In the last Turkish town on the road to Aleppo, jihadis and spies mixed with reporters trying to prove themselves. At the Hotel Istanbul, I was to meet a Syrian activist who went by the code name Harvester. I was twenty-two and wanted to learn how journalists work in conflict zones. In the spring of 2013--when I was twenty-two and had little sense of the direction my life might take--I travelled to the Turkish-Syrian border, to learn how journalists work in war. During the previous two years, the security forces of the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, had carried out a brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters, and the situation had spiralled into armed conflict, with thousands of civilians dead and hundreds of thousands of refugees spilling into neighboring countries. Rebels had captured half of Syria's largest city, Aleppo, and most of the territory north and west of it, including the official crossings into southern Turkey. In practice, that meant any freelancer, humanitarian, or ...

Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. Former prison warden Samir Osman Alsheikh, left, meets with Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2011. U.S. officials say Alsheikh is the highest-ranking former member of the Assad regime to be tried and convicted in person outside Syria. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here .

Assad regime planned US journalist's kidnap for weeks, BBC finds US journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in Syria in 2012, was kidnapped in a calculated operation which was more than a month in the planning, the BBC can reveal. A member of the group which detained Tice has also claimed the abduction was sanctioned by Syria's leader at the time, President Bashar al-Assad. Tice was seen getting into a car with a driver he knew and trusted. For years, many assumed they had stumbled upon a government checkpoint, and that the abduction of the journalist had been opportunistic. But we have uncovered evidence that, in fact, his disappearance was anything but chance.

The US has removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism after 47 years, lifting what it said was the final major barriers for private sector investment in the country and its reintegration into the global economy. US Secretary Of State Marco Rubio said the move was in recognition of the Syrian government's positive actions to fully distance itself from acts of international terrorism. The Trump administration has embraced Syria's new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former militant who once had an American bounty on his head as the leader of an al-Qaeda off-shoot. His Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was also removed from the US list of global terrorist organisations. HTS, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, was al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria until Sharaa severed ties with the jihadist network in 2016.

An Israeli drone strike in southwestern Syria has injured several people, the country's foreign ministry says, in the latest of near-daily Israeli incursions and attacks in the area. Syria's official Alikhbariya channel reported on Saturday that a man was wounded when an Israeli drone hit his truck near the town of Beit Jinn in the western Damascus countryside. The activity "posed an immediate threat to our forces", the military added. Syria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said in a statement that Saturday's strike resulted in several civilian injuries. It said it "condemns in the strongest terms" the targeting of a "civilian vehicle" by an Israeli drone.

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How many Syrians have returned? A ceasefire between the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) appears to be largely holding, even as the two sides have accused each other of violating its terms. The army on Sunday said the SDF launched multiple drone attacks in the Aleppo countryside, while the United States-trained Kurdish forces on Monday accused the army of targeting a Kurdish-majority city near the Turkish border. An initial four-day ceasefire between the Syrian army and the SDF was extended by 15 days soon after it expired on Saturday night. The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that the SDF launched more than 25 explosive drones on the army positions in the Aleppo countryside on Sunday, breaching the newly extended ceasefire.

The US military has launched a mission to transfer up to 7,000 Islamic State (IS) group fighters from prisons in north-eastern Syria to Iraq, as Syrian government forces take control of areas long controlled by Kurdish-led forces. US Central Command said it had already moved 150 IS fighters from Hassakeh province to a secure location in Iraq. The move aimed to prevent a breakout that would pose a direct threat to the United States and regional security, it added. On Tuesday night, Syria's government announced a new ceasefire with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), after the militia alliance withdrew from al-Hol camp, which holds thousands of relatives of IS fighters. Separately on Wednesday, Syria's defence ministry said seven soldiers were killed in a drone attack by Kurdish forces in the Kurdish-dominated province of Hasakah.

The Syrian army is moving into areas east of Aleppo city, after Kurdish forces started a withdrawal. Syrian troops have been spotted entering Deir Hafer, a town about 50km (30 miles) from Aleppo. On Friday, the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia announced it would redeploy east of the Euphrates river. This follows talks with US officials, and a pledge from Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to make Kurdish a national language. After deadly clashes last week, the US urged both sides to avoid a confrontation.

At least three civilians and a Syrian soldier have been killed after clashes erupted between the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Aleppo, according to the state news agency SANA. Earlier, Syria's defence ministry said three soldiers were injured after SDF fired drones at a military checkpoint near Deir Hafer, east of northern province. Heavy machine gunfire and fighting have been reported in the areas of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyah. The ministry says it will respond to the "aggression in an appropriate manner".