BAGHOUZ, Syria: War is personal. And in Syria, after eight years of a grinding conflict, there are as many stories of loss, dispossession and desperate hope as there are people.
What started as peaceful protests in 2011 asking for government change turned into one of the cruelest modern wars and left a trail of broken lives among the country’s pre-war population of 23 million. Now half are displaced, nearly half a million dead and many live with permanent scars or have joined militias.
The years of war have left their mark on Dia Hassakeh’s 45-year old face. The Arab fighter in the Kurdish-led U.S-backed Syrian Democratic Forces has seen his family suffer on the conflict’s many fronts.
In the early days of the conflict, two of his brothers were wounded fighting in the government military against the armed opposition. In November, another brother was killed by the Daesh group. Now Dia is battling the militants at Daesh’ last holdout, a speck of territory along the Euphrates River near the Iraqi border called Baghouz.
“As Syrians, every citizen has paid the price,” he said, speaking just outside Baghouz. He took the name of his hometown Hassakeh as a nom de guerre when he joined the SDF.
While the Daesh group’s territorial defeat will close one bloody chapter, Syria is still wracked by conflict on the eighth anniversary of its long-running civil war.
Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government appears to have won the war against the insurgency trying to topple him. But much of the country is out of Assad’s hands. The northeast and east, wrested from Daesh, is largely held by the US-backed Kurdish-led forces. But their fate as well is uncertain. Though President Donald Trump announced he would withdraw American troops, the US is apparently keeping a small force, hoping to encourage the Europeans to strengthen their presence to protect its Kurdish allies from their nemesis Turkey, and counter Iran’s expansion in the region.
Militants are still a potent force. The Daesh group has planted the seeds to wage an insurgency. The northwestern province of Idlib — an opposition stronghold throughout the war — is home to other jihadists as radical as Daesh. Nearly 3 million Syrians live in the province, most displaced from other parts of Syria that fell under government control. A Turkish-Russian truce that averted a government assault on Idlib and took pressure off Assad is fraying, threatening new bloodshed.
Assad remains hostage to his massive need for cash to rebuild and his reliance on his allies, Russia and Iran, which are pursuing their own interests. Moscow wants to keep access to the Mediterranean and a position to challenge the West; Tehran is keeping an array of militias in Syria to preserve its domain of influence stretching from Iraq to Lebanon.
And public opposition is not extinguished.
Like Groundhog Day, protesters in southern Syria took to the streets of Daraa, the city where the 2011 anti-government rallies first erupted and where the government only finally managed to re-establish control last year. Men and children this month held day and night protests chanting against Assad after authorities planned to erect a statute for his late father.
“The people want a new president,” protesters chanted, a 2019 version of “the people want to bring down the regime.”
Within this maze of conflicts, players and interests, Syrians try to find their way.
Dia never liked the anti-government protests. When they erupted in 2011, he left Hassakeh — in the northeast of Syria — to live in northern Iraq. There, while two of his brothers fought in the military against the rebels, he ran a home appliances business and sat out the war — until the war caught up with him unexpectedly. The Daesh group, feeding off Syria’s chaos, swept over much of Syria and northern Iraq. Dia returned to Hassakeh and found the militants closing in on his home province.
He volunteered to fight against them to “protect our family, land and country,” he said.
He blames outsiders— militants and superpowers — for breaking up his country. Having fought in the SDF and served in his own government’s army before the revolts, he still believes the country will be put back together and heal.
“Any country that goes through this needs time.”
The irony is he is fighting in a force backed by a foreign power — the US — and led by Kurds determined to stay as separate as possible.
Sefqan, a 29-year old Kurd who commands an SDF unit of more than 200 special forces fighters, has no issues with his country breaking up and the central government losing authority.
“The Baath regime is no good for us Kurds,” he said, referring to Assad’s ruling party. “Our rights were lost in Syria ... Our war is to get out from under of this injustice.” Sefqan fought against Daesh and prior to that other jihadist groups who threatened his hometown, Amuda, in Hassakeh province.
Kurds, who made of 10 percent of Syria’s pre-war population, have long complained of discrimination and oppression by Damascus. Sefqan belongs to an even more disenfranchised community — he’s one of thousands of Kurds who are stateless, because in the past they either failed to convince authorities they were Syrian residents or didn’t take part in censuses in the 1960s and 1970s. Referred to as the “foreigners of Hassakeh,” “the muted” or “the concealed,” they were long deprived of basic rights like education and health services and were barred even from moving from province to province.
