A Kurdish force that helped defeat the Islamic State is collapsing as the Trump administration turns to back the new Syrian government.
The U.S. envoy to Syria said Washington was confident the Syrian government could take over the country’s fight against the Islamic State terrorist group.
New tensions flared a day after a Kurdish-led militia agreed to hand over control of prisons holding some 8,000 Islamic State fighters to the Syrian government.
The new deal also calls for a cease-fire. Government forces have taken strategic assets from the militia in recent days, weakening the force.
Government troops drew closer to Raqqa, the largest city overseen by the Kurds, raising U.S. concerns about the renewal of a wider conflict in the region.
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.
A raid on a suspected safe house for the terrorist group Islamic State set off a clash that killed the police officers as well as six Turkish militants.
Days after a bombing at a mosque in a predominantly Alawite area, members of the religious minority in Syria demonstrated for better protections.
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?
The Syrian government did not comment directly on the extensive U.S. strikes targeting the Islamic State on Friday but said it was intensifying its own efforts to fight the group.