بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | يناير 2, 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.
Idlib Displacement
Reuters
27 December 2019
The United Nations said two hundred and thirty-five thousand civilians had fled their homes in rebel-held northwestern Syria during a Russian-backed campaign of air strikes and shelling this month. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the exodus had taken place between 12 and 25 December.
Most people had fled the city of Maarat al-Numan, towns and villages in southern Idlib province, Idlib city, and camps along the Syrian-Turkish border, OCHA said. “With the latest escalation of violence in northwest Syria, civilians in Idlib governorate are again suffering from the devastating consequences of hostilities,” it said.
OCHA said Maarat al-Numan and the surrounding countryside “are reportedly almost empty.” Thousands of families were also reported to be too frightened to move, fearing air strikes and shelling. Rescue teams and witnesses say hostilities have left many towns in ruins and knocked out dozens of medical centers.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday warned Russia, Syria, and Iran against killing civilians in the Syrian governorate of Idlib, saying that Turkey is working hard to stop the “carnage”.
The Syrian army said this week it had seized more than three hundred kilometers of territory in the offensive to end “terrorist” control of Idlib, killing hundreds of “terrorists”. Taking Maarat al-Numan would take the Syrian army into densely populated rebel-held parts of Idlib province, where millions of people who fled fighting elsewhere in Syria have taken refuge.
The Russian and Syrian advance toward Idlib is also piling pressure on Turkey, which has a presence in the area and is seen by many civilians as a protector against Russian strikes. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country cannot handle a fresh wave of refugees from Syria, warning that Europe will feel the impact of such an influx if the bombing is not stopped.
Failure to Protect Hospitals in Idlib
Enab Baladi
29 December 2019
A United Nations system to protect hospitals in Syria has failed to achieve its goals and was “marred with errors,” according to a New York Times investigation published on Sunday. Russia and the Syrian government ignored the UN system to prevent attacks on hospitals and humanitarian sites in areas not under government control, with more than sixty-nine attacks on these sites since the onset of the Russian intervention in Syria in 2015.
The system is meant to provide precise coordinates of humanitarian sites that are under the protection of international law of warring parties to avoid their damage. These coordinates are shared with forces led by the United States, Russia, and Turkey in the area.
The system is voluntary, but relief groups said they felt intense pressure from donors and United Nations officials to participate. The groups gave locations of their own choosing to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Sharing Syria… And Libya
Reuters
26, 29 December 2019
Talks in Moscow between a Turkish government delegation and Russian diplomats lasted for three days, much longer than expected, as the two sides tried to find compromises on Syria and Libya, the Russian Vedomosti newspaper reported on Thursday.
A Turkish delegation traveled to Russia on Monday for talks on Syria, following reports that Russian-backed attacks there were forcing tens of thousands more Syrians to flee toward Turkey.
Turkish Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Tuesday that Russia would work to stop attacks in the northwestern Syrian region of Idlib after talks with the Turkish delegation in Moscow and that Ankara expected this promise to be kept.
The two sides also discussed Libya after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week his country would not remain silent in the face of “mercenaries” such as the Russian-backed Wagner group of private military contractors, supporting Khalifa Haftar’s forces there. Moscow said it is very concerned about the prospect of Turkish troops being deployed to Libya.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned that the Libyan conflict risks sliding into chaos and becoming the next Syria, as he sought to speed up legislation to allow it to send troops to the North African country.
US Strikes Against Hezbollah Brigades
Reuters
30 December 2019
US officials said on Sunday that air strikes in Iraq and Syria against an Iran-backed armed group were successful, but warned that “additional actions” may still be taken in the region to defend US interests.
The US military carried out the strikes against the Hezbollah Brigades in response to the killing of a US civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base, officials said.
“We will not stand for the Islamic Republic of Iran to take actions that put American men and women in jeopardy,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. Defense Secretary Mark Esper termed the offensive “successful,” but said that Trump was informed that a further military response could be warranted.
