damascus

Syrian and Israeli Officials Hold Meeting in Baku

A meeting between Syrian and Israeli officials took place on Saturday in Baku, on the sidelines of interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Shareh’s visit to Azerbaijan, a diplomatic source in Damascus familiar with the talks between the two neighboring countries said. In May, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that, following his meeting with the ...

The Dual Peril Facing Eastern Christians

On June 22, a deadly bombing inside Damascus’s Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Elijah during Mass claimed 25 lives and left around 50 injured. In response, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, Youhanna X, rightly declared that the victims deserve to be honored as martyrs of the faith, just as those who perished in past tragedies in Lebanon, ...

Damascus Denies Threatening Escalation Against Lebanon

Reports that Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa was preparing a series of diplomatic and economic measures against Lebanon in response to Beirut’s alleged neglect of the file of Syrian detainees were denied, al-Arabiya said, quoting a Syrian government source.    “There is no truth to the reports being circulated about the ...

Syria Ready to Work With US to Return to 1974 Disengagement Deal With Israel

Syria said on Friday it was willing to cooperate with the United States to reimplement the 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel, which created a UN-patrolled buffer zone separating the two countries' forces. In a statement after a phone call with his US counterpart Marco Rubio, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani expressed Damascus's ...

Eastern Christians: The Last Keepers of a Legacy

A suicide bombing, this time inside a Damascus church during Sunday Mass. Twenty-five dead. The blast silenced prayer, shattered lives and shook a community already on the brink. Eastern Christianity is dying, not in the chaos of an open warfare, but through a long, silent agony, met with the world’s indifference. In a secularized Europe where ...

Controlled Detonation Behind Loud Blast in Damascus

A loud blast heard in Damascus on Tuesday was caused by a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance by authorities, Syria's official SANA news agency reported. "The explosion heard a short while ago in the vicinity of the capital resulted from the detonation of war remnants by the competent authorities," SANA said on messaging network ...

Syria Announces Arrests over Damascus Church Attack

Syrian authorities on Monday announced arrests over a suicide blast targeting a church blamed on the Islamic State group, as President Ahmed al-Sharaa vowed those involved in the "heinous" attack would face justice. The shooting and suicide bombing Sunday at the Saint Elias church in the working-class Dwelaa district of the Syrian capital killed ...

Syria’s Christians in the New Order: A Fight for Survival

The suicide bombing that struck Saint Elias Greek Orthodox Church on Sunday, June 22, in Damascus’s Dwelaa district has reignited deep fears among Syria’s Christian community – already alarmed by the growing influence of Islamist groups in the country. The attack, claimed by the “Saraya Ansar al-Sunna” group, killed at least 22 ...

Syria President Vows those Involved in Church Attack will Face Justice

Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa vowed Monday that those involved in a "heinous" suicide attack on a Damascus church a day earlier would face justice, calling for unity in the country. The shooting and suicide bombing Sunday at the church in the working-class Dwelaa district of the Syrian capital killed 25 people and wounded 63, the ...

Damascus Church Attack Draws International Condemnations

The suicide bombing of a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus during Sunday mass, killing at least 20 people, drew strong international condemnations.  The attack was the first known suicide bombing in the Syrian capital since December, when a rebel coalition ousted Syria’s autocratic president, Bashar al-Assad. EU The EU on Monday condemned as ...

ISIS Suicide Bomber Kills At Least 22 and Injures 59 at Saint Elias Church in Damascus

A shooting and suicide bombing at a Damascus church during a packed service on Sunday killed at least 22 people, authorities said, blaming a member of the Islamic State group for the unprecedented attack. The international community condemned the attack, the first of its kind in the Syrian capital since Islamist-led forces toppled longtime ruler ...