بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | فبراير 26, 2020 | Syria in a Week, غير مصنف
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Dream of Crossing Over
23 February 2020
Military escalation by government forces and their Russian ally in the governorate of Idlib has forced around nine hundred thousand people to displace since December. Many of them headed toward areas near the Turkish border, considering that it is safer there.
Near the town of Kafr Luceen, dozens of displaced families live in humble rooms built in a slum camp just a few meters away from the cement wall separating Syrian and Turkish territories. Some of them have plastic water tanks or solar panels on the roofs. The rooms, which were built over time and encompass tents occupied by newly displaced people, have turned into a small village. Children play near the wall attempting to climb it and one of them is wearing a military uniform with a Turkish flag on it.
Turkish border patrols often shoot at whomever tries to mount the wall in order to stop an influx of refugees into the country, killing dozens of people since Turkey sealed off its border with Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Some people have paid large sums of money to smugglers to help them cross the border.
Turkey, which hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees, has tightly closed its border in fear of a new refugee influx due to the escalation in northwest Syria. In recent weeks, it has sent reinforcement to Idlib to support militant factions. It has also deployed observation posts in the area under a truce agreement with Russia – the most prominent supporter of Damascus.
Quadruple Meeting on Idlib
22 February 2020
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday announced a joint summit with the leaders of Russia, France, and Germany on 5 March to discuss the situation in Idlib governorate, the last opposition stronghold in northwest Syria.
Erdogan did not specify the location of the summit, but he told reporters after Friday prayers that Macron and Merkel suggested that it be held in Istanbul, but Putin has not yet decided.
The offensive by Syrian government forces in the governorate of Idlib has led to the displacement of around one million people.
The office of German Chancellor said that Macron and Merkel on Friday expressed “their willingness to meet president Putin and Turkish President Erdogan in an effort to find a political solution to the crisis.”
Diplomats said that Russia prevented the UN Security Council on Wednesday from issuing a statement calling for the cessation of hostilities and respect of international humanitarian law in northwest Syria.
Turkey threatened to launch an “imminent” attack in Idlib after its forces were bombed by Syrian government forces and gave Damascus until the end of February to redeploy its troops.
A Turkish soldier was killed on Saturday by Syrian government bombardment in Idlib governorate, according to the Turkish defense ministry. The Turkish army responded to the “odious attack” by destroying twenty-one targets for the Syrian government, the ministry added.
This raises the death toll of Turkish soldiers to seventeen in the confrontations that began early February.
Damascus and Washington
22 February 2020
Damascus condemned US statements criticizing the reopening of Aleppo international airport, which resumed reception of civil planes after years of closure.
The US Secretary of State Spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said that the resumption of flights from Damascus to Aleppo were “shameless” on part of President Bashar al-Assad “as his barrel bombs fall day and night on the people of Idlib.”
These statements “show that the US administration has lost its balance. The real shamelessness is in the policies of this administration in assaulting others and interfering in their affairs,” an official source in the Syrian foreign ministry was quoted by the official SANA news agency on Saturday.
Opening Damascus-Aleppo Road
22 February 2020
The Syrian transport ministry announced the opening of the major highway between Damascus and Aleppo for traffic on Saturday after government forces regained control of this vital artery in an offensive supported by Russia.
The recapturing of the M5 road from opposition fighters represents a major gain for president Bashar al-Assad because it signifies that the government has retaken control of the road between the two largest cities in Syria for the first time since the conflict broke out nine years ago.
With Russian support, government forces have captured new land in areas in northwest Syria, the last major stronghold for opposition fighters, since December.
Removing opposition fighters from this highway was part of an agreement reached between Russia and Turkey in 2018 that called for a buffer zone between the fighting parties in Idlib, however, the intensity of the battles has not settled down.