Iraqi security and militia sources said at least twenty-five fighters were killed and at least fifty-five wounded following three US air strikes in Iraq on Sunday. At least four local Hezbollah Brigades commanders were among the dead, the sources said, adding that one of the strikes had targeted the armed group’s headquarters near the western Qaim district on the border with Syria.
Russia Inherits United States in Raqqa
Reuters
26 December 2019
Russian military police have taken control of a base near the Syrian city of Raqqa that was controlled by US forces until a few days ago, the TASS news agency reported on Thursday. Russian forces entered the nearby city of Raqqa, the former de facto capital of the Islamic State caliphate, earlier this month as Moscow rushed to fill a vacuum created by US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull troops from northern Syria. The base, a former school in the village of Tal Samin, is in a strategic area at a crossroads that links the city of Raqqa with central Syria and its northern regions, the state news agency said.
Russian Cereal Aid
Reuters
25 December 2019
The Russian Interfax news agency cited a representative of Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov as saying that Russia would send twenty-five thousand tons of grain as humanitarian aid to Syria from the port of Novorossiysk on the Black sea by next week. Russia plans to send a total of one hundred thousand tons of grain by the end of May, the representative added.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | ديسمبر 25, 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.
A New Chapter in the Idlib War
Reuters
22 December 2019
Russian-backed Syrian forces have gained ground after a week-long renewed assault against Idlib, the biggest such push in more than three months that has prompted a large civilian exodus, witnesses and residents said on Sunday. The wide-scale offensive led by intense aerial strikes on civilian areas in rural southeastern Idlib governorate broke months of stalemate on the frontlines, where rebels had been holding back the army from major advances, they said.
Russian and Syrian jets have stepped up strikes on villages and towns around Maarat al-Numan, from which thousands of people have fled to the relative safety of the Turkish border. The Syrian army said it had gained more than twenty villages and hilltops and was coming close to one of twelve Turkish observation posts in the northwest, part of a deal with Moscow and Tehran in 2017 to avert large-scale fighting in Idlib
Residents in the area said many villages were now deserted in a campaign that, since it first started in April, has displaced more than five hundred thousand people, according to the United Nations and international relief groups.
In the past week alone, at least eighty thousand civilians fled and face harsh conditions during the start of winter, said the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM), a US-based medical NGO. Medical facilities, already crippled by a year of attacks, are struggling to deal with the influx of wounded, it said. At least sixty-eight medical facilities have been attacked since April, the NGO and other UN agencies have documented.
Western military sources said the latest bombardment was a prelude to a wide scale ground offensive to take over rebel-held Idlib governorate.
Enforcement of Caesar
Asharq al-Awsat
21 December 2019
US President Donald Trump signed the defense bill which contains the Caesar Syrian Civilian Protection Act of 2019 after it gained the approval of the Congress.
The act is named after a former Syrian military photographer who risked his life to smuggle tens of thousands of pictures that document torture and killing of prisoners inside prisons. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the act was “an important step in promoting accountability for the large-scale atrocities” carried out by the Syrian government and “provides a tool for the United States to put an end to the ongoing horrible conflict in Syria.” The law authorizes sanctions on all individuals and institutions that finance the war machine; this includes the Syrian Central Bank, oil companies, construction companies, and militias. It also imposes sanctions on people in the army, government, and the Scientific Research and Studies Center who are accused of committing “war crimes.” It also allows for presenting military and non-military solutions to Congress to protect civilians.
It restricts financial support to Damascus from neighboring countries. According to the provisions in the act, the sanctions can be lifted by the US president if Damascus takes tangible steps and serious actions to respect human rights while prioritizing the safety and security of civilians, freeing prisoners, and voluntary and safe return for refugees.
Veto on Cross-border Aid
Reuters
21 December 2019
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday said Russia and China had blood on their hands after the two countries used their veto power against a UN Security Council resolution, blocking cross-border aid deliveries from Turkey and Iraq to millions of Syrian civilians.
