بواسطة Aron Lund | أكتوبر 10, 2019 | Reports, غير مصنف
Is the United States pulling out of Syria—again?
That was certainly what President Donald J. Trump seemed to say in a five-tweet rant on Monday morning. Hours earlier, the White House had announced that U.S. forces would no longer block a Turkish intervention in northeastern Syria: “Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into Northern Syria,” the press statement said, clarifying that the U.S. military “will not support or be involved in the operation, and United States forces, having defeated the ISIS territorial ‘Caliphate,’ will no longer be in the immediate area.”
Pentagon officials were reportedly “blindsided” by Trump’s decision, but Turkey was jubilant.
For years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pushed the United States to step aside and let Turkey attack the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The multi-ethnic, secular SDF has been America’s chief local ally in its war against the so-called Islamic State, or ISIS, but it is led by a Syrian section of the anti-Ankara Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Disputes over the SDF are at the heart of a sharp deterioration in the Washington–Ankara relationship, to the point where Turkey’s commitment to NATO is being questioned.
As recently as August, the United States and Turkey struck a deal to manage their differences through joint patrols in northern Syria, and U.S. troops forced the SDF to destroy fortifications close to the border. But Turkey was not satisfied, and kept pushing for more. On September 24, Erdogan treated the UN General Assembly to a map of a future Syria in which Turkey had seized virtually every Kurdish town in the country. And on October 5, he said Turkey would send troops across the border within days.
The relentless Turkish brinksmanship seems to have been designed to pressure Trump to ditch the SDF in order to avoid U.S.–Turkish clashes or costly additional deployments. And it appears to have worked.
Muddled Messaging
It is still unclear exactly what Trump has agreed to. U.S. government rhetoric is so muddled at the moment that no one can quite figure out whether the White House has just begun a total pullout, or is merely taking a tactical step back to let Turkey have its way with a small part of Syria.
So far, U.S. forces have only retreated from a short stretch of Syrian-Turkish border land in the mostly Arab-populated region between Tell Abyad and Ras al-Ain. The 100–150 U.S. soldiers involved aren’t even leaving Syria, just relocating from the “immediate area” to stay clear of Turkey–SDF clashes. “We’re gonna get out of the way,” a U.S. official told the Washington Post.
However, the White House statement was unclear about the ultimate scope of the U.S. withdrawal, and also spoke about Turkey becoming responsible for holding SDF-imprisoned jihadis, most of whom are detained in the al-Hol camp on the other side of the SDF enclave.
How to handle the al-Hol detainees, including tens of thousands of family members of suspected Islamic State fighters, in addition to smaller numbers of Syrian and foreign combatants, has long bedevilled the United States. Trump has complained that European nations refuse to take back their citizens, and the White House statement kept hammering the point, insisting, in a flourish that seemed to betray the direct influence of the president, that the United States “will not hold them for what could be many years and great cost to the United States taxpayer” and concluding that “Turkey will now be responsible for all ISIS fighters in the area captured.”
Turkey appears to have little interest in sorting out the al-Hol issue, and would, at any rate, not be confronted with it unless Turkish troops occupy the entire SDF-held region in northeastern Syria. For now, Erdogan has simply brushed the problem away by insisting that the number of detainees is “a bit exaggerated.”
Trump’s Monday morning tweets added to the confusion by signalling an end to the U.S. involvement with Syria altogether. The United States needs to “get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars” and “bring our soldiers home,” Trump wrote, adding, “Turkey, Europe, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia and the Kurds, will now have to figure the situation out.”
So is this a limited redeployment from one part of the Syrian-Turkish border, or the beginning of the end of America’s five-year intervention in Syria? It looks like the former, but it sounds like the latter.
In part, this confused messaging might be intentional. By raising the prospect of a full-scale withdrawal, Trump may be calling Erdogan’s bluff. The Turkish leader is being informed that, unless he abides by past agreement, he will be on his own in sorting out the Syrian mess.