Idlib Alert
20 February 2020
Cessation of hostilities in the Syrian governorate of Idlib, which is under a widespread offensive by the government and Russia, has sparked intense diplomatic activity on Friday that is expected to culminate in a phone call by the Turkish and Russian presidents, who are considered major players in the conflict.
Before this call, which Ankara said would take place at 15:00 GMT, Erdogan discussed the situation in Idlib with the French President Emanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He called on them to “take tangible steps to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe,” according to the Turkish presidency.
Missiles for Idlib
20 February 2020
Turkey asked the United states to deploy two patriot missile defense batteries on its southern border to enable it to confront any future attacks by Syrian forces with support from Russian air forces, said a high-level Turkish official in Ankara.
Turkey could use F-16 fighter jets to strike units allied to president Assad in Idlib if the Patriot system is not deployed in the Hatay province on the Turkish border, Bloomberg news agency cited the official as saying.
The official who asked not to be named said that Ankara has not yet received a response from the United States to this request which was conveyed to the US administration by the US envoy to Syria James Jeffrey.
The US embassy in Ankara refused to comment of the Turkish official’s comments.
170 Thousand in the Open Air
20 February 2020
Around one hundred and seventy thousand people out of nine hundred thousand displace people live in the open air after an offensive by government forces in northwest Syria compelled them to leave their homes, said the United Nations on Thursday.
Since December, Idlib and surrounding areas, controlled by Tahrir al-Sham (previously Nusra) and other opposition factions, have come under a widespread attack by Damascus, which has seen these forces advance in vast areas.
The offensive has caused the biggest influx of displacement since the onset of the conflict in 2011. International organizations characterize Idlib governorate as a “huge camp” because it already hosts three million people, half of whom are displaced people who fled from other governorates over the years.
First Airplane in Aleppo
19 February 2020
A civil airplane arrived on Wednesday at Aleppo international airport coming from Damascus, resuming commercial flights to Aleppo in the north after eight years of isolation.
Damascus resumed commercial flights in Aleppo international airport days after the Syrian army took control of the vicinity and ousted opposition factions in order to provide security.
A Syrian Airlines 320 Airbus carried officials including the Minister of Transport Ali Hammoud and Minister of Tourism Mohammed Martini, in addition to a team of journalists who were invited by the ministry of information.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | يوليو 17, 2019 | Syria in a Week, غير مصنف
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Gas Has Returned
15 July 2019
The ministry of oil and mineral resources announced the restoration of a major gas pipeline which connects al-Sha’er field, one of the largest oil fields in the country, to Ibla station, which resumed work at full capacity on Monday after the pipeline was sabotaged earlier.
On its Facebook page, the ministry said “Ibla station resumed work at full capacity” by early Monday morning “after fixing the sabotaged pipeline and operating it.”
The ministry announced the end of maintenance works late Sunday and the start of pumping gas to the station and from it to electric power plants.
The pipeline, which runs through the eastern countryside of Homs, went out of service on Sunday “after a terrorist attack,” according to the official news agency SANA. It carries two and a half million cubic meters of gas to Ibla station, and then the gas is transferred to electric power plants, according to the same source.
SANA did not give any details regarding the attack or how it happened. However, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdul Rahman told the AFP that the gas pipeline was targeted with an “explosive device” on Sunday but he could not identify who was behind the attack.
Bombardment in Aleppo
14 July 2019
Six civilians were killed and nine others were injured, including one child, as a result of a missile attack carried out by terrorist groups on Aleppo.
The official Syrian news agency SANA said the terrorist groups in the western countryside renewed on Sunday their targeting of al-Jdaidah and Minyah neighborhoods in Aleppo with missiles, leaving six civilians dead and injuring nine others.
SANA had earlier said on Sunday that terrorists entrenched west of Aleppo governorate attacked Aleppo city with a missile that fell near the municipal palace, leaving one child with minor injuries, in addition to material damage.