Russia, backed by China, on Friday cast its fourteenth UN Security Council veto since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011.
The resolution, drafted by Belgium, Kuwait and Germany, would have allowed cross-border humanitarian deliveries for a further twelve months from two points in Turkey and one in Iraq. But Russia only wanted to approve the two Turkish crossings for six months.
Russia and China vetoed the text while the remaining thirteen members of the Security Council voted in favor. A resolution needs a minimum nine votes in favor and no vetoes by Russia, China, the United States, Britain or France to pass.
Since 2014 the United Nations and aid groups have crossed into Syria from Turkey, Iraq, and Jordan at four places annually authorized by the Security Council. In a bid to compromise with Russia, the Jordan crossing was dropped by Belgium, Kuwait, and Germany from their draft.
The current authorization for the four border crossings in Turkey, Iraq and Jordan ends on 10 January, so the Security Council could still attempt to reach an agreement, though some diplomats acknowledged this could now be difficult.
Deputy UN aid chief Ursula Mueller had warned the council on Thursday that without the cross border operations “we would see an immediate end of aid supporting millions of civilians.”
“That would cause a rapid increase in hunger and disease, resulting in death, suffering and further displacement – including across borders – for a vulnerable population who have already suffered unspeakable tragedy as a result of almost nine years of conflict,” Mueller said.
Erdogan and the Refuge Card
Reuters
17, 23 December 2019
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged world powers on Tuesday to help his country to resettle one million Syrian refugees, accusing governments of moving more quickly to guard Syria’s oil fields than its children. Erdogan, whose country hosts 3.7 million Syrian refugees, the largest refugee population worldwide, said more than six hundred thousand refugees should voluntarily join around three hundred and seventy-one thousand people already in a “peace zone” in northern Syria from which Turkey drove Kurdish militia. “I think the resettlement can easily reach one million in a very short period of time,” Erdogan told the Global Forum on Refugees in Geneva.
The plan met with skepticism from Jan Egeland, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, who said that while Turkey was far ahead in terms of hosting refugees, resettling Arab refugees in areas previously populated by Kurds was wrong. “I hope this will not happen, really. It shouldn’t happen,” Egeland told Reuters.
Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said returns must be voluntary, refugees should be given support and property and other legal issues must be addressed. “We are also urging the Syrian authorities to allow us a presence in the areas where people return because this could be a confidence-building measure,” Grandi told a news conference.
Once Again… An Israeli Aggression
Reuters
22 December 2019
The Syrian army’s air defense system intercepted missiles coming from the direction of Israel that were aimed at targets on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, state media said on Sunday. Four cruise missiles were believed to have been launched across the coast through Lebanese airspace toward Syria, according to a source in the regional alliance supporting the Syrian government. Later the Syrian army said it had brought down one of the missiles in an area near the capital. It gave no further details.
Strike Against Homs Refinery
Reuters
21 December 2019
Rockets were fired overnight at Syria’s main Homs refinery and two gas units causing minor damage and disrupting production, oil officials said on Saturday. Fires were extinguished after several hours and maintenance engineers had begun repair work, the refinery head was quoted as saying on state media.
The refinery, located west of Homs, is one of two main refineries covering most domestic demand for diesel, heating fuel, gasoline and other products, industry experts say.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | نوفمبر 13, 2019 | 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.
“Committee” is Better
Reuters
8 November 2019
The opening round of the first Syrian peace talks in more than a year went “better than most people would have expected”, said the UN special envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen, although delegates described a chilly atmosphere with those from opposing sides not yet shaking hands. Representatives of the Syrian government and the opposition met in Geneva to discuss a future constitution, part of plans for a political settlement to end eight and a half years of war. Expectations for the talks have been low, with Damascus and its Iranian and Russian allies having made gains on the battlefield that left them few reasons to grant concessions.
