Dear Deeply Readers,
Welcome to the archives of Syria Deeply. While we paused regular publication of the site on May 15, 2018, and transitioned some of our coverage to Peacebuilding Deeply, we are happy to serve as an ongoing public resource on the Syrian conflict. We hope you’ll enjoy the reporting and analysis that was produced by our dedicated community of editors contributors.
We continue to produce events and special projects while we explore where the on-site journalism goes next. If you’d like to reach us with feedback or ideas for collaboration you can do so at [email protected].
The internationally brokered cease-fire had a rocky start. While the first 24 hours passed relatively quietly, Russian and Syrian government air strikes picked up again on Sunday, with airplanes targeting towns and villages controlled by the Free Syrian Army across the country’s north.
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, has been sharing her stories of life in the war. With her mother and siblings, she left Syria, stopping off in Turkey before making the precarious crossing to Greece by boat. Now in Switzerland, she describes her life in a new country.
While opposition forces have been hit hard by the Russian-backed government offensive in northern Syria, Kurdish militias have exploited the turmoil to expand their areas of control, capturing territory from already weakened rebel groups being targeted simultaneously by ISIS and pro-government militias.
Despite five years of war, several stints in government detention centers and a near-constant fear of being “disappeared,” one woman in Damascus has not given up on the Syrian uprising, transitioning from activist to citizen journalist and committing herself to covering ongoing human rights abuses.
Syrian painter Soulaf Abas translates bloody images of her homeland she sees on the TV screen into works of art, in part to urge the casual viewer to reconsider the violence that has become normalized after five years of war, and in part to urge herself to come to terms with what Syria has become.
The YPG has taken advantage of military support from the U.S. and a wave of Russian bombardment to make advances on the ground in recent weeks, drawing concern and artillery shelling from Turkey. But with a Syria agenda focused on defeating ISIS, the U.S. isn’t likely to renounce its support for the Kurds.
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, has been sharing her stories of life in the war. With her mother and siblings, she left Syria, stopping off in Turkey before making the precarious crossing to Greece by boat. Now in Switzerland, she describes her life in a new country.
Turkey’s war against Kurdish insurgents has turned into open hostilities with the Syrian Kurdish minority, judged by Ankara to be connected to the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Washington must choose between its NATO ally and its most effective ground force in the battle against ISIS.
The Russian-supported onslaught on the city of Aleppo and surrounding countryside has forced more than 50,000 people to flee their homes and head north to the Turkish border. But as the border remains closed and the weather gets colder, Syria’s displaced are stranded with nowhere to go.
Hospitals across the country are becoming increasingly common targets. Air strikes hit 112 Syrian medical facilities in 2015 and have already hit at least 13 so far this year, adding up to what some experts have deemed to be a “systematic destruction” of Syria’s healthcare system.
An increase in Russian and Syrian government air strikes across northern Syria over the past week has sent more than 50,000 residents fleeing to the Turkish border. As heavy air raids continue and pro-government forces move in to rebel-held areas, residents from Latakia to Idlib to Aleppo are clearing out.
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, has been sharing her stories of life in the war. With her mother and siblings, she left Syria, stopping off in Turkey before making the precarious crossing to Greece by boat. Now in Switzerland, she recounts events in a new country.
Pro-government forces tightened their siege of the Damascus suburb of Moadamiya at the weekend, capturing a strategic strip of land connecting it with the neighboring suburb of Daraya. While negotiations continue over the lifting of the siege, the community of nearly 45,000 grow hungrier by the day.
Pro-government forces, backed by Russian air power, are very close to encircling opposition-held Aleppo. Syria’s Deeply’s correspondent in the city gives a firsthand account of how this “decisive” battle has unfolded over the past few days – and speaks with rebel military sources and activists.
Syria expert Aron Lund picks six reads you probably haven’t come across before – on subjects including authoritarian counterinsurgency tactics, the key forces behind conflict before 2011, the divisions likely to make the Geneva peace talks fail and life as a gay soldier in Assad’s army.
Deaths related to swine and bird flu are beginning to emerge across Syria. While the government has remained tight-lipped about the scale of the issue, state-controlled media outlets are finally starting to release figures for cases across the country.
Pro-government forces, with Russian support, have retaken control of more than 35 villages in the northern Latakia countryside, pushing the opposition back to just a few miles from the Turkish border. If the gains continue, the government may be in position to move against rebel heartland in Idlib.
Although the United States has been closely courting Syrian Kurds over the past year, increasingly relying on them as a ground force in the battle against ISIS, the fact that the U.S. has tacitly allowed Turkey to bar any Kurdish presence at the table in Geneva may jeopardize the alliance.
