Hannah Lucinda Smith
How Syria's Messy Borders Complicate Journalism, Aid Work, and Politics
The Syrian civil war has made going from country to country in the Middle East a messy business.
Syria Is Starving
The Syrian crisis has unleashed what aid organizations are describing as the biggest humanitarian catastrophe they have ever seen. With a troublesome combination of drought, starvation tactics from the Syrian regime, and skyrocketing food prices, the...
In Aleppo It Used to Rain Scuds, Now It Rains Barrel Bombs
Aleppo has suffered waves of misfortune from barrel bombs, which are just as deadly as Scud missiles, but less accurate.
The Syrian War Keeps Getting Worse for the People of Aleppo
The rebels and the regime have spent 18 months fighting over this city, but soon there may be nothing of it left to fight for.
Jihadists' Tour Guide Shuttles Foreign Fighters Into Syria
“Abu Hussein the Russian” escorts foreign muhajideen to join the war.
The Jihadi Transporter
In 2012, "Abu Hussein the Russian" began escorting foreign mujahideen fighters to Syria to join the war against Bashar al Assad’s regime. He was the jihadists’ transporter, responsible for meeting them at the airport in Istanbul and taking them on the...
How Jihadists Are Blackmailing, Torturing, and Killing Gay Syrians
There have been numerous eyewitness reports and video evidence of medieval-style punishments and brutal executions being meted out by the Islamists on members of minority religious groups, secularists, and people accused of blasphemy.
Al Qaeda’s Teenage Fan Club
I can pinpoint the moment I realized Syria had turned into Mad Max. We were driving through a small town in the northern outskirts of Aleppo during Ramadan about a month before chemical-weapons attacks forced the international spotlight onto...
I Ate Ice Cream with a Member of al Qaeda in Syria
A week ago, I got a call from one of my contacts to say that an al Qaeda fighter in Syria was willing to give me—a Western, female journalist—an interview. There were conditions: we would do the interview in a secret location, I would wear a headscarf...
The Refugee Family Living in a British Military Hut in Cyprus
The well-tended garden outside Mustafa's home and the genial clutter within disguises what the house actually is—a military barracks hut made of corrugated iron. Mustafa has been here since 1998 when his boat capsized and he washed ashore...
Meet 'the First and Only Gay Tour Guide in the Arab Middle East'
Hardline Islamists are making things tricky for Bertho's gay tours of the Arab world.
Inside the DIY Weapons Workshops of the Free Syrian Army
During my five months in Syria, there's one remark I keep hearing from the rebels: we need ammunition and we need heavy weapons.