Syria contributor: Ahmad Khalil and Karen Leigh Karen Leigh is the managing editor of News Deeply. https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/contributor/ahmad-khalil-and-karen-leigh/rss en YPG’s Mandatory Military Service Rattles Kurds Diplomacy & Foreign Affairs Wed, 27 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Ahmad Khalil and Karen Leigh https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/articles/2014/08/27/ypgs-mandatory-military-service-rattles-kurds https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/articles/2014/08/27/ypgs-mandatory-military-service-rattles-kurds A new law stipulates that young men in the cantons of Kobani, Ifrin and Al Jazeera must enlist. Now, some have begun to flee. As ISIS Advances, Kurdish Female Fighters Take a Stand ISIS Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces Fri, 08 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Ahmad Khalil and Karen Leigh https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/articles/2014/08/08/as-isis-advances-kurdish-female-fighters-take-a-stand https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/articles/2014/08/08/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. In Douma, Fashioning Artificial Limbs Out of Mannequin Arms and Plastic Water Tanks Civil Society Health Fri, 16 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Ahmad Khalil and Karen Leigh https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/articles/2014/05/16/in-douma-fashioning-artificial-limbs-out-of-mannequin-arms-and-plastic-water-tanks https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/articles/2014/05/16/in-douma-fashioning-artificial-limbs-out-of-mannequin-arms-and-plastic-water-tanks Thousands of Syrians have lost limbs during the country’s three-year conflict. In the Damascus suburbs, two men have opened a workshop where functioning prosthetics are fashioned out of found materials. In Aleppo, Civilian Groups Fill Gaps in Caring for Communities Civil Society Fri, 02 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Ahmad Khalil and Karen Leigh https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/articles/2014/05/02/in-aleppo-civilian-groups-fill-gaps-in-caring-for-communities https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/articles/2014/05/02/in-aleppo-civilian-groups-fill-gaps-in-caring-for-communities Providing hospital transport and digging bodies out of the rubble, Syria’s organized volunteers seek to pick up where the government and opposition officials left off. Syrian Babies, Born Refugees, Left Without a State Displacement Human Rights Fri, 11 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Ahmad Khalil and Karen Leigh https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/articles/2014/04/11/syrian-babies-born-refugees-left-without-a-state https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/articles/2014/04/11/syrian-babies-born-refugees-left-without-a-state Tens of thousands of refugee babies born during Syria’s crisis are undocumented, without passports, birth certificates, or other documents that will give them access to civil and social benefits.