Fire in Damascus
13 July 2019
A huge fire erupted on Sunday in Damascus Tower in al-Bahsa neighborhood in the city center. The fire department and civil defense quickly rushed to the scene but they confronted difficulties in extinguishing the flames as they reignited several times after being put out.
A number of fire trucks were dispatched to the scene to put off the fire which started on the third floor and then spread to others, a source in the fire department in Damascus told SANA.
Firefighters extinguished the fire several times but it reignited several times because of the presence of flammable materials which kept burning, SANA said.
Colonel Assif Habbabeh, head of the civil defense in Damascus, said that the rescue and evacuation teams evacuated civilians in the three floors in the building to ensure their safety. He added that the fire started in a café and spread to other floors. Several people were carried away by ambulances to hospitals to be treated for choking. The cause of the fire has not yet been identified.
Delivering Oil
13 July 2019
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif that the oil tanker detained in Gibraltar would be handed over to Iran if it presents guarantees that it will not violate sanctions imposed by the European Union by heading to Syria.
Hunt said that he held talks on Saturday with Zarif regarding the Grace 1 tanker, which was confirmed by a statement from the Iranian foreign ministry.
“I reassured him our concern was destination not origin of the oil on Grace One and that UK would facilitate release if we received guarantees that it would not be going to Syria, following due process in Gibraltar courts,” Hunt said in a tweet.
The Iranian statement said that Hunt affirmed “Iran’s right to export oil” and “hoped that the finding of the judicial inquiry in Gibraltar would lead to the release of the Iranian tanker as soon as possible.”
Hunt also said that the Iranian foreign minister “wants to find a solution to the case and does not seek escalation.”
The Iranian tanker is three hundred and thirty meters long and contains 2.1 million barrels of crude oil, which is its maximum load.
Rape in Paris
12 July 2019
A Syrian refugee (32) was arrested on Saturday on the charge of rape and murder of a 24-year-old woman whose body was found on Sunday, a French public prosecutor said.
The Syrian man, who denies the offense, was picked up Thursday in the town of Mont-de-Marsan by judicial police after DNA on the victim’s body lead to him, as he is already held on a national register.
Investigators found some of the victim’s personal belongings including her mobile phone and SIM card during a search of his home.
Prosecutor Olivier Janson said that the Syrian refugee was known to the police due to previous cases of “domestic violence.”
A passer-by discovered the body of Johanna Blanes beneath a railway line in her hometown of Saint-Pierre-du-Mont. Janson said a post-mortem had determined she was strangled after being raped.
Three other men living in the same area were also held in connection to the case, according to Janson. However, there was no evidence indicating that there was more than one person responsible for the assault, therefore, they were not charged.
The three men, a Moroccan, an Algerian, and a Tunisian, are illegally in France and are now in detention awaiting their deportation, according to a judiciary source.
An American in East of the Euphrates
11 July 2019
The US special envoy to Syria James Jeffrey held extended meetings with tribal leaders in the countryside of Deir Azzor north-east of Syria two days ago.
Jeffrey arrived in the area along with a delegation from the departments of defense and state. He held talks on the situation in the region with the local council, tribal leaders, and Arab tribes.
A Kurdish news agency affiliated with the self-administration said that Jeffrey arrived on Tuesday and immediately commenced his meetings with local officials.
Jeffrey alongside the US envoy to the international coalition in Syria and Iraq William Robak and the UN military commander in Syria and Iraq visited areas east of the Euphrates. Jeffrey discussed the political and military situation in the self-administration area and the means to find a solution to the Syrian crisis and the need for representatives from the area to participate in the political solution.
Jeffrey’s visit to the area comes at the end of a European and Mediterranean tour he started last week, in which he discussed international efforts to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis.
Explosion in Afrin
12 July 2019
Thirteen people, mostly civilians, were killed on Thursday in a car bomb explosion near a checkpoint for Syrian factions allied to Turkey at the outskirts of Afrin in northern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
Turkey-allied Syrian factions took control of Afrin in Aleppo governorate in March of 2018 after a wide-scale Turkish-led attack in the predominantly Kurdish area, leading to the displacement of tens of thousands of people.
