Life With Syria's Rebels in a Cold and Cunning War

August 22, 2012 from The New York Times

The Times's C.J. Chivers travels with an antigovernment fighting group calling itself the Lions of Tawhid as it prepares to mount an attack on a regime checkpoint using a truck bomb. The Lions are fighting in and around Aleppo, where the war for Syria's future has eroded the line between life and death, and hardened all those involved.

(more) (less)

In This Video

Battle of Aleppo

Violent clashes began on 19 July in several Aleppo districts, leading to the Free Syrian Army taking control of some areas. On 24 July, for the first time since the beginning of the uprising in Syria, fighter jets bombed the city. This was part of a larger counter offensive by... Explore this topic

Syria

Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest. A country of fertile plains, high mountains and deserts, i... Explore this topic

Free Syrian Army

The Free Syrian Army is an armed opposition structure operating in Syria during the Syrian civil war. Composed of defected Syrian Armed Forces personnel and volunteers, its formation was announced on 29 July 2011 in a video released on the internet by a uniformed group of dese... Explore this topic

Syrian Civil War

The Syrian civil war is an ongoing armed conflict in Syria between forces loyal to the Syrian Ba'ath Party government and those seeking to oust it. The conflict began on 15 March 2011, with popular demonstrations that grew nationwide by April 2011. These demonstrations were pa... Explore this topic

Aleppo Governorate

Aleppo Governorate is one of the fourteen governorates of Syria. It is the most populous governorate in Syria with a population of more than 4,045,166, almost 23% of the total population of Syria. The governorate is the fifth in area with an area of 18,482 km², about 10% of th... Explore this topic

Shabeha

Shabiha are groups of armed men in civilian clothing who act in support of the Ba'ath Party government of Syria, led by the Al-Assad family. The shabiha have attacked Syrian opposition protesters and rebels during the Syrian civil war. The Syrian opposition, several foreign go... Explore this topic

Prisoner of war

A prisoner of war is a person, whether combatant or non-combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase is dated 1660. Captor states hold captured combatants and non-combatants in cont... Explore this topic

Guerrilla warfare

Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to dominate a larger... Explore this topic

Aleppo

Aleppo, located in northwestern Syria 310 kilometres from Damascus, is the largest city in Syria and serves as the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,132,100, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant.... Explore this topic

Improvised explosive device

An improvised explosive device is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery round, attached to a detonating mechanism. Roadside bombs are a common... Explore this topic

Also See

Battle of Aleppo

Syria

Free Syrian Army

Watch Next

5:25

The Fight for Aleppo: Life Among the Ruins of Syria's Largest City

The New York Times | Dec 19

In Syria's largest city, a sustained and pitched battle between rebels and the Syrian army has left the city in ruins. Now children rip apart their...