For all of Erdogan’s maximalist rhetoric and his UN antics, Turkey may have little interest in controlling the entire SDF-held region—nearly a third of Syria—unless it can do so with the support and approval of the United States, the EU, and perhaps Russia, too. The al-Hol detainee issue alone is daunting, and Turkey would run up against international objections and internal insurgencies. Ankara’s capacity to administer areas beyond its borders is limited, its economy is in bad shape, the military is stretched as it is, and the Syrian rebels Erdogan wants to use as proxies are pinned down by Russian and Syrian government forces in Idlib. For Turkey to seek full control over northeastern Syria on its own would be a violent, costly, and politically fraught undertaking—which is why Erdogan’s bark may be worse than his bite.
The SDF, however, seems to fear the worst, complaining that it fulfilled all its obligations under the August 2019 deal but is still deprived of promised U.S. protection. Rather than backing down, the group struck a militant note: “We in the SDF will not hesitate for a moment to defend ourselves and call upon our people of all sects, Arabs, Kurds and Syriacs, Assyrians to join forces and stand with their legitimate forces to defend our country against this Turkish aggression.”
This Has Happened Before
Strangely enough, we’ve seen this happen once before. In December 2018, Trump shocked his national security staff by suddenly announcing that he would withdraw from Syria and let Turkey take over.
It didn’t happen, that time. Trump came under immediate pressure to reverse his decision, which was opposed by a curious constellation of forces: strong voices in the Pentagon were unwilling to abandon the SDF fighters they had fought alongside for so long; the intelligence community warned that the Islamic State could respawn; and a variety of politicos and penfighters insisted that the United States must remain in Syria for reasons related to Iran, Israel, or some other Washingtonian pet cause. Last but not least, a large contingent of administration insiders, politicians, and pundits who actually did want to exit Syria felt that Trump was doing it the wrong way—they wanted to leave in an orderly and controlled fashion, to limit blowback to the United States, its allies, and interests.
Internal outrage led Trump’s jihadi-hunter-in-chief, Brett McGurk, and his secretary of defense, James Mattis, both to resign in protest. The president was angry but impressed and, step by step, his decision was watered down to buy the mission more time. In the end, Trump agreed that some U.S. troops could stay while the SDF snuffed out remaining jihadi pockets, and the Department of State went panhandling in Europe and the Gulf for aid money and troops to cover U.S. cutbacks.
It didn’t work out very well, since, unsurprisingly, few U.S. allies were willing to put much on the line for so fickle a president. Ten months later, the United States is still the only pole holding up the tent in northern Syria—and Trump seems to be saying that time is up.
What Happens Now?
If Trump really did try to call Erdogan’s bluff, it may have worked, to a degree. Despite recently warning that an invasion was imminent, the Turkish leader has shifted to saying he will “discuss the depth of the operation” when he meets Trump in Washington early next month.
Erdogan may still end up launching a cross-border incursion, to stick his foot in the door while he can. But the Turkish leader also seems to fear that Trump will simply collapse the security architecture in northeastern Syria without putting anything in its place, and without giving Turkey time to develop its options.
Meanwhile, Trump will come under renewed pressure to keep troops in Syria. Roughly the same cast of people as last time are now crying foul again, and the U.S. president may settle for a more limited pullout. But Trump’s isolationist instincts are real, and his view of America’s post-9/11 wars as no-good quagmires is one of the few political ideas he has held with something approaching consistency. Continuing to prop up the SDF’s autonomous government will also grow harder and harder, once Turkey begins to develop its own proxies inside the northeast.
If Trump starts walking toward the exit, he may, whatever his original plans, soon find that the easiest choice is to just keep going.
Ultimately, however, what happens in Syria isn’t just up to Donald Trump. The rulers of Ankara, Damascus, Moscow, and Tehran, and a host of non state actors, including the SDF and whatever remains of the Islamic State, also have a vote. Their actions and reactions will shape U.S. options in the coming weeks, and, as many have learned by now, setting Syria’s chaos in motion is easy. Making it stop is a lot harder.
*This article was published at The Century Foundation website here.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | سبتمبر 11, 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.
Differences and Patrols
8 September 2019
Hours after the start of joint patrols between the two countries, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara and Washington have ongoing differences on the establishment of the “safe zone” in northern Syria, confirming the declining confidence between the two NATO countries and pointing out the differences with Washington on numerous objectives.
After intense negotiations, Turkey and the United States established a joint operations center, however, they did not agree on the depth of the security zone or on the command structure for the forces that will operate there.
