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• Syrian official warns troops can enter Golan Heights whenever they way

  May 12, 2013 11:35 AM

  DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) A Syrian official is warning that his country's troops have the right to enter the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights whenever they wish. It's seen as a veiled threat to Israel to stay out of Syria's conflict. The comments came in response to the recent Israeli airstrikes on Syria.... more »

• Syria: Suicide car bombing kills 15 in Damascus

  April 8, 2013 8:18 AM

  DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) State-run Syrian TV says at least 15 people have been killed in a suicide car bombing in central Damascus. It says more than 50 others were hurt in the blast, which rocked a busy residential and commercial district and sent a huge cloud of black smoke billowing... more »

• Rebels make gains near Golan Heights

  March 21, 2013 11:59 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) Syrian rebels have captured one village and parts of others on the edge of the Golan Heights. That word comes from activists and officials. The rebel gains came as fighting closed in on the strategic plateau that Israel captured from Syria in 1967. If rebels take over the... more »

• Syria regime, rebels want probe of alleged chemical attack

  March 20, 2013 2:36 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) Syria's government and rebels are both demanding an international investigation into an alleged chemical weapons attack. There's still no confirmation of the nature of the attack that took place yesterday in a northern Syrian village, killing at least 31 people. Syria's government seals off areas it controls to... more »

• Car bomb attack may be deadliest in Syria's capital since civil war began

  February 21, 2013 11:47 AM

  DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) Anti-regime activists now put the death toll from a car bomb attack in Syria's capital today at 59. That would make it the deadliest attack in Damascus since the Syrian uprising began nearly two years ago. State media say 53 people died, and more than 200 others... more »

• Syrian government is feeling more pressure

  December 26, 2012 2:53 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) Syria's government is finding itself under increasing pressure from inside and outside the country. The country's interior minister cut short his treatment at a hospital in Lebanon today and flew home -- because he was afraid he was going to be arrested by Lebanese authorities. He was undergoing... more »

• Syrian rebels step up attacks on strategic sites

  December 21, 2012 2:24 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) Syrian rebels are stepping up their attacks on strategic sites -- including a large military complex in the country's north. Syria's 21-month-old conflict is showing no signs of ending soon, but observers say steady rebel advances appear to be tipping the balance in favor of those fighting to... more »

• UN pulling staff from Syria; violence near capital

  December 3, 2012 2:58 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) There's been heavy fighting today near the Syrian capital of Damascus. Violence near the airport caused Egyptian officials to turn around a flight that was headed from Cairo to the Syrian capital. They'd heard that the area around the airport was unsafe. Officials say EgyptAir has canceled all... more »

• Syrian planes bomb building near hospital, kill more than a dozen

  November 22, 2012 4:22 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) Syrian warplanes have flattened a building next to a hospital in Aleppo, killing at least 15 people and damaging one of the last remaining sources of medical help for civilians in the northern city. Activists say the Dar al-Shifa hospital became a field hospital run by volunteer doctors,... more »

• Syria: Explosion hits Damascus, at least 10 killed

  October 21, 2012 5:12 AM

  AMMAN, Jordan (AP) An Old City neighborhood in the Syrian capital has been hit by an explosion that killed at least ten people today. Syrian activists say the Damascus blast also injured dozens of civilians. It came as President Bashar Assad discussed the civil war in his country with visiting... more »

• HRW: Syria using cluster bombs

  October 14, 2012 5:54 AM

  AMMAN, Jordan (AP) New York-based Human Rights Watch reports evidence of a deadly additional threat to Syrian civilians from the use of cluster bombs by government forces in their battles against rebels. Such weapons are banned by most countries because of the danger they pose to civilians. A Human Rights... more »

• More shells fired across Syria-Turkey border

  October 7, 2012 11:18 AM

  AKCAKALE, Turkey (AP) Tensions remain high along the border between Syria and Turkey, where there's been another day of artillery fire. Turkey has again sent shells toward targets in Syria in response to a Syrian mortar that landed today on Turkish soil. The crisis erupted several days ago when a... more »

