Northern Syria

Syrian dictator Basar al Assad’s fall should be celebrated — but we should now be very concerned about the plight of the Kurds, argues Sarah Glynn.

Map of northern Syria

Sarah Glynn reviews the week’s extraordinary events in Syria and examines the evolution and nature of Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham, whose forces have charged through the hollowed-out shell of Bashar al Assad’s regime and potentially beyond the control of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

map of northern Syria

The fall of Aleppo and the withdrawal of the Syrian army and Russian troops without a fight cleared the way for Turkish-backed militias, writes Zeki Bedran.

woman patrolling with a gun

Following the takeover of most of Aleppo by the Turkish-backed Islamist militia group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its allies, fighting between them, the Assad regime forces and Kurdish-led forces is escalating, reports Peter Boyle.

Peter Boyle reports that Sydney's Kurdish community and their supporters held a snap protest against Turkish air attacks against towns and villages in north-east Syria and northern Iraq/South Kurdistan.

Turkish airstrikes November 20

The Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) released the following statement condemning Turkey's air strikes on cities in North and East Syria and Northern Iraq, which began on November 20.

Children

The number of malnourished children in North East Syria has increased by 150% in the past six months, and poverty rates have increased by 90%, reports Medya News.

Raqqa

Following its liberation from Islamic State, Raqqa is rebuilding its damaged infrastructure, economy, health and education sectors, and constructing a pluralistic, grassroots democracy, reports ANF English.

Injured people

Frustrated by its inability to get support for a full-scale invasion, Turkey has escalated its killer drone attacks and shelling of border cities and towns in Rojava, reports Peter Boyle.

As Turkey escalates its military attacks on the Kurds, ahead of a possible full-scale invasion of North and East Syria — the region known as Rojava — the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) issued an urgent call for a no-fly zone, reports ANF English.

Jiyan Tolhildan

Jiyan Tolhildan (Salwa Yusuf), a leader of the Syrian Defence Force (SDF) Counter Terrorism Units, and who led the fight against ISIS, was murdered by Turkey in a drone strike on July 22, reports Sarah Glynn.

Women fighters from the SDF at al-Sina’a prison in Hesekê. Photo: YPJ Rojava/Twitter

The recent Islamic State (ISIS) attack on the al-Sina’a prison in Hesekê, northeast Syria, made headlines around the world, reports Peter Boyle.Ìý