Violence has stepped up a notch or two in Syria as the government continues to crackdown harshly on anti-government protestors across the country. One hundred people or more have already died just this past week in the Syrian regime’s attempts to suppress rebels in the face of growing concern and criticism within the international community….
Category Archives: Syria
Syrian Protest Movement Calls For Foreign Intervention
In what analysts are calling a “dramatic departure” from the stated goals of the protests by dissidents in Syria over the past 5 months of confrontations with the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad, activists are calling for ‘international protection’ for their cause. Two Videos Demand Protection Two amateur videos posted over the weekend on…
Violence Against Protestors Continues in Syria
According to activists for human rights in Syria, at least eight people have been killed by Syrian troops in an action to subdue protestors south of the capital of Damascus. Rocks Thrown The activists reported that the raid occurred in the town of Kanaker on Wednesday when the residents began to hurl rocks at the…
US-Syrian Relations Hurt by Attack on Embassy
Pro-Syrian government protestors attacked the US mission in Syria on Monday, breaking windows, writing graffiti which referred to the American ambassador as a dog, and raising the Syrian flag. These actions came in response to Ambassador Robert Ford’s unauthorized visit to Hama, where he was welcomed with flowers and olive branches on his car. Hama…
Israel Clashes with Protesters on Syrian Border
Despite several warnings from Israeli troops to stay away from the border, hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators stormed the fence on Sunday until Israeli troops fired across the Syrian frontier, scattering the crowd in a panic. Syrian television is reporting at least four dead, including a 12-year-old boy, and 15 wounded, with the number of dead…
World Bank Takes Optimistic View towards Mideast Upheaval
Long Term Positive Prospects The World Bank released a report on Tuesday saying that despite the short-term downward movement of Middle Eastern and Northern African economies, in the long run the world can expect to see positive movement in that region. The report is the World Bank’s regional economic update for May 2011 for the…
Israel and Lebanon File Protests at UN Over Border Confrontation
Diplomats representing Lebanon and Israel at the United Nations formally submitted protests concerning the violent border clashes that took place between Israel, Lebanon and Syria on May 15, Nakba Day, this past Sunday. Nakba is Day of Catastrophe May 15th is the day the Arab world calls Nakba, the Arabic word for ‘catastrophe.’ The day…
Syrian Crackdown Results in 750 Deaths
According to a human rights watch group, at least 750 people have perished so far in demonstrations, protests and unrest in Syria over the past seven weeks due to the violent reaction of government forces to the demonstrators. Obama Close to Demanding Assad’s Ouster Officials in the Obama administration are coming closer to calling…
Syria Sends Mixed Signals to Demonstrators in Homs
Protestors in Syria were subjected to a strong mixture of concessions with repression as government forces clamped down on demonstrators in Homs, Syria’s third largest city, leaving at least two dead on Tuesday. The demonstrators had rallied together to create one of Syria’s largest gatherings, an Egyptian-inspired sit-in at the city’s largest public square only…
Assad Appoints Safar to Assemble New Government in Syria
President Assad Appoints Adel Safar In order to help calm the violent atmosphere among protestors against the rule of President Bashar Assad of Syria, the president appointed Adel Safar, a former minister of agriculture, to put together a new government. This move is part of several attempts at reform on the part of Assad which…
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Independent Middle East News
- Ankara Fears Increased Kurdish Resistance February 18, 2012by Mahmoud Abu Ghosh According to an intelligence report released Friday, Turkey’s military fears Kurdish resistance will increase in 2012, following months of the Turkish Arned Forces (TSK) brutally suppressing Kurdish rebels and their supporters. According to the report, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced it will start conducting raids from the a […]
- Kurds Mark 13 Years Since Öcalan’s Capture February 16, 2012by Mahmoud Abu Ghosh People throughout Turkish-occupied northern Kurdistan marked 13 years since the imprisonment of Abdullah Öcalan, founding leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The anniversary was observed Wednesday with protests and business closures. Some PKK sympathizers in the Kurdish city of Hakkari were also reported to have thrown […]
- Turkish Jets Pound Kurdish Region February 12, 2012by Mahmoud Abu Ghosh Turkish warplanes have bombed several targets in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, Ankara’s military revealed Sunday.In the second cross-border airstrike in just over a week, the jets hit caves and other suspected rebel shelters in the Zap and Hakurk regions in an operation that began late Saturday, an army […]
- Turkey Kills 13 Kurds in Overnight Clashes February 9, 2012by Mahmoud Abu Ghosh Turkish forces killed 13 Kurdish rebels in occupied northern Kurdistan overnight, marking an escalation in violence at a time when winter weather generally limits clashes. Resistance fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) attacked some 10 different Turkish military targets at roughly 2:30am in Hakkari province, Turkish sources […]
- Egypt Defies US Demands February 8, 2012by Naama Ben-Yaakov Cairo announced Wednesday that it would not be swayed by American threats to cut off the aid Egypt receives from the United States when investigating foreign-funded organizations promoting Western interests, a case that has prompted Washington to warn that US military support worth an annual $1.3 billion may be in jeopardy. The US wants [ […]
- Ankara Fears Increased Kurdish Resistance February 18, 2012