Clashes between Islamists who took over Syria and supporters of ousted President Bashar Assad’s government have killed two Islamic fighters and wounded others.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Kurdish militants in Syria will either lay down their weapons or "be buried", amid hostilities between Turkey-backed Syrian fighters and the militants since the fall of Bashar al-Assad this month.

The number of US troops in Syria has regularly surged higher than the Pentagon has publicly disclosed since at least 2020, and in recent months increased to more than double the roughly 900 troops the US has long said are in Syria,

Syria's newly appointed foreign minister, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, told Iran on Tuesday not to spread chaos in Syria but to respect the Syrian people's will and the country's sovereignty. In a post on X,

The Turkish military killed 21 Kurdish militants in northern Syria and Iraq, the defence ministry said on Wednesday.

Syrian President Bashar Assad's ouster has ended Iran's 40-year dominance and quest for hegemony in the region, further weakened his allies in Lebanon and created a new opportunity for establishing normal relations.

The U.N. organization assisting in investigating the most serious crimes in Syria says the country’s new authorities were “very receptive” to its request for cooperation during a just-concluded visit to Damascus — and it is preparing to deploy.

The Biden administration has lifted a $10 million bounty on the head of Ahmed al-Sharaa, leader of the group that overthrew Bashar al-Assad in Syria. In exchange, al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, agreed to a U.S. demand not to allow terrorism groups in Syria to threaten the U.S. or Syria’s neighbors.

Protests have broken out in Syria over the burning of a Christmas tree, prompting calls for the new Islamist authorities to take steps to protect minorities. A video posted on social media showed the tree on fire in the main square of Suqaylabiyah, a Christian-majority town in central Syria.

Assad, old alliances have crumbled, and global powers are figuring out their relationships with Syria’s new de facto leaders.