The Latest Breaking News from Afrin

Syrian Kurds return home to celebrate Nowruz for the first time since exile

Kurds are returning to Syria’s Afrin district and celebrating the Nowruz spring festival openly for the first time in years

The Independent UK · Mar 21

Push to recruit Kurds and religious minorities to Syrian security forces brings hope and skepticism

A drive to recruit Kurds and religious minorities to the Syrian government's General Security Forces in the northern area of Afrin has brought hope and skepticism

The Independent UK · Aug 23, 2025

Turkish Intelligence Eliminates PKK Official in Aleppo

Turkish intelligence has eliminated a figure from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the biggest component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in an operation in northern Syria. Mehmet Yildirim, a senior figure of the PKK group's Syrian wing YPG, was killed in Syria in an operation run by the National…

Asharq Al-Awsat · Mar 20, 2023

In Syria, a child is saved but loses his family

Rescuers working by torchlight pulled three-year-old Tariq Haidar from the rubble some 42 hours after a devastating earthquake destroyed his family home in the Syrian town of Jandaris. His family couldn't be saved.

Reuters · Feb 9, 2023

Turkey Syria earthquake: Miracle baby born under rubble as both parents killed

Painful footage shows the baby girl taking its first breath surrounded by destruction after its mother went into labour during the quake, in Jenderes, in the countryside of Afrin, northeast Syria

Daily Mirror · Feb 7, 2023

Türkiye Kills 11 Kurdish YPG Members on Anniversary of Olive Branch Operation

Turkish-Syrian border areas witnessed this week a military escalation, marking the five-year anniversary of Türkiye’s Operation Olive Branch aimed to clear members affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) from the Afrin region. On Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Turkish forces and their proxies shelled the vicinity…

Asharq Al-Awsat · Jan 22, 2023

Pro-Turkish Fighters Killed in Northwest Syria Clashes

Eight Türkiye-backed Syrian fighters were killed in clashes with regime troops that raged Monday in the country's northwest, an opposition alliance said. A statement from the Faylaq al-Sham group said six of its fighters were killed and three more wounded in an offensive launched by Syrian government forces backed by…

Asharq Al-Awsat · Dec 26, 2022

Mazloum Abdi: US Barred Türkiye from Carrying Out Military Operation in Syria

Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazloum Abdi said the American administration of former President Donald Trump “betrayed” its allies in the SDF when it did not oppose the Turkish infiltration in Syria in late 2019.

Asharq Al-Awsat · Dec 7, 2022

‘Fear Reigns’ among Syria’s Kurds Following Turkish Strikes

Kurds in northern Syria who woke to deadly Turkish air strikes overnight expressed fear and anger on Sunday, accusing the United States of abandoning them after they spearheaded the fight against the ISIS group. In the small city of Al-Malikiyah, in Syria's far northeastern corner, shops were closed and streets…

Asharq Al-Awsat · Nov 20, 2022

UN Officials: Syria Facing `Acute Violence’ and Worst Economic Crisis

Syria is facing “acute violence,” the worst economic crisis since the war began in 2011, and a rapidly spreading cholera outbreak with more that 24,000 suspected cases reported throughout the country and at least 80 deaths, UN officials said Tuesday. UN special envoy Geir Pedersen told the UN Security Council…

Asharq Al-Awsat · Oct 26, 2022