The US-allied Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara sees as a terrorist organization, control most parts of the safe zone.
Tukey (which hosts around 3.6 million Syrian refugees) intends to settle one million refugees in northern Syria. It could open the route to Europe for migrants if it does not receive sufficient funding for this plan.
Bombing the Tehran-Damascus Road
9 September 2019
Eighteen fighters were killed in airstrikes targeting positions for Iranian forces and allied groups in northern Syria on Sunday night, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The SOHR was not able to identify the party that carried out the air raids. The strike occurred in Deir Azzor governorate which has been a scene for complex operations where various fighting groups are present.
In June of 2018, strikes in eastern Syria near the Iraqi border killed fifty-five fighters from forces loyal to the government, especially Syrian and Iraqi nationals, according to the SOHR.
An anonymous US official in Washington blamed Israel for the attack, but the Israeli army refused to comment.
Oil Tanker Without Oil
8 September
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Sunday that the oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, which raises Iran’s flag and subject to US sanctions, docked in a port in the Mediterranean and its cargo has been completely sold in the sea.
Mousavi said that the tanker, which is believed to carry two million barrels of oil, reached an undisclosed destination, according to Bloomberg news agency on Sunday.
Adrian Darya 1 had earlier this week disappeared from satellite tracking systems off the Syrian shore.
The tanker – formerly called Grace 1 – played a central role in a months-long dispute between the west and Iran. British forces detained the tanker near Gibraltar in July on suspicion of carrying oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions.
Gibraltar authorities released the ship on 15 August and said Iran had presented guarantees that the ship would not sail to a destination which the EU imposes sanctions on.
Ten from “Nusra”
7 September 2019
The Italian police said on Saturday that they detained ten people suspected of tax crimes aimed at providing financial support for the “terrorist Nusra Front” in Syria.
The suspects – eight Tunisians and two Italians – include an imam in a mosque in the central Abruzzo region and an Italian tax counselor.
A statement said that these funds, in addition to donations collected within mosques, were “meant to be allocated to fund activities of the radical Islamic organization – Nusra front.”
A number of radical imams in Italy benefitted from this money, including an ex-convict who was previously imprisoned for a terrorist related case and another who was deported from Italy because of his radical ideas, according to the police.
Relief for the Displaced
6 September 2019
The United Nations said that humanitarian aid was sent on Friday to a camp for displaced people in Syria near the Jordanian border for the first time since February.
Al-Rukban camp once hosted around forty thousand people living in destitution, however, more than half of its residents have left in recent months, according to the UN, after Syrian authorities and their Russian ally opened up passages and encouraged people to head for areas controlled by Damascus.
The United Nations estimates that around fifteen thousand people still live inside the camp, which is located near al-Tanf base of the US-led international coalition to fight the Islamic State.
“The humanitarian situation in Rukban remains critical, with food being a priority need,” said UN spokesman Hedinn Halldorsson, adding that supplies are expected to last for thirty days.
Russian Protection for Turkey
4 September 2019
Russian forces in Syria secured a pathway for Turkish forces to reach their base in Hama governorate in central Syria on Wednesday. Social media pages affiliated with the Hmeimeim base posted photos of Russian soldiers deployed in the city of Khan Sheikhoun as they were providing security for Turkish forces convoys headed towards northern Hama.
US Bombardment of Russian Truce
2 September 2019
Russia and Iran on Monday accused the United States of jeopardizing the ceasefire in the Syrian governorate of Idlib by attacking the jihadists.
The US army confirmed on Saturday that it launched a strike against a facility affiliated with al-Qaeda in Idlib, killing around forty militants.
Russia, which supports the Syrian government in the ongoing civil war, was not informed in advance of the US action.
Air strikes on Idlib, northwest of Syria, stopped on Saturday morning as the Russian-declared ceasefire went into effect, according to the SOHR.
One Year After the Settlement in Daraa
1 September 2019
The unique experience of cohabitation between Syrian government forces and opposition factions, which surrendered to the government, has failed to establish security in the southern governorate of Daraa amid numerous explosions, assassination, and detentions.
Daraa, the cradle of anti-government protests in 2011, was the only area from which opposition fighters did not leave after the government retook control in July 2018.
