Syrian bombs hit militant-held territory
BEIRUT — Raids by Syrian warplanes killed at least 25 people, most of them civilians crowding into a bakery, in the northeastern province of Raqqa on Saturday as government forces continued air attacks on territory controlled by the Islamic State, the extremist Sunni militant group.
Surge of violence across Syria kills over two dozen
BEIRUT — Violence flared across Syria on Sunday, as an explosion killed more than two dozen anti-government fighters in the central city of Homs and shells struck areas of Damascus, the capital, killing at least two people. On Saturday, a man died after a riot broke out in the crowded Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan.
Hezbollah leader says his forces will remain in Syria
LONDON — The head of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militant group whose armed followers are fighting in Syria on the side of President Bashar Assad, pledged Thursday that his forces would remain there as long as necessary.
Syrian opposition group votes to attend peace talks
BEIRUT — During the fractious weekend debates that ended with the main Syrian exile opposition coalition yielding to international pressure by dropping its refusal to hold peace talks with President Bashar Assad’s government, tensions ran so high that one prominent coalition member slapped another in the face, participants in the gathering said.
Civil war creates increased hardships for Syrians
DAMASCUS, Syria — Some 5 million Syrians are now refugees in their own country, many living hand-to-mouth in vacant buildings, schools, mosques, parks and the cramped homes of relatives. Others are trapped in neighborhoods isolated by military blockades, beyond the reach of aid groups. Already desperately short of food and medicine as winter closes in, they could begin to succumb in greater numbers to hunger and exposure, aid workers say.
Syrians thrown off balance by hesitation in Washington
BEIRUT — Two days after President Barack Obama shocked Syrians by delaying expected American missile strikes, the country remains off balance, with the military still bracing, the rebels still hoping to capitalize on the confusion, civilians increasingly fleeing across the borders and everyone uncertain whether the attack has been called off for good.
Mixed feelings for Syrians as they await a US strike
BEIRUT — In a narrow alley in the old city of Damascus, a shopkeeper who opposes the Syrian government spent Thursday as usual, drinking coffee with the other merchants who keep him company in place of long-vanished tourists. But the calm on the cobblestone street, he said, could hardly mask the fear and ambivalence over an American military strike.
In Syrian victory, Hezbollah risks a broader fight
BEIRUT — In the final days the outgunned Syrian rebels, deprived of reinforcements, ammunition and sleep, were surviving on olives and canned beans. They were hiding in the concrete shells of destroyed houses and underground tunnels near the besieged rebel stronghold of Qusair, unable to help their trapped colleagues and civilians dying of treatable wounds, as Syrian government forces and their Hezbollah allies from Lebanon assaulted the town by land and air.
Hezbollah threatens Israel over Syria strikes
BEIRUT — The leader of Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese militant group, escalated tensions with Israel on Thursday over the recent Israeli airstrikes near Damascus, suggesting that the Syrian government would respond by providing Hezbollah fighters with the same weapons that Israel wants to keep out of their hands.
Hezbollah flew drone into Israel, its leader says
Reporting was contributed by Hania Mourtada and Hwaida Saad from Beirut, and Isabel Kershner and Jodi Rudoren from Jerusalem.
Fighting spreads through Aleppo as city services vanish
BEIRUT — Chaos continued to spread in Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, on Monday, as rebels attacked the towering municipality building with rockets, sending civil servants fleeing from one of the few government buildings still functioning as dozens of soldiers defended the city center.
Florida minister wavers on plans to burn the Quran
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Terry Jones, the Florida minister who set the world on edge with plans to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11, said Thursday that he had canceled his demonstration because he had won a promise to move the mosque near ground zero to a new location.