“Any group has a state. Why do we the Kurds not have one? To go to schools. To speak our language. To have an airport and travel. I can’t even go to Damascus,” said Sefqan, who spoke on condition he be identified only by his first name in accordance with SDF rules for its commanders.
Now Sefqan and many of his people enjoy new found confidence and clout, with the Kurdish-led administration controlling northeastern Syria and bolstered by natural resources and good relations with the U.S-led coalition.
Sefqan and other Kurds dream of emulating the extensive autonomy enjoyed by Iraq’s northern Kurdistan. He said the Kurdish-led administration has made strides in giving real representation to the community and praised its efforts to introduce democracy.
“If they continue this, it will be good,” he said — though with a note of wariness. Rights groups blame the SDF and the administration for arbitrarily detaining critics, forcing military conscription and controlling what are meant to be representative political bodies.
The SDF has emerged as the most organized non-state actor from the war. It and its political arm have successfully established facts on the ground that will likely be hard to reverse — such as teaching the Kurdish language in schools and setting up parallel governing institutions and their own economic infrastructure.
Ali Ahmed Al-Hassan, a 29-year-old Arab, works trucking crude oil from one of the richest oil fields controlled by the SDF. It is a profitable, but highly risky business, because remnants of Daesh have threatened those helping the “Kurdish economy.”
Al-Hassan lived for four years under Daesh rule after the militants took over his home province of Deir Ezzor. Two of his brothers died, one as a bystander when airstrikes hit an Daesh position and another when he was caught in a cross fire.
“No one has been spared. My two brothers. My two nephews. And about six cousins. All were killed in the war,” he said.
Deir Ezzor has been freed of Daesh, but it’s still insecure. He has to be home before dark because of IS sleeper cells lurking in the countryside.
“We need more than a year” to regain security, he said.
Daesh has left its mark. The locals “have become foreigners. Many of the (foreign militants) married locals. Our children have become Chinese,” he said — his term for the many Central Asian fighters who joined Daesh in Syria.
Dia believes the militants’ presence is a pretext for foreign powers to meddle in Syria.
“Everyone is responsible for the creation of Daesh,” he said. “It was created and put on a pedestal to ruin this country, like the Arab spring. “
“All my family has taken part in this war. Five of us. Two were injured — one lost a leg, and another carries a cane — and one was killed. There is only me and another left,” he said. “So long as we have life and our hearts are beating, we will fight to liberate this country.”
For Syrians, 8 years of war leaves stories of loss and hope
For Syrians, 8 years of war leaves stories of loss and hope
- What started as peaceful protests in 2011 asking for government change turned into one of the cruelest modern wars
- The war left a trail of broken lives among the country’s pre-war population of 23 million
European Commission allocates $230 million to support Palestinians
- UNRWA to receive €52 million ($58 million) to support its education, healthcare, and relief services for Palestinian refugees
- Dubravka Suica, commissioner for the Mediterranean, said: ‘Our support to the Palestinian people remains steadfast’
LONDON: The European Commission announced on Monday that it has allocated $230 million to support the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and the Palestinian Authority.
On Monday, the commission announced that it had allocated €150 million ($172 million) to the PA to ensure the delivery of essential public services, including payment of salaries for teachers, civil servants, and healthcare workers. This financial support is contingent upon the implementation of the reform agenda, it added.
UNRWA received €52 million ($58 million) to support its education, healthcare, and relief services for Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. Since late 2023, UNRWA has been crucial in providing aid and shelter to millions of Palestinians in Gaza amid ongoing Israeli attacks, some of which targeted UN staff and UNRWA facilities.
Dubravka Suica, the commissioner for the Mediterranean, said: “Our support to the Palestinian people remains steadfast.
“With this (first) disbursement of €202 million to the Palestinian Authority and the UN Agency UNRWA, we reaffirm our unwavering political and financial commitment,” she added.
The funds are part of the commission’s Palestine Recovery and Resilience program for 2025-2026, amounting to up to €1.6 billion ($1.84 billion), in which the EU reaffirmed its support for the Palestinian people and its commitment to a two-state solution, as announced in April during the EU-Palestinian Authority high-level political dialogue.
“The EU is deeply concerned about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and the worsening conditions in the West Bank. We remain firmly committed to a just and lasting peace, grounded in a negotiated two-state solution,” Suica added.