• New UN envoy for Syria visits refugee camps in Turkey, Jordan; some protest his mission

  September 18, 2012 11:29 AM

  AMMAN, Jordan (AP) Syrian refugees in Jordan have been protesting a visit to their camp today from the U.N.'s international envoy. Some in the crowd of 200 threw stones at the vehicle carrying Lakhdar Brahimi (LAHK'-dar bra-HEE'-mee) and his entourage, while chanting slogans implying that Brahimi's peace initiative and meetings... more »

• Assad acknowledges struggle to win Syria civil war

  August 29, 2012 11:07 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) Acknowledging in a broadcast interview that his forces are struggling to contain the rebel challenge, Syrian President Bashar Assad says his regime needs more time to win the civil war. He tried to blame his difficulties in defeating the rebels on what he claimed to be outside forces... more »

• Clashes in Damascus and near airport in Aleppo

  August 17, 2012 11:51 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) Activists are reporting heavy shelling and clashes in many areas of the Syrian capital, including districts that are believed to have pockets of rebels. Syrian forces are also doing battle with rebels near the airport in the country's largest city, Aleppo. The fighting in Syria's two main cities... more »

• 48 Iranians reported kidnapped in Syria as fighting rages nearby

  August 4, 2012 8:58 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) Iranian state television says gunmen in Syria have seized a bus filled with 48 Iranian pilgrims. The report says they had just left their hotel in a suburb of Damascus on their way to visit a holy shrine for Shiite Muslims. The state news agency, in a conflicting... more »

• Syrian lashes out at Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, vows to beat rebels in Aleppo

  July 29, 2012 11:49 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) Syria is accusing some of its neighbors of conspiring against it. On a visit to Iran, the Syrian foreign minister claimed Qatar (GUH'-tur), Saudi Arabia and Turkey are supporting a plot masterminded by Israel to destroy Syria. The three regional powers have all been backing rebels trying to... more »

• Syrian forces move to retake Aleppo

  July 28, 2012 11:58 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) Syrian government tanks backed by attack helicopters have swept into Aleppo as President Bashar Assad's regime tries to regain control of the country's largest city. The assault comes a week after rebels seized several neighborhoods. Aleppo-based activist Mohammed Saeed says rebels are trying to repel the government counterattack... more »

• Syria threatens to use chemical weapons if attacked

  July 23, 2012 11:41 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) Syria is threatening to use chemical and biological weapons in case of a foreign attack, but says it would never use them against its own citizens. The statement today from a Foreign Ministry spokesman was Syria's first acknowledgement that it possesses weapons of mass destruction, something that's long... more »

• Fighting spreads in Damascus

  July 17, 2012 11:49 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) Intense fighting between Syrian rebels and government forces is spreading to new areas of the capital, Damascus. There's even been a brief firefight near Parliament, on the third day of fighting in the seat of President Bashar Assad's power. The clashes between rebels and troops backed by helicopters... more »

• Red Cross declares Syrian conflict to be civil war

  July 15, 2012 8:30 PM

  DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) Syria's 16-month bloodbath has crossed an important symbolic threshold. On Sunday, the international Red Cross formally declared the conflict a civil war, a status with implications for potential war crimes prosecutions. The Red Cross statement came as United Nations observers gathered new details on what happened in... more »

• Condemnation of violence continues as activists scale back death toll

  July 13, 2012 2:32 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) Anti-regime activists in Syria are backing away from declarations that more than 200 people have been killed in an assault on a farming village. There are differing accounts of what happened today in the village of Tremseh, in central Syria, how many were killed and whether they were... more »

• Syria observer chief says violence 'unprecedented'

  July 5, 2012 11:25 AM

  DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) The head of a U.N. observer mission says the violence in Syria has reached unprecedented levels and insists there must be a cease-fire in order for his teams to resume their work. Norwegian Maj. Gen. Robert Mood told reporters in Damascus today that the escalation of violence... more »

• Activists: Syrian troops capture army base north of the country

  June 24, 2012 8:59 AM

  ANKARA, Turkey (AP) Activists say rebels have captured a military base in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo and confiscated large amounts of ammunition. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 16 government troops were killed in the attacks on the base near the rebel-held town of Daret Azzeh... more »

