“I felt great fear and I ran,” says one of thousands of Syrians who are leaving what had been a relatively safe refuge during the war in Syria.
The advance of the Syrian Army into Kurdish regions could put nearly all the country under one authority. But it ends a dream of autonomy for ethnic Kurds.
Saudi and Syrian officials announced deals ranging from aviation to telecommunications, offering a much-needed boost to Syria’s battered economy.
The new deal also calls for a cease-fire. Government forces have taken strategic assets from the militia in recent days, weakening the force.
President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s announcement on Friday came after days of fighting between the government and Kurdish forces. On Saturday, those forces began withdrawing from a flashpoint east of Aleppo.
The takeover ended one of the worst outbreaks of violence between the central government and the Kurdish-led forces since the end of the civil war just over a year ago.
Fighting in the city of Aleppo resumed as talks to integrate the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces into the national military appear to have stalled.
The attacker likely had links to the Islamic State and was possibly targeting a Christian church in the center of Aleppo, according to a government spokesman.
After more than a decade of wars, from Syria to Gaza, the Middle East is exhausted by conflict. Is it ready to find another way?
Critics say Syria’s fledgling government is hobbling military preparedness as it redoes the country’s forces from scratch.