“The car bomb exploded at the outskirts of Afrin city near a checkpoint of one of the factions, where vehicles and car gather up for inspection,” the head of the SOHR Rami Abdul Rahman told the AFP.
The explosion killed eight civilians including two children and four fighters allied to Turkey, in addition to another dead person who could not be identified as civilian or fighter. More than thirty people were also injured, according to the SOHR.
Among the civilians killed, there were five from eastern Ghouta near Damascus who had been transferred to Afrin after their evacuation from their areas according to a deal with the Syrian government, the SOHR said.
The area repeatedly witnesses explosions and assassination of leaders and members of factions loyal to Ankara, with no claim of responsibility.
Chemical Investigations
11 July 2019
The Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Fernando Arias said that investigators commissioned with identifying the responsible party for chemical attacks committed in Syria have drawn up a list of the preliminary investigations they will conduct.
In a report to member states, Arias said that the three-year-long investigation would cover nine events. “The team is working in full force right now,” he said.
“A preliminary list of incidents for investigation has been established, and contact with member states and with international, regional, and local actors is being sought,” he added.
Member states in 2018 agreed to give the OPCW new powers to assign blame for attacks, despite opposition from Damascus and Moscow. Investigations were confined to discovering whether or not chemical weapons were used.
Syria has already informed the OPCW of its refusal to grant a visa to the head of the new team. Damascus and Moscow accuse The Hague-based organization of being “politicized”.
The OPCW team aims to carry out three investigations in each of 2019, 2020, and 2021, according to the budget program that Arias presented separately to member states. However, Arias did not give any details in regards to the first incidents that would be investigated.
The team can probe incidents going back to 2014. OPCW teams have identified thirty-nine suspected chemical attacks in Syria since then.
Repercussions of the S-400
12 July 2019
Repercussions of the arrival of the Russian S-400 system to Turkey have reached east of the Euphrates, as Washington and Ankara are stepping up negotiations to reach an agreement on the establishment of a “security zone” in north-east Syria.
Ankara said that the Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and the US acting Defense Minister Mark Esper agreed that a US delegation would visit Turkey this week to discuss the Syrian issue. Ankara said the two men discussed developments in Syria and the security zone east of the Euphrates, which the United States proposed in December and which Turkey seeks to unilaterally control.
Informed sources said that Turkish intelligence informed opposition factions to get ready for an “incursion” east of the Euphrates, at a time Washington has cautioned Ankara against any “unilateral action” north-east of Syria, where the US-led international coalition forces are deployed.
Targeting of Medical Facilities
11 July 2019
The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres “strongly” condemned airstrikes that “target civilians in northwest Syria,” and especially “medical facilities and workers.”
“Several of these facilities were bombed on Wednesday, including a large hospital in Maarat al-Numan whose coordinates had been shared with belligerents,” Guterres said in the statement.
The airstrike, which the Syrian government and its Russian ally are accused of carrying out, have been the subject of deliberation in several Security Council sessions in recent months. The strikes have damaged medical facilities and have not ceased despite pressure exercised on Russia by its UN partners.
More than one hundred people from government forces and opposition factions, most prominently Tahrir al-Sham (previously Nusra), have been killed in violent clashes since Wednesday in northwest Syria. At least eight civilians were killed on Thursday as a result of the bombardment.
Idlib and surrounding areas, which host more than three million people, have been subject to an escalation of bombardment for more than two months, which coincided with fierce battles concentrated in the northern countryside of Hama.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | يونيو 26, 2019 | Syria in a Week, غير مصنف
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Appeal for Calm in Idlib
Reuters
18 June 2019
UN chief Antonio Guterres appealed to Russia and Turkey on Tuesday to stabilize northwest Syria “without delay.” UN aid chief Mark Lowcock said that some hospitals were not sharing their locations with the warring parties because that “paints a target on their back.”
