Syrian Revolution News & Discussions

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Syrian government captures strategic town from rebels-residents: war monitor
Reuters
May 09, 2019

• The town is close to a Russian air base
• Insurgents attacked the air base with rockets previously

BEIRUT: The Syrian government captured the town of Qalaat Al-Madiq in northwest Syria, some of its residents and a war monitor said on Thursday, as it pushes into the biggest remaining rebel territory under a massive bombardment.

Syria’s army, backed by Russian air power, launched ground operations this week against the southern flank of the rebel zone consisting of Idlib and parts of adjacent provinces.

The area is nominally protected by a Russian-Turkish deal agreed last year to avert a major new battle.

Qalaat Al-Madiq was the rebel area closest to the Russian Hmeimim air base at Latakia, which insurgents have previously targeted with rocketfire.

It was also the entrance point into rebel territory for many insurgents and civilians who were evacuated from territory captured by the army under surrender deals negotiated with the government over recent years.

Local residents said Syrian government forces had captured Qalaat Al-Madiq and two nearby villages — Tal Hawash and Al-Karkat.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitoring group said rebels had withdrawn there after being nearly encircled by the army.

The fighting has pushed 150,000 civilians from their homes, raising concerns of a new humanitarian crisis in northwest Syria. Some 13 health facilities have been hit in the bombing, the US-based Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations which funds some hospitals in the area said on Wednesday.

Thousands flee north as Assad troops force refugees from territory in Idlib

BEIRUT: Thousands of Syrian civilians fled north toward the Turkish border on Thursday as Assad regime troops drove into the last remaining opposition-held territory in Idlib and adjacent provinces. The ground offensive beneath an air bombardment by Russian warplanes has forced 150,000 people...

www.arabnews.com

 

[Khafee]

Syrian Government Forces Advance in NW Region Between Idlib, Hama
May 09, 2019
by Edward Yeranian

The destroyed remnants of Nabd Al-Hayat hospital that was hit by an airstrike is seen in Hass, Idlib province, Syria, May 6, 2019, in this still image taken from a video on May 9, 2019.

CAIRO —
Syrian government forces reportedly have captured at least three towns from Islamic militias, which control portions of the country's northwest between Idlib and Hama. Arab media also are reporting the government was battling its adversaries in an effort to capture parts of the country's main highway that runs from Damascus to Aleppo.

Arab media broadcast amateur video of heavy Russian airstrikes in the northwest of Syria, as government forces advanced, recapturing the towns of Kafr Nabouda and Qalaat al-Madiq.

Rami Abdel Rahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Arab media that government forces have recaptured at least five small towns, including Kafr Nabouda and Qalaat al-Madiq. He says there have been at hundreds of airstrikes over these areas during the past 10 days and that at least 100 civilians were killed.

Saudi-owned al Arabiya TV is saying the number of civilians that were killed was even higher, adding that more than 100 opposition fighters also were killed, in addition to close to 120 government soldiers and allied militiamen.

The TV showed video of civilians fleeing from the areas that were being bombed, using farm vehicles and other form of transportation to escape. Arab media interviewed families that said they were camped out under olive trees to avoid airstrikes and shelling in their villages.

Syrian government analyst Ali Maqsoud told state TV the battle for Idlib is coming to a head and that a military solution to the conflict appears to be on the horizon.

He said the political decision appears to have been made to put an end to the pockets of terrorism around Idlib and that the government is no longer willing to compromise and allow terrorist groups to operate there.

Amateur video showed government soldiers inside the town of Kafr Nabouda, asserting they either would capture or destroy their enemies.
The Syrian opposition's chief negotiator, Naser al-Hariri, told journalists Thursday in the Turkish town of Gaziantep the government advance on opposition-held regions "makes a mockery" of the entire negotiating process that Russia has been conducting in Astana and Sochi.

He said his read of the situation is that what is taking place is a total breach of the Sochi accords between Russia and Turkey, regarding war crimes and the concept of a military victory. He said it makes a mockery of every agreement that has been reached, in both Geneva and Astana.

Khattar Abou Diab, who teaches political science at the University of Paris, told VOA the Syrian government has been pursuing a military victory in Syria from the very beginning of the conflict and things now seem to be evolving in that direction.

He said the Assad regime has been trying to achieve a military victory from the outset and that all the de-escalation zones that were set up by the Astana process were just an illusion to mask the eventuality the government would try to recapture those zones. He argued that both Russia and Turkey allowed extremists to set up shop in these zones, providing an excuse to cover military operations there.

