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      How to Understand Syria’s Rapidly Changing Civil War

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      Advances by a coalition of opposition groups have abruptly changed the landscape of Syria’s civil war after a long stalemate. Here’s a closer look at where things stand.Rebel groups fighting to depose President Bashar al-Assad of Syria battled regime forces on the outskirts of the strategic city of Homs on Saturday as they pushed toward the capital, Damascus, according to the rebels and a war monitoring group.Advances by a coalition of opposition groups headed by the Islamist faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham have abruptly changed the landscape of Syria’s civil war after a long stalemate. Their lightning offensive poses the most direct challenge to Mr. Assad’s power in years and is raising fears of chaos if his authoritarian government loses control over large swaths of the country.The Syrian civil war started 13 years ago, beginning during the Arab Spring and escalating into a bloody, multifaceted conflict involving domestic opposition groups, extremist factions and international powers including the United States, Iran and Russia. More than 500,000 Syrians have died, and millions more have fled their homes.Here’s a guide to understanding the conflict, even as it changes rapidly.Here’s what you need to know:What is the situation on the ground?Who is fighting?What about foreign powers?What would a rebel victory mean?An enduring conflictWhat is the situation on the ground?The War in Syria Has a New Map. Again.A surprise advance by Syria’s rebels has redrawn a conflict marked for more than a decade by unusual, shifting alliances.In just over a week, Syrian rebel forces have seized much of Syria’s northwest from the government in a fast-moving attack, upending the stalemate in the civil war. After capturing most of the major city of Aleppo last week, the rebels drove government troops from the western city of Hama on Thursday. They are now threatening the strategic city of Homs, and edging closer to the capital, Damascus.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Syrian Rebels Storm Hama as Government Forces Withdraw

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      In another startling setback for President Bashar al-Assad, government forces retreated from the city of Hama after rebels advanced.Syrian rebels stormed into the city of Hama on Thursday as government forces withdrew, another stunning setback for President Bashar al-Assad.The swift advance on Hama, which was confirmed by both the rebel side and the Syrian government, comes just days after the rebels extended their control over Aleppo, a major hub in northern Syria.The sudden rebel advance has shifted the front lines in Syria’s 13-year-old civil war for the first time in years, adding a new layer of unpredictability to a conflict that has ravaged the country and created a long-term refugee crisis for many neighboring countries.Analysts have attributed the rebel’s surprise success to the cumulative attrition of the war on Mr. al-Assad’s forces and to the fact that foreign allies who have intervened powerfully on his behalf in the past — notably Russia, Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah — are now preoccupied with their own crises.Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, is recovering from a war with Israel that killed many of its leaders and displaced many of its supporters. And Russia — which dispatched its military to bomb rebel areas, turning the war’s tide in favor of Mr. al-Assad years ago — has diverted its attention toward its invasion of Ukraine.The rebels behind the offensive are a combination of forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which evolved from an affiliate of Al Qaeda. But the group says it has cut ties with the global terrorist organization. Other groups backed by Turkey and based in Syrian territory just south of the Turkish border have also joined in the fight.The rebels announced on Thursday that they were entering Hama, one of Syria’s largest cities. A rebel commander, Lt. Col. Hassan Abdulghany, said in a social media statement that government forces were in “a significant state of confusion,” with soldiers and commanders abandoning their posts.The Syrian military issued its own statement, saying that its forces had withdrawn from the city after rebels broke through its defenses. More

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      Syria’s Rebels Struck When Assad’s Allies Were Weakened and Distracted