A Russian sponsored settlement deal put an end to military operations between government forces and opposition factions. The deal stipulated that the factions hand over their heavy weaponry, however, many members remained in their areas in contrast to what happened in other areas the government retook control of. The fighters kept their light weapons and government forces did not deploy in all parts of the governorate.
Several thousand opposition fighters and civilians left Daraa in the summer of 2018 because they refused the settlement deal which spared it from total destruction. However, most faction fighters agreed to the deal.
These fighters are present in vast areas and are responsible for providing security in the southern and western countryside and the southern neighborhoods of Daraa city, known as Daraa al-Balad. Some former opposition fighters joined the Fifth Legion, a faction within the Syrian army that is supported by Russia.
The presence of the Syrian government in these areas is restricted to official institutions and security personnel, while government forces are deployed on checkpoints surrounding these areas.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | سبتمبر 4, 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.
US Bombardment and Russian Condemnation
1 September 2019
Russia on Sunday accused the United States of “jeopardizing” the ceasefire in the Syrian governorate of Idlib after Washington carried out an airstrike against leaders of a jihadist organization on Saturday.
The Russian army said the United States carried out its strike without “prior notification to the Russian and Turkish sides,” considering the US move as an “indiscriminate use of military flights.”
At least forty jihadist leaders were killed in the US strike, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
The spokesman for the US Central Command Colonel Earl Brown said on Saturday that the attack north of Idlib city targeted the leaders of the “Qaeda organization in Syria,” which Washington blames for “attacks that threaten US citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians.”
Relative Calm in Idlib
2 September 2019
Relative calm prevails in Idlib governorate in northwest Syria, as the Syrian government and its Russian ally observe a “unilateral ceasefire” with jihadists and opposition factions, despite skirmishes that left five fighters dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
The truce entered into effect Saturday morning after four months of bloody bombardment that killed more than nine hundred and fifty civilians and a ground offensive that allowed the government to retake strategic areas, according to the SOHR.
On Saturday night, three fighters allied to the government were killed by an anti-tank missile that hit their vehicle in northwest of Hama governorate, which is adjacent to Idlib governorate, according to Abdul Rahman who blamed “a jihadist faction” for this incident.
On Sunday morning, two fighters from opposition or jihadist factions were killed as a result of targeting a village southeast of Idlib with missiles, according to the same source.
Emirati Defiance
30 August 2019
A delegation of forty Emirati businessmen participated in a commercial exhibition sponsored by the government in the Syrian capital, defying a US warning against doing commercial transactions with the government of President Bashar al-Assad and its partners.
The Emirates, a key US ally in the area, started to forge closer ties with Damascus to counter the influence of rivals Iran and Turkey. It reopened its embassy in Damascus in December, angering the United States.
Tanker to Syria?
30 August 2019
Turkey said on Friday that the Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya, which is at the center of a confrontation between Washington and Tehran, was headed towards Lebanese waters, but the United States later said the ship was sailing to Syria.
According to Refinitiv tracking data, the Adrian Darya, formerly called Grace 1, after changing course several times headed on Friday to Turkey’s Iskenderun port, two hundred kilometers north of Syria’s Baniyas refinery, the tanker’s suspected original destination.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that if the tanker went to Syria, Washington would take every action it could consistent with US sanctions.
Three Million in Danger
29 August 2019
The United Nations envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen said on Sunday at the Security Council that the “counter-terrorism” operations carried out by Damascus with support from Russia cannot justify putting three million civilians in danger in the Idlib region.
Based on an initiative put forward by Belgium, Kuwait, and Germany, the Security Council will vote at an unspecified date on a draft resolution demanding immediate cessation of hostilities in northwest of Syria, while protecting civilian, and especially medical facilities. The draft also calls for facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid throughout Syria.
Russia has previously used its veto power twelve times in the Security Council to block the adoption of resolutions on Syria.
Israeli Bombardment and Identification
28 August 2019
The Israeli army on Thursday identified the names of three Iranian officers and a member of Hezbollah it said were working on producing high precision missiles in Lebanon.
The three Iranians mentioned by the spokesman of the Israeli army Jonathan Conricus in a press release are Mohammed Hussein Zadah Hijazi, Majed Nawwab, and Ali Asrar Norozi.