Russia and Turkey co-sponsored a de-escalation pact for the area that has been in place since last year. But the deal has faltered in recent months, forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee.
“I am deeply concerned about the escalation of the fighting in Idlib, and the situation is especially dangerous given the involvement of an increased number of actors… even in the war on terrorism, there should be full compliance to international law on human rights and international humanitarian laws,” Guterres told reporters.
Lowcock told the UN Security Council later on Tuesday that since late April the World Health Organization had confirmed twenty-six incidents affecting healthcare facilities in northwest Syria. He said two of the facilities were located in areas controlled by the Syrian government. “Hitting a facility whose coordinates were shared as part of the UN’s deconfliction system is simply intolerable. A number of partners now feel that supplying geographical coordinates to be given to the warring parties effectively paints a target on their backs,” he said.
The UN was reconsidering its deconfliction system and would inform the Security Council next week of its conclusions, Lowcock added.
Avoiding Confrontation with Turkey
Reuters
18 June 2019
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said that Syria does not want to see fighting with Turkey after the latter said one of its observation posts in Idlib was attacked from an area controlled by the Syrian government forces.
“We hope that our military and the Turkish military do not fight. This is our principled stance,” Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem told reporters in Beijing, standing alongside the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. “What we are fighting is terrorists, especially in Idlib, which is a Syrian territory, and part of our country,” al-Moualem said.
The dominant force in the Idlib region is Tahrir al-Sham, which was previously known as Nusra Front that was part of al Qaeda until 2016. Others, including some with Turkish backing, also have a presence.
“The question now is, what is Turkey doing in Syria? Turkey is occupying part of Syrian soil, and has a military presence in certain parts of Syria,” al-Moualem added. “Are they protecting the Nusra Front? Are they protecting certain terrorist forces including the East Turkestan Islamic Movement?” he added, referring to an extremist group China blames for attacks in far western Xinjiang with operations elsewhere.
“This question needs to be asked of Turkey, what are their actual aims? We are fighting those terrorist groups and organizations. The whole world believes those people we are fighting are terrorists,” he added.
Since April, Syrian government forces have stepped up shelling and bombing of the area, killing scores of people. The opposition says the government action is part of a campaign for an assault that would breach the de-escalation pact. The government and its Russian allies say the action is in response to rebel violations, including the presence of fighters in a demilitarized zone.
China has long urged that a diplomatic resolution to the Syrian civil war be found and has hosted Syrian government and opposition figures. Wang said that China will continue to support Syria to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity and fight against terror, and will help with Syria’s economic reconstruction efforts.
Explosions in the Eastern Countryside of Aleppo
Enab Baladi
23 June 2019
Three explosions were reported in the opposition-controlled eastern countryside of Aleppo in the last twenty-four hours, killing and injuring civilians and military personnel. An explosive device went off as it was being dismantled in the city of al-Bab in the eastern countryside of Aleppo last night. The explosive device was planted in an SUV for Failaq al-Sham. The explosion killed two members of the engineering and police teams of the National General Security.
This was preceded by a motorcycle bomb on the Raii road in the northern side of al-Bab on Saturday, which injured fifteen civilians including two children. In the city of Jarablus, which is under the control of the ‘National Army’, a motorcycle bomb exploded in the city center on Saturday, injuring a number of civilians and causing material damage. The cities and towns of the northern and eastern countryside of Aleppo have repeatedly witnessed explosions caused by explosive devices and motorcycle bombs, killing civilians and military personnel, in addition to vast material damage. The majority of the explosions occurred near popular markets and civilian gatherings.
Opposition factions accused the People’s Protection Units (YPG) of carrying out these explosions. Whereas the YPG accused opposition factions of smuggling explosive devices into the areas they control.
