Syria

We spoke to the White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby, and started by asking if the US is in touch with HTS, and whether it has any plans to remove the rebel group from the terror designation list

While US bombers were targeting ISIS targets in Syria, President Biden was saying the fall of the Assad regime presents an ‘opportunity’.

Sir Keir Starmer, on a tour of the Gulf, said Assad’s departure was an opportunity for the country, but has warned that the fall of other brutal regimes in the past had resulted in violence not peace. 

We spoke to Bissan al-Hallak, who lives in Damascus, and started by asking whether she was optimistic about the future of Syria.

After the fast moving events of the past week when rebels took major cities and gained control of Syria, today the extent of the brutality of the Assad regime was revealed by the liberation of a notorious prison in the capital, Damascus.

Thousands of Syrians displaced during the civil war, after enduring often long and perilous journeys, ended up settling here in the UK.

With Assad gone and the country in the hands of different groups of rebels, what now for the future of Syria? 

The Assad family survived the Cold War, multiple regional wars and a civil war. But in the end they couldn’t survive the distraction of Russia in Ukraine and Iran and Hezbollah, facing off against Israel.   

The capture of the Syrian capital Damascus was unprecedented –  with rebel forces apparently meeting little or no resistance. 

We spoke to Ismail Alabdullah from the White Helmets, which is the volunteer emergency rescue service which operates in opposition-controlled areas. 

Syrian state media has reported that President Bashar al-Assad has not fled the country.

We spoke to the former US Ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford and began by asking him how he thought this conflict will end.

Syrian film-maker Waad Al Kateab reported for Channel 4 News from inside Aleppo, before she was forced to flee in December 2016.

The advance of rebel forces in Syria accelerated at pace this afternoon, weakening President Bashar al-Assad’s grip on power with each and every foothold lost. 

We spoke to Hamza Al Kateeb, a Syrian doctor and activist, who lived through much of the siege of Aleppo.