Bashar al-Assad

Israeli strike in Damascus targets Iran-aligned paramilitary officials – POLITICO

An Israeli attack on the Syrian capital of Damascus on Saturday destroyed a residential building where Iran-aligned paramilitary leaders were meeting. Precision-targeted Israeli missiles destroyed a multi-story building in the western Damascus neighborhood of Mazzeh, Reuters reported. The structure was occupied by Iranian advisers assisting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s administration, according to the report. The …

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Syria protests gain steam, challenging Bashar Assad as he tries to put the civil war behind him

Anti-government protests have been gaining steam in Syria for more than a month, echoing the demonstrations that President Bashar Assad sent his security forces to crack down on in 2011, sending the country into a downward spiral that morphed into a full-scale civil war. The demonstrations, focused predominantly in the southern city of Suwayda, were …

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Syria protests spurred by economic misery stir memories of 2011 uprising

Anti-government protests in southern Syria have stretched into a second week, with demonstrators waving the colorful flag of the minority Druze community, burning banners of President Bashar Assad’s government and at one point raiding several offices of his ruling party. The protests were initially driven by surging inflation and the war-torn country’s spiraling economy but …

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