The government delegation had been seeking to hold the next round of talks in Syria’s capital, which the opposition had strongly resisted. The talks are focused on drawing up a constitution with a view to eventually hold elections in Syria, a less sweeping agenda than at UN-sponsored talks earlier in the war. In Geneva last week, the one hundred and fifty delegates agreed the composition of a smaller forty-five-member drafting body tasked with writing a draft of the constitution that would be eventually presented to Syrian voters.
After ten days of talks, there was no immediate agreement on the release of thousands of detainees, an issue that Pedersen has underscored as key to building confidence. Nor was there consensus on whether delegates from the so-called small group in charge of drafting the constitution would adapt a 2012 constitution or start afresh with a new one.
Talks between the parties were often heated, delegates said, particularly on the issue of “terrorism”, a term used by the government side to refer to insurgents, with the government body seeking to incorporate this within the constitutional reform project. The opposition side resisted this.
Syria with Equal Opportunities!
Reuters
11 November 2019
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said the Syrian presidential elections in 2021 would be open to anybody who wants to run and that there would be numerous challengers for the presidency.
Al-Assad, who made the comment in an interview broadcast on Monday on the Russian television channel RT, faced two challengers at the 2014 election which he won by a landslide, but which his opponents dismissed as a charade. “Last time we were three and this time of course we are going to have as much as they want to nominate. There are going to be numerous nominees,” Al-Assad said.
President Al-Assad said that the Syrian government is socialist and has rejected privatization and so has the syndicates. “The majority rejected neo-liberal policies because we realized they would destroy the poor,” he said, adding “we still have the public sector and we are still supporting the poor and providing support for bread, fuel, and schools… we have not changed that policy, but we opened the doors further for the private sector. Therefore, you cannot call this a liberalization of economy.”
It should be mentioned that Syria has adopted liberal economic policies since the 1980’s, which accelerated in the 1990’s and 2000’s.
Bombardment of Idlib
Reuters
8 November 2019
UN rights spokesman Rupert Colville said on Friday that more than sixty medical facilities have been hit in Syria’s Idlib governorate in the past six months, including four this week, and appear to have been deliberately targeted by government-affiliated forces.
The Northeast Between Turkey and Russia
Reuters
8, 9 November 2019
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Turkey’s military offensive in Syria in a phone call on Saturday, Turkey’s presidency said.
Turkey launched its cross-border offensive one month ago, saying it aimed to drive Kurdish-led forces from the border region and create a “safe zone” to settle Syrian refugees.
It halted its advance under a deal with the United States which called for the withdrawal from the border of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). Erdogan later agreed on a separate deal with Moscow, which also called for the YPG to withdraw at least thirty kilometers from the border, but has since said that neither Washington nor Moscow has been able to deliver on the deals.
The Turkish statement on Saturday said Erdogan and Putin confirmed their commitment to the accord they struck at a meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi which also paved the way for joint Russian-Turkish military patrols inside Syria.
Explosion in Suluk
Reuters
10 November 2019
Turkey’s defense ministry and local emergency workers said eight people were killed when a bomb exploded on Sunday in an area of northeast Syria controlled by Turkish troops and their Syrian rebel allies. The ministry said the bombing, which it blamed on the Kurdish YPG, took place southeast of the Syrian town of Tal Abyad which Turkey captured in a military offensive that began one month ago.
Turkey halted its military advance when it struck deals with the United States and Russia calling for the YPG to be moved at least thirty kilometers away from Syria’s border with Turkey. The village of Suluk, where Sunday’s explosion took place, is around ten kilometers south of the border. A small truck exploded outside a bakery there, an emergency worker said.
Oil is for the SDF
Reuters
6, 7 November 2019
The Pentagon said on Thursday that revenue from oilfields in northeastern Syria will go to US-backed forces rather than the United States itself.