Law of Military Conscription in the Self-Administration
Enab Baladi
23 June 2019
The Self-Administration in northeast Syria indorsed a conscription law dubbed the “Self-Defense Law,” which contains thirty-five articles identifying the conditions for service in its military forces. The official website for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the military arm of the Self-Administration, said on Saturday that the general council in the administration “indorsed the law of the Self-Defense duty and the rules of procedure for the defense office.” The new law for military service includes thirty-five provisions that stipulate the terms for the service, postponement, and exemption, in addition to all laws in regard to those subject to conscription in the Self-Administration areas. The council set the period for compulsory service at twelve months. All males between the ages of eighteen and forty are subject to this law.
The Self Defense law obliges individuals in the Self-Administration areas to join the military and security forces to defend areas under its control and the border, just like compulsory service in regular armies. The law stipulates that those subject to compulsory service are the ones who have reached the legal age, resided in that area for more than five years, and hold Syrian citizenship, in addition to foreigners and those who do not possess birth certificates. In regards to women, the new law allowed them to join the duty of self-defense on a voluntary basis, according to the statement.
The new law is part of a series of political and military procedures taken by the Self-Administration in the areas it controls, months after eliminating the influence of the Islamic State in those areas with support from the US-led international coalition.
US-Iranian Escalation
Reuters
22, 24 June 2019
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned on Sunday that it is essential to avoid “any form of escalation” in the Gulf as tensions continue to rise following the shooting down of an unmanned US drone this week by Iran. “The world cannot afford a major confrontation in the Gulf… Everybody must keep nerves of steel,” Guterres said on the sidelines of a world conference.
Iran said on Saturday it would respond firmly to any US threat amid escalating tension between Tehran and Washington over the shooting down of an unmanned US drone by Tehran. An Iranian missile destroyed a US Global Hawk surveillance drone on Thursday. Tehran said that the drone was shot down over its territory, whereas Washington said the incident happened in international airspace.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday he called off a military strike to retaliate because it could have killed one hundred and fifty people, and signaled he was open to talks with Tehran.
Speaking in Washington on Saturday before heading to the US presidential retreat at Camp David, Trump said the US government was imposing new sanctions on Tehran. “We are putting additional sanctions on Iran,” Trump told reporters. “In some cases we are going slowly, but in other cases we are moving rapidly.”
Military action was “always on the table,” the president added, but he said he was open to reversing the escalation and could quickly reach a deal with Iran that he said would bolster the country’s flagging economy.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | مارس 13, 2018 | Media Roundups, Syria in a Week
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Ghouta, Death, and a “New Aleppo”
9-10 March 2018
The UN Security Council Resolution 2401, which calls for a thirty-day truce, has not eased the battle for Ghouta in Damascus, but rather, aerial and artillery bombardment have intensified as the ground offensive of government forces expands, capturing about fifty percent of the area of the besieged Ghouta.
Government forces, with Russian support, were able to split the enclave into two halves after they captured the town of Misraba near the center of Ghouta, effectively surrounding the towns of Douma and Harasta on Saturday. (Reuters)
The “Scorched Earth” policy led to the death of nine hundred and fifty-seven civilians, including one hundred and ninety-nine children and one hundred and thirty-one women, from 18 March up to last Saturday, with rescuers unable to pull bodies out of the rubble. It also led to four thousand and three hundred and twenty civilian casualties, with an acute shortage of food and health care, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
Doctors Without Borders reported the bombardment of fifteen medical facilities out of twenty hospitals and clinics that it provides support for in eastern Ghouta. (AFP) The World Health Organization also said on Friday that some sixty-seven attacks on health facilities and workers in Syria have been verified in the first two months of 2018, equal to half of all those throughout last year, denouncing these attacks as “unacceptable.” (Reuters)
Mortars continued to be fired on Damascus by al-Rahman Corps and Jaish al-Islam, leading to the death and injury of civilians.
