Syria: on our own
“At the risk of repeating myself, there’s some nonsense being pedalled on social media about the story we broke recently in Aqrab.”
Syria starts 2013 with aerial strikes and clashes as forces loyal to Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad battle with rebel fighters for the control of key cities.
Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN envoy, warns that without political negotiation, Syria risks descending into “hell” and becoming a failed state. Chief Correspondent Alex Thomson on the latest from Syria.
The head of Syria’s military police defects from the army – which he says has become a “gang of killing” – and joins the country’s rebels, amid reports of a fatal government shelling attack.
“At the risk of repeating myself, there’s some nonsense being pedalled on social media about the story we broke recently in Aqrab.”
A bomb in Damascus narrowly misses a primary school, leaving teachers and pupils to cope with the aftermath.
“We were able to film an airport which – contrary to the impression that has gone global – is not just open, but functioning.”
There are two sides to every war – but that’s not coming out of the coverage of the conflict in Syria at the moment, writes Alex Thomson from Damascus.
Syria’s deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad tells Chief Correspondent Alex Thomson the regime is not killing civilians – and warns of “chaos everywhere” if there is western intervention.
At least 25 people have died in an attack by Syrian fighter jets on the Palestinian Yarmouk camp in Damascus, opposition activists say. Chief Correspondent Alex Thomson is in Syria.
As world leaders assemble in Morocco, opposition leaders question the US decision to designate the Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra as terrorists. Lindsey Hilsum reports from Marrakech.
Major powers give Syria’s opposition full political recognition after US President Barack Obama said Washington would recognise a newly-formed coalition against President Bashar al-Assad.
It is that most mundane of journeys, from the capital city to the international airport, which you’ve done so many times, which really brings home how things are changing here in Syria.
As experts and governments wrangle over Syria and chemical weapons, another issue is exposed. It is that of trust, writes Jon Snow.
Syria’s capital has changed profoundly since Alex Thomson last visited in the summer, with checkpoints now scattered across the city and the rumble of fighter bomber attacks in the distance.
As things grow ever tetchier around Damascus, we need to remind ourselves in the UK that we won’t get fooled again over chemical weapons claims.