During a news conference announcing the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a US raid last month, Trump had raised the possibility of American oil companies taking over the oilfields in northeastern Syria, currently operated by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Washington’s Syrian Kurdish allies.
His comments drew sharp rebukes from lawyers and experts, who said the move was likely a legally dubious one. On Wednesday, a senior State Department official said there was no direction from the White House to pursue such a way forward.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | نوفمبر 6, 2019 | 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.
Withdrawal or Return?
4 November 2019
A large US troops convoy of vehicles withdrew from Aleppo countryside and Raqqa in east Syria and headed toward the Syrian-Iraqi border.
“Around one hundred and fifty vehicles for US troops, coming from their bases in Ain Arab and Sarrine in the eastern countryside of Aleppo and Ain Issa in the northern countryside of Raqqa, have left the area and headed toward the city of Qamishli, and from there toward the Syrian-Iraqi border,” a source in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said.
“Syrian government forces have completed their deployment near the Aleppo/Qamishli highway. They were able to achieve the continuity of forces between Raqqa and Hasakeh governorates, securing a supply road for the forces,” a source close to the Syrian government troops told a German news agency.
Linking Lattakia to “Khomeini”
3 November 2019
There are ongoing studies on linking the Iranian port of Khomeini with Lattakia port, a Syrian newspaper said on Sunday.
Al-Watan newspaper cited reports by the Syrian ministry of transportation in regards to ongoing discussions on a project to link the Khomeini port on the Iranian side of the Persian Gulf with Lattakia port on the Mediterranean, in addition to a project to link the Iranian city of Shalmja with the Iraqi city of Basra – thirty-two kilometers – with Iran executing and financing the project. It will be finalized by linking Shalmaja to Khomeini port and Basra with Lattakia port.
The ministry said that the railroad running through Deir Azzor, al-Tabieh, and Bou Kama – 142.8 km long – is under construction according to global and modern technical specifications in regards to speed and infrastructure.
The railroad “was destroyed and sabotaged in most of its parts, therefore, there is a need to rehabilitate what the war destroyed and finish the execution of the remaining works in order to invest it,” the ministry added.
The ministry said that this route is part of the international transportation axis west-east of Syrian ports, running through Aleppo and then to Iraq, Iran, and east Asian countries. It is a strategic transit corridor for Syria and Iraq.
US Reassurance
2 November 2019
A US military delegation on Saturday visited positions for Kurdish fighters near Qamishli, northeast of Syria, despite Washington’s announcement of withdrawing troops from the area, according to two AFP reporters.
The reporters said they saw four armored vehicles raising the US flag as they entered a command center for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Qamishli, whose gates were painted with the colors of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), in addition to a YPG center and a position for Kurdish security forces (Asayesh) in Qamishli.
This comes two days after US forces dispatched a patrol from its base in Rmailan in Hasakeh governorate to the town of al-Qahtanieh, accompanied by SDF members.
This is the first patrol since President Donald Trump decided to pull out US forces deployed in northern Syria.
Bombardment of Idlib Once Again
2 November 2019
At least six civilians were killed on Saturday in strikes by Russian war planes in Idlib governorate, north-west of Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
The six civilians, including “at least one child and one woman,” were all from the same family and were killed by “Russian warplanes targeting the village of Jabala in the southern countryside of Idlib,” the SOHR said.
The number of dead is expected to rise because “there are people with severe injuries and people still trapped under rubble,” according to the SOHR.
Tahrir al-Sham (previously Nusra) controls most part of Idlib and its surrounding. There are also less influential Islamic and opposition factions.
Idlib and its surrounding have three million people, half of whom are displaced from other areas; they include tens of thousands of opposition fighters that were evacuated from other governorates after government forces attacks on their strongholds.
Constitutional Breakthrough
1 November 2019
The UN special envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen praised the meeting of the one hundred fifty members of the constitutional committee in the UN headquarters in Geneva despite “deep differences… and lack of trust” between government and opposition delegations.