• Syrian TV says gunmen kidnapped and killed 25

  June 22, 2012 8:54 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) A video has emerged showing more than a dozen bloodied corpses in Syria, some of them piled on top of each other and in military uniforms. The government says they are victims of a "massacre" by rebels in the northern province of Aleppo. The circumstances of the killings... more »

• Rebels battle Syrian forces in Damascus

  June 9, 2012 2:47 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) Activists say more than 40 civilians have been killed in violence around Syria today, not counting any casualties in Damascus. The capital is seeing some of the heaviest violence yet since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March 2011. Residents of Damascus describe bullets and... more »

• Syria denies responsibility for attack killing 90

  May 27, 2012 11:37 AM

  DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) The Syrian government is denying responsibility for an attack on a string of villages in central Syria that left more than 90 people dead. The foreign ministry blames the killings on what it says were "hundreds of heavily armed gunmen" who also attacked soldiers in the area.... more »

• Blast targets Syrian military; 6 soldiers wounded

  May 9, 2012 8:56 AM

  DARAA, Syria (AP) A roadside bomb has struck a Syrian military truck today in Daraa, Syria, wounding six soldiers just seconds after a convoy carrying the head of the U.N. observer mission passed by. An Associated Press reporter who was traveling in the U.N. convoy says the blast cracked the... more »

• Opponents boycott balloting, scattered reports of violence

  May 7, 2012 2:32 PM

  DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) Opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad are boycotting today's parliamentary elections. They say the balloting is aimed only at strengthening Assad's grip on power. There have been scattered reports of violence today, including witness accounts that say security forces launched deadly attacks on villages where opposition supporters... more »

• Syria says UN chief biased, troops clash with rebels at sea, near presidential palace

  April 28, 2012 2:45 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) Syria is accusing U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon of being biased. Ban has blamed Syrian President Bashar Assad for widespread cease-fire violations, saying Syria's repression of civilians has reached an "intolerable stage" and demanding Assad's regime "live up to its promises to the world." A state-run newspaper today called... more »

• Syria says suicide bomber kills 9 in Damascus; protesters take to the streets

  April 27, 2012 8:58 AM

  DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) A deadly explosion in Syria's capital is being blamed on a suicide bomber. State TV says the attacker blew himself up across the street from a mosque, killing at least nine people and wounding nearly 30 more. Footage shows streets stained with blood and smoke billowing from... more »

• UN observers inspect site of a deadly explosion

  April 26, 2012 2:51 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) U.N. observers have inspected the site of yesterday's explosion in Syria that flattened a block of houses and killed at least 16 people. The spokesman for U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan (KOH'-fee AN'-nan) says observers visited the site in the central city of Hama today. There's no word... more »

• 2 reported dead in Syria after cease-fire begins

  April 12, 2012 8:34 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) It's quieter today in Syria, where the intense shelling has stopped. But there are reports of scattered violence since a cease-fire took effect. Two people are dead. The state-run news agency says a soldier was killed when a roadside bomb exploded near a troop bus. And a human... more »

• As deaths mount, US warns Syria it can't deceive world over pullout

  April 7, 2012 2:47 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) The U.S. is warning Syria it won't be able to deceive the world about compliance with a cease-fire that is just days away. The warning from Ambassador Robert Ford came as regime forces pounded more opposition strongholds in an apparent rush to crush resistance before troops must withdraw.... more »

• Syria shows signs that it won't meet deadline

  April 5, 2012 8:25 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) There are new signs that Syria's government doesn't intend to abide by a truce deal worked out by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan (KOH'-fee AN'-nan). Activists say an assault by Syrian troops on a Damascus suburb today is one of the most violent attacks around the capital since... more »

• 4 dead in raids and home burnings in Syria

  April 3, 2012 8:53 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) A day after Syria said it would agree to an April 10 cease-fire comes reports of violence by government forces. Opposition groups report army raids and arrests across the country today as well as clashes with local rebels. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says two civilians... more »