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      Diminished support for the Syrian government from Iran, Hezbollah and Russia enabled opposition forces to take the initiative and seize new territory.For years, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria was able to beat back opposition fighters with the help of Russia, Iran and Hezbollah. Now, with those allies weakened or distracted by their own conflicts, rebels have seized the opportunity to shift the balance of power.The rebel fighters spent months training and preparing for a surprise offensive, but even they may not have predicted how quickly they would advance. On Saturday, the rebels said they had captured almost all of Aleppo, one of Syria’s biggest cities, and they now control a broad stretch of land in the west and northwest of the country, according to the rebels and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitor.The timing of the assault and its success, analysts say, reveal the vulnerabilities of Mr. al-Assad’s once formidable coalition.The Syrian civil war started 13 years ago when peaceful anti-government protests were met with brutal crackdowns, escalating into a conflict between forces loyal to Mr. al-Assad and rebels. Over time, the combatants drew support and foreign fighters from regional and international powers.Iran, Hezbollah and Russia all sent help to the Syrian military. Hezbollah and Iranian-backed fighters battled alongside Syrian forces, Russia and Iran sent military advisers, and Russia carried out intense airstrikes on rebel-held territory.But today, Iran has been weakened by Israeli airstrikes, battlefield losses by its proxy forces — the so-called axis of resistance — and an economic crisis at home. Hezbollah, one of those proxy forces, has been battered and diminished after 13 months of war with Israel and the killing of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah. And Russia is now nearing the end of its third year of a war of attrition with Ukraine.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Syria Rebels Take Aleppo Airport and Attack Hama, Officials and a Monitor Say

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      Forces opposed to President Bashar al-Assad have captured the Aleppo airport and are attacking the western city of Hama, according to local officials and a Britain-based war monitor.Rebel forces advanced in Syria on Sunday amid fierce fighting, capturing the airport of the major city of Aleppo and attacking the outskirts of the western city of Hama, according to local officials and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Government troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad were trying to repel them, they said.The rebels had captured much of Aleppo a day earlier in a surprise offensive. They now control a broad swath of land across the provinces of Hama, Idlib and Aleppo, in the west and northwest of Syria, according to information from local officials and the Observatory, a Britain-based war monitor.The New York Times also observed rebels in control of parts of Hama Province as well as neighborhoods in the east of the city of Aleppo and parts of the countryside beyond it that government forces had held only days earlier.Government troops were battling to defend the city of Hama from being overrun, according to the Observatory. Syrian government warplanes were also bombing territory that was now held by the rebels, causing civilian casualties, the monitor said.It said that government forces were receiving support from Russian fighter jets, which were striking targets across the countryside near Hama and Idlib province.Russia, which is allied with Mr. Assad, has repeatedly come to his aid since early in the civil war that broke out in 2011, after protests over Mr. Assad’s autocratic rule drew a swift and bloody military crackdown. Mr. al-Assad has also counted on military and political support from Iran. More

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      Syrian Rebel Groups Launch Largest Offensive in Years

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      Scores of people were killed after forces opposed to the government of President Bashar al-Assad overtook a Syrian military base, a monitoring group reported.Syrian opposition forces have launched an offensive in western Aleppo district that has killed at least 89 people and overtaken a Syrian military base, a monitoring group based in Britain reported on Wednesday.The attacks are the most notable escalation in the Syrian conflict in years, expert say. Fighters from various rebel factions, including a group linked to Al Qaeda called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, had advanced by Wednesday to within about six miles of Aleppo and taken over weapons and vehicles previously held by forces loyal to the government of President Bashar al-Assad, according to the monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.Opposition factions announced on the Telegram messaging app that they had taken Base 46, the largest Syrian government base in the area, as well as tanks, and had captured members of the pro-government forces on Wednesday. They also announced that they had taken over a number of villages in the countryside west of Aleppo district.“In the matter of about 10 hours, a wide spectrum of armed opposition groups have managed to get to within about four or five kilometers now of Aleppo city, which is of gigantic significance,” Charles Lister, the director of Middle East Institute’s Syria and counterterrorism programs, said on Wednesday.The Syrian government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The attacks are believed to be the first major effort since 2020 by the rebel groups to take territory, when Turkey, which sided with the opposition forces, and Russia, which is Syria’s ally, brokered a cease-fire to halt fighting in the Idlib region.The recent escalation is part of increasing volatility in the region, experts say.“Pro-regime militias have been upping their attacks in the area, trying to deter the rebels because Israel has been weakening the Syrian regime’s allies like Hezbollah and Iran,” said Natasha Hall, a senior fellow with the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.The success of the offensive thus far shows the vulnerability of the Syrian government and the growing prowess of the various opposition factions, experts say.“Years ago, an offense of this size would have been pushed back by the regime,” Mr. Lister said. But opposition forces like Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which traces its origins from the Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, have invested heavily in resources and training for night operations. “That basically levels the playing field,” he added.Dr. Mustafa Aledou, a pharmacist and program manager for MedGlobal, a Chicago-based nonprofit, lives in Idlib city and said he was less than 20 miles from the attacks.His family woke early in the morning to the sound of bombing, he said.“We can hear the explosions,” he said. “We can hear the attacks in the battle in the frontline between the fighting forces.”The local authorities announced the closure of schools and large markets because of the fighting.Milana Mazaeva More

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      ¿Cuáles son los métodos que usan los gobiernos autoritarios para influir en las elecciones?

