Tag Archives: Syria
Jihadists fail to quit Syria buffer, throwing deal into doubt
Jihadists in Syria’s Idlib failed to meet a Monday deadline to leave a planned buffer zone ringing the country’s last rebel bastion, casting fresh doubt over a deal to avert bloodshed. A Russian-Turkish truce agreement reached nearly a month ago for the northwestern region gave “radical fighters” until October 15 to leave a proposed demilitarised area between government and opposition forces. The accord was a last-ditch effort to stave off a regime onslaught on Idlib, the largest rebel stronghold left in war-ravaged Syria and home to around three million people.
Rebels fire shells from Syria buffer despite heavy arms pullout: monitor
Rebels have fired mortar shells from a planned buffer zone in northwest Syria, a monitor said Sunday, days after they were meant to have withdrawn such weapons from the area. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said rebels in the zone fired several “mortar shells at an army position in nearby Hama province, killing two soldiers” late Saturday. Also on Saturday, rebels shelled Aleppo province from other parts of the demilitarised area, with no casualties recorded, the Britain-based monitor said.
Leader of Russia-backed Crimea to visit Syria
BEIRUT (Reuters) – The leader of Crimea, annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, is to visit Syria on Monday, the pro-government newspaper al-Watan said. Russia-backed Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov will visit Damascus for two days. Russia is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's seven-year long conflict. The leaders of two other Russia-backed breakaway regions, Georgia's South Ossetia and Abkhazia, also visited Damascus this year. Crimea has been under Western sanctions since it was annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014. …
Russia completes delivery of S-300 missile system to Syria
Iran fires missiles at militants in Syria over parade attack
(Reuters) – Iran said it fired missiles on Monday at Islamic State militants in Syria it blames for an attack on its soil on Sept. 22 and said the action shows the government’s readiness to punish the “wickedness” of its enemies. Tehran has accused U.S.-backed Gulf Arab states of attacking a military parade in southwestern Iran and killing 25 people, nearly half of them members of the elite Revolutionary Guards. Monday’s strike targeted the bases of “takfiri terrorists” backed by Washington and regional powers in eastern Syria, the Guards said in a statement on Sepah News, their news site.
Syria FM says Iran coordinated its ballistic missile strikes
BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's foreign minister said in remarks broadcast Tuesday that the Iranian ballistic missile attack on militants in eastern Syria the previous day was part of "legitimate" cooperation between the two countries to combat terrorism.
Turkey's Erdogan says to secure east of Euphrates in Syria
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey aims to secure control of the region of northern Syria east of the Euphrates river, removing the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia from the area, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday. Speaking at the opening of parliament, Erdogan said Turkey also aimed to clear Iraq's Sinjar and Qandil regions of Kurdish militants. Ankara regards the YPG as a terrorist organization, closely tied to the militant PKK which has fought a decades-old insurgency in southeast Turkey. …
Syria rebels deny withdrawing arms from north under deal
Syrian rebels on Sunday denied pulling any heavy arms out of a major opposition bastion in the north, as the deadline to implement a demilitarisation deal there draws closer. Regime ally Moscow and rebel backer Ankara agreed earlier in September to create a buffer zone around the opposition stronghold of Idlib that would be free of both jihadists and heavy arms. The deal has so far averted a massive assault on the region by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government, but its implementation is expected to be complex.
Iran fires ballistic missiles at Syria militants over attack
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's Revolutionary Guard launched six ballistic missiles as well as drone bombers early Monday toward eastern Syria, targeting militants it blamed for an attack on a military parade last month while also threatening regional adversaries as Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers unravels.
Syria rebel faction rejects Idlib deal
A formerly US-backed Syrian rebel group on Saturday rejected a deal between Russia and Turkey to avert a large-scale military assault on rebel-held Idlib province. The deal makes way for a demilitarised zone between rebel and regime-held areas in and around the northwestern governorate, Syria’s last insurgent bastion.
