Little has changed for Afrin’s Kurds, despite Damascus’ security forces entering on February 7. Violations persist, with returnees finding fighters or civilians occupying their homes and demanding hundreds of dollars to leave.
A car bombing in the eastern Aleppo city of Manbij killed at least 15 people on Monday. It was the seventh similar attack to hit the city since the Turkish-backed SNA seized it from the SDF in December, sparking accusations.
As HTS promises a new approach, Christians in Aleppo city are weighing assurances of protection against difficult memories. As opposition forces took control over the weekend, some fled, fearing the worst from Islamist factions.
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) estimates 120,000 people have been displaced from areas of northern Aleppo captured by Turkish-backed opposition factions this week.
Syrian opposition factions advanced rapidly and entered districts of Aleppo city on Friday in a shock offensive against regime forces, who unexpectedly retreated and lost strategic positions, including large parts of the M5 highway.
Syrians returning from Lebanon to opposition-held northwestern Syria find themselves in danger once more, as the area faces a military escalation by Russia and the Assad regime, alongside Syrian National Army (SNA) infighting.
Disabled women in northwestern Syria navigate additional challenges in accessing reproductive healthcare.
Digital violence is rampant in northwestern Syria, where women are particularly vulnerable to online blackmail and harassment by scammers, with little legal or social support.
People in Afrin remember the forest around Maydanki Lake for what it once was: a natural haven, the setting of summer days spent under rustling branches. Now devastated by years of illegal tree cutting by Turkish-backed factions, what hope is there for its future?
People displaced from Afrin to Aleppo city’s Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods bury their loved ones in wooden coffins rather than traditional shrouds, hoping to bring them home one day, even after death.
