Raqqa Showcases Syria’s Tumultuous Past

By: Carlotta Gall · Hussam Hammoud and Nanna Heitmann

25 April 2026 at 09:00

The city on the Euphrates, once a cradle of civilization, suffered under a succession of recent rulers. Our visit found it hoping for change.

The Guardian World news

Australian women and children leave Syrian detention camp for Damascus – and potentially home

By: Ben Doherty

25 April 2026 at 01:02

Repatriation attempt comes after group was turned around when leaving camp in February. Albanese government says it’s not assisting cohort

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Four Australian women and nine of their children and grandchildren have left al-Roj camp in north-east Syria, seeking to return to Australia.

The group is reportedly travelling across Syria by road to the capital Damascus, under the control of the Syrian government.

The Guardian World news

Syria arrests suspected leader of Tadamon massacre

By: Michael Safi and Melvyn Ingleby

24 April 2026 at 13:58

Amjad Youssef is one of most-wanted fugitives in relation to slaughter of estimated 288 civilians under Assad

A Syrian former regime official suspected of leading a notorious civilian massacre revealed by the Guardian – and who became one of the country’s most-wanted fugitives after the fall of Bashar al-Assad – has been arrested by security forces, Syria’s interior ministry announced.

Amjad Youssef was captured in the Ghab plain area about 30 miles (50km) outside the city of Hama and had “been taken into custody following a carefully executed security operation”, the interior minister, Anas Khattab, said in a social media post on Friday.

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