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In northwestern Syria, families make a living scouring through dangerous dumps for treasures they can sell. The job could make them sick — or even kill them — but in a country that's suffering a major economic crisis, it's often the only choice they have. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account?

Persons: it's Organizations: Business Locations: Syria

☆ What is the Syrian Kurdish YPG?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 5 (Reuters) - U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish forces said on Thursday that Turkish attacks had killed eight people in an escalation prompted by a bomb attack in Ankara claimed by Kurdish militants. A Turkish defence ministry official said a ground operation into Syria was one option for Turkey, which has previously mounted several incursions into northern Syria against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia. BORN IN SYRIAN WARThe YPG, or the People's Protection Units, emerged as a powerful armed group during the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011. It is affiliated to the main Syrian Kurdish faction, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), and has a female counterpart, the YPJ. YPG control was initially concentrated in three predominantly Kurdish regions of northern Syria - known in Kurdish as Rojava.

Persons: Khalil Ashawi, Bashar al, Assad, Abdullah Ocalan, Tom Perry, Jon Boyle Organizations: REUTERS, Kurdish, Syrian Kurdish, Islamic State, Kurdistan Workers Party, Democratic Union Party, U.S, Syrian Democratic Forces, Islamic, AS, European Union, NATO, DAMASCUS, Kurdish Regional Government, Thomson Locations: Tal Abyad, Syria, Syrian Kurdish, Ankara, Turkey, Syrian, United States, France, Kurdish, U.S, TURKEY, Damascus, Qamishli, Iraq

[1/2] An election campaign billboard of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, presidential candidate of Turkey's main opposition alliance, with a slogan that reads "Syrians will go! ", is pictured, ahead of the May 28 presidential runoff vote, in Istanbul, Turkey, May 25, 2023. "Most Syrians now feel as if the course of their entire lives depends on the results of the elections," he lamented. Like other regional leaders, Erdogan is also mending fences with Assad, raising the possibility of a rapprochement that could worry many Syrians in Turkey. He recounted an incident when a friend was robbed but feared he would be assaulted if he went to the police to illustrate the precarious position many Syrians feel themselves to be in in Turkey.

☆ From joy to dismay, Syrians split over Assad's Arab League return
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DAMASCUS/ATMEH, Syria, May 19 (Reuters) - As some Syrians welcomed President Bashar al-Assad's return to the Arab League on Friday, others expressed dismay that Arab states had welcomed back a leader they blame for death and destruction during 12 years of brutal civil war. he said, speaking at a camp for displaced Syrians in the northwestern town of Atmeh near the Turkish border. In Damascus, university student Wael Hmeideh said he hoped Syria's return to the Arab League would be good for the country. "We hope the return of Syria to the Arab league, or the return of Arabs to Syria, plays a role to solve the crisis and conflict in the country, and end the Syrian war," he said. "Let him release our prisoners and return us to our homes before they think of returning (Assad to the Arab League) and reconcile with him," he said.

ANKARA/BAGHDAD, May 2 (Reuters) - ISIS leader Abu Hussein al-Qurashi's six-month rule ended when he detonated a suicide vest during a Turkish special forces raid in northwest Syria on Saturday after refusing to surrender, a senior Turkish security official said. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday Qurashi "was neutralized" as part of the intelligence forces' operation. Images of the site provided by the security official showed a red-roofed building with most of the walls on its ground floor blown out. An Iraqi intelligence official said: "The only safe haven for the senior Daesh (ISIS) leaders is in Syria, and specifically in areas bordering Turkey." A Turkish security official declined to comment on any Iraqi intelligence involvement in the operation.

