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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].
Exploring the various groups in Syria opposed to the Syrian government, including rebel factions, extremist groups and political parties.
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As the FSA-linked Free Idlib Army continues to struggle to counter al-Qaida’s control in the province, the U.S. may be looking to support a larger rebel merger on the ground in Syria, writes Syrian journalist Abdulrahman al-Masri.
Experts in Syria Deeply’s community comment on the important developments taking shape in Syria while the world has been focused on the U.S. strike and the chemical attack.
After losing significant territory, al-Qaida’s branch in Syria, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, has increased its use of suicide attacks in a bid to regain lost momentum, says Syrian researcher Haid Haid.
As foreign powers try to identify effective and trustworthy partners on the ground in Syria, researcher Youssef Sadaki discusses fighting ISIS and Syria’s future with Saleh al-Saleh, an official from the Forces of Martyr Ahmad al-Abdo (FMAA) rebel group.
Haid Haid Syrian Researcher
Recent rebel mergers and fragmentation are a sign that increased strategic differences between Syrian rebels and regional powers are pushing them apart, writes Syrian expert Haid Haid.
Nour al-Din al-Zenki was considered one of the strongest moderate factions fighting with the Free Syrian Army in the early years of the war, but after foreign aid stopped flowing to the rebel group in 2015, it allied with more radical forces.
The predominantly Kurdish district of Afrin in northwestern Syria has been under near-continuous siege for four years but remained relatively calm, attracting hundreds of thousands of displaced people. Now, it is under threat from Turkish military operations in Syria.
The former al-Qaida affiliate in Syria said it has struck out at a “conspiracy” to undermine the group, but analysts say infighting among factions will further undermine Syrian opposition, writes Middle East reporter Alex MacDonald.
In the Damascus suburbs, local truces are becoming more common and usually follow long periods of siege and fighting. Though the truce rarely restores normalcy, residents are forced to accept the situation to avoid renewed fighting.
A portrait of how Syria’s war has carved homes into fighting factions, told through the story of Um Mahmoud, a Damascus mother whose three sons ended up on opposing sides of the battle lines.
As opposition factions and government forces trade blame for making major water pumps non-operational and cutting off Damascus’ water supply, millions in the capital suffer the consequences of what the U.N. are calling a war crime.
After four years of fighting, Syrian opposition groups in Eastern Aleppo have lost the majority of their control over the city. As evacuations continue, Syria expert Charles Lister discusses the future of the different opposition factions in Syria.
For moderate, unarmed rebels, as well as anyone wanted by the government, the rapid and brutal offensive to retake east Aleppo is a sign of what’s to come elsewhere in Syria.
Syria’s coastal mountain region is challenging fighting terrain for the opposition groups in the area, made only more difficult by Russia’s intervention on behalf of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
After three years under siege, children in Eastern Ghouta are forced to steal and beg for their survival. To make matters worse, those who are caught are subjected to Jaish al-Islam’s harsh judicial system – where the punishment can be prison or physical labour.
A victory in Aleppo would put the Syrian regime in a potentially advantageous position to recapture the “essential Syria” – the western half of the country, writes journalist Nicholas Blanford.
The United States intervened militarily in Syria under the premise of the “war on terror” and the fight against ISIS, but their presence is actually helping the Syrian government.
As Turkey gets deeper into Syria, opposition groups are divided on whether or not they should fight alongside the foreign power. The power struggle between rebel factions, for now, is taking the form of competing religious rulings.
Wissam lives with his wife in rebel-held eastern Aleppo, which has been under government siege since July. Violence is escalating in his neighborhood, but the teacher and activist wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
The U.S. objective in Syria is a political solution to the conflict. But for this to be successful, it will have to account for the complex governance structures and dynamics already established across Syria, write Daniel Serwer, Rose Youhana and Katherine Preston.
In the five years since the Syrian conflict began, many Syrian independent media activists have joined forces and combined resources to provide trustworthy, sophisticated and far-reaching coverage of the war.
As the Syrian government and its allied militias evacuate mostly Sunni populations from rebel-held areas, sectarian narratives are filling the vacuum.
The province of Hama has fallen victim to the regime’s strategy of forcing local populations to rural areas while ensuring a base of government support in major cities – a strategy designed to eliminate the opposition, writes journalist Hosam al-Jablawi.
The Syrian opposition unveiled its three-phase peace plan for Syria that would see the removal of President Bashar al-Assad and the establishment of an interim transitional government.
The recent ultimatum directed at the besieged city of Darayya is just one example of a larger strategy of brutal population displacement that Assad’s government will use to regain control of opposition-held Syria.
Journalist Richard Hall explains why Kurdish, Syrian opposition and Turkish forces – three major U.S. allies in the fight against ISIS in Syria – are now battling each other in the war-torn country’s northern provinces.
Five years on and the Syrian army and rebel fighters continue to battle for Aleppo, Syria’s largest city. We asked three experts what needs to happen for the stalemate to end.
Fighting and airstrikes may be increasing in Aleppo, but this is not a sign that the more than four-year-old stalemate in Syria’s largest city is approaching an end.
Frederic C. Hof Director, Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East
Fighting continues in the divided city of Aleppo, where some 2 million people are at risk of coming under siege. Frederic C. Hof explains the consequences of the ongoing conflict in Syria’s largest city.
ISIS has been increasing its influence on the local population, creating changes in the fabric of society that could outlive the militant group’s existence, Syrian journalist Jalal Zein al-Deen explains.
Syrian researcher Haid Haid discusses how Jabhat al-Nusra’s split from al-Qaida will be received among various factions fighting in the country.
Residents of the now besieged eastern part of Aleppo city have been burning tires in a desperate effort to prevent warplanes from targeting civilians and opposition fighters on the front lines.
Aleppo has long been one of Syria’s most violent battlefields, but despite the ongoing fighting and clashes for control between various warring factions, local councils in opposition-held areas of the city continue to govern.
After more than four years of fighting in Aleppo, Syria, forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have effectively fenced in the city’s opposition-held areas. Faysal Itani, senior fellow with the Atlantic Council, explains how the encirclement of Aleppo happened.
The leader of the Nusra Front (Jabhat al-Nusra), Abu Mohammed al-Joulani, has announced that the organization would split from al-Qaida and become the Levantine Conquest Front, aiming to “close the gap” between Syria’s fighting factions.
Although suffering setbacks elsewhere, rebel groups have launched an offensive in coastal Latakia in an attempt to regain Salma – a small village of huge strategic importance for targeting nearby government territories and linking supply routes to rebel-held areas.
Islamist groups fighting in Syria have influenced events far outside the Middle Eastern country. In the first installment of our “Experts to Watch” series, meet eight top experts who can help make sense of Syria’s Islamist groups.
Nonviolent activist group Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently discusses the gruesome and widespread torture methods used by the so-called Islamic State inside its de facto capital Raqqa in northern Syria.
Whether it’s with the Free Syrian Army or the pro-government National Defense Forces militia, ISIS or the Kurds, children across the war-torn country have consistently been recruited to fight in Syria’s war.
Residents of Maarat al-Numan in rural Idlib have been protesting against the rule of al-Qaida’s Jabhat al-Nusra for more than 100 days – one of the longest protest campaigns since 2011.
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