Pedersen told journalists after the two-day meeting of the expanded constitutional committee that the talks were “very good.”
“We all know that after eight and a half years of conflict there are deep differences and a lot of suspicion and lack of trust,” he said.
“However, the truth is that one hundred and fifty Syrians were sitting together, showing respect for one another, talking to each other, and deliberating according to an agenda we agree on for the future of Syria. I think this impressing,” he added.
The United Nations on Wednesday launched the works of the committee which includes one hundred and fifty members distributed equally between the government, opposition, and civil society. Pedersen previously described its work as a “historic moment,” after eight years of conflict that tore Syria apart.
The UN and international powers hope that the work of the committee, which is commissioned with drafting a constitution, paves the way for a wider settlement of the conflict, although they acknowledge difficulty of the task.
According to its mandate, the committee is tasked with “revising the 2012 constitution… amending the current constitution or drafting a new constitution.” After that, new elections will be held with UN supervision according to the new constitution that must be approved by the people through a referendum.
President Bashar al-Assad told the official Syrian television on Thursday that the elections “would be completely, and from A to Z, under the supervision of the Syrian state.” He also said that the government “is not part” of the ongoing Geneva negotiations and that the Syrian delegation “represents the view point of the government.”
Russian – Turkish
1 November 2019
Turkish and Russian forces on Friday conducted their first joint patrol near the northern border of Syria under an agreement reached after the offensive launched by Turkey against Kurdish fighters, which changed balances on the ground.
After Ankara’s attack on 9 October, which was preceded by a US pull out from various border points, cards were reshuffled in Kurdish-controlled areas in northeast Syria, and government forces and their Russian ally became part of the equation.
It seems that the Americans and Russians divided the border map between them. While Russia is conducting patrols west of the border town of Qamishli, US forces on Thursday patrolled east of the city which is considered the capital of the self-administration declared by the Kurds in 2014.
To East of the Euphrates
31 October 2019
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said, on Thursday, that his country’s ultimate goal is to restore state authority over areas controlled by Kurds in northeast Syria after the sudden withdrawal of US forces, but he said this will happen gradually.
The agreement reached this month between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to oust the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units to a distance of thirty kilometers away from the border in order to establish a “safe zone” along the border. Al-Assad described in an interview with an official TV channel the agreement as a step that helps Damascus to achieve this goal.
Merging with the Army
30 October 2019
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Wednesday refused an invitation by the defense ministry in the Syrian government for its members to join Syrian government forces.
In a statement sent to a German news agency, the SDF said, “we categorically refuse this language directed towards individuals. The Syrian defense minister should have more correctly directed its speech to the general leadership of the Syrian Democratic Forces in order to open the door for a dialogue with an honest intent to unite efforts, and not deny reality in order to evade responsibilities.”
The Syrian defense ministry had called on members of the SDF to join the ranks of the Syrian army in confronting the Turkish army and opposition factions.
Presence near the Oil
29 October 2019
Iran and Russia condemned US President Donald Trump’s decision to keep a military presence near oil fields in northeast Syria. The Russian foreign minister said that any investment of the energy resources would be illegal.
Trump’s suggestion on Sunday for Exxon Mobile or another US oil company to manage Syrian oil fields stirred criticism from legal and energy experts.
US Defense Minister Mark Esper on Sunday said that the United States would boost its army’s presence in Syria by deploying additional assets, including “mechanical forces” to prevent Islamic State remnants or others from capturing the oil fields.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | سبتمبر 18, 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.
War Crimes!
Reuters
11 September 2019
United Nations investigators said on Wednesday that air strikes by US-led coalition forces in Syria have killed or wounded many civilians, indicating that required precautions were ignored and war crimes may have been committed.
Syrian government and allied Russian warplanes are also conducting a deadly campaign that appears to target medical facilities, schools, markets and farmland and which may also amount to war crimes, the report by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria said.