Information indicates that Israel has foiled attempts to smuggle precise missiles from Iran to Lebanon through Syria since 2013, leading Hezbollah to refrain from transporting whole missiles and resort to transporting parts and pieces that are then assembled in Lebanon.
Israel renewed its bombardment of positions near Damascus, killing two members of Hezbollah.
Kurdish Withdrawal at US Request
26 August 2019
An official in the coalition led by the People’s Protection Units (YPG) said that the YPG would withdraw its forces and heavy weapons from a strip along the border between Syria and Turkey according to agreements between the United States and Turkey.
Kurdish-led authorities, which administer vast areas in northeast Syria, also said that the withdrawal of the YPG from the border towns of Tal Abyadh and Ras al-Ain in the past few days demonstrates their seriousness in the ongoing talks.
This development is a sign of progress in talks between the United States and Turkey which seek to resolve the deep differences over the presence along the border of Kurdish fighters (US allies) that Ankara sees as enemies.
After Ankara repeatedly warned that it would launch a military incursion into northeast Syria to drive the YPG away from the border, Turkey and the United States said this month that they had agreed on the first stages of a security agreement along the border.
The two countries did not give any details of the agreement on what Turkey called a “safe zone” inside Syria.
A Turkish official and a Syrian Kurdish official said that the depth of the zone remains a sticking point as Turkey wants it to extend thirty-two kilometers inside Syria.
The spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mustafa Bali told Reuters that the strip along the border would vary between five and fourteen kilometers and include rural areas or military positions, not cities or towns.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | أغسطس 28, 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.
Beyond Khan Sheikhoun
24 August 2019
Syrian government forces have mobilized military reinforcements north of the strategic city of Khan Shikhoun in Idlib governorate in an attempt to continue with their advance in the area, after succeeding in encircling a Turkish observation post, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
Government forces took control on Friday of all towns and villages that were under the control of jihadist and opposition factions in the northern countryside of Hama, after advancing towards Khan Sheikhoun which they completely controlled by Wednesday.
This area has come under intense Syrian and Russian bombarding, leading to the displacement of most of its residents and those who had previously displaced to it, according to the SOHR.
The city of Ma’ret al-Nouman is situated twenty-five kilometres north of Khan Sheikhoun. The Damascus-Aleppo international highway passes through the city. The government forces have regained a part of this highway recently.
Tanker Looking for a Port
24 August 2019
The Iranian oil tanker Adriana Darya 1, formerly called Grace 1, changed its destination to the Turkish port of Mersin instead of the Greek port of Kalamta, according to Bloomberg news agency on Friday.
The agency estimated that the Iranian tanker would reach the Turkish port by midday of 31 August.
The tanker was detained off the coasts of the British controlled Gibraltar on 4 July on suspicion of carrying Iranian oil to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions.
The tanker was released on Sunday after authorities in Gibraltar refused a US request to continue detaining the ship.
The US state department cautioned Greece and other Mediterranean countries that any cooperation with the oil tanker would be considered as supporting terrorism.
Turkish Post
23 August 2019
Syrian government forces managed to encircle a Turkish observation post in the town of Morek, south of Idlib governorate, after gaining more ground from jihadist and opposition factions in the area.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that his country does not intend to evacuate from the Morek post, while Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, sponsors of the Sochi agreement, agreed on “intensifying joint efforts” on Syria, in a position ahead of the upcoming summit with their Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani in Ankara weeks later.
On Friday, the Turkish presidency said that the Turkish president would be visiting his Russian counterpart in Moscow on Tuesday, which was confirmed by the Kremlin.
War Crime
22 August 2019
German prosecutors have filed a lawsuit against a Syrian man accused of committing a war crime.
The General Prosecutor Jurgen Brower said on Friday that the Syrian man (33) appeared in a photo with a severed head, adding that the refugee joined the armed resistance against the Syrian government forces in 2012.
According to investigations, the accused, at some point between 2012 and September 2014, posed for a picture with the severed head of what is presumably an opposing fighter, mocking the victim’s death.
According to reports, the suspect lived in the German city of Zarbroken after fleeing Syria.
The general prosecutor said there is no evidence the suspect severed the head or participated in the act. “The office of criminal police in the German state of Saarland learned of the crime from other Syrian refugees,” he said. The authorities found this photo in the suspect’s mobile phone.
