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Inside Zabadani’s Two-Hour, Makeshift School
More than 2 million Syrian children have lost all access to education. In southwest Rif Damashq, one principal is looking to change things.
Articles
Features, analysis and in-depth coverage from Syria Deeply’s network of on-the-ground and remote correspondents and individual voices from Syria.
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- War Economy
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Conversations: An Aleppo Auto King, Now Selling Street Food
In Aleppo, Sako, 60, owned an auto-repair business that employed 15 workers. Now the Syrian-Armenian, one of 11,000 to settle in Yerevan since the conflict began, rents and operates a small falafel and shwarma stand in the center of town.
- Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces
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With Election of a New President, Syria’s Opposition Is at a Crossroads
Experts weigh in on the group’s current power, its future potential on the ground and the challenges facing al-Bahra as he takes the reins.
- Civil Society
- Articles
- Forum
Across Syria, Sectarian Differences Threaten Once Unshakeable Family Ties
Across Syria, couples from different sects or with opposing political views are seeing their once strong family ties begin to fray.
- Health
- Human Rights
- Articles
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Syria ER: Running a Hospital in a Village Under Siege
Like other besieged villages, Zabadani has been closed off from the outside world – and from any medical assistance.
- Government & Pro-Government Forces
- Articles
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Assad’s New Siege of Aleppo Is Poised to Knock Out Rebel Forces
Why the regime’s new push in the city could signal the end for the moderate opposition.
- Civil Society
- Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces
- Articles
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Syrian Women Take on New Roles, Call for Political Voice
Syrian women are running households, working jobs traditionall held by men, even picking up arms. But many say they are still marginalized on the political stage.
- Health
- Human Rights
- Articles
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The Christian Science Monitor: How Webcams in Syria’s Bombarded Hospitals Offer a Lifeline for War Victims
Syrian regime forces have allegedly targeted hospitals as a weapon of war, and doctors and nurses have fled the fighting. Telemedicine offers a way to guide treatment of patients in intensive care.
- Government & Pro-Government Forces
- Articles
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Pardoned by Assad, After a Long Tale of Detention
Many of the thousands of detainees released from government prisons after the president declared a general amnesty last month now fear re-arrest. Here, one man shares his story.
- Civil Society
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Institute for War and Peace Reporting: Civil Defense Comes Under Fire in Aleppo
Rescue workers, known in Syria as civil defense forces, face a lack of resources and staff in opposition-controlled parts of Aleppo.
- Human Rights
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How the Crisis in Iraq Is Straining Aid Distribution in Syria
Aid needed by hundreds of thousands of newly internally displaced Iraqis threatens to overshadow those of Syrian refugees in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.
- ISIS
- Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces
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The Christian Science Monitor: Suicide Bombers Bring Iraq Conflict Ever Closer to Lebanon
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) may be activating sleeper cells in Lebanon, which fears further spillover from wars in Iraq and Syria. Three bombers have struck over the last week.
- ISIS
- Articles
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Outrage in Raqqa as ISIS Issues Fatwa to Cut Power During Ramadan
As the holy month commences, the extremist group is clamping down further on its Syrian stronghold.
- Human Rights
- Articles
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As July Begins, Aid Groups Say Water Shortages Have Reached Critical Levels
An approaching drought and a water infrastructure largely destroyed by fighting are contributing to further internal displacement, illness and a sanitation crisis.
- ISIS
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ISIS Recruits and Lures Children to Specialized Fighting Camps in Raqqa
Residents say the group is training young boys and teenagers in the ways of both its laws and fighting methods.
- Human Rights
- ISIS
- Articles
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As Various Actors Circle Iraq, ISIS Faces Foreign Foes
We look at the prospects of foreign intervention to check ISIS, particularly the chances that the U.S. will get further involved.
- Government & Pro-Government Forces
- Articles
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On the Streets of Damascus, Child Beggars Become a Familiar Sight
Alaa begs on a downtown bridge, Rania makes $1.50 on an average day from passersby and Mohammed asks for change alongside his handicapped father. In each case, they are responsible for a family’s financial survival.
- ISIS
- Articles
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How the ISIS Declaration of a Caliphate Will Impact Its Status on the Ground
Our experts analyze why the move to become the Islamic State is significant – and whether anyone will take al-Baghdadi seriously as caliph.
- ISIS
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As ISIS Looks Deeper into Deir Ezzor, Nusra Remains Formidable Opponent
We examine the potential for further collaboration between the two, their strengths and whether ISIS will be able to bring Jabhat al-Nusra and other factions under its umbrella – creating one cohesive unit.
- Civil Society
- ISIS
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My Syrian Diary: A First Love Broken By War
Marah lives in a city under siege. She was 15 years old when the uprising began. This is the tenth in her series of memoirs of living in the midst of Syria’s war.
- Government & Pro-Government Forces
- Articles
- Forum
As Syrian Regime Strikes ISIS, Analysts Debate What Comes Next
As reports emerged that ISIS has been gaining recruits from Jabhat al-Nusra and other extremist groups, concern spread in Damascus that its power could grow faster than expected – possibly requiring intervention.
