How much can Russia afford to invest in the defense of Bashar al Assad thus time

Moscow saved Syrian president Bashar al Assad from defeat in 2015. But observers are wondering if Russia will be able to help him again, considering its own full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A UK-based war monitor says Syrian opposition fighters are closing in on the city of Hama, and have it surrounded on three sides. The advance comes despite a counteroffensive launched by government forces to hold the city. The rebels have already taken Syria's second-largest city Aleppo in their lightning offensive. Hama may be an even bigger prize, located just 200 kilometers from the capital Damascus.

Syria insurgents enter Aleppo in a surprise offensive against Bashar Assad

Insurgents reached Aleppo, Syria's second city, on Friday, in a swift offensive against Bashar Assad's forces, who are supported by Russian and Iranian allies. The fighting is some of the deadliest in years, with 255 people, mostly combatants killed, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It started on Wednesday in areas controlled by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Turkish-backed rebels, calling themselves the Syrian National Army, joined the fighting.

Will the Caesar Act defeat Syrian President Bashar al-Assad?

US Congress passes sanctions targeting politicians, institutions, businesses that engage with the Syrian government.

The war in Syria has devastated much of the country and its people, but President Bashar al-Assad has remained in power with the help of his foreign allies.

There is now another threat facing tens of millions of Syrians: the economy, which has been reduced to a third of its size, has been decimated.

Trump: US launches strikes on Syria

President Donald Trump announced on Friday he ordered strikes on the Syrian regime in response for a chemical weapon attack last weekend.

"I ordered the United States armed forces to launch precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapon capabilities of Syrian dictator of Bashar al-Assad," Trump said from the White House Diplomatic Room.

Trump said the strikes were in coordination with France and the United Kingdom, adding that the purpose of the campaign is to "establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread and use of chemical weapons."

If you really believe that Donald Trump cares about the people of Syria you're fooling yourself. He doesn't. This is his Wag The Dog moment. It's an illusion meant to distract the American public from his failed time in office. 

Syria: Witnesses for the Prosecution

Meet the evidence hunters risking it all to collect and document evidence of war crimes committed during Syria's war.

For the past five years, ordinary Syrians have been collecting evidence of war crimes committed against civilians during the country's ongoing civil war. 

We will punish these criminals. We believe that the victims have the right to see their torturers judged. Abdelkader, director of the Syrian Institute for Justice

They film, take photographs and collect physical evidence in the hope that one day the perpetrators will be punished.

They have recovered military orders, collected bomb fragments, taken toxic samples, filmed mutilated bodies and archived thousands of testimonies to make sure the trace of evidence does not disappear.

The Disappeared of Syria

A look at the invisible weapon of Bashar al-Assad's regime: the kidnapping and torture of tens of thousands of Syrians.

When Syrians first protested in the Spring of 2011, their only weapons were banners and songs and a deep desire for freedom. Syria has been ruled by a strong, strict and often merciless regime, handed down from father to son since 1970.

"We, the old guard, couldn't believe it. Protests like that? In the state of Hafez al-Assad? In Syria? For the old guard, it was impossible. Forty-five years of rule had brainwashed us. When the revolution began, our orders were to shoot," says Munir al-Hariri, a former member of the Syrian intelligence service.

Is Hezbollah stronger after its involvement in Syria?

ISIL fighters moved from northeast Lebanon to Syria as part of deal with Hezbollah and Syrian government forces.

Authorities in Lebanon say they may have found the remains of a group of soldiers kidnapped by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group in 2014.

This follows a ceasefire deal agreed on Sunday between the Lebanese army on one side and the Syrian government and Hezbollah forces on the other.

And as part of that deal, ISIL fighters revealed the whereabouts of the soldiers' remains.

The ceasefire allows ISIL fighters safe passage to Deir Az Zor in Syria - one of the few remaining pockets they still control.

This apparent coordination of the ceasefire indicates a closer relationship between Hezbollah, the Lebanese military and Syrian government forces.

Hezbollah has long been fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and many say this latest agreement has given it more political power.

The Disappeared of Syria (video)

A look at the invisible weapon of Bashar al-Assad's regime: the kidnapping and torture of tens of thousands of Syrians.

When Syrians first protested in the Spring of 2011, their only weapons were banners and songs and a deep desire for freedom. Syria has been ruled by a strong, strict and often merciless regime, handed down from father to son since 1970.

"We, the old guard, couldn't believe it. Protests like that? In the state of Hafez al-Assad? In Syria? For the old guard, it was impossible. Forty-five years of rule had brainwashed us. When the revolution began, our orders were to shoot," says Munir al-Hariri, a former member of the Syrian intelligence service.

The regime silenced the revolution and the country has sunk into civil war and chaos. Without boundaries, the government started to use different tactics and all of its military might to suppress any possible uprising to maintain power. One such tactic involves th

Where is the next battleground in Syria?

The Syrian government celebrates the retaking of Aleppo, but is it enough to secure the final victory?

The capture of all of Aleppo is President Bashar al-Assad's biggest success since the war in Syria began almost six years ago.

It is a crushing defeat for opposition fighters who have been forced to retreat.

Does Assad have enough manpower and weapons to protect the territory his forces have retaken while at the same time trying to win back more areas?

Syria war crimes probe: Will anyone be charged?

UN votes to set up panel to investigate atrocities committed during nearly six years of war that have devastated Syria.

The UN General Assembly has voted to set up a panel to look into war crimes and human rights abuses committed during the nearly six-year-old Syrian war.

There has been no shortage of evidence of crimes carried out in Syria during the bloody conflict - both by the government and opposition fighters.

In no other conflict have so many atrocities been so widely seen and shared on television and social media.
More than half the population has been driven out of their homes, and nearly 400,000 people killed.

Residents have remained under siege and heavy bombardment for months at a time.

Aleppo: Beginning of the end of Syria's war?

Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad on the verge of capturing the key city of Aleppo, but at a heavy cost.

Syrian government forces, backed by Russian and Iranian allies, announced that they had recaptured east Aleppo from opposition rebels.

Russian leaders say the fall of Aleppo is a "major victory" against people the Kremlin calls "terrorists".

The Syrian government used boots on the ground, air strikes, and siege tactics to win back the city where opposition fighters seized control in 2012.

A ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey on Tuesday was supposed to end the fighting, with the besieged rebels and civilians given a safe passage out.

Within a few hours, however, shelling of the city intensified and buses sent to evacuate thousands of Syrians returned empty.

Syria's Electronic Armies

Over the last four years as the Syrian uprising has grown into a full-blown civil war, a sinister parallel conflict has been fought out in cyberspace, with combatants wielding bytes and software rather than guns as they have battled for supremacy on Syria's internet frontline.

But the consequences of this secret cyber war have been real and deadly - particularly for opponents of the Assad regime who have been targeted for arrest and torture as a consequence of personal information gleaned from their email traffic.

In some cases even the military plans of crucial rebel offensives had been hacked. But the opposition has been busy too, leaking President Bashar al-Assad's embarrassing personal corr