JANDARIS, Syria, March 22 (Reuters) - Hussein Mankawi has little hope he will ever rebuild his home and food distribution businesses in the north-west Syrian city of Jandaris after they were reduced to rubble by last month's deadly earthquake, wiping out his life's work. There is nothing but tents," he said, standing by the mangled ruins of his home in the rebel-held region. The Feb. 6 earthquakes were the worst modern-day natural disasters to strike Syria and Turkey, killing more than 56,000 people across the two countries. The U.N. says more than 100,000 people have been displaced in the region since the first quake struck on Feb. 6. "We were looking for a better life," he said as he waited to be let through the border with his family.

☆ At graveyard of unknown quake victims, Syrians seek news of the missing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Khalil Ashawi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/8] A view shows a gravestone reading "unidentified, little girl wearing green sweater" in Arabic inside a cemetery in the rebel-held town of Jandaris, Syria March 4, 2023. "So we wrote down that she was wearing a green sweater, things like that." Hussein shows the images to people who visit looking for missing loved ones. Fadel El Jaber, 65, is searching for three grandchildren missing since their apartment block collapsed in the town of Salqin. Two or three survived, and those three remain missing," Jaber said, standing on rubble.

☆ Syrian woman rescued quake victims, won over those who told her to stay home
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Khalil Ashawi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Salam Mahmoud, a volunteer at the Syria Civil Defence (White Helmets), looks at her mobile phone as she rides in a vehicle, in Idlib province, Syria March 5, 2023. REUTERS/Khalil AshawiIDLIB PROVINCE, Syria, March 8 (Reuters) - Syrian civil defence volunteer Salam Mahmoud had only one thought when she saw the collapsed buildings after the devastating earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey. Mahmoud is one of around 300 women in the Syria Civil Defence, also called the White Helmets, a rescue service of more than 3,000 people which operates in insurgent-held northwestern Syria. "All night I was thinking: could there still be children calling for us, could there still be women screaming out." Mahmoud has volunteered with the Civil Defence for five years.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake on Feb. 6 killed more than 47,000 people, damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of buildings in Turkey and Syria and left millions homeless. In Turkey, 865,000 people are living in tents and 23,500 in containers, while 376,000 are in student dormitories and public guesthouses outside the earthquake zone, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday. Six people were killed in the latest earthquake to strike the border region of Turkey and Syria, authorities said on Tuesday. Turkey's internet authority blocked access to a popular online forum, Eksi Sozluk, on Tuesday, two weeks after it briefly blocked access to Twitter, citing the spread of disinformation. Information Technologies and Communications Authority (BTK) website shows the website was blocked late on Tuesday, without citing any explicit reason.

☆ Quake deals new blow to Syrian medics after years of war
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Khalil Ashawi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

AL-DANA, Syria, Feb 21 (Reuters) - As a nurse working near the frontlines of the Syrian war, Ibrahim Zeidan endured many desperate moments including when shelling destroyed a hospital, leaving him trapped by rubble. But he says an earthquake which hit the region on Feb. 6 has proved the most difficult challenge yet for medics in the rebel-held region, overwhelming health facilities already battered by more than a decade of conflict. The night of the disaster, Zeidan oversaw the evacuation of infants from the hospital where he was working in the town of al-Dana. CCTV footage from the hospital showed masonry falling and equipment shaking as the quake struck. Zeidan previously worked at a hospital that operated out of a cave in the Kafr Zeita region of the rebel-held northwest.

☆ Syrian baby born in earthquake adopted by aunt and uncle
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Khalil Ashawi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Khalil Al-Sawadi, the uncle-by-marriage of a baby girl born during a deadly earthquake earlier this month, holds her, in rebel-held town of Jandaris, Syria February 18, 2023. REUTERS/Khalil AshawiJANDARIS, Syria Feb 18 (Reuters) - An infant child born in northern Syria during this month's devastating earthquake was reunited on Saturday with her aunt and uncle, after her parents and siblings died in the disaster. Footage circulating widely on social media after the quake showed a rescuer scrambling down a hill of rubble carrying a tiny dust-covered baby. Ataa was born three days after the earthquake and Sawadi said he would raise them together. A woman gave birth to a child in the city of Aleppo during the earthquake and said he "brought her back to life."

