Inside Syria

93,000: Three ways to understand the Syrian death toll

Kyle Kim — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 18:15:18 +0000

The UN says 93,000 people have died in Syria. Here are 3 ways to understand the magnitude of that.

Meet Syria's extremist female rebel fighters (VIDEO)

Tracey Shelton — Thu, 30 May 2013 12:31:00 +0000

ALEPPO, Syria — About 5,000 women are fighting for the Syrian rebels, some of them with their children at their side. "My dream is to use a 23 mm and shoot down war planes," says one.

Q&A with Syrian Electronic Army: Assad loyalists or independent hacktivists?

Jeb Boone — Thu, 09 May 2013 19:37:00 +0000

Is the Syrian Electronic Army a bunch of regime lackeys or concerned secularists? In an interview with GlobalPost, members of the Syrian Electronic Army say they have their own agenda.

Jeb Boone

The Syrian Electronic Army has seized control of Twitter accounts belonging to the Onion, the Guardian, the Associated Press, NBC News, NPR and the BBC, bringing their often unpopular perspective of Syria’s civil war to millions of readers worldwide.

But who are the individuals that make up the Syrian Electronic Army? Are they simply regime lackeys tasked with embarrassing the western press or independent hackers with an agenda of their own?

GlobalPost: Would you mind giving me as much information about yourself as you can – online handles, etc? Also, would you mind tweeting or posting “Interview with GP” or something to that effect from an account associated with you or the SEA to confirm your identity? If you could, please send me a quick email. Feel free to delete once I get a screenshot.

Screenshot

Rebel hackers claim that the SEA is giving the locations of activists and fighters to the Syrian Military who then find them and kill them. Is that true?

Syrian Electronic Army Representative: We don't have the man power or resources to find the location of any terrorist to aid the military, nor do we have the necessary connections for that matter. These rumors are generated constantly to undermine and demonise the Syrian Electronic Army, but they've proven ineffectual.

I reported recently that the SEA was winning the cyberwar for Syria. Are you facing any resistance at all online from rebel hackers? What are their capabilities?

The only resistance we are facing are DDoSing attempts by some misguided factions of Anonymous. Generally, the tide has turned and most of the public is aware of the truth behind the war in Syria. As such, the government infiltrators inside Anonymous are finding fewer and fewer recruits to carry out these pointless attacks. Our website and social media presence has only faced dangers from the US regime, pushing Facebook and Twitter to shut them down constantly and our domain provider to shut our website down. When this happens, we simply create another account or domain. If anything, these US regime-led attacks proves their conspiracy against us.

An interview with the Syrian Electronic Army

Jeb Boone — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:45:00 +0000

Is the Syrian Electronic Army a bunch of regime lackeys or concerned secularists? In an interview with GlobalPost, members of the Syrian Electronic Army say they have their own agenda.

Jeb Boone

Boasting some of the highest profile social media hacks in history, the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) has stricken fear into the IT departments of the world’s most respected English-Language news outlets.

It would appear that no Twitter account is safe.

The SEA has seized control of Twitter accounts belonging to the Onion, the Guardian, the Associated Press, NBC News, NPR and the BBC, bringing their often unpopular perspective of Syria’s civil war to millions of readers worldwide.

But who are the individuals that make up the Syrian Electronic Army? Are they simply al-Assad regime lackeys tasked with embarrassing the western press or independent hackers with an agenda of their own?

“We don't support any single person, we support Syria as a nation,” said an SEA representative to GlobalPost on Wednesday. "We are not pro-Assad, we are pro-Syria.”

American journalist likely held by Syrian government

Peter Gelling — Fri, 03 May 2013 14:05:01 +0000

BOSTON, Mass. — After a five-month investigation inside Syria and the wider Middle East, GlobalPost and the family of missing American journalist James Foley now believe the Syrian government is holding him in a detention center near Damascus. “With a very high degree of confidence, we now believe that Jim was most likely abducted by a pro-regime militia group and subsequently turned over to Syrian government forces,” GlobalPost CEO and President Philip Balboni said during a speech marking World Press Freedom Day.

