Clashes between Islamists who took over Syria and supporters of ousted President Bashar Assad's government killed two Islamic fighters on Wednesday and wounded others, according to interim officials.

The Pentagon announced the US currently has “approximately 2,000” troops in Syria, more than double the previously disclosed number of 900, a Defense Department spokesperson said at a press briefing on Thursday.

Syria's new authorities torched a large stockpile of drugs on Wednesday, two security officials told AFP, including one million pills of captagon, whose industrial-scale production flourished under ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

As the rebels who ousted Syria’s longtime dictator, Bashar al-Assad, transition from insurgents to administrators, maintaining order in the streets of the capital has become a top priority.

Sarah Latifa had feared that her Christian community in Syria may struggle to celebrate its first Christmas since Islamist-led rebels toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad earlier this month.

Syria's new leaders announced Tuesday that they had reached an agreement with the country's rebel groups on their dissolution and integration under the defence ministry.

The U.N. organization assisting in investigating the most serious crimes in Syria says the country’s new authorities were “very receptive” to its request for cooperation during a just-concluded visit to Damascus — and it is preparing to deploy.

Syria’s new Islamist-led authorities said the footage was “old” and that “unknown groups” were behind the attack, saying “republishing” the video served to “stir up strife”, a day after hundreds protested in Damascus against the torching of a Christmas tree.

Clashes between Islamists who took over Syria and supporters of ousted President Bashar Assad’s government have killed two Islamic fighters and wounded others.

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Protests erupted in Christian neighborhoods of the Syrian capital Damascus after a Christmas tree was set on fire in another town by unidentified men on Monday evening.