- Displacement
- War Economy
- Articles
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Syrian Women Face Backbreaking Labor, Exhaustion as They Enter the Job Market
Women are taking on jobs traditionally held by men – but at a physical and emotional cost.
In-depth
Forum
- Human Rights
- ISIS
- Articles
- Forum
In Deir Ezzor, ISIS Divides and Conquers Rebel Groups
Armed with weapons from Iraq, the militant group has played into discord among jihadist groups on the ground in eastern Syria, making rapid gains.
- ISIS
- Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces
- Articles
- Forum
As ISIS Advances, Kurdish Female Fighters Take a Stand
As women in Hassakeh take up arms against extremists, female fighters and commanders now make up as much as 30 percent of the YPG’s forces.
- Displacement
- Human Rights
- Religious & Ethnic Groups
- Articles
- Forum
Conversations: With Women Heading Refugee Households, Empowerment Comes Through Embroidery
Meet the Lebanese organization that is providing Syrian women with training in embroidery and crochet workshops, allowing them to sell the products and earn livable wages.
- Civil Society
- Displacement
- Articles
- Forum
With Arsal Under Attack, Syrians Are Forced to Flee – Again
When Mohammad al-Sheikh left Aleppo 18 months ago for the Lebanese border town of Arsal, he thought it was the last time he and his family would have to flee the Syrian conflict.
- ISIS
- Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces
- Articles
- Forum
As ISIS Pushes Closer Towards the Border, Turkey Grapples with the Threat
As jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria push closer to Turkey – with some reports putting them as close as Atmeh – analysts say supply and trade routes could be at risk.
- Diplomacy & Foreign Affairs
- Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces
- Articles
- Forum
Women and Children Held Hostage for Over a Year in Latakia
Latakia province, still largely under the control of Assad forces, has generally been safe for Alawite civilians – members of the Assad family’s ethnic minority.
- Diplomacy & Foreign Affairs
- Displacement
- Articles
- Forum
In Cairo, a Syrian Boy is Raped – and His Family Fights Back
Omar’s family says his situation has taken a far worse turn than what’s become the standard refugee story – they say that their son was raped by a group of young Egyptian boys.
- Human Rights
- Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces
- Articles
- Forum
In Arsal, a Common Enemy Faces Hezbollah and Lebanon’s Army
Cooperation between the LAF and Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group, remains strong despite different tactical approaches.
- Human Rights
- Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces
- Articles
- Forum
As Syria’s War Cuts into Lebanon, Analysts Weigh What’s Next
The battle in the northern Lebanese town of Arsal is the latest round of spillover from Syria’s conflict into Lebanon.
- Diplomacy & Foreign Affairs
- Government & Pro-Government Forces
- ISIS
- Articles
- Forum
Foreign Policy: The Islamic State Is the Newest Petrostate
The Islamic State, the world’s richest terror group, is reaping millions of dollars a day from selling stolen oil to shady businessmen across the Middle East.
- ISIS
- Articles
- Forum
As ISIS Advances in Eastern Syria, Local Tribes Stand in Its Way
Fighting has spread across the Sheitat-heavy villages of Abu Hamam, Kashkiyeh and Ghranij in the highest-profile clash between ISIS and a tribal group since the Sunni militants accelerated their eastward push in June.
- ISIS
- Religious & Ethnic Groups
- Articles
- Forum
As ISIS Advances, Assessing the State of the Syrian Army
We look at how the Syrian Army can respond to the challenge from ISIS.
- Government & Pro-Government Forces
- ISIS
- Articles
- Forum
ISIS Dominates Eastern Syria, Now Eyes Key Regime Bases
The major objectives: to overtake any remaining opposition groups and to start chipping away at areas under the Assad regime, as it began to do earlier this month in an attack on the government-held Shaar gas field.
- Civil Society
- Religious & Ethnic Groups
- Articles
- Forum
Syrian Civil Society Strives to Rebuild Communities
New America Foundation’s Leila Hilal describes how local councils have tried to manage and rebuild Syrian communities.
