Syrian rebels

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Syria Rebels Make Major Gains
 Syria Rebels Make Major Gains 
Aug 5, 2013 11:29 PM CDT

Syria Rebels Make Major Gains

Villages in Assad heartland captured

(Newser) - After weeks of losing territory to Bashar al-Assad's forces, Syrian rebels have scored two major victories against the regime. In northern Syria, rebels captured a major air base after almost a year of trying, capturing tanks and soldiers despite air raids from government warplanes, reports the New York Times...

US Plan to Arm Syria Rebels Gets a Boost

But Pentagon cites continuing concerns

(Newser) - Last month, the White House said it planned to arm Syrian rebels —but members of Congress haven't been thrilled with the idea. Now, however, Capitol Hill seems to be coming around, Reuters reports. Despite "strong reservations ... We got a consensus that we could move forward with the...

Syrian Rebels Turn on Each Other

Infighting breaks out amongst moderates and Islamic extremists

(Newser) - Syrian rebel groups are no longer just battling government forces; some are now fighting a second front: other rebel groups. Infighting has broken out amongst the rebels, with the Western-aligned Free Syrian Army clashing with al-Qaeda-aligned groups the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, reports the AP . There has been...

Congress Blocks US Arms for Syrian Rebels: Report

Sources say intelligence committees are freezing funding to send weapons

(Newser) - Both House and Senate intelligence committees have voted to stop sending military aid to Syrian rebels by freezing the funding intended to ship arms, sources say. According to the Hill , the decision was made last month, amid fears that the weapons would end up in the hands of Islamist militants....

Syrian Rebels Using Exact Weapons That Took Gadhafi Down

Rebel weapon pipeline shows how US arms could end up in undesirable hands

(Newser) - Obama recently announced he'd begin sending arms to anti-government rebels in Syria, but where have they been getting their weapons until now? Many of them come from Libya, reports the New York Times , thanks to a secretive, Qatar-financed supply pipeline that sneaks in unregistered arms previously used by Libyan...

CIA Training Syria Rebels: Report

LA Times says secret work started last year

(Newser) - The White House may be moving too slowly in the eyes of some critics when it comes to helping the Syrian opposition, but the CIA and special ops forces have been at it since late last year, reports the Los Angeles Times . It says the Americans have been secretly training...

Picture of Michigan Woman Killed in Syria Emerges

Nicole Mansfield converted to Islam after meeting Arab immigrant: family

(Newser) - The FBI has confirmed reports that a Michigan woman was killed fighting alongside anti-government forces in Syria, her family says. A number of years ago, Nicole Mansfield married an Arab immigrant; afterward, she converted to Islam, relatives tell the Detroit Free Press . After he got a green card to stay...

Chemical Weapon Fired in Syria: Report

Rebels blame regime, regime blames rebels; no verification yet

(Newser) - Both the government and rebels in Syria say a chemical weapon has been fired—but each side blames the other, the AP reports. Official Syrian news said "terrorists" (its term for the rebels) blasted a rocket "containing chemical materials" in Aleppo province today, killing 15, mostly civilians. Meanwhile,...

Fearing Syria Spillover, CIA Ups Iraq Presence

Al-Nusra Front and al-Qaeda in Iraq closely tied, experts say

(Newser) - The US military may have pulled out of Iraq in December 2011, but now the CIA is going back in, reports the Wall Street Journal . In a series of secret decisions in 2011 and 2012, the White House directed US intelligence to take over from the military in supporting Iraq'...

Syria Using Militias for Mass Killings: UN

As more than 2.5M displaced by civil war

(Newser) - The latest travesty the Syrian government has been accused of: using local militias to carry out mass killings. UN human rights investigators say these "Popular Committees" commit killings that sometimes have "sectarian overtones," Reuters reports. (The rebels in Syria are mainly Sunni Muslims, while President Bashar al-Assad...

No Release for Seized UN Monitors

Their release had been expected today

(Newser) - The Philippine government was under the impression that Syrian rebels would release 21 UN monitors today—but that hasn't happened, it says. Officials say the rebels maintain that they won't release the monitors until Syrian government forces exit the Jamlah area, near the Golan Heights. "I don'...

Now Syrian Rebels Claim They Rescued UN 'Guests'

Video making demands for their release pulled offline

(Newser) - You got it all wrong, a Syrian rebel group protested today. They weren't abducting UN peacekeeping troops in the Golan Heights yesterday, they were rescuing them. The rebel group, known as the Yarmouk Martyrs' Brigade, has pulled down a video they'd posted on Facebook saying they wouldn't...

Syrian Opposition Detains 20 UN Peacekeepers

They had been monitoring Israel-Syria ceasefire

(Newser) - The UN Security Council has strongly condemned the detention of more than 20 peacekeepers monitoring the ceasefire between Israel and Syria by armed members of the Syrian opposition and demanded their immediate and unconditional release. Russia's UN Ambassador, the council president, says talks are underway between UN officials and...

49 Syrian and Iraqi Troops Killed in Border Ambush

Fears increase that civil war will spill over into Iraq

(Newser) - At least 42 Syrian soldiers and seven Iraqi soldiers were killed in an ambush near a border crossing in Iraq today, sharpening fears that Syria's civil war could spill into Iraq and destabilize the region, the AP reports. The Syrian soldiers ( Reuters reports the group also included government...

In Sea Change, Saudis Arming Syrian Opposition

Plus, opposition agrees to attend international summit

(Newser) - A big shift in the Syrian conflict: Saudi Arabia is arming the opposition. It's a decidedly more activist approach than had previously been taken by regional and Western powers, the New York Times reports, and it signals an attempt to counter the weapons Iran is sending to Bashar al-Assad'...

Syrian Coalition OKs New Gov't, Rebels Grab Nuke Plant

Leader will be chosen within 10 days: coalition member

(Newser) - Syria's leading opposition group agreed today to establish a transitional government at the same time rebels said they had taken over the nuclear facility that Israel bombed in 2007, the Jerusalem Post reports. A top member of the Syrian National Coalition said the group will choose a leader within...

Huge Blast Rocks Damascus
 Huge Blast Rocks Damascus 
Feb 21, 2013 7:46 AM CST

Huge Blast Rocks Damascus

Kids dead, Russian embassy damaged

(Newser) - A powerful car bomb exploded in central Damascus today, blowing out the windows of the Russian embassy, and killing at least some children at a nearby school. The bomb detonated at a security checkpoint between the embassy and the Baath Party Headquarters, the BBC reports. Activists say at least 31...

Syrian Rebels' New Cash Source: Stolen Artifacts

Fighters have become 'archeologists': rebel

(Newser) - Short on funds, Syrian rebels have been turning to a new source of income: selling snatched artifacts. "Some days we are fighters; others we are archeologists," says a rebel who counts ancient Sumerian tablets among his finds. Fighters, who control most of the top archeological areas, say a...

Syrian Rebels Free 48 Iranians in Prisoner Swap

In exchange, regime releases more than 2,000

(Newser) - Syrian rebels freed 48 Iranians held captive since August, Iranian state TV reported today, part of what appeared to be the first major prisoner swap of the civil war. The deal—reportedly coordinated by a Turkish Islamic aid group—will also involve the release of more than 2,000 held...

Assad Outlines Peace Deal, Blasts 'Terrorists'

Rebels blast speech as intended to derail diplomatic solution

(Newser) - Bashar al-Assad today took to Syria's airwaves to outline a new peace initiative that wasn't terribly likely to result in peace of any kind. Staunchly refusing to step down, Assad said he's now ready to negotiate with those "who have not betrayed Syria," dismissing rebels...

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