The investigators also accused Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist alliance formerly known as Nusra Front that is the dominant armed group in Idlib, of firing rockets indiscriminately and killing civilians.
The coalition’s al-Jazeera Storm operation resulted in a high number of civilian casualties, including in a series of strikes on 3 January in Sha’fah, south of Hajin, that killed sixteen civilians including twelve children, the UN report said.
Syrian government forces carried out repeated air strikes in Saraqib, in northwest Idlib province on 9 March, damaging al-Hayat women’s and children’s hospital, despite pro-government forces being aware of its coordinates, the report said.
The Syrian government army denies that its strikes target civilians and says its forces only bomb militants associated with hardline fundamentalist groups linked to al Qaeda. The report covers the year to July and is based on nearly three hundred interviews and analysis of satellite imagery, photographs and videos.
Idlib’s Troika
Reuters
16 September 2019
The leaders of Turkey, Russia and Iran will meet in an attempt to secure a lasting truce in northwest Syria following the recent escalation in which government forces controlled Khan Sheikoun. The summit will debate potential threats from the ongoing tensions in Idlib, including a new wave of migrants toward Turkey.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani have backed the Syrian government against the opposition. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, along with the United States, European and Arab allies, has supported different opposition factions in the conflict. Government forces, aided by Russian air power, have regained control of most lands lost in the war. In recent months, government forces have attacked Idlib government.
Under a deal with Moscow and Tehran two years ago, Turkey set up twelve military observation posts in northwest Syria aimed at reducing fighting between the Syrian army and opposition forces. The Turkish military posts have recently been caught in the crossfire due to the Syrian offensive in the region.
On Monday, Erdogan, Putin, and Rouhani are expected to hold bilateral talks with each other before holding trilateral talks on the developments in Idlib. The three leaders will then hold a joint news conference.
Reducing Punishment!
Reuters
15 September 2019
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued an amnesty on Sunday that reduces sentences for crime and pardons draft dodgers if they report for duty within three to six months.
The decree applies to crimes committed before 14 September, the presidency said. It reduces the death penalty to a life sentence of hard labor, and life sentences to twenty years, among other punishments. Fugitives must turn themselves in within three months to benefit from the amnesty. The amnesty includes drug crimes and arms smuggling. The government has issued similar amnesties before to pardon those evading mandatory military service, who can face years in prison.
Aid agencies often cite the fear of conscription, and punishment for ducking it, as one of the main reasons refugees give for not wanting to return home.
Bombardment in Idlib
Reuters
15 September 2019
Rescuers and residents said on Sunday that Syrian troops shelled the south of Idlib where a ceasefire had halted a fierce army offensive two weeks ago. Artillery fire battered Maarat al-Numan town and nearby villages in the south Idlib countryside over the past two days, after warplanes struck there on Thursday. An opposition official said fighters were on high alert and had reinforced the frontlines. “We are responding directly by targeting the positions from where the shells are fired,” said Naji Mustafa of the National Liberation Front.
The ceasefire Damascus declared on 31 August brought a lull in air strikes in Idlib, after a five-month offensive which the United Nations says killed hundreds of people.
The Civil Defense, rescue workers operating in opposition territory, said artillery shelling on Idlib villages has killed seven people since Friday.
Will Fighting Resume in Idlib
Reuters
11 September 2019
Syrian opposition fighters on Wednesday said Russian-backed forces were amassing troops in preparation for resuming a five-month offensive in northwest Syria after a second day of raids by jets believed to be Russian threatened to end a fragile ceasefire.
The jets that flew overnight at high altitudes struck a village near Kafr Takhareem and an area near the town of Darkoush, both in rural areas in western Idlib governorate, two opposition sources and a resident in the area said. The overnight bombing raid came hours after air strikes hit a part of the northwest for the first time since the truce was declared eleven days ago, according to activists and a monitor. Moscow denied conducting the first strikes.
