Despite an ongoing civil war that has divided the country and left more than 150,000 people dead as well as millions displaced, Syria’s government is preparing a democratic farce.
Last time we checked in on British Jihadists, they were posting snaps of themselves messing about in swimming pools, hoarding Cadbury’s chocolates from home, and generally having a good time. Everything has changed.
He was labeled the “American Jihadi" for his actions in Syria, but Eric Harroun just wanted to fight for freedom — and his right to party.
VICE News Capsule - Thursday, April 3
In today’s capsule: A Syrian woman in Lebanon lit herself on fire after the United Nations discontinued her aid, a prominent islamist was killed in Kenya, protests Over China’s Maritime Aggression in the Philippines and an explosion at Cairo University killed a high-ranking police officer.
VICE News Capsule - Wednesday, March 26
Today: France’s far right party, Russia’s space program, Taliban attacks in Afghanistan and Syria’s space program.
The VICE News Capsule is a daily roundup that looks beyond the headlines. Today: Myanmar’s war on opium, the Taliban destroyed Pakistan’s silk industry, the UK pulls out of Afghanistan and serious starvation risk among Syrian refugee children.
Lebanon’s Illegal Arms Dealers
With Lebanon’s security situation worsening every day, business is booming for the country’s illegal arms dealers. With a porous border with Syria next door and vast stockpiles of weapons left over from the country’s civil war, anyone with enough cash can buy any weapon they want, no questions asked - so VICE News went window shopping to see what’s availableG
The war in Syria is dragging neighbouring Lebanon to the edge of the abyss, and nowhere is the growing chaos more stark than in the second city of Tripoli. Watch Part 5 of our new video Warlords of Tripoli
Warlords of Tripoli – Part 1
War in Syria is dragging neighboring Lebanon to the edge of the abyss. Nowhere is the growing chaos more stark than in the second city of Tripoli. Sunni militants aligned with the Syrian rebels clash with fighters from the city’s encircled Alawite minority—who support the Assad regime—in bitter street fighting that the country’s weak government seems powerless to stop.
With the rule of law no longer in effect in Tripoli, warlords like Sunni commander Ziad Allouki are now the city’s real rulers. VICE News hung out with him and his fighters for a week to discover why they’re fighting and if the country really is on the brink of civil war.
Three years ago, an uprising against the Assad regime turned into what looked like a straightforward civil war between Syrian government forces and rebels. However, over time, what had started as a largely secular opposition movement began to take on more of a radical Islamist tone, with two al Qaeda offshoots—the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and Jabhat al-Nusra—becoming the dominant forces on the ground across the rebel-held North.
One VICE filmmaker managed to secure unprecedented access to both al Qaeda factions battling Syria’s government forces, despite the risk of journalists being kidnapped. This is a remarkable portrait of the foreign volunteers and local Syrians willing to fight and die to establish a new caliphate on Europe’s doorstep.