Officers say the move aims to instil a sense of morality as they race to fill a security vacuum after dismantling ousted ...

Syria's Intelligence Directorate foiled an attack by the Islamic State group on the Sayeda Zeinab shrine in a Damascus suburb, a site of mass pilgrimage for Shi'ites, state news agency Sana reported ...

The move to put religion at the center of policing risks seeding new rifts in a diverse country awash with guns after 13 years of civil war and alienating foreign governments they have been trying ...

The foiled attack will stoke fears that Islamic State is hoping to stage a comeback in Syria following the fall last month of President Bashar al-Assad.

The granddaughter of the Prophet Mohammad, Sayeda Zeinab is venerated by Shi'ite Muslims and the mosque and shrine 10 kilometers south of Damascus attracts Shi'ite pilgrims from around the region.

For example, they believe in the divinity of Ali ibn Abu Talib, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad ... the French split local Alawite and Druze minorities from the Muslim majority ...

Islam’s founding Prophet Muhammad was the guardian who raised his cousin ... a concept from Hinduism and Buddhism. The small and insular Druze community adheres to a similarly secretive and esoteric ...