Syria president vows those involved in church attack will face justice
- The shooting and suicide bombing Sunday at the church in the working-class Dwelaa district of the Syrian capital killed 25 people and wounded 63
DAMASCUS: Syrian leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa vowed Monday that those involved in a “heinous” suicide attack on a Damascus church would face justice, as he called for unity in the diverse, multi-faith country.
The shooting and suicide bombing Sunday at the church in the working-class Dwelaa district of the Syrian capital killed 25 people and wounded 63, the health ministry said.
The authorities who took power after ousting longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December said the attacker was affiliated with the Daesh group, which has not yet claimed the attack.
“We promise... that we will work night and day, mobilizing all our specialized security agencies, to capture all those who participated in and planned this heinous crime and bring them to justice,” interim President Sharaa said in a statement.
The attack follows incidents of sectarian violence in recent months, with security one of the greatest challenges for the new authorities.
The attack “reminds us of the importance of solidarity, and unity of the government and the people in facing all that threatens our nation’s security and stability,” Sharaa said.
Interior Minister Anas Khattab and intelligence services chief Hussein Al-Salameh held an emergency meeting to discuss the investigations, the ministry said in a statement.
The attack was the first suicide bombing in a church in Syria since the country’s civil war erupted in 2011, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor.
It was also the first attack of its kind in the Syrian capital since Assad’s ouster.
A prayer service at the church is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. (1500 GMT).
Since the new authorities took power, the international community has repeatedly urged them to protect minorities and ensure their participation in Syria’s transition, particularly after the recent violence.
Interior ministry spokesman Noureddine Al-Baba said Sunday that “the security of places of worship is a red line, and all efforts will be made to ensure people’s freedom to perform their religious rites.”Daesh “aims to sow sectarian division and incite all components of Syrian society to take up arms, seeking to show that the Syrian state is unable to protect its communities and citizens,” he told a press conference.
The top cleric of Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority, Grand Mufti Osama Al-Rifai, condemned acts of violence and terrorism in a statement Monday.
“We express our complete rejection of targeting places of worship and terrorizing believers,” he said.
Foreign condemnation of the attack continued to roll in on Monday.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkiye would not allow extremists to drag Syria back into chaos and instability, vowing that Turkiye would “continue to support the Syrian government’s fight against terrorism.”
Turkiye, which is close to the new authorities, has repeatedly offered its operational and military support to fight Daesh and other militant threats.
French President Emmanuel Macron also denounced the “horrible” attack, while the EU said it “stands in solidarity” with Syria in combating ethnic and religious violence.
“It is a grave reminder of the need to intensify efforts against the terrorist threat and to ensure the enduring defeat of Daesh and other terrorist organizations,” spokesperson Anouar El Anouni said.
Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed anger after the attack on the Greek Orthodox Church, calling on the new authorities “to take concrete measures to protect all ethnic and religious minorities.”
Syria’s Christian community has shrunk from around one million before the war to fewer than 300,000 due to waves of displacement and emigration.
Daesh seized large swathes of Syrian and Iraqi territory in the early years of the civil war, declaring a cross-border “caliphate” in 2014.
The militants were territorially defeated in Syria 2019 but have maintained a presence, particularly in the country’s vast desert.
Jordanian king, Omani sultan discuss Iran-Israel conflict, call for peaceful dialogue
- They stressed the need to intensify coordination to extinguish the fires of conflict in Gaza and between Israel and Iran
- King Abdullah emphasized that peace in the region cannot be achieved without a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue
LONDON: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman and King Abdullah II of Jordan discussed the Iran-Israel conflict and the serious repercussions of the escalation of tensions in the region.
During a call on Monday, they stressed the need to intensify coordination to extinguish the fires of conflict in the Gaza Strip and the ongoing tensions resulting from Israeli actions against Iran, the Oman News Agency reported.
They also called for peaceful dialogue and negotiation to find political solutions to regional issues that align with international law, ensuring security and stability, the ONA added.
King Abdullah emphasized that peace in the region cannot be achieved without a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue based on a two-state solution, the Petra news agency reported.
The Iran-Israel conflict has escalated following US strikes on three nuclear sites inside Iran on Sunday. Tel Aviv and Tehran have exchanged attacks over the past 11 days, risking a full-scale war in the Middle East.