The Syrian government says rebel forces have been shelling civilians in the towns and cities that it controls, including Aleppo, while the opposition forces claim Russia and the Syrian government have been bombing civilians in areas that it controls.

Arab media report the United Nations Security Council is due to meet Friday to discuss the situation in northern Syria behind closed doors.

Syrian Government Forces Advance in NW Region Between Idlib, Hama

Opposition forces are reporting heavy Russian airstrikes and at least 100 civilians killed in the last 10 days

www.voanews.com

 

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Turkish defense minister says Syrian forces must halt attacks in northwest Syria
May 10, 2019

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey’s defense minister said Syrian government forces need to halt attacks in northwestern Syria, state-owned Anadolu Agency reported on Friday.

Syria’s army, backed by Russian air power, launched ground operations this week against the southern flank of a rebel zone consisting of Idlib and parts of adjacent provinces.

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said Syrian forces should return to territories agreed in an international deal in Kazakhstan to reduce hostilities and casualties.

“Humanitarian problems grow each day and it is increasingly showing a tendency to turn into a catastrophe,” he said.

Akar also said the attacks pose a threat to the security of Turkey’s observation posts in the northwest, where Turkey carries out patrols.

“We expect Russia to take effective and determined measures to make regime forces stop their attacks on the south of Idlib and immediately return to the borders set by the Astana agreement,” Akar said, referring to the Kazakh capital by its previous name.

On Monday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said the operation was a reaction to terrorists in the area, and was being carried out “in coordination with our Turkish partners,” TAS news agency reported.

The United Nations Security Council was briefed behind closed doors on Friday on the situation in northwest Syria. Afterward, 11 the 15 members - including the United States, France and Britain - jointly condemned the killing of civilians and warned of a possible humanitarian catastrophe in Idlib.

“We are alarmed by the displacement of over 150,000 persons as well as the targeting of population centers and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and schools,” Belgian U.N. Ambassador Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve told reporters on behalf of the 11 members.

Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun, Tuvan Gumrukcu and Sarah Dadouch; Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Editing by Dominic Evans and Toby Chopra

Turkish defense minister says Syrian forces must halt attacks in northwest Syria

Turkey's defense minister said Syrian government forces need to halt attacks in northwestern Syria, state-owned Anadolu Agency reported on Friday.

www.reuters.com

 

[Khafee]

Turkey urges end to regime attacks on Idlib
AFP
May 10, 2019

• “We expect Russia to take effective and decisive measures to ensure regime forces end their attacks on the south of Idlib,” Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said
• Akar made his comments during a visit to the Turkish border with Syria, joined by top military commanders

ANKARA: Turkey on Friday called for an end to regime attacks on Idlib, accusing Damascus of seeking to extend its control of the province’s south in violation of previously agreed boundaries.

Syrian regime forces together with their Russian allies have increased air strikes and shelling in the militant-controlled northwestern province since
last April.

“We expect Russia to take effective and decisive measures to ensure regime forces end their attacks on the south of Idlib and the (forces) immediately withdraw to the borders agreed as part of Astana Process,” Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said.

“The regime is trying to widen its area of control in Idlib’s south in violation of the Astana agreement,” Akar added, quoted by state news agency Anadolu.

He said the attacks were also a “risk” to Turkey’s 12 military observation posts around the region.

Akar made his comments during a visit to the Turkish border with Syria, joined by top military commanders.

While Moscow backs Syrian President Bashar Assad, Ankara has called for his ouster and supports Syrian rebels in the civil war which began with anti-government protests in 2011.

Despite being on opposing sides of the war, Turkey has been working closely with regime backers Russia and Iran to find a political solution to the Syrian civil war.

Their talks have been known as the Astana process which was launched in early 2017 in the Kazakh capital now called Nur-Sultan.

A separate deal agreed by Moscow and Ankara last year aimed to set up a buffer zone around Idlib, and avoid a massive Syrian regime assault on the province.

www.arabnews.com/node/1495611/middle-east

 

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Aid groups suspend aid to Syria’s embattled northwest

Updated 11 sec ago
AFP
May 11, 2019

• he World Food Programme said it has suspended deliveries to about 47,000 people
• OCHA said five humanitarian workers, including two health professionals, have been reportedly killed

BEIRUT: UN-linked aid groups have suspended activities in parts of violence-plagued northwest Syria, where stepped up bombardment by the regime and Russia is jeopardizing the safety of humanitarian workers.

