WEEKLY UPDATE
Ocotober 14, 2016
Dear Readers,Welcome to the weekly Syria Deeply newsletter. We’ve rounded up the most important stories and developments about Syria and the Syrians in order to bring you valuable news and analysis. But first, here is a brief overview of what happened this week:Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling on it, as a Syrian government ally, to halt its bombing campaign in rebel-held eastern Aleppo. The Syria Civil Defence, a group of volunteer rescue workers, said more than 150 people were killed in Syrian and Russian airstrikes on Aleppo this week.As the battle for Aleppo rages, the U.S. called for an investigation into possible war crimes committed during the Syrian conflict. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also asked the Security Council to officially refer the war crimes investigations in Syria to the International Criminal Court.This weekend, Russia and the U.S. are set to resume Syria peace talks in Lausanne, Switzerland; it will be the first meeting between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov since Washington broke off negotiations on Oct. 3.As foreign powers discuss diplomatic differences on Syria, on the ground rebel coalitions have also begun to crack. Extremist group Jund al-Aqsa announced that it would join the former al-Qaida affiliate, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. The announcement came just as the Syrian government and its allied forces advanced in Hama province, recapturing five villages.The pro-government advance followed the withdrawal of Jund al-Aqsa and Ahrar al-Sham fighters from the Hama frontlines, where they had been fighting in a joint offensive since August. The two extremist groups turned on each other this week, clashing in Idlib province and the Hama countryside.

Weekly Highlights:

Seven Experts to Watch on Sieges in Syria

In the next installment of our “Experts to Watch” series, we highlight seven experts spreading news and analysis about the horrific conditions inside Syria’s besieged cities.
A Syrian boy arranges peppers at a market in the rebel-held area of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on September 19, 2016, after humanitarian relief failed to enter the city under seige. AFP/KARAM AL-MASRI

Syrian Girls Say Building Minds Will Help Build Futures

Marking this year’s International Day of the Girl, Fiona Duggan, of the children’s charity Theirworld, writes about the aspirations of Syrian girls she met in Turkey – a country where more than 60 percent of refugee girls are out of school.
Ethar Kassab, 15, from Aleppo, is in 10th grade and attends a Syrian school in Gaziantep. After school, she attends a club run by a group of Syrian engineers and physics teachers that teaches children how to operate and program robots. Rosie Thompson/ Theirworld

War in Translation: Giving Voice to the Women of Syria

Translating the words and voices of Syrian women is an act of witness that involves smuggling stories out of the embattled country in the hope that they will live on, writes Syrian writer and translator Lina Mounzer.
Syrian women walk in between destroyed buildings in the government-held Jouret al-Shiah neighbourhood of the central Syrian city of Homs on September 19, 2016. AFP/LOUAI BESHARA

Additional Reading:

Top image: Syrians gather by the rubble of a house destroyed by Syrian forces’ shelling in the town of Azaz, on the outskirts of Aleppo, in September 2012. AP/Muhammed Muheisen, File

Author: Impunity Watch Archive