Obama's leadership challenge on Syria

Nicholas Burns — Wed, 01 May 2013 13:09:00 +0000

If the evidence says Assad used chemical weapons, Obama cannot afford to let him get away with it. The risk is just too great in a region where others might resort to their use if Assad goes unpunished.

Unedited video: Aftermath of the Sheikh Maqsoud attack (GRAPHIC)

Tracey Shelton — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:50:05 +0000

The full video of what Syrians suspect is a chemical attack.

Byline:

Tracey Shelton

Witnesses said a canister released some kind of toxic chemical, killing two children and their mother in an April 13 attack on the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria. Experts haven't identified the chemical, but say its effects are not consistent with banned chemical weapons like sarin gas. This unedited video was shot by Kurdish media activist Rojhit Azad and obtained by GlobalPost Senior Correspondent Tracey Shelton.

GlobalPost

Still Frame:

Publish Date:

2013:04:30 15:50

Syria: The horrific chemical weapons attack that probably wasn’t a chemical weapons attack (Graphic video)

Tracey Shelton and Peter Gelling — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:49:00 +0000

ALEPPO, Syria — Yasser Younes went to bed around midnight on April 13. When he woke up two days later, he was in a hospital, and his wife and two young children were dead. Other victims suffered from seizure-like symptoms and foaming at the mouth. The attack led Syrians to think chemical warfare had broken out. But a closer analysis reveals something different.

Video: Was this a chemical attack?

Tracey Shelton — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:49:48 +0000

At least three people are dead after exposure to what witnesses say was a toxic chemical in Aleppo, Syria.

Byline:

Tracey Shelton

At least three people are dead after exposure to what witnesses say was a toxic chemical in Aleppo, Syria.

GlobalPost

Still Frame:

Publish Date:

2013:04:30 15:49

Is this a chemical weapon?

News Desk — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:49:27 +0000

ALEPPO, Syria — Syrians in Aleppo think this device, which hospitalized more than 20 people with symptoms like foaming at the mouth, is a chemical weapon used by the Syrian government. But experts have their doubts.

Syrian Prime Minister Wael Nader Al-Halqi survives suspected assassination attempt in Damascus (VIDEO)

Freya Petersen — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:41:00 +0000

Syrian Prime Minister Wael Nader Al-Halqi has survived an apparent assassination attempt in the capital Damascus.

Syria: Rebels and Kurds clash in Aleppo

Tracey Shelton and Peter Gelling — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 19:10:00 +0000

ALEPPO — A Kurdish militia group, which has maintained relatively fluid alliances during the 2-year-old Syrian conflict, clashed with Free Syrian Army rebels on Friday. Several people were killed in the initial fighting, including an 8-year-old boy. Heavy gunfire and mortar attacks continued into the night.

Syria: What would US military intervention look like?

Erin Cunningham — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:30:00 +0000

As evidence of possible chemical weapons use in Syria mounts, so do the calls in some quarters for a full-scale military intervention in the now two-year-long conflict that has cost roughly 70,000 lives. President Barack Obama had said chemical attacks by regime forces on Syrian civilians would constitute a “red line” for his administration in its willingness to intervene against the brutal government of Syrian president, Bashar Al Assad.

Syria uses chemical weapons against rebels, Israel says

Noga Tarnopolsky and Jessica Phelan — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:43:00 +0000

JERUSALEM — Brigadier-General Itai Brun, head of research at the Israeli army's intelligence division, said victims showed signs of poisoning by the deadly nerve gas sarin, including contraction of the pupils and foaming at the mouth. France and the UK have also presented evidence to the United Nations of chemical weapons use in Syria. US President Barack Obama once said such developments would be a "game changer."

Israel may be operating in Syria

Noga Tarnopolsky — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

JERUSALEM — While the Israeli forces may be operating in a non-military capacity, it would be the first time they have been known to set foot in Syria since the 1970s.