“As of 8 May, at least 16 humanitarian partners have suspended their operations in areas impacted by conflict,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA said Friday.

The World Food Programme said it has suspended “deliveries to about 47,000 people in towns and villages... (that) have come under bombardment.”

Since late April, government forces have mounted a major bombardment of southern Idlib and neighboring areas with Russian support.

The uptick in air strikes and shelling on the region dominated by Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate has displaced 180,000 people between 29 April and 9 May, OCHA said.

It has also affected 15 health facilities and 16 schools, it added.

“Some organizations suspended activities as their premises were damaged, destroyed or rendered unsafe by the violence,” OCHA said.

“Others have suspended activities in order to keep their staff and beneficiaries safe, or because the beneficiary population has left,” it added.
OCHA said five humanitarian workers, including two health professionals, have been reportedly killed due to air strikes and shelling.
WFP also said that some of its partners inside Idlib have been “displaced due to the violence, while a few others have sustained injuries.”

The northwestern part of Syria controlled by jihadists is made up of a large part of Idlib province, as well as adjacent parts of the Aleppo and Hama provinces.

It has been protected from a massive regime offensive by a September deal inked by Damascus ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey.

The region of some three million people has come under increasing bombardment since Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, which is dominated by jihadists
from Al-Qaeda’s former Syrian branch, took full control of it in the beginning of the year.

Western powers are concerned that the Russia-backed Syrian government will launch a full-scale assault.

On Friday, air strikes and shelling killed 10 civilians, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The civil war in Syria has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it started with the brutal repression of anti-government protests in 2011.

Aid groups suspend aid to Syria’s embattled northwest

BEIRUT: UN-linked aid groups have suspended activities in parts of violence-plagued northwest Syria, where stepped up bombardment by the regime and Russia is jeopardizing the safety of humanitarian workers. “As of 8 May, at least 16 humanitarian partners have suspended their operations in areas...

www.arabnews.com

 

[Khafee]

Erdogan to Putin: Syria 'Seeking to Sabotage' Turkey-Russia Relations
15 May, 2019

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan give a joint press conference at the Kremlin in Moscow on April 8. (AFP)

Ankara- Saeed Abdulrazek

Ankara has intensified its contacts with Moscow in light of the escalation of the Syrian regime’s attacks in Idlib, supported by Russia.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the Syrian regime of “seeking to sabotage” Ankara’s relationship with Russia through its latest offensive in the northwest of the war-torn country.

Erdogan told his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, during a phone call late on Monday that the offensive by Head of the Syrian regime Bashar al-Assad’s forces “sought to sabotage Turkish-Russian cooperation” in Idlib by violating the ceasefire agreement and breaching outcomes of Astana talks.

Targeting civilians, schools and hospitals couldn’t be considered fighting against terrorism, Fahrettin Altun, communications director at the Turkish presidency, quoted Erdogan as telling Putin.

The two leaders discussed bilateral relations and recent developments in Idlib, reiterating their commitment to Sochi Agreement, which was concluded on September 17 and stipulated the establishment of a demilitarized zone separating the regime and the opposition in Idlib.

Erdogan noted that rising tensions in the region would jeopardize the formation of a Constitutional Committee in Syria and the political process.

The guarantor states (Turkey, Russia, and Iran) announced mid-September 2017 reaching a deal to establish a de-escalation zone in Idlib, in accordance with a deal concluded in May that year.

In September 2018, they agreed to create along the contact line between the armed opposition and government troops a demilitarized zone of a depth of 15-20 km, with the withdrawal from there of radically-minded rebels, to be implemented by October 15.

But Moscow has repeatedly blamed Turkey for failing to oust militant groups, notably the Nusra Front, from Idlib, as well as failing to meet its obligations to open international roads.

Regime forces stepped up the assault on southern Idlib in an effort to regain control of the main roads.

Turkey, for its part, fears a new wave of massive displacement to happen with some four million civilians living in Idlib’s demilitarized zone, including masses displaced by the regime.


https://aawsat.com/english/home/art...yria-seeking-sabotage-turkey-russia-relations

 

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U.S.-backed forces crack down on Islamic State fighters in Syria's Deir al Zor
May 16, 2019
Suleiman Al-Khalidi

(Reuters) - U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces said on Wednesday they had begun a campaign against “terrorists” linked to Islamic State in a strategic town in the oil rich eastern province of Deir al Zor that residents and witnesses say has been at the center of protests opposing the rule of U.S.-supported militia.