• Syrian forces shell towns and clash with rebels; dozens killed

  March 24, 2012 2:52 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) Battles between Syrian troops and rebels continue in central and northern Syria. Activists say the military shelled rebellious areas, but were facing fierce resistance from army defectors. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says army defectors damaged a tank and three armored personnel carriers in the central... more »

• Tens of thousands in Syria call for fall of regime while government shells rebel areas

  March 23, 2012 2:50 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) Thousands of Syrians have been braving tear gas and gunfire at protests across the country today. They're vowing to storm the capital, Damascus, to oust President Bashar Assad. Security forces deployed to disperse the protests, but opposition groups are reporting fewer deaths than in past weeks. Activists say... more »

• Explosion strikes residential area near Syrian security building

  March 18, 2012 10:46 AM

  DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) Syria's state news agency says two people have been killed and 30 injured in a what it's calling a "terrorist bombing" in the northern city of Aleppo. The blast ripped through a residential area near a security building. One resident says a car bomb exploded in a... more »

• 2 blasts hit Syria capital, state news agency says

  March 17, 2012 3:12 AM

  DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) The state news agency reports a number of civilians and security forces have been killed by two "terrorist explosions" that struck security targets in Syrian capital, Damascus today. The report said preliminary information indicated the blasts were caused by car bombs that hit the aviation intelligence department... more »

• Clashes outside Syrian capital as rebels ignite new front

  March 16, 2012 2:58 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) Syrian rebels have opened a new front in their battle against President Bashar Assad's regime. The rebels fought with Syria troops outside Damascus today. It's the first significant fighting around the capital since regime forces swept over the suburbs weeks ago. The new fighting is raising questions about... more »

• Kofi Annan meets with Assad in Syria to press for end to violence

  March 10, 2012 4:07 AM

  DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) U.N. envoy Kofi Annan met with Syrian President Bashar Assad today in Damascus during a high-profile international mission to mediate an end to the country's yearlong conflict. The state-run news agency reported that Assad received Annan. There were no further details on the meeting, Annan has said... more »

• Syrian official defects online

  March 8, 2012 4:45 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) Syria's deputy oil minister has announced his defection online. He's the highest ranking official to abandon President Bashar Assad's regime since the country's uprising erupted a year ago. In a video posted on YouTube, Abdo Husameddine identifies himself as an "assistant" to the oil minister and a member... more »

• Fresh assault on Homs as Red Cross seeks access to bloodied Baba Amr district

  March 3, 2012 2:49 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) Syrian forces have launched a fresh assault on the city of Homs, two days after fighting their way into Baba Amr. Activists say government forces are shelling several other neighborhoods where residents of the rebel stronghold have fled. Meanwhile, the Red Cross says it's pressing to get aid... more »

• Syrian forces mass outside rebel stronghold

  February 20, 2012 2:43 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) Syrian troops and tanks are gathering outside the city of Homs (hohms), a stronghold of the anti-government forces there. An activist is warning that a government assault on the city could bring a new round of fierce urban combat. The head of a British-based activist group says if... more »

• Judge and prosecutor assassinated in Syria in a sign of widening armed resistance

  February 19, 2012 2:47 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) The armed resistance to President Bashar Assad's rule appears to be growing in Syria. The Syrian state news agency says gunmen staged an ambush that killed a senior state prosecutor and a judge in a region near the Turkish border dominated by the opposition. The roadway slayings came... more »

• Syrian forces fire on funeral in Damascus

  February 18, 2012 11:44 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) Activists say there's been more violence in Syria's capital today, when a funeral procession turned into another mass protest against President Bashar Assad's regime. An activist in Damascus says a crowd of about 15,000 turned out for the funeral for three people killed by Security forces yesterday. The... more »

• Fresh violence in Syria as UN warns of civil war

  February 14, 2012 3:58 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) Syrian government forces have renewed their assault on the city of Homs in what activists describe as the heaviest shelling in days. Troops loyal to President Bashar Assad have been shelling Homs for more than a week to retake parts of the city captured by rebel forces. Hundreds... more »