☆ After devastating quake, thousands of Syrians return home to war zone
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Khalil Ashawi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"I haven't seen my family for four years, as I live alone in Turkey," Qramo said after crossing into Syria. Qramo, who had been living in the city of Gaziantep, said people were staying in tents in the cold and rain. In Gaziantep, Qramo said police had moved Syrians out of a mosque where they were sheltering to make way for Turkish families. Several Turks in other quake-hit towns and cities have accused Syrians of robbing damaged shops and homes. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck before dawn 11 days ago, killing more than 38,000 people in Turkey and 5,800 in Syria.

☆ Syria quake response needs outstrip resources, Assad says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] People search under the rubble of a damaged building, in the aftermath of an earthquake, in rebel-held town of Jandaris, Syria February 15, 2023. "The scale of the disaster and the duties we must undertake are much greater than available resources," Assad said in his first televised address since the earthquake struck last Monday. The U.N. has said nearly 9 million Syrians were affected by the quake and launched a $400 million appeal to cover immediate humanitarian needs over the next three months. The quake eased Assad's international isolation after more than 11 years of civil war, with aid pouring in mostly from Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, which had funded the armed opposition to his government. Senior diplomats also met with him in Damascus including Jordan's foreign minister on Wednesday in the first such meeting since the war began.

The quake killed at least 36,187 in southern Turkey, while authorities in neighbouring Syria have reported 5,800 deaths - a figure that has changed little in days. While several people were found alive in Turkey on Wednesday, the number of rescues has dwindled significantly. Neither Turkey nor Syria have said how many people are still missing. More than 4,000 fatalities have been reported in the rebel-held northwest, but rescuers say nobody has been found alive there since Feb. 9. Deliveries from Turkey were severed completely in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, when a route used by the United Nations was temporarily blocked.

The combined death toll in Turkey and Syria has climbed to more than 41,000, and millions are in need of humanitarian aid, with many survivors having been left homeless in near-freezing winter temperatures. It asked Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to open more border crossing points with Turkey to allow aid to get through. "I shouted, shouted and shouted. Civil war hostilities have obstructed at least two attempts to send aid to the northwest from elsewhere in Syria, but an aid convoy reached the area overnight. "The children and I, by some miracle, we ended up in this small space that I had left empty."

☆ After quake, Syrian schools silent as teachers, students perish
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Khalil Ashawi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Some of those children and teachers would not be coming back, Suleiman said. For years, schools would regularly shut because of fighting, mortar fire by rebel groups or air strikes by the Syrian government or Russia. The earthquake destroyed more than 115 schools in Syria and damaged hundreds more, according to a United Nations update published Saturday. Suleiman has been trying to track down some of the nursery children from whose families he has not heard. "I went around to buildings where I know some of the students live - and 90% of them were destroyed.

[1/8] Seho Uyan, who survived a deadly earthquake, but lost his four relatives, sits in front of a collapsed building in Adiyaman, Turkey February 11, 2023. Turkey said about 80,000 people were in hospital, with more than 1 million in temporary shelters. U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths described the earthquake as the region's worst event in 100 years, predicting the death toll would at least double. He praised Turkey's response, saying his experience was that disaster victims were always disappointed by early relief efforts. It has killed 24,617 inside Turkey, and more than 3,500 in Syria, where tolls have not been updated since Friday.

☆ Islamist group approval issues hold up Syria quake aid, U.N. says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIRUT, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Earthquake aid from government-held parts of Syria into territory controlled by hardline opposition groups has been held up by approval issues with Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a United Nations spokesperson told Reuters on Sunday. A spokesperson for the U.N.'s humanitarian aid office told Reuters "there are issues with approval" by HTS, without giving further information. An HTS source in Idlib told Reuters the group would not allow any shipments from government-held parts of Syria and that aid would be coming in from Turkey to the north. The European Union's envoy to Syria on Sunday urged authorities in Damascus to "engage in good faith" with aid workers to get help to those in need. "It is important to allow unimpeded access for aid to arrive in all areas where it is needed," Dan Stoenescu told Reuters.

