Fertile Crescent

Monday 21 May 2012

ARBIL: Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region expects to start exporting its crude oil along a new pipeline to the Turkish border by August 2013, defying Baghdad in a long-running dispute over who controls the country's oil sales.

Clashes in Syria leave more than 20 dead

Tuesday 15 May 2012

Rebels have killed 23 Syrian soldiers in battles around the town of Rastan.

Seven shot in attack on village

Monday 14 May 2012

Syrian troops backed by armoured vehicles yesterday shot dead seven civilians when they overran a rebellious Sunni Muslim village west of the city of Hama, burning houses and arresting dozens of people, an activists' organisation said.

Assad supporters targeted in attacks

Sunday 6 May 2012

An explosion in a car-wash in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo killed at least five people yesterday, activists said, while another blast in the capital Damascus destroyed nine cars.

Death toll climbs in Syria as fresh violence erupts

Wednesday 2 May 2012

Violence erupted in two Syrian provinces yesterday, with a rights group reporting 10 civilians dead in an army mortar attack and 12 soldiers killed in a fire-fight with rebel gunmen as UN monitors sought to shore up a shaky ceasefire.