What Happened to Syria?

A podcast looking back at what’s happened in Syria since 2011.

Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, anywhere you get your podcasts!

#FreeSyria

[What Happened to Syria? @SyriaPod]

This is devastating news.

Please pray for Fared, share his fundraiser, and if at all possible please donate what you can to help him raise money for his medical expenses.

[Fared Al Mahlool | فريد المحلول @FARED_ALHOR]

Two months after my eye surgery, my doctor told me today that I need several more procedures. It’s difficult news, but I’m doing my best to keep going. Please keep me in your prayers. If you’d like to support me through my treatment journey, the link is below.

https://t.co/8TgIIlgxH5

[What Happened to Syria? @SyriaPod]

@IsraHazel

[Saad Abedine @SaadAbedine]

Pro Hezbollah trolls celebrate the killing of former MP Ahmed al-Alwani, who was found dead days after being kidnapped in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

Former Iraqi MP Ahmed al-Alwani was strangled to death inside an apartment he was lured into in Beirut’s Tariq al-Jadideh area, and has been missing for 4 days.

Al-Alwani was previously arrested in December 2013 during a raid in Ramadi and spent more than a decade in Iraqi detention on death row before being acquitted and released in April 2025.

Lebanese security forces have launched an official investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.

[Jake Bleiberg @JZBleiberg]

New: At least 11 National Security Agency and US Cyber Command workers died by suicide over roughly the past year, according to US officials and public records, a greater number than previously known.

https://t.co/oqvZMPl7mn

[Gregory Waters @GregoryPWaters]

A lot of rumors past couple days of significant number of removals of MoD personnel. Here claiming most were ex-regime 25th Div and 4th Div makes sense.

Since the regime fell many Sunnis (esp in Hama) have been posting on FB the profiles of ex-4th Div/25th Div Sunnis rehired into the army (many into the 62nd Division).

These two units expanded significantly post-2019 with Sunni recruitment from Hama, Aleppo, and Damascus, especially in former rebel areas.

[Rami SD @SyrianShabab]

The friend of the guy caught littering sunflower seed shells: "I told you to throw them on the Aleppo Citadel side rather than on the floor!"

The official: "That's even worse!" 🤣

On a more serious note, without proper fines, these people will never learn.

[Rasha Al Aqeedi @RashaAlAqeedi]

One of the biggest stories in Iraq at the moment is that Iran-backed militia and designated terrorist group Kataeb Hezzbollah (listed for killing Iraqi civilians, btw) built and controls a non-licensed oil refinery in Jurf Al Sakhr. A one liner on Jurf Al
Sakhr: a town north of Baghdad that has been emptied completely of its Sunni population since 2014 by Iran-backed militias. 12 years later, the majority of its displaced population are still in tents and denied entrance to Baghdad or other more habitable areas.
Back to the oil refinery. Because it's not licensed, no one knows where the oil is going, who's buying it, and how much it has generated. Given the well-known fact that the IRGC pretty much remote-controls Kataeb Hezzbollah, there's a high probability that the oil and/or revenue is going to Tehran and simultaneously making the militias richer.
Since Barrack and other US talking heads are currently in London rubbing shoulders with Iraq's corrupt establishment, maybe they can address this topic.

[Tam Hussein @tamhussein]

Our story is about a humanitarian who survived Assad's prisons and the other never came home.

In 2012, British doctor Abbas Khan and American aid worker Kevin Patrick Dawes entered Syria to help those suffering under the Assad regime. Both ended up in its notorious detention system.

[Homeless cat rescuer @loverAnimalBest]

Consider and see what happens to us, stop and watch

I don't want to write too much. All I want to say is that fear in northern Gaza knows nothing but us. Please help me.

[Jihad Yazigi @jihadyazigi]

Unfortunately I will not be able to speak at this event. The Centre for Syrian Studies (@SyriaStudies) changed the timing of the event without any prior warning and without even informing me after the change was made. I learned about the change by chance from the online promotional banner and unfortunately I have prior commitments at the (new) time of the event. No bad intentions I am sure, just bad organisation. I am sure you will enjoy the discussion with @Karam__Shaar

[Fared Al Mahlool | فريد المحلول @FARED_ALHOR]

Hey! I’m a Syria-based fixer and photographer, offering local support and assistance to visitors, journalists, and anyone interested in exploring Syria.

Planning a visit to Syria? Don’t hesitate to get in touch! 🇸🇾

[james stout @jamesstout]

90 years ago today workers from the Graphic arts battalion held off Franco's most formidable forces in Madrid. I'd be interested to hear if anyone knows the provenance of this photo

[What Happened to Syria? @SyriaPod]

@RamiSafadi93 I heard someone joke that she probably hates the Israeli government even more than El-Sayed because the CIA and Mossad despise each other.

They cooperate on Iran but end up in conflict on every other issue, largely due to Israel being Israel.

[Gregory Waters @GregoryPWaters]

These are most likely Republican Guard soldiers from the 104th or 106th Brigade. Units of the two brigades were responsible for the 2011 attacks and occupation of Douma, under the commands of Issam Zahreddine and Muhamad Khaddour.

A 2021 biography of one of the battalion commanders present here gives a detailed description of the 104th Brigade's deployments throughout 2011 and 2012
https://t.co/0YWY5esJEt

[What Happened to Syria? @SyriaPod]

@mmdrashd That's so disappointing. Hope you can get winter vegetables planted, quickly.

[james stout @jamesstout]

If only John Krakauer had written a whole ass book about the one thing second tier John here forgot to include.

[mohammad alrashid | syria.Idlib @mmdrashd]

The frost completely wiped out my eggplant vegetables 😢
Those vegetables were going to give my family a helping income for the last 6 months.
I should uproot them and plant winter vegetables immediately

https://t.co/JBJaX0u926

[anomie @syranomie]

I’ve noticed checkpoints are very laxed in Syria. I think the government has prioritized freedom of movement above securing its cities. It’s really no wonder how IS slips through.

Hard to judge if this is the right move or not, curious what others think

[Aliza Marcus @AlizaMarcus]

Pkk continues to withdraw from its camps in Iraqi Kurdistan - signs that despite recent Kurdish warnings of a standstill in the process, on the ground it continues.

[Pizza @number_pizza111]

How it feels to have WhatsApp, WeChat, and Telegram as a white American

[WANA Visuals @wana_visualss]

🇦🇲 Yerevan, Armenia, 1988.