Page 11 - Syria

Turkey calls for reconciliation between Syria govt, Oppn to end conflict

The recent rapid advance by opposition fighters in Syria shows that Syrian President Bashar Assad must reconcile with his own people and hold dialogue with the opposition, the Turkish foreign minister said Monday. At a joint news conference in Ankara with his Iranian counterpart, Hakan Fidan said Turkey and Iran, which support opposing sides in Syria's civil war, have agreed to resume diplomatic efforts along with Russia to restore calm days after insurgents launched a lightning offensive and captured almost all of the country's largest city, Aleppo. The swift advance by fighters that Turkey supports was a huge embarrassment for Assad and it comes at a time when his allies Iran and groups it backs and Russia are preoccupied with their own conflicts. The push is among the rebels' strongest in years and raises the prospect of another violent front reopening in the Middle East when U.S.-backed Israel is fighting Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, both Iranian-allied groups. Fid

Iran-backed Iraqi militias enter Syria to help govt fighting rebels

At least 300 fighters, primarily from the Badr and Nujabaa groups, crossed late on Sunday using a dirt road to avoid the official border crossing

Around 25 killed as Russia, Syria intensify bombing Syrian rebel territory

Ten children were among the dead in the air strikes in and around Idlib and other targets in rebel-held territory near Aleppo, according to the White Helmets

Syrian army launches counterattacks to curb insurgency; Iran offers help

The Syrian military rushed reinforcements to the northwest and launched airstrikes Sunday in an attempt to push back insurgents who seized the country's largest city of Aleppo, as Iran pledged to help the government counter the surprise offensive. Iran has been a key political and military ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the country's long-running civil war, but it was unclear how Tehran would support Damascus in the latest flareup that began Wednesday. Insurgents led by jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib that day, before moving toward neighbouring Hama province. On Sunday, government troops created a strong defensive line in northern Hama, as they attempted to stall the insurgents' momentum, according to Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Meanwhile, jets pounded the cities of Idlib and Aleppo, killing at least 15 people, according to a group that operates in ..

Syria launches counterattacks in attempt to halt insurgents' advance

The Syrian military rushed in reinforcements and struck Idlib city Sunday in an attempt to push back insurgents from advancing farther after seizing Aleppo and surrounding strategic locations in an adjacent province in a surprise offensive. The insurgents led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham took over most of Aleppo on Saturday and claimed to have entered the city of Hama. There was no independent confirmation of their claim. The swift and surprise offensive is a huge embarrassment for Syrian President Bashar Assad and raises questions about his troops' preparedness. It also comes at a time when Assad's allies Iran and groups it backs and Russia are preoccupied with their own conflicts. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi travels to Syrian capital Damascus later Sunday. He told reporters that Tehran will back the Syrian government and army. Arab leaders, including Jordan's King Abdullah II and United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in calls with Assad ...

Israel strikes Hezbollah smuggling sites in Syria, testing ceasefire

Israeli aircraft struck Hezbollah weapons smuggling sites along Syria's border with Lebanon, the Israeli military said Saturday, testing a fragile, days-old ceasefire that halted months of fighting between the sides but has seen continued sporadic fire. The military said it struck sites that had been used to smuggle weapons from Syria to Lebanon after the ceasefire took effect, which the military said was a violation of its terms. There was no immediate comment from Syrian authorities or activists monitoring the conflict in that country. Hezbollah also did not immediately comment. The Israeli strike, the latest of several since the ceasefire began on Wednesday, came as unrest spread to other areas of the Middle East, with Syrian insurgents breaching the country's largest city, Aleppo, in a shock offensive that added fresh uncertainty to a region reeling from multiple wars. The truce between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, brokered by the United States and France, calls for an

Syria insurgents breach second largest city of Aleppo, say fighters

Syrian armed groups launched a large-scale attack on areas controlled by government forces and seized territory in northwestern Syria, opposition groups said Thursday. The government and its allies responded with airstrikes and shelling to ward off the insurgent advances, activists said. The violence has displaced thousands of families, and forced aid groups to suspend some of their services. Volunteers with the Syrian Civil Defence, known as the White Helmets, said at least 18 people, including three children and two women, were killed in two different villages in western Aleppo following airstrikes. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said the airstrikes were from Russian warplanes. Syria's armed forces said Thursday the offensive was led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which controls much of northwest Syria and is a violation of a de-escalation agreement. It said the attacks are ongoing and have targeted a number of villages and military bases. Turkey, which

Israeli strikes kill at least 12 Lebanese rescuers, 15 people in Syria

An Israeli airstrike killed at least 12 Lebanese rescue workers on Thursday inside a civil defence centre in the eastern city of Baalbek, according to health and rescue officials, hours after state media in Syria said Israeli strikes in and around the capital killed at least 15 people. Lebanese emergency workers were digging through the rubble Thursday evening to search for more of their colleagues still trapped under the destroyed rescue centre, the group said in a statement. At least three civil defence members were wounded. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Lebanon's civil defence forces have no affiliation with the militant group Hezbollah, and they provide crucial rescue and medical services in one of the world's most war-torn nations. The Health Ministry condemned what it called a "barbaric attack on a Lebanese state-run health centre", adding that it is the second Israeli attack on a health emergency facility in less than two hours. In southern Lebano

