A Russian transport helicopter was shot down in opposition rebel territory in northern Syria yesterday and all five crew and officers onboard were killed, the Kremlin said. 

World and regional powers have agreed to try and turn a fragile truce in Syria into a comprehensive ceasefire.

The Syrian al Qaida branch and allied fighters from ultraconservative rebel factions have seized a village of President Bashar Assad's minority Alawite sect in central Syria.

A fragile and limited ceasefire in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo and its surrounding countryside has been extended for the third time, for another 48 hours starting at 1am this morning, the Syrian military said yesterday.

Three Spanish journalists who were held captive in Syria for nearly 10 months have returned safely to Madrid after being freed.

US and Russia succeed in having fragile ceasefire extended to city

At least 22 militants have been killed in an air strike on an al Qaida-affiliated headquarters in northern Syria, a monitoring group has said.

Syria’s opposition will decide this week whether to attend forthcoming peace talks in Geneva and has complained to the United Nations that Russian air strikes have carried on despite a truce, opposition co-ordinator Riad Hijab said.

Fighting in Syria appeared to have mostly stopped yesterday, the second day of a US-Russian deal on a cessation of hostilities which seemed to be holding despite accusations of violations and air strikes in Aleppo.

Warplanes yesterday unleashed air strikes on the suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus and near the rebel-held city of Aleppo, hours before a ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia was due to go into effect at midnight.

Warplanes have unleashed air strikes on the suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus and near the rebel-held city of Aleppo, hours before a ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia was due to go into effect.

The Syrian president has assured Russia’s Vladimir Putin of Damascus’ commitment to a Russia-US proposed truce, even as a spokesman for a Saudi-backed alliance of Syrian opposition and rebel factions expressed “major concerns” about the ceasefire, due to begin this week.

US believes Russia buying time to crush Syrian rebels

A UN plan to suspend Syria’s nearly five-year-old civil war calls for listing which militant groups may be fought despite an eventual ceasefire, one of the toughest issues vexing diplomats trying to end the conflict.

Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria to join a major ground offensive on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad’s government, a further sign of the rapid internationalisation of a civil war in which every major country in the region has a stake.

Russian military jets have carried out air strikes in Syria for the first time, targeting what Moscow said were IS positions.

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has blamed Europe’s refugee crisis on Western support for “terrorists”, as people fleeing his country’s civil war stream towards the EU.

Syrian military aircraft have bombed the north-western town of Jisr al-Shughour today, a day after insurgents seized control of it as part of a broader offensive that has left government forces in the area reeling.

Islamic militants have taken over the majority of neighbourhoods in a Palestinian refugee camp on the edge of Damascus as fighting continues for the fourth day, Syrian sources said.

Syrian government troops carried out hundreds of indiscriminate aerial attacks in the past year, most with barrel bombs, in defiance of a United Nations Security Council demand to stop, a US rights group said, calling for a UN arms embargo.

French security forces have raided a small town in the south which is known as a centre for the jihadi recruiting networks that have sent hundreds of French youths to fighting in Syria and Iraq.

Syrian rebels and government forces have started observing a 10-day truce in the last rebel-held area of the central city of Homs, marking another setback for opposition fighters, activists said.

Lebanese authorities detained a wife and suspected son of the leader of the Islamic State group several days ago, and she is being questioned, two senior Lebanese officials said.

Lebanese authorities detained a wife and suspected son of the leader of the Islamic State (IS) group several days ago, and she is being questioned, two senior officials have said.

Militant leaders from Islamic State (IS) and al Qaida have agreed on a plan to stop fighting each other and work together against their opponents, a high-level Syrian opposition official and a rebel commander have said.

US-led coalition air strikes on Syria have killed more than 500 people, mainly Islamic militants, since they began last month, activists said as fighting flared in the northern Syrian border town of Kobani.

US-led air strikes have targeted Syrian oil installations held by the Islamic State group, killing nearly 20 people, as the militants released dozens of detainees in their de facto capital, activists said.

Terrorism raids in Sydney were sparked by security intelligence that the Islamic State (IS) movement was planning a public killing as a demonstration of its reach.

The Australian government has raised its terrorism threat level to the second-highest warning in response to the domestic threat posed by Islamic State movement supporters.

Fiji has sent mixed messages on whether its 45 United Nations peacekeepers that are being held captive by Syrian insurgents will be freed soon.

Al Qaida-linked Syrian rebels holding 45 Fijian peacekeepers hostage have issued a set of demands for their release, an official said today.

Defence Minister Simon Coveney has said that Irish troops deployed as part of the UN mission in the disputed Golan Heights will not be replaced unless the mission is reviewed.

Under cover of darkness, 40 Filipino peacekeepers escaped their besieged outpost in the Golan Heights after a seven-hour gun battle with Syrian rebels, Philippine officials have said.

Under cover of darkness, 40 Filipino peacekeepers escaped their besieged outpost in the Golan Heights after a seven-hour gunbattle with Syrian rebels, Philippine officials have said.

Irish troops deployed with the UN peacekeeping force in the Golan Heights, Syria (UNDOF) have been involved in a number of missions to rescue UN colleagues under fire from rebel forces, a Defence Forces spokesperson has confirmed.

Syrian rebels, including fighters from an al Qaida-linked group, have seized control of a border crossing with Israel in the Golan Heights after heavy clashes with President Bashar Assad’s forces, activists and rebels said.