Russia said the Syrian government unilaterally agreed to a truce on 31 August in opposition-controlled Idlib. Since then, there has been an end to the intense air strikes by Russian and Syrian warplanes that since late April had accompanied the Russian-backed ground offensive to retake the last opposition bastion.
The Phantom of Refuge
Reuters
16 September 2019
Fighting in northwest Syria stirred the risk of a new influx of refugees towards Turkey which already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees. The United Nations said that more than half a million people have been displaced from their homes since late April and that most of them went deep in the opposition stronghold near the border.
Erdogan said that his country cannot deal with such an influx of displaced people. He threatened to “open the gates” for refugees to head to Europe unless Ankara receives more international support. Erdogan reiterated this threat on Friday and said that the Monday summits aims to stop the influx of displaced people from Idlib and solidify the ceasefire to prevent more civilian casualties.
Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party suffered some stunning local election losses this year in part due to impatience among Turks over the Syrian refugees. Erdogan has said one million refugees could return to a “safe zone” in northeast Syria, which Turkey is trying to establish with the United States.
No Increase in US Forces
Reuters
13 September 2019
General Kenneth McKenzie, head of the US Central Command, said on Friday that the US military will not increase troop levels in Syria to carry out joint patrols with Turkish forces, adding that his goal was to eventually reduce the number of US forces in the country.
US troop levels in Syria, which number around one thousand, have been under intense scrutiny since President Donald Trump last year ordered their complete withdrawal – only to later be convinced to leave some forces behind to ensure that ISIS militants cannot stage a comeback.
The New York Times reported on Thursday that the Pentagon was preparing to send about one hundred and fifty troops to conduct ground patrols with Turkish forces. But McKenzie said the new mission would not require additional forces in the country.
But, at least so far, the joint patrols appear to have failed to satisfy demands from Ankara, which wants the operations to expand rapidly as far as thirty-two kilometers from its border to create a safe zone controlled by Turkish troops.
Explosion in al-Rai
Reuters
15 September 2019
The local council and a medical worker said a rigged car exploded near a hospital in the Syrian town of al-Rai at the border with Turkey on Sunday, killing ten people and wounding fifteen. The blast also caused damage in the hospital, said a statement from the council of the town, which lies in a part of northwest Syria under the control of Turkey-backed opposition factions. The Turkish Anadolu news agency said twelve civilians were killed after a “terror bomb attack” near the frontier.
Israeli Strike
Reuters
9 September 2019
The media unit run by Lebanon’s Hezbollah said Israeli planes hit a Syrian army camp under construction in eastern Syria early on Monday without casualties.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had earlier reported that strikes by unidentified planes had killed pro-Iran fighters and attacked positions and arms depots belonging to them in Albu Kamal, a town near the Iraqi border.
Censorship over Books
Reuters
11 September 2019
The Syrian Culture Minister Mohammed al-Ahmad said that any book that “touches” on the state or community would be withdrawn from the Assad Library International Book Fair and the responsible publishing house would be held accountable.
“The Culture Ministry used to supervise the fair in full at previous cycles. This year, however, a higher committee for the fair was formed because educational work involves numerous branches. There are religious books that people of religion are more capable of evaluating. And so is the case for political books and other books that contain various contents. This committee bears the responsibility of choosing adequate content for the reader,” al-Ahmad said in a press conference in Damascus on Tuesday.
“No committee in the world can read all the books that will be showcased in a book fair, which can reach thousands of books. Therefore, if any breach that touches on our state or community is detected, then we will withdraw the book and hold the house that published it responsible by excluding it from participating in the fair in its upcoming cycle,” al-Ahmad went on to say.
Two hundred and thirty-seven publishing houses are presenting more than fifty thousand titles during the fair that is held between 12 – 22 September under the slogan: “Books Construct the Mind”. Some of the participating countries include Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Iraq, and Iran.
