Despite complaints of violations from all sides, and some ominous comments from faction leaders, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon insisted on Monday that the Syrian cease-fire is holding “by and large.”
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the opposition have accused each other of breaking a three-day ceasefire imposed to help end the five-year civil war.
Contents: Bulldozers bury the ‘Jungle’ refugee camp in Calais France; Russian and Syrian war crimes are ‘weaponizing’ the refugee crisis for Europe
Most reporting on the Syrian Kurds depicts them as fairly unified behind their Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia against the menace of the Islamic State. In truth, there are Kurdish opposition parties, and they have been complaining about the PYD using heavy-handed tactics to suppress them.
Iran, prompted by a decision reached by the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani, is reportedly withdrawing 2,500 Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGCs) and Basiji paramilitary combat soldiers deployed to Syria.
TEL AVIV – Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has turned to yet another Israel critic for foreign policy advice, this time a former U.S. official who espoused the conspiracy theory that Israel may have carried out chemical attacks in Syria as a false-flag operation against the Assad regime.
A Turkish court determined authorities violated the rights of Cumhuriyet editor-in-chief Can Dündar and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gül during their arrest, releasing the men on Friday.
The Pentagon and CIA do not believe Russia will honor the ceasefire agreement in Syria arrived at this week, according to sources speaking to The Wall Street Journal.
Contents: China building powerful new radar system in South China Sea; Report: China’s military buildup neutralizes America’s aircraft carriers; John Kerry and Russia announce a new Syria peace plan
Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Monday he was sceptical that a Syria ceasefire announced for February 27 by the United States and Russia will succeed. He also said that both Washington and Moscow recognise Israeli freedom of action
The Kurdish militia known as the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and rebel opposition forces are reportedly fighting each other in the small Syrian town of Marea, north of Aleppo.
Contents: Latest Syria peace plan officially fails; Shifting alliances across the Mideast
At least 46 people were killed in twin car bomb blasts that hit Syria’s Homs on Sunday in one of the deadliest such attacks in the city in five years of civil war, a monitoring group said, and state media
The Russian government has promised to increase military cooperation with Iran as both countries continue to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The U.S. State Department has asserted that any Russian arms sales to Iran without approval from the Security Council would violate the United Nations arms embargo.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan intensified his denunciation of the Syrian Kurdish militia as “terrorists” responsible for this week’s Ankara bombing, and called on the U.S. to renounce support for the Kurds. The U.S. government refused these demands and said it would continue supporting Kurdish forces against the Islamic State in Syria.
A former Colombian drug lord who has been freed after serving an 18-year sentence in the U.S. prison system has accused Diosdado Cabello, a senior official in Venezuela’s socialist government, of leading a drug cartel that has sold cocaine to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda.
Turkey launched airstrikes against Kurds in northern Iraq overnight, as Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu claimed the terrorist who carried out Wednesday’s deadly bomb attack in Ankara was linked to the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, a vital U.S. ally in the war against the Islamic State.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) has released a report concluding that Russian airstrikes have killed more Syrian civilians than the Syrian forces or the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in January.
Airstrikes hit four hospitals and a school building in northern Syria Monday, killing at least 50 people, according to various media reports.
Contents: Missile strikes on Syria’s hospitals and schools called ‘war crimes’; China to substantially increase military budget as army restructures; China’s massive lending binge: four times as much as forecast
The Jerusalem Post reports: If the Syrian regime wins the civil war and Iran ends up on the Golan, Israel could have difficulty defending itself, said a former White House official on Monday. Michael Doran called for a US policy
Forces loyal to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russian airstrikes, are reportedly advancing towards the city of Raqqa, which has long served as the de facto capital of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).
In a sign of escalating tensions, Russia and Turkey have begun accusing each other of supporting “terrorist” organizations in Syria.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that relations between Russia and the West have evolved into a “new Cold War.”
The volatile situation in Syria took a dangerous turn over the weekend, as Turkey began shelling Kurdish YPG militia forces in Syria, the same militia America has been relying upon as frontline ground forces against the Islamic State. Turkey is also a U.S. ally and a member of NATO.
Contents: Turkey doubles down on shelling Kurds in Syria; Qatar says it will join Saudi Arabia, UAE sending troops to Syria; John Kerry suggests that al-Assad and the Russians are delusional
JAFFA, Israel – The Islamic State released photos of the public punishment of a Syrian man convicted of theft, which included chopping off his hand with a machete. The punishment was carried out in Raqqa, Syria, the so-called Syrian capital
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel voiced doubt on Sunday that an international ceasefire plan for Syria would work, with one senior official suggesting a sectarian partition of the country might be preferable. While formally neutral on the five-year civil war wracking
During Saturday’s Republican presidential debate on CBS, GOP presidential candidates Donald Trump and former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL) battled over Russia’s involvement in taking down ISIS. First, Bush said he would take down Syrian President Bashar Assad and it would be
Saudi Arabia’s military spokesman said on Thursday that his country’s decision to deploy ground forces in Syria was “final” and “irreversible,” despite warnings from Russia, Iran, and the Shiite government of Iraq that such a deployment could escalate the Syrian civil war into a regional conflict.
On Friday, the United States, Russia, and other world powers announced a “cessation of hostilities” to begin next week in Syria, even as Syrian dictator Bashar Assad vowed to continue “fighting terrorism” and “retake” the entire country.
Contents: US and Russia agree to a farcical ‘cessation of hostilities’ in Syria; Russia launches massive military exercises, apparently targeting Turkey and Syria; The vitriolic hatred of Bashar al-Assad
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan unleashed a furious rant against the United States on Wednesday, holding America responsible for the “sea of blood” spilled in Syria, and supporting other terrorist organizations while it focused too intently on defeating the Islamic State.
Sources within the Turkish government claim Ankara has planned to hold a joint military drill with Saudi Arabia, a move that could chill diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia’s regional rival, Iran. Turkey’s state-run Anadolu News Agency is denying the report.
TEL AVIV – A relative of President Bashar Al-Assad published an open letter in which she called the Syrian president a traitor, an enemy of humanity, a devil, a murderer, and a terrorist who will end up “in history’s filthiest
Contents: Mass exodus from Aleppo continues amid reports Russians are using cluster bombs; United Nations demands that Turkey admit tens of thousands of Syrian refugees; Turkey border ‘buffer zone’ could result in clash with Syrian army
Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash announced that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is willing to deploy ground troops to Syria to combat the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), as part of the U.S.-led coalition.
Iranian Brigadier General Mohsen Ghajarian of the elite Revolutionary Guards force has reportedly been killed during an operation in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo, along with six members of Iran’s volunteer militia, the Basij.
The United Nations earlier this week announced the formal start of indirect peace talks aimed at ending the nearly five-year-old Syrian conflict and urged world powers to push for ceasefire, as Bashar al Assad forces, backed by Russian airstrikes and Iranian militias, launched one of their biggest offensives.
