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Syrian Government

In this image made from amateur video released by the Shaam News Network and accessed Wednesday, April 18, 2012, smoke billows an impact following purported shelling in Khaldiyeh district, Homs, Syria. Nearly a week after a cease-fire took effect, Syrian troops pounded a rebel stronghold Wednesday as the country's foreign minister met with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing during the latest round of talks aimed at preventing the truce from unraveling. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)

Syria claims it's abiding by truce

Last updated Wednesday, April 18, 2012 - 10:08am

BEIRUT -- Syrian forces fired a barrage of mortar shells at an opposition stronghold Wednesday even as the foreign minister promised the regime would respect a week-old cease-fire and withdraw troops from urban centers in line with an international peace plan.

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Car bombs hit Syria capital, dozens killed

Elizabeth A. Kennedy The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, March 17, 2012 - 7:19am

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Twin car bombs struck intelligence and security buildings in the Syrian capital on Saturday, killing at least 27 people and wounding nearly 100, according to state media.

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Hassana Abu Firasl, left, a Syrian woman who fled from the Syrian town of Qusair near Homs, is seen with her family at the Lebanese-Syrian border village of Qaa, eastern Lebanon, Monday, March 5, 2012. More than a thousand Syrian refugees have poured across the border into Lebanon, among them families with small children carrying only plastic bags filled with their belongings as they fled a regime hunting down its opponents. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Syrian refugees talk of total terror

Elizabeth A. Kennedy, Hussein Malla The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - 12:14pm

QAA, Lebanon -- Syrian refugees fleeing to neighboring Lebanon on Monday said they feared they would be slaughtered in their own homes as government forces hunted down opponents in a brutal offensive against the opposition stronghold of Homs.

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A woman holds a machine gun during an anti government slogans in a town in north Syria, Friday, March 2, 2012. Syria has faced mounting international criticism over its bloody crackdown on the uprising, which started with peaceful protests but has become increasingly militarized. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Activists allege execution-style killings in Syria

Bassem Mroue The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, March 2, 2012 - 12:53pm

BEIRUT -- Syrian activists accused regime forces of carrying out execution-style killings and burning homes Friday as part of a scorched-earth campaign in a restive neighborhood in the city of Homs, and the Red Cross said the regime blocked the group's access to the area following a bloody, monthlong siege to dislodge rebel forces.

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Villagers carry the body of Ghassan Ali, 40, who was killed during clashes between the Free Syrian Army and the government forces during his funeral in Sarmin, north of Syria, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2012. According to residents of the city at least fourteen people were killed yesterday during clashes between the Free Syrian Army and President Assad's forces. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

13 rebels die getting wounded journalist out of Syria

Ben Hubbard The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - 11:56am

BEIRUT -- A wounded British photographer who had been trapped in the besieged Syrian city of Homs was spirited safely into Lebanon on Tuesday in a risky journey that killed 13 rebels who helped him escape the relentless shelling and gunfire.

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Security forces prepare to tow away a destroyed car after a car bomb attack outside the fortified academy near the Interior Ministry headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012. A suicide bomber detonated his car as a group of police recruits left their academy in Baghdad, killing and wounding scores of people, police said. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

Violence down in Iraq as al-Qaida group moves to Syria

Sahar Issa McClatchy Newspapers

Last updated Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - 11:36am

BAGHDAD -- The departure of al-Qaida-affiliated fighters from Iraq to join the rebellion against Syrian President Bashar Assad in Syria has had one benefit, Iraqi officials say: Violence has dropped in this country, in some areas by as much as 50 percent in just a few months.

al-Quaida, Iraq, Syrian Government, Syrian violence, Terrorism, International Read more Comments

Syrian forces fire on funeral in Damascus, kill 1

Zeina Karam The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, February 18, 2012 - 8:04am

BEIRUT -- Syrian security forces fired live rounds and tear gas at thousands of people marching Saturday in a funeral procession that turned into a protest in Damascus, killing at least one person, activists said. It was one of the largest demonstrations in the capital since the 11-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad began.

Arab Protests, Assad, Funeral, Syrian Government, Syrian violence, International Read more Comments

This image from amateur video made available by Shaam News Network, purports to show a Syrian military tank in Daraa, Syria, Monday, Feb. 13, 2012. An activist group says Syrian rebels have repelled a push by government tanks into a key central town held by forces fighting against President Bashar Assad's regime. The Arab League called for the Security Council to create a joint Arab-U.N. peacekeeping force for Syria and urged Arab states to sever all diplomatic contact with Damascus. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via APTN) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL.

Activists: Syrian rebels repel attack on town

Bassem Mroue The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, February 13, 2012 - 12:19pm

BEIRUT — Syrian rebels repelled a push Monday by government tanks into a central town held by forces fighting President Bashar Assad’s regime in an 11-month conflict that looks increasingly like a civil war.

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In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian security forces walk on the wreckage of a damaged building at a security compound which was attacked by an explosion, in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, on Friday Feb. 10, 2012. Two explosions targeted security compounds in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Friday, state media said, causing an unspecified number of casualties in a major city seen as key to President Bashar Assad's grip on power. (AP Photo/SANA)

Blasts hit security HQs in Syrian city

Bassem Mroue The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, February 10, 2012 - 10:44am

BEIRUT -- Two explosions struck security compounds in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Friday, killing 25 people and wounding 175, state media reported, in a major city that has largely stood by President Bashar Assad in the nearly 11-month-old uprising against his rule.

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Syrian rebels are seen in Idlib, Syria, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012. Syrian forces fired mortars and rockets that killed scores of people Thursday in the rebellious city of Homs, activists said, the latest strike in a weeklong assault as President Bashar Assad's regime tries to crush increasingly militarized pockets of dissent. (AP Photo)

Humanitarian crisis deepens in Syrian city

Elizabeth A. Kennedy The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, February 10, 2012 - 2:10pm

BEIRUT -- Between blasts of rockets and mortar fire, Syrians used loudspeakers to call for blood donations and medical supplies Thursday in the stricken city of Homs, where a weeklong government offensive has created a deepening humanitarian crisis.

Government forces are trying to crush pockets of violent resistance in Homs, the epicenter of an 11-month-old uprising that has brought the country ever closer to civil war. The intense shelling in restive neighborhoods such as Baba Amr has made it difficult to get medicine and care to the wounded, and some areas have been without electricity for days, activists say.

Arab Protests, Syrian Government, Syrian violence, United Nations, European Union, International Read more Comments

This image taken from video filmed over the past several days by an independent cameraman and made available Tuesday Feb. 7, 2012 a member of the group that calls itself Free Syrian Army firing a gun in Homs, Syria. The bombardment of Homs, the hot bed of the resistance to President Bashar Assad's regime, has intensified over recent days, after Syria's allies Russia and China vetoed a Western and Arab-backed resolution at the United Nations that would have condemned the Assad regime's crackdown on dissent and called on him to transfer some of his powers to his deputy. (AP Photo/APTN)

Violence escalates in Syria

Zeina Karam The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, February 7, 2012 - 10:20am

BEIRUT -- Syrian forces renewed their assault on the flashpoint city of Homs on Tuesday as Russia's foreign minister held talks in Damascus with President Bashar Assad about the country's escalating violence.

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200 dead in Syrian government assault

Zeina Karam The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, February 4, 2012 - 9:02am

BEIRUT -- Syrian forces unleashed a barrage of mortars and artillery on the battered city of Homs for hours before dawn on Saturday, sending terrified residents fleeing into basements and killing more than 200 people in what appeared to be the bloodiest episode in the nearly 11-month-old uprising, activists said.

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