• Gunmen assassinate Syrian army general in Damascus

  February 11, 2012 2:57 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) Syria's deputy foreign minister is defending the regime as violence spreads. He says the government will "overcome difficulties" through reforms and dialogue with its opponents -- and says betting on the collapse of Syria "is betting on failure." The comments come on a day when gunmen assassinated an... more »

• Bombardment leaves Syrian city of Homs suffering shortage of medical supplies, power outages

  February 9, 2012 2:32 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) Activists in Homs (hohms) say Syrian government forces have turned it into "a city of ghosts," with a constant bombardment making it difficult to get medicine in while an increasing number of wounded are overwhelming makeshift hospitals and clinics. The death toll in the city is impossible to... more »

• Syrian forces renew bombardment in Homs

  February 9, 2012 4:43 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) Activists say at least 20 people have been killed in the Syrian city of Homs today, continuing a weeklong assault by Syrian forces who've fired mortars and rockets on the city. Homs has become the focus of both resistance and reprisal in the 11-month uprising against President Bashar... more »

• Activists: Syrian forces bombard restive city

  February 6, 2012 5:26 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) Activists say Syrian troops have heavily shelled neighborhoods in the restive central city of Homs, killing at least 17 people. They say today's bombardment hit a makeshift hospital and residential areas in the third day of a new assault on the epicenter of the country's uprising. The government... more »

• Dangerous new phase could lie ahead in Syria

  February 5, 2012 2:52 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) Activists say at least 30 more civilians have been killed in Syria today as the country heads toward what could be an even more dangerous phase. Russia and China vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution yesterday aimed at ending the bloodshed stemming from President Bashar Assad's crackdown against... more »

• Arab League halts observer mission as Syrian violence continues

  January 28, 2012 11:58 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) Syria's interior minister is vowing to "clean Syria's soil" of outlaws. State media reports the minister made the comments to families of security forces killed in the crackdown against government opponents. Battles between government forces and army defectors continued across the country today, with at least 20 people... more »

• Red Crescent official shot dead in Syria

  January 25, 2012 2:29 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) Syria's state-run media are blaming "terrorists" for today's shooting death of the man who headed the Syrian Arab branch of the Red Crescent. The International Committee of the Red Cross says the man (Abdulrazak Jbero) was in a vehicle that was "clearly marked with a Red Crescent emblem"... more »

• Syria's president says he won't leave power

  January 10, 2012 4:40 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) Syrian President Bashar Assad says he will not step down because he still has his people's support. Today, Assad made his first speech since he agreed last month to an Arab League plan to halt the government's crackdown on dissent. Assad lashed out at the Arab League during... more »

• Qatar says Arab monitors in Syria made mistakes

  January 5, 2012 11:35 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) The leader of the Arab Gulf nation of Qatar (GUH'-tur) says the observers sent into Syria by the Arab League have made "some mistakes." And he says he's turning to the United Nations for help. The government of Qatar has been at the forefront of criticism of Syria,... more »

• Syria pulls tanks from Homs as Arab monitors visit, protesters flood into streets

  December 27, 2011 10:59 AM

  BEIRUT (AP) Activists say Syria's army has halted its assault on the city of Homs and has started withdrawing its tanks. The reports come as Arab League monitors visit the restive city. They are there to ensure President Bashar Assad's regime complies with the League's plan to halt violence against... more »

• 2 days of violence in Syria leave 150 dead

  December 20, 2011 2:42 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) Syrian state television is airing pictures of military maneuvers. It says the images show that government forces are ready "repulse any aggression" the country's "enemies" might consider. Violence continues across the country as security forces pursue anti-government activists and army defectors. Activist groups say government forces have shot... more »

• Syria signs Arab League deal allowing observers; activists says 100 more killed

  December 19, 2011 2:57 PM

  BEIRUT (AP) Syria has signed an agreement with the Arab League to allow observers into the country on a day that may rank as one of the bloodiest days in the nine-month uprising against President Bashar Assad's rule. Activists say more than 100 people have been killed, including as many... more »