Internet. Erdogan is locked in a power struggle with U.S.-based Turkish...

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday directly urged Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and to "abandon the fantasy" of flooding Israel with refugees. But his remarks sparked a furious reaction from the Palestinians who denounced his demand...

 US President Barack Obama on Tuesday said Russia was not "fooling anybody" over the crisis in Ukraine after Vladimir Putin denied Russian forces were operating on the flashpoint Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. Pro-Kremlin forces are in de facto control of the strategically...

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a Syria-based Islamist militant group, has imposed strict rules in Syria’s northern city of Raqqah, after gaining complete control in the beginning of this year. Rules established by ISIS in a statement released by the group last year include...

Egypt's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared Tuesday he cannot ignore demands that he run for president, in a looming election his supporters say he is certain to win. He emerged as Egypt's most popular leader after overthrowing Mubarak's successor, Islamist president Mohamed...

A Russian surveillance plane flew near Turkey’s Black Sea coast on Tuesday prompting the Turkish Air Force to scramble eight F-16 fighter jets, amid increased tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine. The incident occurred on Monday and the Russian plane remained in international...

It was cold and dark in the psychiatrist's office in downtown Damascus. The electricity had just gone out, a regular occurrence these days in the Syrian capital, and he wore a jacket and scarf for warmth. Patients used the light from their mobile phones to climb a narrow staircase up...

Vitaly Churkin, Russia's envoy to the UN, has told an emergency meeting of the Security Council that Viktor Yanukovich, Ukraine's ousted president, requested Russia's armed forces to enter Ukraine and establish law and order. Reading a statement on Monday he said...

   Syrian rebels have ambushed forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad near the rebel-held Yabrud, leaving 75 dead, pro-opposition activists said on Tuesday. Qalamoun Media Center said more than 350 soldiers, mostly from Republican Guards, have been killed since...

Syrian helicopters dropped explosives-packed barrels near rebel-held Yabrud on Tuesday, a monitoring group said, nearly three weeks into a major offensive targeting the strategic town near the Lebanese border. The strikes come a day after at least 15 rebels were killed fighting in the...

Russia  paid a heavy financial price on Monday for its military intervention in neighboring Ukraine, with  stocks ,  bonds and the ruble plunging as President Vladimir Putin's forces tightened their grip on the Russian-speaking Crimea region. The Moscow stock...

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops that took part in military exercises this week to return to base, Russian news agencies quoted the Kremlin spokesman as saying, according to Reuters news agency The military exercises, which Moscow denied were linked to events in Ukraine,...

FOR FIVE YEARS, President Obama has led a foreign policy based more on how he thinks the world should operate than on reality. It was  a world in which  “ the tide of war is receding ” and the United States could, without much risk, radically reduce the size of its armed forces. Other...

FiSyria, the website close to the Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham’s Chechen military Amir Umar Shishani, has posted a Russian-subtitled video in which an ISIS fighter talks about outreach and conflict with insurgent factions in Syria: It is not clear exactly when the video was...

Even as it is proclaiming a political strategy of “reconciliation” through local truces and aid to civilians, the Assad regime has renewed its long-standing siege on the Damascus suburb of Moadamiya. Activists said that the Syrian military is demanding that Free Syrian Army fighters...

Friends of mine who just came from Damascus described how the city transformed into a ghost city, and how depressing it is to walk in its up-scaled residential areas such as Abu Romana , Al Malki, which have become dark and empty of its people . Even though these areas...