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spearheaded by the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said it had so far arrested 20 militants and confiscated weapons in the security sweep in the vicinity of the town of Shuhail on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River and its outlying desert region.

“Our forces began a campaign in the early hours of the morning ... we have discovered two tunnels used by terrorists to launch attacks,” the SDF said in a statement.

Last week, a U.S.-led special operations raid on a suspected Islamic State fighters’ hideout in the town had sparked violent protests and attacks on SDF garrisons, three residents and social media footage showed. Eight people were killed in the raid, residents said.

SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali denied any civilians were killed in the operation that he said sought an “important” Islamic State militant cell inside Shuhail, part of a large swathe of territory in northeastern Syria the U.S.-backed group controls.

“The operation was executed carefully and highly professionally and achieved its aims,” Bali told Reuters. He blamed the Syrian government for fueling anti-SDF protests in a string of towns in the region in recent weeks.

“The Syrian regime is influencing some tribal figures to aggravate the situation and trying to benefit and agitate people to protest,” Bali said.

A meeting two days ago called by the main Akaidat tribe in Shuhail urged the U.S.-led coalition to hand over the running of the affairs of their towns to them.

Growing unrest against the SDF in areas they control in Deir Zor province east of the Euphrates River has been aggravated by poor services, lack of jobs and compulsory conscription of youth, residents and tribal figures said.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry on Monday urged the U.N. Security Council to act against what it said were “crimes perpetuated” by the SDF, warning it reserved the right to defend its citizens.

Protesters carrying placards have accused Kurdish officials of discrimination and want an end to forcible conscription of Arab youths. They have also been angry with the YPG selling crude oil from fields within their region to the Syrian government.

Kurdish YPG commanders have denied discrimination against Arabs in local administrations they run and warned that tribal unrest in former Islamic State areas could undermine stability of the U.S protected territory and encourage a militant comeback.

They say militants who have reverted to guerrilla tactics after the loss of territorial control are behind a rise in hit and run attacks on SDF checkpoints and assassinations.

Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; editing by Grant McCool

U.S.-backed forces crack down on Islamic State fighters in Syria's Deir al Zor

U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces said on Wednesday they had begun a campaign against "terrorists" linked to Islamic State in a strategic town in the oil rich eastern province of Deir al Zor that residents and witnesses say has been at the center of protests opposing the rule...

www.reuters.com

 

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Syria: International Organization to Reduce Beneficiaries to 35%
Wednesday, 15 May, 2019

Damascus Countryside - Asharq Al-Awsat

World Food Program (WFP) plans to reduce the number of households that benefit from food aid baskets in regime-controlled areas to about 35 percent of the current beneficiary families and to allocate them to the poorest.

An official of a local NGO, that partners with the United Nations and other international organizations told Asharq Al-Awsat a new program for aid distribution had been devised and will be implemented after two months.

He explained that the new program includes canceling the names of about 65 percent of the current beneficiary families and keeping 35 percent of the poorest families.

Meanwhile, Syrian Center for Policy Research in partnership with the Department of Environmental Health of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut, issued a study indicating that overall poverty rates in Syria reached as high as 93.7 percent at the end of 2017, while abject poverty levels reached 59.1 percent in the same year.

As living conditions in regime-controlled areas worsened, charities launched a project to distribute food baskets, namely provided by WFP, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and other charities.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which is also a subsidiary of the United Nations, distributes food parcels to Palestinian refugees.

International organizations are required to carry out the relief operation in coordination with the regime through the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. Syria's regime prevents any relief organization from working on Syrian territory without its consent.

Earlier in 2018, the United Nations announced that the number of recipients of WFP assistance amounted to 3 million Syrians, after it used to support 4 million in 2017, due to lack of funding.

The official of the local NGO indicated that the new relief plan does not include a reduction in the total amount of aid distributed in regime-controlled areas, but limits it to the poorest families only based on documentation provided by these families.

Under the new plan, the quantities and quality of the food basket will increase and will be distributed once a month after it was distributed every three months, said the official.

According to the leaflets attached to the food basket, those who are entitled to register for the "basket of food" are the displaced families, the very poor families and the families that lost the breadwinner, given that they provide proper documentation to prove that.

