Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, by phone. The leaders discussed the Ukrainian conflict, as well as the recent escalation in Syria, according to a statement published by the Kremlin on Friday. According to the statement, Putin and Erdogan touched on the possibility of …
Read More »US takes credit for Israel-Syria ceasefire
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Syria’s interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa have allegedly agreed to a US-supported ceasefire proposal, after the IDF carried out multiple airstrikes against the Defense Ministry in Damascus, ostensibly in defense of the Druze minority in southern Syria. Special envoy Tom Barrack, who also serves as …
Read More »Trump plans withdrawal from Syria – media
The Pentagon is drafting plans for a full withdrawal of US troops from Syria, NBC News has reported, citing two anonymous defense officials. The report comes shortly after President Donald Trump suggested that America’s military involvement in the country serves no useful purpose. US troops entered Syria in 2014 on …
Read More »Israel hits ‘weapons smuggling’ site in Syria – IDF
The Israeli Air Force announced Saturday that its jets what it said was hit a Hezbollah-linked site in Syria. The strike came just days after Israel and the Lebanese-based armed group agreed to a ceasefire mediated by the US and France. Both sides have since accused each other of violations, …
Read More »Syria will ‘defeat and destroy’ terrorists – Assad
Syrian President Bashar Assad has vowed to defeat the jihadists currently rampaging through the north of his country, “no matter how intense their terrorist attacks are.” His comments came as the Syrian Army geared up to defend the city of Hama from the attackers. In a phone call with Emirati President …
Read More »US strikes Syria in ‘self-defense’ – Pentagon
US forces have launched multiple airstrikes on unspecified military installations in Syria, the Pentagon said on Thursday, claiming the operation was a response to recent attacks against illegal American outposts by armed groups allegedly “affiliated” with Iran. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the “self-defense” strikes, ordered by President Joe Biden, hit “two facilities …
Read More »US ‘no longer confident’ about victim in Syria strike – WaPo
A man killed in a US drone strike in northwestern Syria earlier this month may not have been a senior Al-Qaeda leader as the Pentagon previously claimed, the Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing US officials. The Pentagon has so far refused to name the target of the attack. However, …
Read More »Arab states call for withdrawal of foreign forces from Syria
The government in Damascus should re-establish the rule of law on all of Syria’s territory, ending the presence of foreign armed groups and terrorists, the foreign ministers of Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq said on Monday after meeting in Amman. Jordan hosted the meeting, the first of its …
Read More »ISIS ‘caliph’ killed in Syria – Erdogan
The leader of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), Abu Hussein al-Qurashi, has allegedly been killed in an operation by Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) in Syria, becoming the terrorist group’s third self-proclaimed “caliph” to be eliminated in the past 15 months. MIT agents had been tracking al-Qurashi “for a long …
Read More »A thaw in Türkiye-Syria relations can be a step toward a ‘New Europe’ in the Middle East
Delegations from Syria, Iran and Türkiye met in Moscow with their counterparts this week to discuss the normalization of ties between Türkiye and Syria. It’s the prelude to a higher-level meeting that will take place later this month. Improved cooperation would be particularly important in bringing a close to the …
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