- ISIS
- War Economy
- Articles
- Forum
ISIS Makes Up To $3 Million a Day Selling Oil, Analysts Say
As the Islamic State (ISIS) battles Assad for the Shaar gas field, we weigh in on why oil fields have become so important to the jihadi group, and how turning them into battlefields could disrupt energy production – and ISIS’s cash flow.
- Articles
- Forum
Foreign Policy: A Foothold on the Euphrates, a Boot Heel on the Tigris
Before ISIS stomped Mosul and turned Iraq upside down, it slowly crushed its enemies to death in Raqqa.
- Government & Pro-Government Forces
- Religious & Ethnic Groups
- Articles
- Forum
The Christian Science Monitor: IS Tightens its Sectarian Rule as Iraq Taps New President
Fouad Massoum was elected as Iraq’s president while the jihadi group the Islamic State destroyed Christian shrines and imposed Islamic dress on women in the country’s north.
- Government & Pro-Government Forces
- ISIS
- Religious & Ethnic Groups
- Articles
- Forum
Across Multiple Fronts, Syria Records One of Its Deadliest Weeks Ever
As the global spotlight shifted to Gaza, the past month has been particularly deadly in Syria. Why?
- Civil Society
- Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces
- Articles
- Forum
My Syrian Diary Part 12: An Offer to Marry Young
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.
- Health
- Human Rights
- Articles
- Forum
Syria Polio Vaccination Coverage Drops as UNICEF Warns of Impending Outbreak
Polio vaccination coverage in Syria has dropped from 99 percent before the crisis to just 52 percent, as a large part of the country remains under siege or in the line of fire.
- Arts & Culture
- Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces
- Articles
- Forum
In Idlib, a Thriving Marijuana Industry Comes Under Assault
Four years into Syria’s conflict, an unlikely crop – cannabis – has become a key source of financing for a number of groups in the opposition-held north.
- Displacement
- Government & Pro-Government Forces
- Human Rights
- Articles
- Forum
How Israel’s Ground Invasion of Gaza Could Impact Assad
As the global spotlight shifts to the ground offensive in Palestine, reverberations are being felt in Syria, with which Israel shares a border – and a contentious history.
- Government & Pro-Government Forces
- Health
- Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces
- Articles
- Forum
Depression, Schizophrenia and PTSD: Grappling with Syria’s Growing Mental Health Crisis
Exposed to daily violence, kidnappings, deaths of loved ones and displacement, experts say hundreds of thousands of Syrians could be afflicted.
- Diplomacy & Foreign Affairs
- ISIS
- Articles
- Forum
Looking to Shore Up Civilian Support, ISIS Hands Out Alms in Raqqa During Ramadan
Activists and residents here say that since the start of Ramadan on June 27, fighters have been handing out zakat, or alms, of 2,000 Syrian pounds ($12) to every person who pledges allegiance to ISIS.
- Civil Society
- Articles
- Forum
My Syrian Diary Part 11: Lost in 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.
- Diplomacy & Foreign Affairs
- Articles
- Forum
A New U.N. Envoy Takes the Reins Amid Uncertain Future for Negotiations
With Assad gaining ground in Aleppo, Damascus and along the southern front, analysts say it’s unlikely he will feel pressure to return to the negotiating table in the near future.
- Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces
- Articles
- Forum
As ISIS Advances in Eastern Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra Faces Loss of Control
Bolstered by financial and military gains from its June offensive in Mosul, the group now has control of swaths of territory once held by the al-Qaida-backed Nusra Front and other rebel groups.
- ISIS
- Articles
- Forum
In Raqqa, an All-Female ISIS Brigade Cracks Down on Local Women
Their mandate? To apprehend civilian women who do not follow the organization’s strict brand of Sharia law.
- Civil Society
- Education
- Articles
- Forum
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.
- Arts & Culture
- War Economy
- Articles
- Forum
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.
- 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.
- Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces
- Articles
- Forum
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.
- Health
- Human Rights
- Articles
- Forum
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.
- Civil Society
- Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces
- Articles
- Forum
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.
- Government & Pro-Government Forces
- Articles
- Forum
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.
- Health
- Human Rights
- Articles
- Forum
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
- Forum
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.
- Human Rights
- Articles
- Forum
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.
- Civil Society
- Articles
- Forum
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.