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      Al igual que otros líderes autoritarios de todo el mundo, Maduro ha empleado innumerables tácticas para amañar las elecciones en un intento de obtener legitimidad mientras desvirtúa el proceso democrático.[Estamos en WhatsApp. Empieza a seguirnos ahora]El lunes, el presidente Nicolás Maduro fue declarado ganador en la votación presidencial de Venezuela a pesar de las flagrantes irregularidades electorales, lo que ha sumido al país en protestas generalizadas.La votación se produjo después de que millones de venezolanos apoyaran al candidato de la oposición, Edmundo González, quien sustituyó a la popular líder de la oposición, María Corina Machado, a quien el gobierno de Maduro le prohibió postularse. Maduro fue declarado vencedor por la autoridad electoral del país, que no hizo público el recuento completo de votos, lo que alimentó las sospechas sobre la credibilidad de la victoria de Maduro.Machado calificó los resultados de “imposibles” y muchos señalaron a la interferencia del gobierno en los centros de votación.No es la primera vez que se acusa al gobierno de Maduro de presentar resultados electorales falsos. Al igual que otros líderes autoritarios de todo el mundo, Maduro ha empleado innumerables tácticas para amañar las elecciones en un intento de obtener legitimidad desvirtuando el proceso democrático.A continuación, analizamos cinco maneras diferentes en que los gobiernos autoritarios pueden amañar las elecciones.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Russia’s Battle With Extremists Has Simmered for Years

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      The Islamic State has long threatened to strike Russia for helping the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, stay in control.In the past few months, deep in the forbidding deserts of central Syria, Russian forces have quietly joined the Syrian military in intensifying attacks against Islamic State strongholds, including bombing what local news reports called the dens and caves where the extremist fighters hide.While the world was focused on the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, this type of skirmishing has been simmering for years in Syria, and the Islamic State has long threatened to strike Russia directly for shoring up the regime of its sworn enemy, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.That moment appeared to have come on Friday night with the bloody assault on a Moscow concert hall that left more than 130 people dead. “The fiercest in years,” said a statement of responsibility issued on Saturday by a branch of the Islamic State via its news agency, referring to the long history of brutal terrorist attacks pitting jihadist forces against Moscow.“They have framed this attack as coming in the context of the normal, ongoing war between ISIS and the anti-Islamic countries,” said Hanna Notte, a Berlin-based expert on Russian foreign and security policy at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. “This seems to be within the overarching theme of Russia in Afghanistan, Russia in Chechnya, Russia in Syria.”President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, right, meeting with the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, in Moscow last year.Vladimir Gerdo/Sputnik, via EPA-EFE, via ShutterstockIn his brief remarks on Saturday, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia did not mention the claim from the Islamic State, but he did threaten to punish those responsible. “All perpetrators, organizers and commissioners of this crime will receive a just and inevitable punishment,” Mr. Putin said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Republican Search for Alternatives to Trump

