Syria

Last updated Tuesday, December 18, 2012 - 1:36pm

BEIRUT — Syrian fighter jets bombed a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus Tuesday for the second time this week after rebels made significant advances, seizing large areas within the camp, activists said.

Meanwhile, American foreign correspondent Richard Engel of NBC said that he and his crew escaped unharmed during a firefight after being held captive for five days by pro-regime gunmen.

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Free Syrian Army fighters take their positions, close to a military base, near Azaz, Syria, Monday, Dec. 10, 2012. The gains by rebel forces came as the European Union denounced the Syrian conflict, which activists say has killed more than 40,000 people. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)

Jihadists tipping scales for rebels in Syria

Last updated Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - 1:29pm

BEIRUT — Syrian rebels including Islamic extremists took full control of a sprawling military base Tuesday after a bloody two-day battle that killed 35 soldiers, activists said. It was the latest gain by opposition forces bolstered by an al-Qaida-linked group that has provided skilled fighters but raised concerns in the West.

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A Lebanese army soldier, stands on top of a tank during clashes that erupted between pro and anti-Syrian regime gunmen in the northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Wednesday Dec. 5, 2012. Gunmen loyal to opposite sides in neighboring Syria's civil war battled in the streets of northern Lebanon and the death toll from two days of fighting was at least five killed and tens wounded, officials said. The fighting comes at a time of deep uncertainty in Syria, with rebels closing in on President Bashar Assad's seat of power in Damascus. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Syrian civil war spills into Lebanon

Last updated Wednesday, December 5, 2012 - 10:28am

TRIPOLI, Lebanon — Gunmen loyal to opposite sides in neighboring Syria’s civil war battled on Wednesday in the streets of a northern Lebanese city where two days of fighting killed at least five people and wounded 45, officials said.

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, an injured Syrian student, lies at a hospital bed after he was wounded when a mortar hit the al-Batiha school in al-Wafideen camp, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) northeast of Damascus, Syria, Tuesday Dec. 4, 2012. A mortar slammed into a ninth-grade classroom in the Damascus suburbs on Tuesday, killing 29 students and a teacher, according to state media, as the civil war closed in on President Bashar Assad's seat of power. (AP Photo/SANA)

Syria says 30 killed in mortar attack on school

Last updated Tuesday, December 4, 2012 - 11:49am

BEIRUT — A mortar slammed into a ninth-grade classroom in the Damascus suburbs on Tuesday, killing 29 students and a teacher, according to state media, as the civil war closed in on President Bashar Assad’s seat of power.

In this image made from video, Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks with English-language television channel Russia Today recorded at an unknown date in Damascus, Syria. Assad vowed to "to live in Syria and die in Syria", declaring in an interview broadcast Thursday, Nov. 8, 2012 that he will never flee his country despite the bloody, 19-month-old uprising against him. (AP Photo)

Defiant Assad will "live and die" in Syria

Last updated Thursday, November 8, 2012 - 11:09am

BEIRUT — Syrian President Bashar Assad vowed defiantly to "live and die" in Syria, saying in an interview broadcast Thursday that he will never flee his country despite the bloody, 19-month-old uprising against him.

Wave of assassinations mark Syrian rebel strategy

Last updated Tuesday, November 6, 2012 - 11:05am

BEIRUT — Gunmen killed the brother of Syria’s parliament speaker in a hail of bullets as he drove to work in Damascus on Tuesday, the state news agency said, as the international envoy for Syria warned the country could become another Somalia.

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrians standing at the scene after a blast occurred according to footage and reports shown on State-run Al-Ikhbariya television in the Mazzeh al-Jabal district of the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria, Monday, Nov. 5, 2012. Several people were killed and injured, among them children, Al-Ikhbaria said. (AP Photo/SANA)

Intense fighting erupts in Syrian capital

Last updated Monday, November 5, 2012 - 10:49am

BEIRUT — Rebels and government troops backed by fighters from a Palestinian radical group fought in the capital Damascus on Monday in some of the most intense fighting in the city in nearly three months, activists said.

This image taken from video obtained from Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows smoke rising from the city following heavy bombing from military warplanes, in a suburb of Damascus, Syria, on wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012. Syrian warplanes pounded opposition strongholds around Damascus and in the north Wednesday, as President Bashar Assad's forces intensified airstrikes against rebels seeking to topple him, activists said. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)

Syrian warplanes hit Damascus suburbs

Last updated Wednesday, October 31, 2012 - 10:15am

BEIRUT — Syrian warplanes pounded opposition strongholds around Damascus and in the north Wednesday, as President Bashar Assad’s forces intensified airstrikes against rebels seeking to topple him, activists said.

This image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, purports to show smoke rising from buildings following a huge explosion in Saadallah al-Jabri Square in Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)

Suicide bombings rattle Syrian city

Elizabeth A. Kennedy The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, October 3, 2012 - 10:52am

BEIRUT — Three suicide bombers detonated cars packed with explosives in a government-controlled area of the battleground Syrian city of Aleppo on Wednesday, killing at least 33 people, leveling buildings and trapping survivors under the rubble, state TV said.

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Free Syrian Army fighter scans for targets from a building in Aleppo, Syria, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/ Manu Brabo)

Heavy fighting in Syria’s largest city

Last updated Friday, September 28, 2012 - 12:01pm

ALEPPO, Syria — Activists say Syrian troops and rebels are fighting some of the fiercest battles in the northern city of Aleppo.

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In this Friday Sept. 7, 2012 photo, released by Syria's state-run news agency, SANA, a firefighter extinguishes a burned car close to where an explosion went off between the buildings of the Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Justice, which are about 100 meters (yards) apart, in Damascus, Syria. (AP Photo/SANA)

Blast in Syria kills 30

Last updated Monday, September 10, 2012 - 9:50am

BEIRUT — The death toll from a car bomb in Syria’s largest city has risen to 30, state media said Monday, as the new international envoy to the country said the Syrian people are desperate to see peace and stability.

Syrian rebels launch offensive

Last updated Friday, August 31, 2012 - 7:26am

BEIRUT — Syrian rebels have begun a major operation in the Aleppo region, aiming to strike at security compounds and bases around Syria’s largest city, activists said Friday.