Israel targets Iran Guards, Tehran prison in fresh wave of strikes
- President Donald Trump hinted Sunday at interest in changing Iran’s system of government
- Evin prison is often used to hold foreign nationals and Iranians that are seen by rights groups as political prisoners
TEHRAN: Israel hit Revolutionary Guard sites and Evin prison in Tehran on the 11th day of the war Monday, in what it said were its most powerful strikes yet on the Iranian capital.
Iran, in turn, fired missile barrages at Israel and vowed retaliation against the United States after American strikes on the Islamic republic’s nuclear sites a day earlier.
Loud explosions rocked Tehran, where Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military hit sites with “unprecedented force,” adding to speculation that it is seeking to topple Iran’s clerical leadership.
The targets included Evin prison, which Katz said “holds political prisoners and regime opponents,” as well as command centers for the domestic Basij paramilitary and the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iranian media and the Israeli military said Israel also struck Fordo, a key nuclear enrichment facility buried deep in the mountains south of Tehran.
The military said it had struck Fordo on Monday “in order to obstruct access routes” to the site, which Israel’s ally the United States hit the previous day with massive bunker buster bombs.
President Donald Trump boasted that Sunday’s US strikes on three key sites had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities, but other officials said it was too soon to assess the impact on Iran’s atomic program, which Israel and some Western states consider an unacceptable threat.
Sirens sounded across Israel on Monday and AFP journalists reported blasts over Jerusalem and people fleeing to shelters in Tel Aviv.
Iranian media said Israel’s strikes hit a power supply system in Tehran, triggering temporary outages.
In Israel, the national electricity company reported “damage near a strategic infrastructure facility” in the south that disrupted the power supply, without naming the location or specifying the cause.
Israel’s military censorship rules bar the publication of some details about damage in Israel.
Israeli strikes on Iran have killed more than 400 people, Iran’s health ministry has said. Iran’s attacks on Israel have killed 24 people, according to official figures.
After the US strikes, global markets reacted nervously, with oil prices jumping more than four percent early Monday but dipping later in the day.
China urged both Iran and Israel to prevent the conflict from spilling over, warning of potential economic fallout.
Iranian armed forces chief Abdolrahim Mousavi said in a video statement published on state TV that Washington’s bombing “will not go unanswered.”
“We will take firm action against the American mistake,” he added.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on China to help deter Iran from closing the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said closing the strategic strait would be “extremely dangerous.”
With Iran threatening US bases in the region, the State Department issued a worldwide alert cautioning Americans abroad.
In Bahrain, home to a major US naval base, the US embassy said it had “temporarily shifted a portion of its employees to local telework,” citing “heightened regional tensions.”
Meanwhile, international oil firms including BP and Total evacuated some of their foreign staff from southern Iraq, the state-owned Basra Oil Company said.
After the Pentagon stressed the goal of US intervention was not to topple the Iranian government, Trump openly toyed with the idea.
“If the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
His press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that Trump was “still interested and engaging in” diplomacy.
She suggested, however, that Iranians could overthrow their government if it did not agree to a diplomatic solution.
At a Pentagon press briefing, top US general Dan Caine said “initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage.”
Speaking ahead of a NATO summit this week, the alliance’s chief Mark Rutte said Tehran should not be allowed a nuclear weapon, calling it his “greatest fear,” while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said “there is no reason to criticize what America did.”
Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that craters were visible at the Fordo facility, but it had not been possible to assess the underground damage.
“Armed attacks on nuclear facilities should never take place,” he added.
Iran has consistently denied seeking an atomic bomb, and Grossi has said there was no evidence to suggest it was doing so despite the Islamic republic being the only non-nuclear armed state to enrich uranium to 60 percent.
The IAEA said on Monday that Tehran had informed it of “special measures to protect nuclear material” when the Israeli campaign began.
The UN agency also said it was seeking access to Iranian nuclear sites to “account for” stockpiles of highly enriched uranium.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, had accused the United States and Israel of deciding to “blow up” nuclear diplomacy with their attacks.
Erdogan says won’t let terror ‘drag Syria back to instability’
ISTANBUL: Turkiye will not allow extremists to drag Syria back into chaos and instability, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday after a suicide attack killed 22 at a Damascus church.
“We will never allow our neighbor and brother Syria... be dragged into a new environment of instability through proxy terrorist organizations,” he said, vowing to support the new government’s fight against such groups.