The man admitted that he was in the picture, but did not reiterate the story he had told other refugees in which he said that the severed head belonged to an opposing fighter, instead, he said that this head was found under some rubble and probably belonged to a civilian.
The suspect is in prison for lesser crimes. The precautionary detention imposed on him rules out any possibility for early release.
If convicted, the suspect faces between one to ten years in prison.
Tripartite on Idlib
22 August 2019
Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will host his Russian and Iranian counterparts at a summit in Ankara to discuss the Syrian issue on 16 September, according to the spokesman for the Turkish presidency. Erdogan will meet his Russian counterpart in Moscow to discuss the fate of Idlib.
Iran and Russia – both supporters of the Syrian government – have been working closely with Turkey, which supports the armed opposition, to find a solution to the Syrian crisis.
The announcement for the meeting between Erdogan and the Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani comes after Syrian forces managed to advance in Idlib governorate, the militants’ last stronghold which is situated northwest of Syria.
Kalin said that the three presidents would discuss the situation in Idlib, the formation of the constitutional committee, and how to move forward with the political process.
Idlib was supposed to be protected by a “demilitarized zone” agreement which Moscow and Ankara reached in 2018 but has been only partially implemented.
Moscow’s “Victory” in Khan Sheikhoun
21 August 2019
Government forces took control on Wednesday of the strategic town of Khan Sheikhoun, northwest of Syria, and surrounding areas, effectively cutting off a Turkish observation post.
This comes amid escalating tension since Monday between Ankara and Damascus, after the latter prevented a Turkish reinforcement convoy from reaching its destination and then Turkey warning the Syrian government “not to play with fire,” and affirming the need for securing Turkish observation posts in Idlib.
Tahir al-Sham (previously Nusra) controls most of Idlib governorate and adjacent areas, where less influential opposition factions are also deployed.
Twenty-one militants, including eighteen jihadists, were killed in the battles on Wednesday, in addition to ten members of government forces and allied fighters, according to the SOHR.
Since late April, around eight hundred and ninety civilians have been killed as a result of the escalation, according to the observatory.
The United Nations has registered the fleeing of more than four hundred thousand people to more secure areas, especially near the border with Turkey. The UN said that dozens of medical and educational facilities were damaged as a result of the bombardment.
The spokesman for the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs David Swanson told the AFP on Wednesday that the displacement is continuing in northwest Syria.
Russia on the Ground
20 August 2019
Members of the Russian army are deployed in the Syrian governorate od Idlib and Moscow is closely monitoring the situation, the Russian Interfax news agency reported Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as saying on Tuesday.
Any attacks by extremist Islamic groups will be forcefully confronted in the de-escalation zone in Idlib, Interfax reported Lavrov as saying.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country supports efforts by the Syrian army to eliminate terrorists in Idlib, alleging that the reason for this is the attempts to attack the Russian air base in Hmeimeim.
ISIS Orphans
19 August 2019
The Kurdish self-administration in north-east Syria handed over four children from ISIS family members to representatives of the German government in the first such operation with Berlin, according to an AFP reporter.
Finner Kayet, an official in the foreign relation commission in the self-administration, told the AFP that “three of the children were orphans, whereas the mother of the fourth child is still alive.”
In Berlin, the spokesman for the German foreign ministry confirmed to the AFP that the children have left Syria and have been repatriated. “The children were received at the border by a team from the (German) consulate in Erbil. They will be handed over to their family members” to travel to Germany, he said.
The children, the eldest of whom is ten years old, are made up of three girls, two sisters and an infant whose mother agreed to transfer custody for a critical health situation she suffers from, and one boy, according to Kurdish authorities.
This is the first time Berlin receives family members of German jihadists from the Kurdish self-administration in Syria.
Several countries, especially European ones, refuse to repatriate their citizens, who belonged to ISIS and are detained by the Kurds, and their family members, who are in camps controlled by Kurds in north-east Syria.
These camps, the most prominent of which is al-Hol camp in Hasakeh governorate, host around twelve thousand foreigners, four thousand women and eight thousand children, from family member of foreign jihadists. They reside in special sections which are subject to intense security observation. This number does not include Iraqi nationals.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | أغسطس 21, 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.
