Beirut – Since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, industrial-scale manufacturing facilities for the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon have opened across the country, leading to what experts say is a $10 billion annual global trade in the highly addictive drug. Among the locations used to manufacture the drug were Mazzeh Air Base in Damascus, … Read more
Damascus, Syria – Syria’s new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, the key figure in the uprising that ousted Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in an interim government, an official source said on Saturday. Abu Qasra, also known by the moniker de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Islamist Hayat Tahrir … Read more
Washington — A group of US diplomats was in Syria on Friday to talk with the country’s new leaders and seek information on the whereabouts of Austin Tice, a US journalist detained following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s government. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, former special envoy for Syria … Read more
Washington — The Biden administration’s top diplomats are in Damascus on Friday to meet with new Syrian officials led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a State Department spokesman said, marking the first in-person meeting between Washington and Syria’s de facto new rulers. There is an official meeting. , The State Department’s top Middle East diplomat, … Read more
Turkey is among local, regional and global powers seeking to fill the power vacuum following the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on December 8. Ankara is poised to become one of the biggest winners in Syria after Assad. Despite being in a military alliance with the United States through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, … Read more
Outside al-Mujtahid hospital in Damascus, families study gruesome printouts taped to the walls. The photos are of bodies of prison victims mutilated by years of torture. Everyone in the crowd is looking for someone. Most leave without answering. A young woman wearing a black ponytail runs away from the wall, screaming. “You knew about it. … Read more
Damascus, Syria – In the large courtyard of the Faculty of Literature of Damascus University, hundreds of jubilant students trampled a statue symbolizing the former power on Sunday, a week after the fall of the capital. “The atmosphere is extraordinary, everyone is happy, see people’s happiness,” says Rinad Abdullah, an 18-year-old medical student. In front … Read more
Damascus, Syria – At Damascus international airport, the new head of security – one of the rebels who marched from Syria to the capital – arrived with his team. Some of the maintenance workers who had arrived for work gathered around Major Hamza al-Ahmad, curious to know what would happen next. They immediately vented out … Read more
Magrasik, Türkiye – Finally home in Türkiye, Mehmet Erturk cannot eat the bread that his wife made for him. After 20 years in prison in Syria, half of his teeth are missing and the other half are in danger of falling out. “It was torture upon torture,” he told AFP, mimicking the blows he was … Read more