Latakia

With al-Fuaa and Kufraya’s residents long gone, displaced families from across Syria take their place

Jan. 22, 2019

Buses prepare to enter al-Fuaa and Kufraya on July 18, as a rebel fighter watches on. Photo by Omar Haj Kadour/AFP. AMMAN: Time and again, the buses came and went. Sometimes they would depart Abu Ali’s* besieged village with groups of his neighbors on board. Other times, they merely idled in wait before turning back, empty, across the front lines. Each time, the buses served as a ...

Hardline groups within Idlib buffer zone defy withdrawal deadline as rebels, government exchange fire

Oct. 15, 2018

Russian-Turkish agreement stalls anticipated Idlib offensive ‘for the time being,' civilians, rebel commanders say

Sep. 18, 2018

With diplomacy failing, Syrian government, rebels and regional powers gear up for final Idlib showdown

Sep. 13, 2018

Wreckage after an airstrike in Idlib this June. Photo courtesy of Idlib Civil Defense. AMMAN: An uneasy calm hangs heavy over Syria’s rebel-held northwest. While fewer...

After eight years of military service, one Syrian soldier prepares for a long-awaited return to ‘normal life’

May. 29, 2018

Somur Abu Fida never expected his engagement to last so long. But just months after the Syrian Arab Army soldier proposed to his fiancée in 2010, protests and violence spr...

Syria Direct graduates its 9th class of journalists

Jan. 15, 2018

Syria Direct graduated its ninth class of aspiring Syrian journalists Sunday after they completed a three-month course on the basics of journalism at our office in Amman, Jordan. ...

Latakia authorities bulldoze homes, businesses in Palestinian camp, residents say

Nov. 16, 2017

AMMAN: Syrian regime authorities in the coastal city of Latakia have reportedly demolished dozens of homes and shops in a former Palestinian refugee camp over the past two weeks, ...

Woman joins Latakia police force: ‘I’m helping my family get by’

Jul. 11, 2017

When she first started working at the police station, Nawwal’s male colleagues gave her strange looks, and kept their distance. She and her female colleague often sat alone,...

Hours after rebels reportedly shoot down chopper, airstrikes pummel nearby city

Mar. 28, 2017

AMMAN: Russian warplanes unleashed “dozens” of airstrikes in northwest Syria’s opposition-held Idlib province late Monday night, killing at least five civilians ...

Syria Situation Report: March 9 - March 17, 2017

Mar. 17, 2017

Welcome to the latest installment of the Syria SITREP highlighting key developments in the Syrian Civil War. The SITREP Map is made possible through a partnership between the Inst...

After kidnapping in pro-Assad heartland, survivor says 'it’s the law of the jungle here’

Mar. 13, 2017

Three masked gunmen kidnapped Mustafa, 50, just outside his home in the small coastal city of Jableh, 23km southeast of Latakia’s provincial capital last September. They did...

Syrian mother 'trapped' on Turkish border as she vies to join husband in Germany

Mar. 9, 2017

Leila couldn’t see the Turkish army snipers through the darkness late Sunday night, but when she heard warning shots, she knew it was time to run. She grabbed her two sons, ...

Fires blaze through prized Latakia forestland, trees ‘reduced to charcoal’

Mar. 2, 2017

When Abu Raed smelled smoke in the air on Wednesday morning, he immediately thought back to last November, when forest fires blazed through his village in the low-lying mountains ...