[1/6] Rescue workers try to rescue a 15-year-old girl trapped under the rubble, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey February 10, 2023. The death toll exceeded 24,150 across southern Turkey and northwest Syria a day after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said authorities should have reacted faster to Monday's huge earthquake. Earlier, the World Food Programme said it was running out of stocks in rebel-held northwest Syria as the state of war complicated relief efforts. A similarly powerful earthquake in northwest Turkey in 1999 killed more than 17,000 killed in 1999. In the Samandag district of Turkey, rescuers crouched under concrete slabs and whispered "Inshallah" - "God willing" - as they carefully reached into the rubble and plucked out a 10-day-old newborn.

[1/4] Survivors rest while a woman reacts at a hospital in the aftermath of an earthquake, in Kahramanmaras, Turkey February 10, 2023. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem 1 2 3 4Authorities say some 6,500 buildings in Turkey collapsed and countless more were damaged. The U.S. Agency for International Development will provide $85 million in urgent humanitarian assistance to Turkey and Syria. SYRIA OVERWHELMEDIn Syria, relief efforts are complicated by a conflict that has partitioned the country and wrecked its infrastructure. The Syrian government views the delivery of aid to rebel-held areas from Turkey as a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

☆ Earthquake leaves Syrians across frontlines with shared catastrophe
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

That’s humanity," said Suleiman, who was displaced to Idlib from Deir al-Zor in eastern Syria during the war. State media say at least 812 people perished in government-held areas including Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartous. It's a country that is inhabited by death," said Hassan Hussein, from the coastal city and government stronghold of Tartous. In the rebel-held city of Atareb, Yousef Haboush lamented how the quake had forced many from their homes yet again. One of the residents, Abu Hamid, said he felt a sense of "proximity" to other Syrians, including those in rebel-held areas.

☆ Fears grow for untold numbers buried by Turkey earthquake
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

But there was also widespread despair and growing anger at the slow pace of rescue efforts in some areas. People sitting on the rubble react in the aftermath of an earthquake, in rebel-held town of Jandaris, Syria February 7, 2023. Muhammet Ruzgar, 5, is carried out by rescuers from the site of a damaged building, following an earthquake in Hatay, Turkey, February 7, 2023. Vice President Fuat Oktoy said at least 5,894 people have died from the earthquake in Turkey, with another 34,810 injured. An aerial view shows damaged and collapsed buildings following an earthquake, in Hatay, Turkey February 7, 2023.

☆ Earthquake piles misery on war-ravaged Syrians in wintry north
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] People gather as rescuers search for survivors under the rubble, following an earthquake, in rebel-held town of Jandaris, Syria February 6, 2023. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake sent people rushing into the streets in the country's north, where air strikes and shelling have already traumatised the population and weakened the foundations of many buildings. In the rebel-held town of Jandaris in Aleppo province, a mound of concrete, steel rods and bundles of clothes lay where a multi-storey building once stood. "We were pulling people out ourselves at three in the morning," he said, his breath visible in the cold winter air as he spoke. Further west, the main hospital in the rebel-held town of Afrin was teeming with wounded residents writhing on the ground and women struggling to reach loved ones by phone as the lines were down.

☆ Powerful quake rocks Turkey and Syria, kills more than 3,400
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

A man carries a girl following an earthquake, in rebel-held town of Jandaris, Syria February 6, 2023. People search through rubble following an earthquake in Diyarbakir, Turkey February 6, 2023. Rescuers carry out a girl from a collapsed building following an earthquake in Diyarbakir, Turkey February 6, 2023. He said their shared four-story building collapsed just as he, his wife and three children ran toward the exit. Rescuers stand on rubble of a collapsed building, following an earthquake, in Latakia, Syria, February 6, 2023 in this handout image.

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