Delayed talks between the Assad government and representatives of the Syrian opposition are set to begin in Geneva today. But with major opposition players missing and fresh government gains on the ground, the prospects of ending the five-year civil war seem slim.
The siege of Madaya began in July 2015, but global pressure on the Syrian government to allow humanitarian access didn’t begin to build until nearly 30 people had died of starvation. Why did it take so long and why was aid only delivered once during the first six months of the siege?
Shared overarching political goals between the main Syrian Kurdish militia, the YPG, and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey have Ankara uneasy and point to what looks to be increasingly inevitable friction between the U.S. and Turkey in Syria.
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, has been sharing her stories of life in the war. With her mother and siblings, she left Syria, stopping off in Turkey before making the precarious crossing to Greece by boat. Now in Switzerland, she recounts events in a new country.
Since intervening militarily in Syria early last fall, Moscow has helped Bashar al-Assad shore up government control over vital parts of Syria. Middle East expert Juan Cole looks at Russian president Vladimir Putin’s major military and diplomatic successes since entering into the Syrian fray.
As frigid temperatures set in across northern Syria, displaced Turkmen worry about how they will manage to survive. Although Turkey has trucked in preemptive loads of blankets, heaters and tents, many of the 20,000 displaced Turkmen residents worry it won’t be enough.
Aron Lund, editor of the Carnegie Endowment’s Syria in Crisis page, provides an in-depth look at the Syrian Democratic Forces, their overall political agenda, the group’s masked connections to the Kurdistan Worker’s Party and what he believes to be their impending inclusion in the Geneva III talks.
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, has been sharing her stories of life in the war. With her mother and siblings, she left Syria, stopping off in Turkey before making the precarious crossing to Greece by boat. Now in Switzerland, she recounts the rigorous journey.
Gone are the days of a national education curriculum in Syria. Five years of war have not only fractured the state, they’ve brought about the arise of four distinct school systems throughout the country that are furthering divisions among the younger generations.
In the oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor, ISIS militants and the Syrian government are battling for control of the capital. As violence between the two sides continues to escalate, residents in the government-held areas of the city must fight to survive under what they call “a double blockade”.
While aid groups did finally manage last week to deliver much-needed food and medicine to three besieged communities, muddy roads nearly rendered the entire operation a failure. But slick roads are nothing compared to the mountain of obstacles aid organizations must overcome to do their job in Syria.
While residents in Madaya may have no way out, other areas under government siege are finding creative ways to carry on. In Eastern Ghouta, a well-known rebel-held area in rural Damascus, rebel groups are allowing residents to access their network of tunnels to escape or to get provisions.
Residents in the government-besieged town of Madaya are starving. Many have resorted to eating leaves, insects and pets to feed themselves. Some are now also accusing army officers and traders who have sneaked much-needed food past the blockade of capitalizing on the desperation of the hungry.
In the wake of the most recent fallout between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Syria Deeply gathered together a group of experts to discuss the potential consequences for Syria, both on the ground and at the negotiating table. The big question: Could this mean the end of the Syrian peace talks known as the Vienna Process?
While Israel has frequently targeted weapons shipments destined for Hezbollah in Syria over the past five years, its suspected assassination last month of a prominent Hezbollah commander in Damascus may finally push the violence that has been raging next door inside Israel’s border.
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, has been sharing her stories of life in the war. With her mother and siblings, she has now left Syria, stopping off in Turkey before embarking on the next stage of her journey – the precarious crossing to Greece by boat.
While most Syrian refugees are fleeing the war, others are escaping the persecution they face because of their sexual identities – and the violent punishments often inflicted on those who violate the Islamic State’s ban on homosexuality.
Local organizations have been working day and night over the past two months to prepare Syrians for the coming winter. Nearly a dozen people died across Syria last January due to a fatal combination of inadequate shelter and freezing weather. This year, they hope to be ready for anything.
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, has been sharing her stories of life in the war. With her mother and siblings, she has now left Syria for a new life in Istanbul. She describes the fateful journey and her mixed excitement and apprehension at leaving the country of her birth.
Naji Jerf, who was assassinated Sunday in broad daylight, would be the third citizen journalist to have been targeted by Islamic State on Turkish soil. Each murder seems to have been calculated attempt to frighten other activists away from publishing on ISIS abuses.
When barrel bombs fall on opposition-held neighborhoods across Syria, the White Helmets rush in. The selfless work of the Civil Defense volunteer force is well known, but the individuals who risk it all on a daily basis are not. Syria Deeply met with a young volunteer in Aleppo to hear his story.
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, shares her stories of life in the war. She recently moved to Damascus to continue her education, deciding to focus her college studies on prosthetics, which she hopes to use to help heal the injured in her country’s conflict.
Have a story idea? Interested in adding your voice to our growing community?
Learn more