Kelly McEvers

A Close-Up Of Syria's Alawites, Loyalists Of A Troubled Regime

Kelly McEvers — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:20:00 +0000

The film on Syria's Alawite community isn't finished yet, but filmmaker Nidal Hassan's favorite scenes are beginning to take shape.

It opens with fireworks on New Year's Eve in Tartous, Syria. "May God preserve the president for us," one young man yells in a reference to Syrian leader Bashar Assad.

Situated on the Mediterranean coast, Tartous is a resort town, with a port and a Russian naval base. Roughly three-quarters of the people in Tartous are Alawites, like Assad and his late father, who have run the country for more than 40 years.

Revisiting Iraq: A Sister On The Edge

Kelly McEvers — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 06:58:00 +0000

It's been 10 years since the U.S. invaded Iraq. This week we're taking a look back, revisiting voices you first heard on NPR in 2007. We brought you the story of two sisters who had lost their parents. The older sister wore conservative clothes and recited poetry. The younger sister, just 13 at the time, appeared on the verge of becoming a prostitute.

Like so many stories in Iraq, especially sensitive ones involving shame and sex, this story has to be peeled away in layers, like an onion.

It starts with the older sister, Shahad.

Face To Face With Death In Iraq

Kelly McEvers — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 22:21:00 +0000

On the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, NPR is catching up with some of the people we encountered during the war. In 2006, at the height of the violence, we brought you the story of a woman who performed the Muslim ritual of washing and preparing the dead for burial.

A Chat With A Radical Fighter In Syria

Kelly McEvers — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 17:23:00 +0000

The Islamist rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra has been secretive, keeping to itself and refusing to meet Western journalists. The group has been designated a terrorist organization by the Obama administration and was thought to be made up mostly of foreign fighters, working alongside Syrian rebels.

But lately, members are starting to open up as more Syrians join the group and they make more gains on the ground in the fight against the Syrian government.

In the northwest Syrian town of Kafr Nabel we met a 21-year-old fighter from the group.

Displaced Syrians Find Shelter In Ancient 'Dead Cities'

Kelly McEvers — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 09:39:00 +0000

Parts of the northern Syrian province of Idlib are a U.N. World Heritage site, known for its ancient archaeological wonders. Walking along muddy, rocky ground covered in new grass and wild daffodils, we start to see remnants of Roman structures — the columns and doorways of dwellings, temples and churches that date back to the 1st century.

They're known as the Dead Cities, and they trace the transition from ancient pagan Rome to Christian Byzantium.

Conflict Transforms Syrian English Teacher Into War Photographer

Kelly McEvers — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 19:46:00 +0000

Syria's war has thrown ordinary citizens into situations they never could have imagined and changed them in ways they never would have dreamed. It's turned carpenters, engineers and doctors into armed rebels. And in Aleppo, it has turned a young female teacher into a war photographer.

We first met Nour Kelze back in October, on our first trip to Aleppo. We asked her to work with us as an interpreter.

As Syrian Rebels Reopen Bakeries, Bread Crisis Starts To Ease

Kelly McEvers — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 23:29:00 +0000

In Syria, the staple of most meals is a thin, round, flat bread that we would probably call pita.

Back in November, as fierce fighting raged across Syria, people started to run out of this bread. Government forces were attacking bakeries in rebel-held areas and cutting off electricity so mills couldn't grind flour.

For Those Still In Syria, A Daily Struggle

Kelly McEvers — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 07:04:00 +0000

The situation for Syrian refugees is getting dire. Much has been reported about the worsening conditions for hundreds of thousands of Syrians taking up shelter just outside the country's borders, but inside Syria, the numbers are even higher. The United Nations says some 2 million people have been displaced from their homes in Syria, and most of them end up squatting in mosques and schools.

In War-Torn Aleppo, Old Doors That Reflect A Grand Tradition

Kelly McEvers — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 16:38:00 +0000
Aleppo's storied old city, which dates to the 12th century, has suffered much in the fighting between Syrian government forces and rebels over the past few months. But parts of the city remain intact, as I saw on a recent walk through the winding, stone alleys on the way to the front line.
Centuries ago, it took Muslims from this area months in a caravan to make the pilgrimage, or hajj, to Mecca, the holiest site in Islam, which is now part of Saudi Arabia.
The trip was so difficult that pilgrims took burial clothes with them in case they didn't survive.

A Welcoming Way Station For Syrians Fleeing Home

Kelly McEvers — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 22:13:00 +0000
It's called Beit Qamishlo, or the House of Qamishlo. It's named after a city in northeastern Syria, though the house isn't even in Syria — it's just across the border in southern Turkey.
The house is humble, made of concrete blocks, with tile floors. Arabic slogans are taped on the walls: "Beit Qamishlo is a house for everyone," "It's a window to Syria's future," "Under one roof we plant life together and freedom."
More than just ideas, Beit Qamishlo is also a hostel, a place for Syrians who've escaped their country to crash until they find more permanent digs.

As Syrian War Grinds On, A Rebel Keeps Reinventing Himself

Kelly McEvers — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 22:03:00 +0000
Ibrahim Abazid had no idea he would be part of a nationwide revolt in Syria — or that his role would keep evolving.
It was March 2011. Some teenagers in his hometown, Dera'a, got arrested for spray painting anti-government slogans outside a school. Rumors began circulating that the teenagers were being tortured while in detention in the southern town.
In the broader region, Arab protesters had been filling the streets for months. Dictators in Tunisia and Egypt had already fallen.

Sources: U.S., Jordan Training Syrian Rebels On Anti-Aircraft Weapons

Kelly McEvers and Rima Marrouch — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:34:00 +0000
The U.S. has now formally recognized a new Syrian opposition group as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people. But the U.S. has repeatedly declined to provide weapons for rebels fighting President Bashar Assad's army.
However, NPR has learned that there are movements behind the scenes. In Jordan, several Syrian sources said that Jordanian authorities, along with their U.S.

Syrian Rebels Claim They Shot Down Fighter Jet With A Missile

Kelly McEvers — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 21:33:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whGg7IcgQn8

Conflicts Brew Between Kurds, Arabs In Iraq

Kelly McEvers — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:48:00 +0000
Arab-Kurd skirmishes in southern Iraq late last week injured dozens of people and killed at least one. Now troops from both sides are escalating and tensions are high again. This all comes as Kurdistan president Massoud Barzani battles Iraqi Central government Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Analysts say Barzani has been emboldened by independent oil contracts, the increasing support of Turkey, and ongoing events in Syria.

In Syria's Biggest City, A Deadly Stalemate

Kelly McEvers — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 21:40:00 +0000
Before the Syrian uprising, Aleppo was many things: Syria's largest city, its economic hub and cultural capital, one of the oldest, continuously occupied cities in the world.
Now, Aleppo has a more ominous distinction: a city that's seen some of the worst destruction, not only in Syria, but of any battleground in many years.
It's been more than three months since rebels in Syria launched an offensive to take Aleppo.