The battle of Qusair continues to rage as government troops, backed by fighters from Hezbollah, advance slowly into the city under fierce resistance from opposition fighters. On Wednesday, May 29, government troops recaptured Dabaa military airport, which lies to the northeast of Qusair and was used by the rebels to launch counterattacks on the government’s offensive in the city’s north. […]

Smugglers are transporting basic necessities from the town of Salqeen in the province of Idlib into Turkey. People interviewed complained that smuggling is depleting the town’s basic resources, such as foodstuff and diesel. They also complained that the involvement of opposition militiamen in the smuggling business is distracting them from their main target, which is fighting against government forces. A […]

Travellers from Syria’s north into Turkey often lack valid passports, which forces them to cross the border illegally and put themselves at the risk of being arrested or even shot by Turkish border guards. A report by Abu Abdi al-Idlibi (pseudonym of a journalist who lives inside Syria)  

On May 14, Islamist militiamen in the north-eastern city of Raqqa executed three prisoners who were alleged to be Alawite officers from the Syrian government’s army. A YouTube video shows the execution, during which a speaker announces that it is in retaliation for the Banias massacre. The speaker announced that the operation was in the name of the Islamic State […]

By Raheel Ibrahim* (Damascus and Latakia, Syria) – Dima is from the Syrian coastal city of Latakia, and had never flown in an airplane before the uprising in Syria began two years ago. Now, because travel on Syria’s roads so dangerous, the 25 year-old student of Arabic literature at the University of Damascus is a seasoned flyer. “[Flying] was a […]

The education system in Syria is in a terrible state. Military engagements, bombardments and airstrikes have displaced millions of Syrians, preventing tens, if not hundreds of thousands of students from attending school. The Syrian government has turned some schools into detention centres and barracks. School buildings have been destroyed in the fighting and still other schools are being used to […]

Editor’s note: The editorial team has used only the first names of some of the interviewees and concealed the names of others for their own safety. Rahif Ghanem* The theft of crude oil is a rising phenomenon in the Syrian region of Deir El Zor, where predatory merchants and thieves have punctured oil pipelines to siphon off and then sell […]

  By Razan Zeitouneh (Harasta, Syria) - The maze of roads winding through the ramshackle suburbs in what was once Damascus’s agricultural greenbelt is reminiscent of the capital’s old city; locals say any road in one particular area will often lead a traveller to the same destination as the other nearby roads. This once lush rural area, called Eastern Ghouta, […]

By Youssef Shaikho (Tel Abyad, Syria) – On the eve of the fall of the north eastern city of Raqqa to the Syrian opposition in March 2013, the nearby city of Tal Abyad, which had been under rebel control since September 2012, was the site of negotiations between the regime and the opposition over the reactivation of public services. The […]

Editor’ Note: The editorial team changed the names of some of the interviewees for their own safety. By Raafat al-Ghanem (Zaatari, Jordan) - Um Ahmad took refuge in the Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan after fleeing across the border from her home in Syria with her two daughters. When a reporter from The Damascus Bureau met with her in […]