Free Republic

At least 17 civilians have been killed in an air strike on a basement shelter in south-western Syria, activists say, as warplanes pound rebel-held areas. A monitoring group reported that five children were among those who died when aircraft identified as Russian bombed Musayfira, east of the city of Deraa. Russia is backing an army offensive in the region, which borders Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. More than 90 civilians are said to have been killed since it began 11 days ago. The provinces of Deraa and Quneitra had been relatively calm for almost a year because of a...

Israeli officials have been holding talks in Jordan with Syrian opposition officials “in advance of a possible Israeli-U.S. operation in Syria to protect the Golan Heights,” Western intelligence sources reported Tuesday, Jan. 1. There was no further information about this operation or how rebel commanders were involved in military plans “to protect the Golan Heights.” Altogether, the goings-on on the Israeli and Jordanian borders with Syria are in deep hush. But European intelligence sources, some of them French and Russian, reveal nightly clashes taking place between US, Jordanian, Israeli special forces and Syrian rebels, on the one hand, and Syrian...

More than 100 protesters have been killed by police gunfire in Deraa, the Syrian city where a recent wave of anti-government protests have taken place, AFP cited human rights activists and witnesses as saying Thursday. Britain urged Syria to respect its people's right to peaceful protest after reports of many deaths when security forces cleared a mosque in Deraa. "We call on the government of Syria to respect their people's right to peaceful protest and to take action about their legitimate grievances," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said. The main hospital in the Syrian city of Deraa has received the...