Battle for Khan Sheikhoun
Enab Baladi and Reuters
16-19 August 2019
The spokesman for the media branch of Tahrir al-Sham, Abu Khaled al-Shami said on Monday that fierce battles raged between militants from al-Fatih al-Mobeen factions and government forces near al-Faqir checkpoint west of the city of Khan Sheikhoun. The factions are confronting government attempts to advance towards the city, he added, denying reports that government forces entered the city. The operation room for al-Fatih al-Mobeen includes Tahrir al-Sham, the National Front for Liberation, and Jaish al-Izza. Abu Khaled added that the government and its allies started off with intense airstrikes, missiles, and artillery shelling to pave the way to al-Faqir checkpoint, where the factions confronted these forces in an attempt to recapture the checkpoint and prevent their progress.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Saturday that around twenty-seven civilians were killed in northwestern Syria in the last two days in an escalation of a Russian-backed offensive against the last major rebel stronghold.
An air strike in the village of Deir Sharki killed seven members of one family, most of them children, on Saturday, the SOHR added. Another seven people were killed by bombardments in other areas, it said.
On Friday, air strikes in the village of al-Haas killed thirteen people. They had been seeking shelter after fleeing another area. The bombardment forced hundreds of families to flee northwards from the targeted areas, the Observatory and local activists said.
France called on Friday for an immediate end to fighting in the Syrian city of Idlib, and the French foreign ministry added that it condemned in particular air strikes on refugee camps. The United Nations and aid agencies have warned of a new humanitarian catastrophe in northwest Syria.
On Wednesday a US agency which supports health facilities in opposition-held areas of Syria said government airstrikes had targeted an ambulance center, killing a paramedic, an ambulance driver, and a rescue worker who was trying to free them from the rubble.
Mark Cutts, a UN official working on Syria, condemned the strike in a statement, saying it “highlights again the horror of what’s going on in Idlib and northern Hama”.
The “Turkish” Safe Zone
Reuters
16 August 2019
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Friday that a joint Turkish-US operation center–to establish and manage a safe zone in northeast Syria–will be fully operational next week.
Turkey and the United States agreed last week to set up the joint operations center for the proposed zone along Syria’s northeast border but gave few details, such as the size of the zone itself or the command structure of forces that would operate there.
Earlier this week a US delegation visited southern Turkey to work on getting the center started, and Turkish drones began carrying out work in the area where the safe zone will be created, the defense ministry said.
“The joint operation center will start working with full capacity next week,” Akar was quoted as saying by Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu news agency. Akar said that Turkish and US officials have agreed that Syrian Kurdish YPG militants should be removed from the area and their heavy weapons should be taken. Ankara and Washington have also agreed in general terms about control and coordination of air space in the region, Akar added.
Targeting of Misyaf
Reuters
15 August 2019
A Syrian military source said Syrian air defenses identified a missile that was fired toward the city of Misyaf near Hama late on Thursday and destroyed it before it hit its target.
“Our air defense system detected a hostile aerial target coming from northern Lebanon towards the city of Misyaf. It immediately engaged the target and destroyed it before it reached its destination,” the source said.
State television had previously reported the sound of a massive blast near Misyaf although there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Government Plane Shot Down
Reuters
15 August 2019
Rebels shot down a Syrian warplane in the opposition stronghold of Idlib governorate on Wednesday as Russian-backed government forces closed in on a strategically important town.
The official Syrian news agency SANA said the warplane had been hit by an anti-aircraft missile fired by militants while on a mission “to destroy headquarters of the Nusra Front.” SANA said the pilot’s fate was unknown.
Tahrir al-Sham, the most powerful group in the area, said its fighters had shot down a Sukhoi 22 jet that had taken off from a Syrian air base in Homs governorate. It did not say how the jet had been brought down.
Explosion in Qamishli
Reuters
14 August 2019
A security force said in a statement that a car bomb killed one member of its members and wounded two others in the Kurdish-controlled city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria on Sunday. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack which it said had killed six members of a Kurdish militant group.
The car bomb targeted a training facility that was being guarded by members of the internal security force for northern and eastern Syria, also known as the Asayish, a statement released by the Kurdish security force said.
