Damascus news and stories by mail.com

Damascus

Syria jets kill tens as international envoy visits
A government airstrike Sunday on a bakery in a rebel-held town in central Syria killed more than 60 people, activists said, casting a pall over a ...
Russia welcomes any offer to give Assad refuge
Russia would welcome any country's offer of safe haven for Syrian President Bashar Assad, but has no plans to make one of its own, Moscow's foreign ...
Russia acknowledges that Syrian leader may fall
Russian President Vladimir Putin distanced himself further than ever from Syria's embattled leader on Thursday, suggesting that Bashar Assad's regime ...
UN: Syrian civil war increasingly sectarian
Syria's civil war is increasingly turning into a sectarian conflict pitting majority Sunni rebels against government forces supported by the country's ...
Syria interior minister wounded by bomb last week
Syria's interior minister suffered a serious back injury in the bombing of his ministry last week and was brought to Beirut on Wednesday for ...
Syrian jets bomb Palestinian camp in Damascus
Syrian fighter jets bombed a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus Tuesday for the second time this week after rebels made significant advances, ...
Syrian vice president says army can't win
Syria's vice president has acknowledged that the army cannot defeat the rebel forces trying to topple the regime and called for a negotiated ...
Syrian elected new Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch
Syria's state-run news agency says John Yazigi has been elected to head the Damascus-based Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch. He replaces Patriarch ...
Iran cautiously ponders Syria after Assad
It wasn't exactly a break-up moment between Iran and ally Bashar Assad. But Tehran's whiplash diplomacy over the weekend suggested its embrace of the ...
Syrian vice president: both sides losing in war
Syria's longtime vice president said Sunday that his regime and the rebels are both going down a losing path after 21 months of civil war, a rare ...
Syrian FM blames West for nation's suffering
Syria's foreign minister blamed the suffering of his country's people on U.S. and European sanctions imposed on his country, telling a top U.N.
As Syrian rebels close in, Assad has cards to play
With rebels trying to penetrate Syria's capital, Damascus, President Bashar Assad may appear to be heading for a last stand as his weakened regime ...
Russia positions itself for fall of Syrian regime
Syria's most powerful ally and protector, Russia, began positioning itself Thursday for the fall of President Bashar Assad, saying for the first time ...
Russia acknowledges Assad losing control
Syria's most powerful ally, Russia, said for the first time Thursday that President Bashar Assad is losing control of his country and the rebels might ...
Blast at Syrian regime building in capital kills 5
Three bombs collapsed walls in the Syrian Interior Ministry building Wednesday in Damascus, killing at least five people, as rebels fighting to ...
Extremists among Syrian rebels who seized base
Syrian rebels including Islamic extremists took full control of a sprawling military base Tuesday after a bloody two-day battle that killed 35 ...
Syrian rebels capture parts of army base in north
Rebels captured part of a sprawling Syrian army base outside the embattled northern city of Aleppo, tightening the opposition's grip on areas close ...
Syria's civil war spills into Lebanon, 4 dead
Syria's civil war spilled over into neighboring Lebanon once again on Sunday, with gun battles in the northern city of Tripoli between supporters and ...
Syrian rebels get new leadership in bid to unite
Rebel commanders from across Syria have joined forces under a united command they hope will increase coordination between diverse fighting groups and ...
Chemical weapons risk: Syrian missiles and shells
Growing fear that civil war in Syria could unleash the world's first use of chemical weapons in nearly three decades is based on two grim scenarios ...
Syrian rebels set sights on Damascus airport
Syrian rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad set their sights Friday on the capital's international airport in a bid to cut off the ...
With war shifting, US, Russia talk Syria's future
Diplomatic efforts to end Syria's civil war moved forward Thursday with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joining Russia's foreign ...
Syrian capital a maze of checkpoints, blast walls
Instead of a quick half-hour trip home from her class at Damascus University, Lama Issa says she now must maneuver through security checkpoints, army ...
NATO moves toward deployment on Syria border
As fears grow in the West that Syrian President Bashar Assad will unleash chemical weapons as an act of desperation, NATO moved forward Thursday with ...
Syrian civil war spills over into Lebanon
The families of Lebanese men killed in Syria last week say their relatives were more interested in nice clothes and vacations than fighting a civil ...