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More than 20 reportedly injured after blast in shopping area in city of Azaz, which is held by pro-Turkish forcesA bomb has exploded in a shopping area in a northern Syrian city held by pro-Turkish forces, killing at least eight people, a war monitor said.Another 23 were wounded when the car bomb exploded in the middle of a popular market in Azaz, Aleppo province,...

Strike in Aleppo hit near Hezbollah weapons depot, says UK-based group, while Syrian state media says civilians among the deadAn Israeli airstrike on Syria’s Aleppo province has killed at least 36 Syrian soldiers in an area near Hezbollah weapons depots, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said.“At least 36 soldiers were killed and dozens wounded,” said the group, which has an extensive...

Rallies take place in Idlib region, held by rebels against Bashar al-Assad, whose repression sparked civil war in 2011Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Syria’s rebel-held north-west to mark 13 years since pro-democracy protests swept the country, chanting against President Bashar al-Assad and the region’s jihadist rulers.The government’s brutal suppression of the 2011 uprising triggered a civil war that has killed...

UK Maritime Trade Operations says military authorities exploring apparent explosion near vesselThe UK is investigating reports that a cargo ship has come under attack off the coast of Yemen, after an apparent explosion close to the vessel on Sunday.Following the reports of damage to the vessel, the UK Maritime Trade Operations said: “Military authorities are investigating. UKMTO has received a report of an incident...

Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an Iranian-backed militia, claims attack after at least six fighters killedAt least six US-backed Kurdish fighters have been killed in a drone strike on a US base in eastern Syria. The attack was claimed by an Iranian-backed militia that was the target of US airstrikes on Friday.The deaths are the latest indicator of how conflict is seeping across the Middle...

Less well-off residents in the southern city of Antakya feel left out of the city’s rebuilding efforts• Read more: A year in the aftermath of Turkey’s earthquake – a photo essayRows of bright white marble gravestones dot a hillside on the outskirts of Antakya, some bearing the words “martyr of the earthquake”. The final resting place for the city’s dead will soon be overshadowed...

President says ‘If you harm an American, we will respond’ as US forces strike in what is expected to be first of multiple attacksUS airstrikes in Iraq and Syria – live updatesJoe Biden has warned “if you harm an American, we will respond” as US forces attacked more than 80 targets in Iraq and Syria in a wide-ranging air assault on sites belonging to...

The carefully planned raids were the largest yet against Iran’s proxies and are likely to continue until threats to US personnel are neutralisedMiddle East crisis – live updatesUS retaliation, when it came, was broad and deep, and telegraphed five days in advance.The White House, the Pentagon and state department had spent the best part of a week talking about the response to Sunday’s drone...

Tehran warns Washington but regime unsure of degree of support for interventionist foreign policyIran has told the US via intermediaries that if it strikes Iranian soil directly, Tehran will itself hit back at American assets in the Middle East, drawing the two sides into a direct conflict.The warning comes as Iran waits on high alert to see how Joe Biden responds to the death...

The group that claimed responsibility for deadly attack on US military base in north-east JordanMiddle East crisis – live updatesThree US service personnel were killed and dozens wounded after a drone hit a military outpost in Jordan, known as Tower 22, which lies on the border with Iraq and Syria. The US president, Joe Biden, has blamed Iran-backed militants for the attack and said:...

Exclusive: testimonies describing malnourishment and disease to renew pressure on government to repatriate dozens of Britons, many of them childrenBritish mothers held in a prison camp in north-east Syria fear that they may die in detention after an “alarming” deterioration in living conditions.Their testimony – revealed in a series of WhatsApp messages seen by the Guardian – will place fresh pressure on the UK...

Iranian backed militia took credit for attack that injured 34 troops and killed first US soldiers since start of Gaza conflictThe spectre of a direct US-Iranian military conflict drew closer on Sunday when the US president Joe Biden announced three US servicemen had been killed and more than 34 injured following a drone attack on a US service base on the border of Jordan...

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it has lost four members in strike on Syrian capitalMiddle East crisis – live updatesA suspected Israeli strike killed the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ espionage chief for Syria and three other guard members on Saturday, Iran has said, in an attack that destroyed much of a multistorey residential building in Damascus.The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said six people...

Officials vow revenge after Sayyed Razi Mousavi, top member of Revolutionary Guards, reportedly killedAn Israeli airstrike in a Damascus neighbourhood on Monday killed a high-ranking Iranian general, Iranian state media has said.Iranian officials and allied militant groups in the region vowed revenge for the killing but did not immediately launch any retaliatory strike. Continue reading...