The situation in northwestern Syria continues to spiral out of control this weekend, as the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has been surging forces into the Alawite homelands in the Latakia and Tartus Governorates, clashing with Alawite militias and slaughtering civilians.

Last weekend, it was reported that the US attacked and killed Wasim Tahsin Bayraqdar, a “senior leadership facilitator” for Hurras al-Din, in an attack in Syria’s Idlib Governorate. Around that time, it was also being reported another US drone strike had happened in Idlib, and another person was killed.

Syria’s de facto ruler, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Ahmad al-Sharaa (Abu Mohammad al-Julani), stated on 29 December that organizing elections and writing a constitution for the country may take years.

The Pentagon said on Monday that the US has more troops deployed in Iraq than it has been disclosing, an admission that comes after it revealed there are significantly more US troops in Syria than the US has said.

The United States prepared a rebel force to join the offensive that overthrew the regime of Bashar al-Assad, fighters have claimed.

My first reaction to news earlier this month that the Syrian government had been overthrown was, how much did we have to do with it; how involved was the CIA; and how much is it going to cost.

The occupied Syrian Golan Heights' Mount Hermon was one of the first prizes Israel seized after the fall of Syria's government and army

The long and colorful history of major media promotion of false, government-serving narratives has a new chapter.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Monday that its forces launched airstrikes in Syria, claiming the attacks targeted ISIS camps and killed 12 ISIS fighters.

Tuesday, the Kurdish SDF launched an offensive against a number of villages in eastern Syria. The US backed the offensive with military action, and al-Mayadeen even suggests that the offensive itself came at the behest of the US military. Today we’re getting some more details, and the US is trying to re-frame the narrative of what actually happened.

By then, secular dictator Bashar al-Assad regained control over a majority of the country and its major cities, and had even begun the process of normalizing relations with his neighbors and reintroducing himself into the international community. The remnants of the Islamist opposition were isolated in the northwest Idlib province, protected by Turkey, their most significant benefactor.

The Syrian Civil War and its various fronts continue to re-escalate today with the Kurdish SDF attacking, and temporarily claiming they had captured seven villages in the eastern Deir Ezzor Province. The villages are along the path between the provincial capital and the Abu Kamal border crossing with Iraq.

During Tuesday night’s presidential debate, Vice President Kamala Harris falsely claimed that no US troops are currently deployed in combat zones as she traded barbs with former President Donald Trump about foreign policy issues.

The Oregon National Guard is sending off 230 guardsmen to Iraq and Syria amid soaring tensions in the Middle East as the US is pledging to defend Israel from an expected Iranian reprisal attack.

According to US Central Command, the US and its partner forces were involved in 196 missions against ISIS in Iraq and Syria that killed 44 ISIS operatives during the first half of 2024.

Ukraine has deployed special forces units to Syria to combat Russians there, according to the Kyiv Post.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) acknowledged on Thursday that its forces killed a civilian in a May 2023 drone strike in northwest Syria, walking back its initial claim that it killed an al-Qaeda leader.

Three US troops were killed by an overnight drone attack in northeastern Jordan, the first Americans to die by enemy fire in the region since President Biden threw the US’s weight behind the Israeli onslaught in Gaza.

The Senate on Thursday voted down a resolution that would have directed President Biden to withdraw all US troops from Syria, where US forces have come under frequent attack in response to President Biden’s support for Israel’s Gaza onslaught.

“The United States cannot fix Syria,” an Obama administration official said. “I simply fail to understand why we have U.S. troops there.”