Middle East
Syria: U.S. chemical weapons charges ‘full of lies’
By The Associated PressBEIRUT — The Syrian government on Friday dismissed U.S. charges that it used chemical weapons as “full of lies,” accusing President Barack Obama of resorting to fabrications to justify his decision to arm Syrian rebels. The commander of the main …
UN says nearly 93,000 killed in Syrian conflict
By The Associated PressGENEVA — Syria’s upwardly spiraling violence has resulted in the confirmed killings of almost 93,000 people, the United Nations’ human rights office said Thursday but acknowledged the real number is likely to be far higher. A new analysis of the …
Shiites target of Syrian extremists
By The Associated PressSyrian rebels, including Sunni extremists, stormed a village and battled pro-regime militiamen, killing more than 60 Shiite fighters and civilians in an attack steeped in the sectarian hatreds that increasingly characterize the civil war, activists said Wednesday. In the raid, …
Suicide bombers strike in Damascus as Assad’s forces continue offensive to squash rebel strongholds in Syria
By The Associated PressDAMASCUS — Twin suicide bombers targeted a police station on Tuesday in the center of Damascus, killing 14 people as regime forces aggressively pressed ahead with an offensive on rebel strongholds elsewhere in the country. The rush-hour blasts, which caused …
U.N. appeals for record $5.2B in aid; Syrian civilians to benefit
By The Washington PostThe United Nations made the largest humanitarian appeal in its history on Friday, sharply increasing its estimate for the funds needed for Syria, as rights groups said it must do more to ensure its aid cannot be used by President …
Syrian rebels briefly take Golan crossing
By The Associated PressQUNEITRA, Golan Heights — Syrian rebels briefly seized control of a border crossing along the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights on Thursday, prompting the withdrawal of a major Austrian peacekeeping contingent and heightening fears in Israel that it could soon be dragged …
In Syria, Hezbollah forces appear ready to attack rebels in city of Aleppo
By The Washington PostThousands of Lebanese Hezbollah militants were massed around the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, according to rebels and a senior commander in the Lebanese Shiite movement, broadening Hezbollah’s backing of President Bashar Assad’s forces and stoking fears of …
Iraq busts chemical weapons operation
By Bloomberg NewsIraqi security forces broke up an al-Qaida plot to use chemical weapons, as well as to smuggle them to Europe and North America, the defense …
Syrian rockets target Hezbollah
By The Associated PressSixteen rockets and mortar rounds from Syria slammed into Lebanon on Saturday, the largest cross-border salvo to hit a Hezbollah stronghold since Syrian rebels threatened to retaliate for the Lebanese militant group’s armed support of Syrian President Bashar Assad. The …
Assad warns Israel, ‘sure about victory’
By From Wire and Online ReportsSyrian President Bashar Assad boasted in an interview broadcast on Thursday that he is “confident in victory,” threatened to retaliate for any Israeli airstrike on his territory and suggested that Syria may have received the first shipment of advanced Russian …
Rockets hit Beirut strongholds of Hezbollah
By The Associated PressTwo rockets hit Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut on Sunday, tearing through an apartment and peppering cars with shrapnel, a day after the Lebanese group’s leader pledged to lift President Bashar Assad to victory in Syria’s civil war. The strikes illustrated …
Hezbollah throws its support to Syria
By The Associated PressThe leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia on Saturday vowed to help propel President Bashar Assad to victory in Syria’s bloody civil war, warning that the …
Syria’s civil war combat spilling into Lebanon
By The Associated PressLebanese supporters and opponents of Syria’s President Bashar Assad fired heavy machine guns and lobbed mortar shells at each other Thursday in some of the worst fighting in years in Lebanon’s port city of Tripoli. The battles raised the five-day …
Iranian soldiers fighting for Syria, State contends
By The Washington PostIran has sent soldiers to Syria to fight alongside forces loyal to President Bashar Assad and those of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday. An unknown number of Iranians are fighting inside Syria, the …
Activists say 28 Hezbollah members killed in Syria
By The Associated Press 11:57 a.m.BEIRUT — Fierce street fighting in a Syrian town near the Lebanese border has killed at least 28 elite members of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group, activists said Monday, as Syrian government forces pushed deeper into the strategic, opposition-held town. The …
Bombs targeting Sunnis kill at least 76 in Iraq
By The Associated PressBAGHDAD — Bombs struck Sunni areas in Baghdad and surrounding areas Friday, killing at least 76 people in the deadliest day in Iraq in more …
Syrian troops, rebels fight at prison compound
By The Associated PressRebel fighters battled regime troops Wednesday inside the walls of the sprawling central prison compound in Aleppo, hours after blowing open the gate with twin car bombs in an attempted jailbreak, activists said. The orchestrated assault began at dawn; however, …
Iraqi liquor stores shot up; 5 dead
By The Associated PressHEROR, Iraq — A convoy of gunmen opened fire on a row of liquor stores in eastern Baghdad immediately after sunset on Tuesday, killing 11 people and wounding five, officials said. Police said the gunmen were in four cars that …
Russia defends its missile sales to Syria
By The Associated PressBEIRUT — Russia defended its sales of anti-aircraft systems to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, just days after joining forces with the United …
Israeli warplanes strike Syria in escalation
By The Associated PressBEIRUT — Israeli warplanes struck areas in and around the Syrian capital Sunday, setting off a series of explosions as they targeted a shipment of …
