Harried by government security campaigns, IS appears unable to regain territorial control in Syria, instead working to maintain visibility through limited operations while betting on the failure of the country’s transition.
The living and the dead are coming home to Afrin as displaced families return with the remains of their loved ones, fulfilling a long-held wish to lay them to rest in their native soil.
The Revolutionary Youth Movement and Syrian Democratic Forces continue to recruit minors in northeastern Syria, despite past commitments and an integration agreement with Damascus.
An inaccessible public transportation system and degraded infrastructure pose daily challenges to disabled Syrians, isolating them and preventing their freedom of movement in an “unspoken form of social exclusion.”
Encircled by government forces and without basic services, residents of Kurdish-majority Kobani fear a return to the city’s darkest days as the end of a fragile ceasefire approaches.
A four-day ceasefire marks the latest effort to integrate SDF and Syrian government forces and avoid a dangerous military showdown, but its success hinges on each side’s willingness and ability to commit to the political process.
This week’s escalation in Aleppo city comes amid a deepening political crisis between Damascus and the SDF, particularly after the latest round of negotiations to implement the March 2025 agreement stalled.
Once scattered and safeguarded abroad, Syria’s native seeds are taking root once more, part of an organic revival aimed at restoring the country’s agricultural heritage.
The first trial of hundreds of suspects accused of involvement in killings in Alawite-majority areas of the Syrian coast marks the start of a closely watched and unprecedented accountability process.
Diminished by drought, the olive harvest is underway in Syria’s Kurdish-majority Afrin. Residents report fewer violations than in years past, but remain wary of the new authorities.
