A prominent development in the ongoing Syria conflict is the ascent of radical Islamists, both Syrian and foreign, who advocate a puritanical form of Islam and who are ready to use violence to impose and spread their views. Jihadist groups, such Al-Jabha al-Islamiyya and the Mujahideen Army, are currently waging a war of attrition against the Islamic State in Syria […]

(Raqqa, Syria) - The Free Syrian Army (FSA) has been effectively driven out of Raqqa. Three Salafist groups now dominate the city: the Islamic Movement of Ahrar al-Sham, Al-Nusra Front, and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). In light of this new reality, these factions have come to include the greatest number of other battalions, including those that […]

Mai, 28, works as a project management trainer from Damascus at a pro-opposition cultural organization in Eastern Ghouta. She does not walk on the street without wearing a scarf on her head and a shirt that goes down to her knees. She would normally not wear this type of conservative clothing, but began dressing like this after she was threatened […]