As the Syrian conflict approaches its fifth anniversary, not far across the border in Jordan an altogether more hopeful milestone is being celebrated.

Across Syria's battered and blasted landscape, the relief was palpable as an unlikely truce actually took hold.

A cessation of hostilities in Syria has come into effect under a ceasefire warring sides in the five-year conflict have committed to.

The Turkish government, in league with Saudi Arabia, made a tentative decision to enter the war on the ground in Syria, writes Gwynne Dyer.

An airstrike in Syrian destroyed a makeshift clinic supported by Doctors Without Borders, in a series of attacks that hit hospitals and schools killing at least 50.

A cessation is the most basic good-faith requirement as a first step towards discussions about what peace may look like, writes Alexander Gillespie.

Ceasefire means little as rebels hold various factions at bay and children typically become the victims.

Up to 70,000 Syrians are heading for Turkey, threatening to send a new wave of refugees into Europe as Syria's civil war intensifies.

Abdel Razzak had to be carried on a chair in agony for two months to reach Lebanon after he was shot in the abdomen in Syria's civil war.

Thousands of Syrian families are starving to death as Bashar al-Assad's regime imposes a siege on two mountain towns, despite a United Nations-brokered ceasefire designed to allow in aid.

German scientists think they have found the solution for young refugees who have entered Germany from war-torn countries and are seeking a better life.

In the years since the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, Alaa Aljaleel has become his hometown's unofficial feline caretaker.

Western countries face the prospect of being dragged further into the war in Syria as it prepares to support a new "ground army" from Muslim nations.

The number of foreign fighters who have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join militant groups such as Isis has more than doubled according to a study.

Corbyn called the plan for strikes an 'ill-fated twist in never-ending war on terror', but lost the support of his caucus.

Special Ops task force will expand US troops' direct involvement in battling Isis commanders.

Twelve years ago, George W Bush gave his "Mission Accomplished" speech from the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, confident that the Saddam Hussein regime had been....

Before the Syrian conflict, the country suffered a severe drought. Resulting crop failures sent over 1.5 million people into urban centres that contributed to the destabilisation of the country and devastating civil war.

The U.S. faces the dilemma of whether to take in refugees from the Syrian civil war, but it could prove beneficial for the economy.

France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier will be deployed to the eastern Mediterranean to boost operations in Syria.

The Paris attacks and the largely stalemated war in Iraq and Syria have prompted heavy criticism of Barack Obama's handling of the fight against Isis.

France and its allies in the air must not let up over the weeks ahead but it is, of course, no more than the terrorists would have expected.

In 2013 Amin Mohamed, 25, obtained a NZ passport, quit his job, booked a flight to Istanbul and discussed travelling to Syria with a man.

American anti-tank missiles supplied to Syrian rebels are playing an unexpectedly prominent role in shaping the Syrian battlefield.

Yunus Emre Alagoz, whose younger brother Abdurrahman killed 33 people in a bomb massacre in July, was named by Turkish police in local media.

Russia's presence in Syria under the pretence taking the fight to Isis is a strategic triumph for Vladimir Putin and an embarrassment for Barack Obama, writes Paul Thomas.

Kiwi journalist Rachel Smalley is hosting a special Forgotten Millions gala dinner and auction tomorrow at the SkyCity Convention Centre in Auckland.

Russian warships join the conflict in Syria with a volley of cruise missile attacks from more than 1000km away.

Moscow says it will work to avert potential mishaps between Russian and US pilots flying missions over Syria, Pentagon officials say.