- Diplomacy & Foreign Affairs
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Hezbollah, Losing Support for Its Syrian Involvement, Weighs Action Against ISIS in Iraq
Though Hassan Nasrallah says he’s willing to “sacrifice for Iraq five times as much as we sacrificed in Syria,” his group’s Shiite support base views the fight against ISIS as a tangent.
- Arts & Culture
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Matchmaking Services Replace Dating in Wartime
In rural Idlib, marriage offices are fixing people up – but some say they’re exploiting the institution of marriage for wartime financial gain.
- Government & Pro-Government Forces
- Human Rights
- Articles
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Ducking Barrel Bombs in Aleppo, Syrian Rebels Turn to Tunneling
Above ground, rebels are exposed to Bashar al-Assad’s superior military power. But they say they are safe in tunnels and can travel through them freely, without fear of regime bombs and snipers.
- Government & Pro-Government Forces
- ISIS
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Syria’s Chemical Weapons: What Happens Next?
As the OPCW declares that Assad’s chemicals have been removed and the U.S. claims a policy victory, experts caution that Syria’s government could be retaining parts of its cache – not to mention chlorine.
- ISIS
- Articles
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ISIS, Extremists And Syria’s Internally Displaced
At War on the Rocks, Karen Leigh and Nathaniel Rosenblatt look at how Syria’s growing IDP crisis could lead to a proliferation of extremism.
- Diplomacy & Foreign Affairs
- Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces
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Israel Fires Back at Syrian Army Posts in ‘Significant’ Escalation Along Golan
Our experts weigh in on why this weekend’s attack signals a change in tensions between Syria and its Israeli neighbors.
- Human Rights
- ISIS
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Week in Review: In the Wake of ISIS, Everything in Syria Stands to Get Worse
To give you an overview of the latest news this week, we’ve organized the latest Syrian developments in a curated summary.
- Civil Society
- Religious & Ethnic Groups
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My Syrian Diary: Even Those Who Are Here Are Gone
Marah lives in a city under siege. She was 15 years old when the uprising began. This is the ninth in her series of memoirs of living in the midst of Syria’s war.
- Human Rights
- Articles
- Forum
HRW Reports Abuses in Syria’s Kurdish Northeast
The group says the PYD, which operates autonomously in three cantons, has been recruiting child soldiers and detaining those who oppose its authority.
- Diplomacy & Foreign Affairs
- Human Rights
- Articles
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One Year After a Massacre in al-Bayda, Residents Remain in Exile
Living on farms in the mountains near the village, they say they’re still too scared to return home.
- ISIS
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Iraq, Syria, and ISIS: Analysts Weigh in on What It All Means
Experts from CSIS, the Brookings Institute, Inegma and Uticensis Risk on how the group’s Iraq offensive – and any Iranian involvement – will impact Syria’s war.
- Human Rights
- Articles
- Forum
Child Slavery on the Rise: A Syrian Mother Speaks of Her Son, Sold Into Battle
The trafficking of young men as soldiers is on the rise. One mother who thought her 16-year-old was being taken to find medical treatment – until she saw a photo of him in uniform.
- Government & Pro-Government Forces
- ISIS
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Christian Science Monitor: Why ISIS Gains in Iraq are Reshaping Syrian Regime’s War Strategy
Syria’s regime has relied on Shiite fighters to claw back territory from rebels. A draw down of Iraqi Shiites to defend the homeland from ISIS militants puts more strain on Hezbollah.
- ISIS
- Articles
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Hopes of Freedom Fade in ISIS-Held Syrian City
As the extremist group makes advances in Iraq, residents of Raqqa, its Syrian stronghold, say life under its rule is harsh – with no end in sight.
- Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces
- Articles
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The Christian Science Monitor: New Jihadi Recruitment Tool: Militants’ Instagram Accounts
By chronicling their time in Syria on Twitter, Instagram, and other websites, extremists are able to indoctrinate young Western Muslims to their cause in a new way.
- Human Rights
- Religious & Ethnic Groups
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Syrian Kurds Mobilize as ISIS Moves Weapons into Deir Ezzor
YPG fighters weigh their options, including a Kurdish coalition and cooperation with the Nusra Front, ahead of ISIS’s likely advance through eastern Syria.
- Civil Society
- ISIS
- Articles
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Syria Diary Part 8: My Trip to Damascus
As part of a collaboration between Syria Deeply and Rookie, we’re publishing the memoirs of a teenage girl living in the midst of Syria’s war. Marah, as she’s chosen to be known, lives in a city under siege. She was 15 years old when the uprising began. This is the eighth in her series of articles.
- Government & Pro-Government Forces
- Articles
- Forum
Week in Review: Top Takeaways from a Week of Turmoil
To give you an overview of the latest news this week, we’ve organized the latest Syrian developments in a curated summary.
- Human Rights
- Articles
- Forum
Humanitarian Aid Groups Face “An Emergency Within the Emergency”
Will humanitarian organizations be forced to divert aid earmarked for Syria to Iraq’s new refugee crisis?