Positions harden
Hopes for diplomatic progress aimed at ending the war go into reverse
A FREAK sandstorm that swirled out of the Syrian Desert blotted skies over much of the Middle East from September 7th to 9th. Choking dust added to the misery of war-ravaged Syria, yet brought a brief respite from both the Syrian regime’s deadly barrel bombs and, in the parts of Syria and Iraq held by Islamic State (IS), from coalition air-raids targeting the self-declared caliphate.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Positions harden”
From the September 12th 2015 edition
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