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says Syria has 7.5 million people displaced from their areas of residence to safer areas and more than 5 million refugees outside the country.

Ironically, those who take the food baskets are mostly residents who have not fled their areas, and some even still live in their homes.

Locals say some distribution center officials are manipulating the registration processes and giving the aid and baskets to families that are not in need.

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After fleeing bombs, Syrian families shelter in olive groves
May 17, 2019
Khalil Ashawi


ATMEH, Syria (Reuters) - Families who fled Syrian government and Russian strikes in northwestern Syria are sleeping in an olive grove near the Turkish border without enough food and no place else to go.

They are some of the 180,000 people who have escaped an upsurge in violence in the last major Syrian rebel stronghold in the last few weeks. It marks the most intense escalation between President Bashar al-Assad and his rebel enemies since last summer, with dozens killed in the shelling of insurgent territory.

“The house fell in over my children and grandchildren at night ... but God saved them, they emerged from the rubble,” said a 70-year-old woman who gave her name as Aziza as she spoke under the shade of an olive tree.

Aziza’s family is one of scores who fled targeted parts of southern Idlib and northern Hama province and are now living in the olive groves at the Turkish border.

There is no room for them at the nearby camp for the displaced in the town of Atmeh.

Aziza fled her town of Kfar Nabuda with 17 relatives nearly two weeks ago, taking nothing with her, as the warplanes flew overhead. The exodus has left many towns and villages empty.

Some have made makeshift tents by stringing sheets between the olive trees. Infants sleep under mosquito nets suspended from the branches. One of the shelters was equipped with a kitchen stove.

The jihadist Tahrir al-Sham is the dominant insurgent faction in the northwest. Rebels launched a counterattack this week to counter ground advances by Syrian government forces.

AIR STRIKES
Air strikes have struck 18 health facilities and violence has destroyed at least 16 schools, U.N. humanitarian adviser Najat Rochdi told reporters in Geneva.

“Aerial bombardment, including the reported use of barrel bombs causing severe damage to civilian infrastructures and civilian casualties is a war practice which goes against every single humanitarian principle,” she said.

Medical charity UOSSM said the Tarmala Maternity and Children’s Hospital was destroyed by an air strike on Wednesday, but there were no casualties as it had been evacuated.

The Syrian government says it is responding to attacks by al Qaeda-linked militants.

Much of the bombardment has hit a buffer zone agreed in September under a Russian-Turkish deal that spared the region and its 3 million residents from a full-blown assault.

Ankara, which backs some rebels, has deployed forces into the region in agreement with Russia. They are stationed at a dozen positions, one of which was hit by shelling from Syrian government territory.

Turkey has called on the Syrian government to stop the attacks. Still, Abu Abdo al-Khani said Ankara’s deal with Moscow had failed to help his family.

“We were supposed to be within the secure zone, where is it?” Khani, 30, said. “Where are (Turkish President) Erdogan and his guarantees to protect us?”

Khani’s family fled the town of Khan Sheikhoun on foot through the countryside. He said they had received some blankets and water in the olive field.

“We haven’t showered in 15 days ... We’re living under the trees at the border, who would accept such a life?”

Writing by Ellen Francis; additional reporting by Tom Miles in Geneva; Editing by Tom Perry and Janet Lawrence

After fleeing bombs, Syrian families shelter in olive groves

Families who fled Syrian government and Russian strikes in northwestern Syria are sleeping in an olive grove near the Turkish border without enough food and no place else to go.

www.reuters.com

 

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Security Council Meets Friday on Northwest Syria
Friday, 17 May, 2019

Smoke billows above buildings during shelling by regime and allied forces, in the town of Hbeit in the southern countryside of Idlib province. AFP file photo

New York - Ali Barada

The UN Security Council is scheduled to hold on Friday an urgent meeting to discuss the surge of fighting in several areas of northwest Syria.

Belgium, Germany and Kuwait requested the urgent meeting as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has expressed concern over the volatile situation.

Diplomatic sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that UN Humanitarian Affairs Chief Mark Lowcock would brief the Council on the situation in Syria, including the Neirab camp for Palestinian refugees close to the city of Aleppo, where, according to UN humanitarian aid agency UNRWA, at least 10 civilians were killed and 30 wounded by a rocket strike.