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      More from our inbox:Assad Should Be Reviled, Not RecognizedThe Overuse of Guardianship Damon Winter/The New York TimesTo the Editor:Re “How to Make Trump Go Away,” by Frank Luntz (Opinion guest essay, April 10):Republicans are tying themselves in knots trying to come up with candidates who can appeal to Trump voters but who are not Donald Trump. The latest effort is this essay by the Republican strategist Frank Luntz.I laughed and groaned when I read about the search for “a candidate who champions Mr. Trump’s agenda but with decency, civility and a commitment to personal responsibility and accountability.” Really? How could such a thing be possible?Mr. Trump’s agenda — if one can say he has an agenda other than himself — is one of building a power base by stoking grievance, resentment and division. It is inherently based on indecency and incivility.The last thing this country needs is a smoother, more effective version of Donald Trump. We need an agenda that brings us together to make America a better place for everyone, not just for some at the expense of others. We don’t need an agenda that divides, debases and weakens us, whoever the candidate.John MasonSanta Rosa, Calif.To the Editor:Frank Luntz’s eight suggestions to the Republican leadership on how to dump Donald Trump are well considered and rational. But one other rational thought that he omitted is the threat that Mr. Trump would run as an independent if he isn’t nominated for the 2024 presidential race. Even a small percentage of his hard-core base could crush the chances for a normal Republican candidate to win the general election.Mr. Trump is irrational enough to spend the funds he has raised already plus some of his own in a vindictive, spoiler candidacy. It’s not a mystery why Republican leaders don’t know how to escape their dilemma.Davis van BakergemSt. LouisTo the Editor:As one of the steadily increasing body of independents, I read Frank Luntz’s column avidly to see where there might be a case to be made on behalf of the Republicans. Unfortunately, there is an underlying premise that Donald Trump did a lot of good things for the country during his term.I fail to see them.True, the economy was in good shape before the coronavirus, but I ascribe that in large part to the hard work of the Obama years. The only program of note that Mr. Trump initiated was the tax cuts that sharply increased an already swollen deficit and that benefited our citizens who least needed the help. Far from helping the disenfranchised, he milked them for his personal benefit and widened the divide.Internationally, he alienated our longstanding allies in Europe. We are left with his “impact on the bureaucracy and judiciary.” Mr. Luntz must mean rendering governance ineffectual through starvation and converting the judiciary into a political body.Not my idea of a record to run on.Tony PellBostonTo the Editor:Thank you for this great piece. Everything Frank Luntz said resonated with me, a liberal residing among some very strong conservatives. He went the extra mile to really understand Trump voters and describe in great detail how a Republican candidate could succeed with them in a future election.It was very thought-provoking, and helped me gain an even deeper insight into my neighbors and their concerns. I will remember what he wrote.Mary HollenGreenbank, Wash.To the Editor:Frank Luntz offers messaging advice for Republican presidential candidates to attract MAGA voters away from Donald Trump: Listen and sympathize with Trump supporters, he says, emphasize decency, civility and personal responsibility. Acknowledge Mr. Trump’s successes and offer the mildest criticisms of his presidential record and personal behavior. “Make it more about the grandchildren” because these mature right-wing voters care about the kids’ future.No doubt there are disillusioned Trump voters who are ready for a different message, but how many? Racism, misogyny and apocalyptic nihilism are the hallmarks of Trumpism. Mr. Luntz’s advice is not only risible — adopt a liberal demeanor without the Enlightenment values — but also paradoxical. It presumes an electorate yearning for a kinder, gentler fascism. ​Geraldine MurphyNew YorkAssad Should Be Reviled, Not Recognized /EPA, via ShutterstockTo the Editor:Re “After Shunning Assad for Years, the Arab World Changes Its Tune” (news article, April 14):It is troubling to see that several Arab nations have chosen to embrace President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, whose tenure has been marked by unspeakable atrocities and egregious human rights violations. His reign of tyranny and terror should result in ongoing condemnation, not the newfound credibility that is being bestowed upon him by Syria’s Arab neighbors.Mass killings and widespread violence that have forced millions of people to flee their homes cannot and should not be overlooked when assessing the strategic importance of re-establishing formal relations with Syria and its rogue leader.Mr. al-Assad should be reviled, not recognized.N. Aaron TroodlerBala Cynwyd, Pa.The Overuse of Guardianship Rozalina BurkovaTo the Editor:Thank you for “A Better Alternative to Guardianship,” by Emily Largent, Andrew Peterson and Jason Karlawish (Opinion guest essay, April 5).As they note, the overuse of guardianship robs people of agency in their own lives. Those with guardians are left out of important conversations about their future, they don’t develop the skills necessary to make life choices and they are prohibited from entering into legal agreements, managing their money or getting married without the guardian’s consent.Because the individual has been deemed legally incompetent, the guardian signs any legally binding contracts, co-signs any disbursements and, depending on the state, may have to sign the marriage license.For people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, families are all too often counseled when their family member leaves school to seek guardianship.Nationwide data from the National Core Indicators indicates that among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities receiving services, a staggering 45 percent are under some form of guardianship. Supported decision-making, described in the essay, provides a much-needed alternative to this denial of rights and agency.Valerie J. BradleyCambridge, Mass.The writer is president emerita of the Human Services Research Institute. More