Israeli work on Alpha Line with Syria saw severe cease-fire violations: UN

United Nations peacekeepers warned Tuesday that the Israeli military has committed severe violations of a cease-fire deal with Syria as its military continues a major construction project along the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria. The comments from the UN Disengagement Observer Force, which has patrolled the area since 1974, come after an Associated Press report Monday that published satellite imagery showing the extent of the works along the frontier. The work, which UNDOF said began in July, follows the completion by the Israeli military of new roadways and what appears to be a buffer zone along the Gaza Strip's frontier with Israel. The Israel military also has begun demolishing villages in Lebanon, where other UN peacekeepers have come under fire. While such violence hasn't broken out along the Alpha Line, UNDOF warned Tuesday the work risked further inflaming tensions in the region. Such severe violations of the (demilitarized

Refugees don't want to return to Syria, Lebanon sees exodus as opportunity

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians refugees have returned to their country since Israel launched a massive aerial bombardment on wide swathes of Lebanon in September. Many who fled to Lebanon after the war in Syria started in 2011 did not want to go back. But for officials in Lebanon, the influx of returnees comes as a silver lining to the war between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 3,000 people and displaced some 1.2 million in Lebanon. Some in Syria hope the returning refugees could lead to more international assistance and relief from western sanctions. 'I wasn't thinking at all about returning' Nisreen al-Abed returned to her northwest Syrian hometown in October after 12 years as a refugee in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. The airstrikes had been terrifying, but what really worried her was that her 8-year-old twin daughters need regular transfusions to treat a rare blood disorder, thalassemia. I was afraid that in Lebanon, in this situation, I wouldn't be able to get bloo

Israel strikes Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in Syria, says IDF

Earlier, Israeli forces had entered Syria to arrest a terror operative who was working with Iranian agents, the IDF disclosed on Sunday evening

IDF arrests terror operative in Syria working with Iranian agents

The Iranian agent worked under the disguise of a Syrian military intelligence officer who was interested in the movements of Israeli border patrols

Turkey strikes Kurdish militants in Iraq after attack on TUSAS kills 5

Turkey's defense ministry says Turkish jets have struck Kurdish militant targets in Iraq and Syria following an attack on a key defense company. More than 30 targets were destroyed in the aerial offensive, the defense ministry said in a brief statement carried by the state-run Anadolu Agency. The strike comes after suspected Kurdish militants set off explosives and opened fire Wednesday at Turkey's state-run aerospace and defense company TUSAS, killing five people and wounding more than a dozen, the interior minister said. Suspected Kurdish militants set off explosives and opened fire Wednesday at Turkey's state-run aerospace and defense company TUSAS, killing five people and wounding more than a dozen, the interior minister said. The two attackers a man and a woman also were killed, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said. Yerlikaya said the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, is suspected of being behind the attack but cautioned that the process of identifying the assailan

Turkey blames Kurdish rebels PKK for Ankara terror attack: Who are they?

Turkey targeted over 30 sites of the PKK militant group in Iraq and Syria after suspected Kurdish militants set off explosives and opened fire at state-run defence company TUSAS in Ankara

Israel strikes capital Damascus, military site near Homs: Syrian defence

Israeli strikes targeted the central Damascus neighbourhood of Kafr Sousa and a military site in the Homs countryside, killing one soldier and injuring 7 other people, the ministry said in a statement

Violence spikes in Syria's opposition-held northwest, 12 civilians killed

A UN official said Thursday that he is alarmed by escalating violence in Syria's opposition-held northwest in recent days, including airstrikes that hit near a food distribution site for displaced families and others that struck a power station and disabled water stations. The UN deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria, David Carden, said in a statement that 12 civilians, including children, had been killed since Monday and the increased violence has halted critical humanitarian activities, including services provided by 10 health facilities. Syria's uprising-turned-civil war, which began in 2011, has for years been a largely frozen conflict, the country effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus government of President Bashar Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces. The opposition-held northwest has remained a flashpoint. In recent weeks, rescue workers and a war monitor said that Russian forces allied with Assad have stepped up ...

US forces launch series of targeted airstrikes on ISIS camps in Syria

On September 29, the US conducted precision strikes in Syria, killing 37 terrorist operatives, including high-ranking leaders from ISIS

Israel eliminates Hezbollah 'Golan Heights' member, airstrikes Syria

Israel, which has carried out strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years, has ramped up its raids since the Oct. 7

Revenge or regroup? Mideast braces for Iran's next move after Beirut attack

Israel's assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday in Beirut dealt an even bigger blow

US conducts precision strikes in Syria, kills 37 terrorist operatives

CENTCOM also confirmed that the strikes in Syria resulted in no civilian casualties