"As families gathered to break their fasts for the Ramadan Iftar meal, several rockets hit the densely populated Neirab camp for Palestine refugees in Aleppo," the agency said.

The diplomatic sources said that the US has requested an additional briefing by the United Nations Department of Political and Peace building Affairs (DPPA).

Since late April, Syrian forces and their Russian allies have stepped up attacks on the opposition-controlled Idlib province, raising alarm that a full scale offensive is imminent to seize the territory.

Guterres’ spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said Thursday that aerial attacks on population centers and civilian infrastructure resulted in hundreds of civilian dead and injured and over 180,000 newly displaced persons.

For her part, UN Senior Humanitarian Advisor Najat Rochdi said: “The recent uptick in violence has caused death and destruction with reports of more than 180,000 people fled their homes towards areas they consider safer, away from the violence.”

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Amid lull in air strikes, rebels reinforce NW Syria frontlines
May 18, 2019 / Updated an hour ago

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Air strikes stopped in northwest Syria over the past 12 hours, rescuers said on Saturday, as Turkey-backed rebels arrived at the fronts to help fight the army and its Russian ally.

A spokesman for rebels said they rejected a ceasefire proposal from Moscow as long as government forces remain in villages they had advanced into in recent weeks.

There was no immediate comment from Ankara or Moscow.

At least 180,000 people have fled an upsurge in violence in northwest Syria, the last major stronghold of rebels who have fought against President Bashar al-Assad’s government since 2011. Government bombing has killed dozens in the past three weeks.

It marks the biggest escalation since last summer between Assad and his rebel enemies in Idlib province and a belt of territory around it.

The region, home to an estimated 3 million people including many who fled other parts of Syria as government forces advanced in recent years, has been partly shielded by a truce deal since last year, brokered by Russia and Turkey. Much of the recent fighting has hit a buffer zone agreed under that deal.

Air strikes have struck 18 health facilities and violence has destroyed at least 16 schools, the United Nations says.
The Syrian government says it is responding to attacks by militants linked to al-Qaeda.

Mustafa al-Haj Yousef, the head of the Idlib civil defense - a rescue service that works in opposition territory - said the warplanes had not struck on Saturday.

The commander of a Turkey-backed rebel faction said it sent around 110 fighters to help insurgents in Idlib with a counter attack.

The reinforcements came from a nearby stretch of territory to the north under the control of rebels that Turkey supports close to its border. Another allied faction also sent scores of insurgents to Idlib.

“We consider the battles as seeking to eliminate all opposition factions,” Abou al-Hassan told Reuters.

The dominant force in Idlib is Tahrir al-Sham, the latest incarnation of the former Nusra Front which was part of al Qaeda until 2016. Others, including some with Turkish backing, also have a presence.

Under its agreements with Russia, Ankara has deployed forces into the region at a dozen positions.

“We will not stop the combat operations and will try to take back the areas,” said Naji Mustafa, spokesman for the National Liberation Front (NLF) rebel grouping in Idlib.

He said the rebels had refused Moscow’s offer for a ceasefire, which came via Ankara, and wanted people to be able to return to their villages. He added that pro-government forces tried to advance on Saturday on one frontline in the Hama countryside near Idlib. Syrian state media said militants shelled army positions there.

Reporting by Khalil Ashawi in Syria, Ece Toksabay in Ankara and Tom Miles in Geneva; Writing by Ellen Francis; Editing by Peter Graff

Amid lull in air strikes, rebels reinforce NW Syria frontlines

Air strikes stopped in northwest Syria over the past 12 hours, rescuers said on Saturday, as Turkey-backed rebels arrived at the fronts to help fight the army and its Russian ally.

www.reuters.com

 

[Khafee]

Syrian TV says Damascus targeted 'from direction of' Israel
May 17, 2019

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Loud blasts echoed across Damascus late on Friday, residents said, as Syrian state media reported “enemy targets” coming from the direction of Israel, which has previously acknowledged conducting repeated strikes inside Syria.

The state television channel showed footage of the night sky with a point of light firing up into it and the sound of shooting, and reported that air defenses had brought down some objects. It did not immediately report casualties or material damage.

There was no immediate comment from Israel, but it has been increasingly open in recent months about targeting sites in Syria that it says are connected to Damascus’ close allies Iran and Hezbollah.

Israel regards Iran as its biggest enemy and the Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah as the main threat on its borders. Iran and Hezbollah have played a key military role in helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fend off rebels in an eight-year war.