Military operations in eastern Ghouta are targeting “terrorist organizations in accordance with international humanitarian laws,” said the Syrian UN Ambassador in Geneva for the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday. In contrast, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a speech on Wednesday that targeting several hundred opposition fighters cannot be a justification for the offensive launched by the Syrian government in eastern Ghouta, which is controlled by the opposition. (Reuters)
Russia called for a safe passage of civilians out of Ghouta. In this context, two passageways were opened up for civilians, amid mutual accusations of targeting these passageways. (Reuters)
On Friday, thirteen fighters from Tahrir al-Sham, along with their families, went out from areas controlled by Jaish al-Islam. This strikes resemblance to the “scenario” in Aleppo, as military pressure continues to force opposition fighters to surrender or be deported to Idlib. Calls for calm will not resonate in the tragic situation of civilians in Ghouta.
The response from international pressure was restricted to allowing the entrance of a humanitarian aid convoy to Douma on Friday, after repeated delays and the exclusion of medical supplies.
Olive Branch Besieging Afrin
6-9 March 2018
Turkish forces and opposition factions have captured several important towns in Afrin, the last of which was the town of Jandires. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Afrin is now surrounded, and entry is imminent. (Reuters)
The Olive Branch operation, which started on 20 January, has led to the death of two hundred and four civilians, including thirty-two children and twenty-six women, up to Friday, as a result of Turkish aerial and artillery bombardment. According to the SOHR, the humanitarian and living conditions have drastically deteriorated.
Four hundred and nine soldiers from Turkish forces and Syrian factions have been killed, whereas three hundred and fifty-nine from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Self-Defense Forces were killed, according to the SOHR.
A number of Arab factions allied with Syrian Democratic Forces decided to join the YPG in Afrin to confront the Turkish aggression.
No real international pressure on Turkey has emerged to stop the Olive Branch operation, as statements were confined to calls to end the offensive. On Tuesday, the French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said, “International focus on Syria was on implementing a UN-backed ceasefire in the rebel-held area of eastern Ghouta, but the situation in Kurdish-held Afrin could also not be ignored.” (Reuters)
A War of Cancellation and a Truce
9 March 2018
Tahrir al-Sham (previously Nusra) and the Syrian Liberation Front, which includes Ahrar al-Sham and Nour Eddin al-Zinki factions, announced that they have reached a ceasefire in preparation for a solution to the problems between the two sides, after bloody fighting in rural Aleppo and Idlib.
Clashes between the two sides have intensified for the last few weeks in areas they control in Aleppo and Idlib, leading to the deaths of civilians and fighters from both sides.
The latest round of clashes occurred in the western countryside of Aleppo, where the two sides used heavy weaponry in most battles. Several towns witnessed demonstrations denouncing the fighting and practices of both factions towards civilians. (Al-Jazeera)
This renewed fighting demonstrates the fragmentation and distrust among factions, in addition to Turkey’s desire for its allied forces to control areas controlled by the opposition as part of the understandings to reduce escalation.
Return of the Refugees
6-7-9 March 2018
Several members of the right-wing Alternative for Germany Party made a visit to Damascus on Tuesday seeking the return of refugees to Syria through an understanding with the government, which was condemned by the German government. This reflects the magnitude of contradiction over the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe. (Reuters)
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said on Friday that it was “too early” to talk about the return of refugees to Syria, because the situation remained unsafe and risky.
A spokesperson for the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Turkey will build camps to accommodate one hundred and seventy thousand Syrian refugees near Idlib.
Russian Transport Plane Crash
6 March 2018
“According to the latest updates, the Antonov An-26 transport aircraft, which crashed in Hmeimim airbase, was carrying thirty-three passengers and six crew members. All of them were members of the Russian Armed Forces,” the Interfax news agency quoted the Defense Ministry as saying. The crew and the passengers were all killed.
A Russian transport aircraft carrying a Russian military orchestra crashed in the Black Sea in December 2016 on a trip for Syria, killing all ninety-two people on board. (Euronews)
