BBC’s Arabic Service published an interview Wednesday with a man who claimed to be trapped in an Azeri military camp, having agreed to a “guard” job in the country with Syrian rebel groups only to find, to his horror, that he would join the war front in Nagorno-Karabakh against Armenia.
Turkey “is continuing its genocide war” in northern Syria despite an allegedly “permanent” ceasefire, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S.-allied coalition largely made up of Kurdish fighters, alleged on Thursday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a London-based NGO tracking abuses in the country, published a video Tuesday showing jihadis allied with Turkey shouting “Allahu Akbar” and kicking around the dead body of a Kurdish woman fighting the Turkish invasion.
Ilham Amhed, president of the Syrian Democratic Council, on Monday met with U.S. congressional representatives and pleaded with President Donald Trump to stop Turkey’s “massacre” and “ethnic cleansing” of Syrian Kurds.
The Wall Street Journal ran a troubling report on Wednesday describing how high-powered anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) are now in the hands of terrorist groups thanks to years of outside programs for arming various factions in Syria, including the Obama administration’s effort to arm “white hat” Syrian rebels.
Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels over the weekend said they would cooperate with Turkey’s efforts to avert clashes in Syria’s Idlib province between opposition forces and troops loyal to dictator Bashar al-Assad, but stressed that they would not surrender their weapons or territory.
A report published Thursday alleges that Turkey-backed fighters from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) are seizing, looting, and destroying property in the predominantly Kurdish region of Afrin, further fueling fears that Ankara is quietly forcing a demographic change along its border with Syria.
Turkey is reportedly expected to enhance financial and medical support to factions from one of its top allies, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), as the rebel group continues to participate in Ankara’s offensive against U.S.-allied Kurds in northern Syria.
Contents: Socialists and feminists to act as ‘human shields’ protecting Kurds from Turkey in Afrin Syria; US cuts back operations in Incirlik as Turkey-NATO relations sour
Contents: US-backed Kurds stop fighting ISIS in order to fight Turkey in Afrin; Reports of Free Syrian Army atrocities on Kurds in Afrin; Mahmoud Abbas may step down as Palestinian Authority president
Contents: Turkey suffers military setback in ‘Operation Olive Branch’ in Afrin Syria; Turkey doubles down on Afrin-Manbij operation, despite US opposition
Contents: Turkey gets bogged down with military ‘Operation Olive Branch’ in Afrin, Syria; Syria says it will send its ‘popular forces’ to support the YPG against Turkey in Afrin
Turkey’s “Operation Olive Branch” military incursion into Syria has been conducted in concert with the Free Syrian Army, which has helped Turkish forces take control of several villages in the Afrin region.
Turkish ground troops entered Syria on Sunday to push an offensive against Kurdish militia as rocket fire hit a border town in apparent retaliation.
Turkey on Saturday launched a new air and ground operation to oust Kurdish militia from a northern Syrian enclave, defying US warnings that the action risked destabilizing the area.
Contents: Combined Syrian and Iranian forces taking control of enclave on Israel’s border; Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah heading for a military confrontation in Syria
Turkey launched a “security” operation in Syria’s Idlib province over the weekend that reportedly included artillery fire in support of rebels from the Free Syrian Army, who were fighting jihadists from al-Qaeda’s Syrian franchise. Turkey also expressed a desire to keep Kurdish groups from creating a “terror corridor.”
Contents: Turkey announces major military operation in Syria’s Idlib province; Turkey’s success in Idlib is far from certain
Syrian jihadists affiliated with an al-Qaeda offshoot have captured the rebel-held northwestern Idlib province, placing the future of northern Syria “in big danger,” warns the U.S. State Department.
Contents: Turkey threatens the Kurds in Afrin, Syria, with Operation Euphrates Sword; Turkey’s assault on Afrin may jeopardize the battle in Raqqa
Contents: In dramatic development, US warplanes smash fortified wall in Raqqa, Syria; Turkey fears double-cross from US on arms for Syrian Kurds; Concerns grow about Syrian conflict after defeat of ISIS
“We have intelligence information that Assad is behind ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria. Assad deceives everyone on this issue, including the Russians. He’s the one who gives them orders. Israel must be very concerned that our assessment is that once Assad is cornered and feels distressed, he will order ISIS to attack Israel. That will be his last-ditch effort, to try to drag Israel into this war, as a desperate measure.”
Contents: Turkey builds a northern Syria ‘National Army’ from Free Syrian Army militias; US begins arming YPG Kurds in northern Syria on eve of battle of Raqqa
Contents: Syria’s Bashar al-Assad accused of burning thousands of political opponents in crematorium; Final push to expel ISIS from Raqqa, Syria, to begin in June
Contents: US will ‘quickly’ arm Kurdish militias in Syria, despite Turkey’s opposition; Turkish officials furious at plans to arm the Kurds
VIENNA (AP) — An Austrian court has found a former fighter for a Syrian rebel group guilty of 20 counts of murder and sentenced him to life in prison. The court reached the verdict Wednesday after hearing testimony that the
Contents: Kurdish forces in Syria take Tabqa city en route to Raqqa; US military moves to protect Syrian Kurds from Turkey’s military
Contents: Turkey’s warplanes strike Kurdish militias fighting ISIS in Syria and Iraq; PKK conducts new terror attack in southeastern Turkey; US State Dept. says that it’s ‘deeply concerned’ about the Turkish airstrikes
Contents: Hundreds of American troops deployed to Syria in support of local forces; As more US troops enter Syria, the endgame becomes fuzzier
Islamic State-linked Syrian militant groups on Monday launched a surprise attack on moderate rebels in southwestern Syria near the Golan Heights near where the Jordanian and Israeli borders converge, seizing several villages and a large town, rebels and witnesses said.
Contents: Investigation reveals depraved new atrocities by Syria’s Bashar al-Assad; Epicenter of Syrian conflict moves from Aleppo to Idlib and al-Bab
Russia and Turkey are hailing the Syria peace talks in Kazakhstan as a rousing success.
A rare public meeting between Israelis and Syrians in Jerusalem on Tuesday was interrupted by Palestinian protesters who expressed outrage that Syrians would work with Israelis.
Contents: Video emerges from Burma (Myanmar) showing police beating Rohingya Muslims; Syrian opposition groups suspend negotiations of peace talks
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday that a ceasefire between the Syrian government and opposition forces, brokered and guaranteed by Russia and Turkey, would go into effect at midnight.
The on-again, off-again evacuation of civilians from Aleppo has resumed, despite an attack on evacuation buses blamed on al-Qaeda’s Syrian operation, the Nusra Front.
Contents: Syria’s Al-Assad, Russia, Iran and Hezbollah score victory in Aleppo; US’s Samantha Power makes excoriating attack on Syria’s al-Assad, Russia, Iran; Human Rights Watch reveals more ethnic cleansing imagery from Burma (Myanmar)
Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) jihadists have claimed this week that they kidnapped two Turkish soldiers in northern Syria.
Contents: Egypt to send troops to Syria to aid Bashar al-Assad and Russia; Egypt rejects its former benefactor, Saudi Arabia, in favor of Russia and Iran
Contents: Turkey, Syria, Kurds, ISIS converging on a major military confrontation in al-Bab; Syrian airstrike on Turkish forces threatens wider war