Update December 4: Northern Syria Offensive
Focus, NewsHighlights
- As displaced families continue to pour in to NES, the DAANES estimates that numbers of IDPs will soon reach 120,000.
- Critical shortages of essential supplies, food, water, medicines and accommodation for IDPs.
- SNA commits…
Explainer: The Religious Assembly and Academy for Democratic Islam
Explainers, Focus
The Autonomous Administration’s secular position on religion is laid out in the Social Contract, the founding document of the Democratic Federation of North and East Syria. The Social Contract states that public affairs are not to be conducted…
‘The regime blockade suffocates this region’ – Health worker on coronavirus crisis in Shehba region
Focus, Interviews, News
Health workers in the isolated enclave, home to 200,000 Kurdish IDPs, are struggling to deal with the outbreak
Q: Is coronavirus spreading in Shehba?
Frankly, it is very difficult to know if someone has coronavirus because the symptoms…
“This is the first time, after thousands of years, that our identity has been accepted and valued” – Eisha Sido, Yazidi Women’s Union of Afrin
Focus, Interviews, News
The Yazidi Women’s Union of Afrin works for the protection of the Yazidi culture and promotes the integration of Yazidi women in all spheres of society. Eisha Sido, member of the organization, explains how the establishment of the Autonomous…
After ISIS: Ensuring a future for Christians and other minorities in North and East Syria
Indepth Dossiers, News, Report
RIC Dossier 0409 SP2Download
North and East Syria is both religiously and ethnically diverse. It is inhabited not only by (primarily Sunni Muslim) Arabs and Kurds, but also by Syriac-Assyrian Christians, Armenian Christians, Turkmen, Circassian,…
Update: Coronavirus crisis in North and East Syria – week ending 6 September
Coronavirus Crisis, News, Report
Our latest weekly report on the coronavirus crisis in North and East Syria finds:
Detected coronavirus cases double in Euphrates region despite severe under-testingSlowdown in reported cases and deaths in worst-hit Jazira region and…
Report: US-Russian tensions and killing of top sheikh drive rise in ISIS sleeper cell and Syrian Government militia attacks
News, Report, Sleeper Cells
Coalition, SDF and AANES officials have all been meeting with tribal figures in Deir-ez-Zor in the context of rising tensions and security challenges
Key Points
- Assassination attempts doubled in August (7 to 14) including…
Just Security – Despite US Veto, Desperate ISIS Suspects and Families Remain at Risk
Media Coverage
Original Article by Letta Tayler, Just Security, 04 September 2020
There is good news and bad news from the Aug. 31 United Nations Security Council vote on a dangerously flawed draft resolution on so-called “foreign terrorist fighters,”…
Fox News – ISIS launched more than 100 attacks in Iraq in August, a sharp uptick from previous month
Media Coverage
Original Article by Hollie McKay, Fox News, 04 September 2020
The remnants of ISIS in Iraq claimed 100 attacks across the embattled country over the past month alone, according to an assessment by the Terrorism Research and Analysis…
Syria Direct – ‘A ticking time bomb’: COVID-19 spike catches northeast Syria unprepared
Media Coverage
Original Article by Will Christou, Syria Direct, 31 August 2020
AMMAN — “It’s a ticking time bomb; we’re maybe a month behind Damascus in terms of the COVID outbreak.” This is how a western aid worker involved in the COVID-19 response…
“What is very important for us is to see there is willingness to help us” – Gulistan Sido from the University of Rojava
Focus, Interviews, News
The University of Rojava recently launched an appeal for support to universities and academics around the world. RIC interviewed Gulistan Sido, responsible for external relations at the University of Rojava, to learn more about its history,…