Israel is worried that through their fighting in Syria, Iran has transferred weapons and skills to Hezbollah that might eventually be used in a war against it.

Israel and Hezbollah last fought a direct conflict in 2006 on Lebanese soil.

Tensions between Tehran and its regional enemies rose further this week after attacks on four oil tankers in the Gulf, leading to concerns about a conflict between Iran and the United States, Israel’s closest ally.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the blasts were caused by Israeli rocket fire targeting areas around the Syrian capital.

Reporting by Angus McDowall in Beirut, Hesham Hajali in Cairo and Rami Ayyub in Jerusalem; Editing by Catherine Evans

Syrian TV says Damascus targeted 'from direction of' Israel

Loud blasts echoed across Damascus late on Friday, residents said, as Syrian state media reported "enemy targets" coming from the direction of Israel, which has previously acknowledged conducting repeated strikes inside Syria.

www.reuters.com

 

[Khafee]

EU Extends Sanctions Against Syria Regime
18 May, 2019

FILE PHOTO: European Union flags fly outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

Brussels - Abdullah Mustafa

The Council of the European Union has extended until June 1, 2020 sanctions imposed on the Syrian regime.

The Council said in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat, that the decision was in line with the EU strategy on Syria.

“The EU decided to maintain its restrictive measures against the Syrian regime and its supporters as the repression of civilian population continues,” it said on Friday.

“The Council also removed 5 deceased persons from the list, as well as one entity which ceased to exist and one entity for which there were no longer grounds to keep it under restrictive measures. The list now includes 270 persons and 70 entities targeted by a travel ban and an asset freeze for being responsible for the violent repression against the civilian population in Syria, benefiting from or supporting the regime, and/or being associated with such persons or entities,” said the statement.

“More broadly, sanctions currently in place against Syria include an oil embargo, restrictions on certain investments, a freeze of the assets of the Syrian central bank held in the EU, export restrictions on equipment and technology that might be used for internal repression as well as on equipment and technology for the monitoring or interception of internet or telephone communications,” it added.

EU sanctions were first imposed on December 1, 2011 and are subject to an annual review.

“The EU remains committed to finding a lasting and credible political solution to the conflict in Syria as defined in the UN Security Council resolution 2254 and in the 2012 Geneva Communique,” said the Council.

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Israel stikes Iranian and Hezbollah bases in Syria

May 18, 2019


Violent explosions rocked the areas near Damascus on the evening of May 17. According to the reports, the Israeli Air Forces conducted air raid against Iranian and Hezbollah bases in Syria.

Earlier, the Syrian news agency SANA reported that the Syrian Army's air defense systems managed to down several missiles fired from the direction of the Quneitra province and the Golan Heights.

Al Mayadeen TV Channel belonging to Hezbollah reported that Israel had also attacked targets south of Damascus.

SOHR, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported three explosions in Al Kisweh area, south-west of the Syrian capital. According to SOHR, Israeli air forces attacked the area where Hezbollah bases and pro-Iranian militants were located.

Moscow has condemned the Israeli attack. According to RIA Novosti, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov called the Israeli blows "illegitimate and unfounded". Israel has not commented on these reports in the media.

Israel stikes Iranian and Hezbollah bases in Syria

Violent explosions rocked the areas near Damascus on the evening of May 17. According to the reports, the Israeli Air Forces conducted air raid against Iranian and Hezbollah bases in Syria. Earlier, the Syrian news agency SANA reported that the Syrian Army's air defense systems managed to down...

uawire.org

 

[Khafee]

Russia says Syrian government forces halt fire in Idlib
an hour ago
19 May 2019

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia says Syrian government forces have unilaterally ceased fire in the northern Idlib province, the last major rebel stronghold.
Fighting erupted in Idlib late last month, effectively shattering a cease-fire negotiated by Russia and Turkey that had been in place since September.

Russia has firmly backed President Bashar Assad’s government in the eight-year civil war, while Turkey has supported the opposition.

In a brief statement on Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry’s Center for Reconciliation of the Warring Sides in Syria said government forces had ceased fire as of midnight. It described the move as unilateral, but did not give details

Russia says Syrian government forces halt fire in Idlib

MOSCOW (AP) — Syrian government forces have unilaterally ceased fire in the northern Idlib province, the last major rebel stronghold, Russia said Sunday, while opposition activists reported continued shelling and airstrikes.

apnews.com