Kafr Tanour is a village that lies in the northern Idlib countryside. Like many localities in the wider northwest region, the village suffers from a very poor humanitarian and services situation. From the civilian side, the village is administered by a local council that is affiliated with the Salvation Government. On 19 January 2020, I conducted an interview with the head of the Kafr Tanour local council. It is slightly edited and condensed for clarity. Any parenthetical insertions in square brackets are my own.

Q: Can you tell me a little about Kafr Tanour in general?

Continue to the full blog post  |  More blog posts

Kafariya is a village located in north Idlib countryside. Like the neighbouring village of al-Fu'a (also see here), the original inhabitants were Syrian Shi'a who were evacuated entirely from the village by summer 2018. Since that time, Kafariya (like al-Fu'a) has been resettled primarily by Syrian IDPs from other parts of the country. Currently, a local council for Kafariya affiliated with the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham-backed Salvation Government is administering civilian affairs in the village.

Continue to the full blog post  |  More blog posts

The Hashd Sha'abi plays an important role in security matters in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, including the Khanaqin area that has been disputed between the central government in Baghdad and the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government. To learn more of the Hashd's role in Khanaqin, I conducted an interview with the media for the Hashd Sha'abi Commission office in Khanaqin. This interview was conducted on 13 January 2020. It is slightly edited and condensed for clarity. Any parenthetical insertions in square brackets are my own.

Q: When was the office in Khanaqin established? And what are its responsibilities exactly?

Continue to the full blog post  |  More blog posts

As readers of this blog will know, I like to give space to local writers and voices inside Syria to write articles on whatever matters may be of interest to them. In this case, a female writer from the Idlib province town of Ma'arat al-Nu'man has written an article for this blog on the growth in the phenomenon of children in work in the Idlib region as a result of family poverty and the circumstances of the war.

Below is the article.

By Nada al-Mahmoud

Children in work in Idlib: an unknown future and a responsibility before time

Continue to the full blog post  |  More blog posts

The Syrian pound continues to depreciate sharply in value, with one U.S. dollar now being equivalent to more than 1100 Syrian pounds by many exchange rates. This depreciation has had a sharp impact on people's livelihood inside Syria and more people are beginning to speak up. The Syrian state media agency SANA even provided coverage of a recent peaceful demonstration in the southern province of Suwayda' protesting against the high cost of living.

Continue to the full blog post  |  More blog posts