Former civilians have been quickly picking up the tactics that will make them a formidable military force. Luke Harding reports.
Syrian troops have killed four students and arrested some 200 after storming an anti-regime protest at Aleppo University, in the north of the country.
Rebels have killed more than 20 troops in the Syrian army’s deadliest day of a ceasefire deal even as UN observers say they have a "calming" impact.
US President Barack Obama has given the nod to tighten sanctions against Syria and Iran by going after foreign firms violating existing measures.
Violence has erupted in two Syrian provinces with reports of 10 civilians dead in an army mortar attack and 12 soldiers killed in clashes with rebels.
Nine people are dead and 100 wounded in bomb blasts near Syrian security service buildings as a bombing battle intensifies against government targets.
Tens of thousands have protested across Syria as a suicide bombing rocked the capital, killing 11 people fuelling scepticism over a UN peace plan.
Kofi Annan’s peace plan has thrown up suspicions with a briefing to the Security Council suggesting a painful, open-ended process.
Cellphone giant MTN has sought advice in the wake of sanctions by the United States against companies that aid human rights abuses.
South Africans, along with the rest of Africa, have to demand political inclusivity if we hope to keep growing, says <strong>Richard Poplak</strong>.
Syrian President Bashar Assad’s opponents appear to be resorting to assassinations of loyalist military officers in an escalation of their campaign.
The UN hopes to get permission from the Syrian government to send more aid workers to help at least 1-million people in need of urgent assistance.
Kofi Annan’s deputy has told the Security Council that the swift deployment of observers to Syria is needed despite risks and persistent violence.
International monitors say conflicts, including the uprisings in the Arab world, last year forced 3.5-million people to flee within their country.
Syria has challenged the UN chief over the scope of a UN truce monitoring mission, resisting a larger presence as its army shelled targets in Homs.
A team of United Nations monitors have begun work in Syria, seeking to ensure both state forces and the opposition repect the terms of their truce.
Efforts to build on a Syrian ceasefire are accelerating with plans to deploy UN observers being drawn up to keep up pressure on Bashar al-Assad.
Strife-torn Syria has remained calm in the first few hours after a ceasefire brokered by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan came into force this morning.
Syria has promised Kofi Annan it will stop all fighting by the dawn deadline, but has a right to respond to attacks by "armed terrorist groups".
UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has urged an end to violence in Syria, amid claims 1 000 people have been killed in the past week.
As Syria emarks on a new peace plan, news has emerged that its forces summarily executed over 100 civilians and rebel fighters in the past few months.
Syrian forces have fired into Turkey, hitting a refugee camp amid mounting international concern hours before a UN deadline to end the crisis.
Continued military bombardments in central Syria is dashing the prospects of a UN-brokered ceasefire taking hold.
The US has warned Syria it won’t be able to deceive the world about compliance with a cease-fire that is just days away, as the violence continues.
Syrian armed forces killed at least 31 people on Saturday, mostly civilians and all but four of them in an assault on the town of Latamna.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar are being urged not to supply weapons to Syrian rebels for fear of hampering efforts to negotiate an end to the crisis.
Syria has told Arab League envoy Kofi Annan that it has begun pulling troops in line with a peace plan accepted by President Bashar al-Assad.
Syrian activists have accused forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad of bombarding rebel areas as a UN mission is expected to arrive in Damascus.
Activists accuse Syrian troops of shelling two cities in an effort to weaken forces fighting Bashar al-Assad’s government before a ceasefire deadline.
At least 18 people have been killed on Monday as Syrian forces pressed their crackdown on dissent, pounding rebel bastions in the restive north.
Syrian violence has killed at least 16 people, including eight soldiers who died during ambushes and battles in the east, north west and Damascus.
An icon of Syria’s revolution is furious that her country’s peaceful protest movement has been drawn into armed conflict with the regime.