Bashar al-Assad on Vice

Sectarian Tension Builds in Northern Syria

Hajj’s story is just one example of Shia and Sunni Syrians cleaving down sectarian lines that mirror allegiance to the regime or to the opposition. Sitting in the salon of his family home in the Qoreitem district of Hayyan, Mustapha Outroo, 19, a student in the final year of secondary school when the civil war broke out, holds a picture of his older brother Mahmud. Full story

The Little Lion: Syria’s 11-Year-Old Killing Machine

Child soldiers in Syria are involved in shelling, airstrikes, and sniping. They’ve also been subject to arbitrary arrest, torture and rape, as reported by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria. VICE met one of these child soldiers, 11-year-old Mohammed Afar. Full story

People in Lebanon Are Killing Each Other Over Syria

He said he saw the situation getting worse: “We have many injuries, many deaths and many bleeding wounds; 15 dead this month and 100 injuries. The fighters are young and don’t know why they're fighting. They see it as self-protection. They each see it as their neighbors shooting… Full story

The Man Who Was There

Interviews with Syrian Army Defectors

Today, we're serving up two interviews Robert King conducted in the field with Abu Ahmad, a civil engineer and defector from the Syrian Army, and Akhi Muhammad, a defected Free Syrian Army officer from Damascus. Full story

Inside Aleppo's 'Stalingrad'

I am traveling with the Free Syrian Army on the front line of the al-Arqub neighborhood in Aleppo. Sniper rounds crack as the bullets zip over our heads. The acidic taste of gunpowder scares my throat and burns my waterless tear ducts. Just a half mile from the gutted and destroy… Full story

Interviews with a Commander and a Rebel Soldier in the FSA

VICE reached out to Robert King in an attempt to arrive at the twisted core of the matter in Syria. Today, we're serving up two interviews he conducted with the commander of the largest FSA brigade in Aleppo and a carpenter turned FSA rebel. Full story

Comics

Who Wants to Kill a Million!

Bashar al-Assad follows fellow murderous dictators Mubarak and Gaddafi in the hot seat. "If you were to commit a massacre in Damascus, who would you put in charge?" A comic from the Syria issue drawn by Johnny Ryan. Full story

Thousands Are Losing Their Limbs in Assad’s War

While His Wife Pretends to Care About Syria’s Disabled

Attempting to uphold humanitarian rights in Syria under Assad is risky business—especially for Chavia Ali, the wheelchair-bound Kurdish chairwoman of the Cultural Forum for People with Special Needs. Full story

Gunrunning with the Free Syrian Army

They Said I’d Be Yelling “Allahu Akhbar” in No Time

Blindfolded, I fidgeted nervously in the back of an unmarked car, squished between a gunrunner and a young Free Syrian Army soldier. It had been at least an hour since we left the border town of Kilis, Turkey, and we were now off-roading across the Syria-Turkey border. Full story

Beats, Rhymes, and Death

Hip-Hop in Syria Is Seriously Dangerous Business

The extreme levels of censorship and sensitivity clash with the traditionally rebellious nature of hip-hop, and to violate them by recording a hip-hop track with incendiary lyrics can be a deadly decision. Full story