No civilians were killed or injured during this operation…reports Asian Lite News
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that its forces captured an official of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group during a helicopter raid in northern Syria on September 23.
In a statement on Monday, the CENTCOM said: “Abu Halil al-Fad’ani, an IS Syria Operational and Facilitation official, was captured during the raid. Al-Fad’ani was assessed to have relationships throughout the IS network in the region.”
“The capture of IS officials like al-Fad’ani increases our ability to locate, target, and remove terrorist from the battlefield,” CENTCOM spokesperson Lt. Col. Troy Garlock was quoted as saying in the statement.
“US CENTCOM remains committed to the enduring defeat of IS,” he added.
No civilians were killed or injured during this operation, the statement noted.
Last month, CENTCOM forces and coalition partners conducted eight operations in Syria, in which seven IS operatives were detained and an eighth was killed, CNN reported
In Iraq, 18 operatives were detained and six were killed throughout operations in August in Iraq.
Another IS “attack facilitator”, Hudayfah al Yemeni, and two of his associates were captured in a helicopter raid in Syria in April.
Currently, the US has about 900 troops in Syria as part of the ongoing mission to defeat the terrorist group.
People search for survivors among the rubble of a building destroyed in a powerful earthquake in the al-Masharqa neighborhood of Aleppo city, northern Syria, on Feb. 7, 2023. Massive earthquakes have killed 364 people and wounded 702 others in Aleppo city, the media office at the Aleppo governorate headquarters told Xinhua. (Str/Xinhua)
On February 6, two back-to-back earthquakes measuring 7.8 and 7.7 on the Richter scale struck Turkey and Syria….reports Asian Lite News
The UN has carried out 200 cross-border missions to Syria since the first inter-agency visit to Idlib on February 14, following the devastating earthquakes that struck Syria and Turkey, a spokesman said.
During the latest mission that took place on Sunday that crossed through Bab al-Salam, World Health Organization (WHO) personnel conducted monitoring visits to health facilities and warehouses in Afrin and Azaz and also met their local partners, Xinhua news agency quoted Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, as saying on Tuesday.
“We and our humanitarian partners are continuing to deliver urgently needed aid through the Bab al-Salam and Al-Ra’ee crossings,” he said.
“Today, 17 trucks carrying humanitarian shelter items from the International Organization for Migration and the UN Refugee Agency crossed into the Northwest via Bab al-Salam.”
Bab al-Salam and Al-Ra’ee, on the Turkish border, were opened for an initial period of three months in the aftermath of the February earthquakes.
The authorisation has been renewed several times.
Dujarric said the world body is yet to begin to make use of the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, which was the major route of cross-border aid delivery into Northwest Syria before the Security Council failed in July to reauthorise its use.
The Syrian government had since offered to grant permission for aid delivery through Bab al-Hawa, also on the Turkish border, and reached an understanding on August 7 with the UN on the continued use of the crossing for six months.
“What is going on is that we’re still trying to work out the operational details on how to put the agreement to work,” said Dujarric.
On February 6, two back-to-back earthquakes measuring 7.8 and 7.7 on the Richter scale struck Turkey and Syria.
The confirmed death toll stood at 59,259 — 50,783 in Turkey and 8,476 in Syria.
It was the deadliest earthquakes in both the neighbouring nations in recent history.
Safadi and Grandi also talked about the “dangerous repercussions” of the decline in international support for the Syrian refugees and their host countries to continue to provide living, medical and educational services to the refugees…reports Asian Lite News
Jordan has stressed the need for the international community to take practical and immediate steps to create necessary circumstances for the voluntary return of Syrian refugees.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi made the remarks at a meeting with UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi in Amman, where he called on relevant UN agencies to take such steps, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday in a statement.
The future of Syrian refugees is in their own country, not in Jordan, said Safadi, adding that offering decent living conditions for them is indispensable, Xinhua news agency reported.
During the meeting, the two sides discussed the outcomes of the recent talks held by the kingdom and UNHCR with the Syrian government on offering required guarantees and establishing essential infrastructure for the refugees’ return.
Safadi and Grandi also talked about the “dangerous repercussions” of the decline in international support for the Syrian refugees and their host countries to continue to provide living, medical and educational services to the refugees.
Safadi said that Jordan has exceeded its ability to host Syrian refugees, and would not be able to maintain the level of services without international support.
Grandi praised Jordan’s significant humanitarian role in hosting refugees and providing them with a decent living.
They also discussed the preparation for the 2023 Global Refugee Forum which will be hosted by Switzerland and UNHCR in Geneva in December.
On Tuesday, King Abdullah II of Jordan met with Grandi in Amman to discuss the need for the international community to shoulder its responsibilities toward host countries of refugees, said a royal court statement.
Assad emphasised the extent of destruction caused by terrorism in Syria, stressing that no state intentionally destroys its own homeland. ..reports Asian Lite News
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said that terrorism caused destruction in Syria, saying those who supported terrorism should be held accountable.
Speaking to Sky News Arabia in an interview on Wednesday, Assad emphasised the extent of destruction caused by terrorism in Syria, stressing that no state intentionally destroys its own homeland.
He dismissed the notion that counter-terrorism efforts could ruin the country, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to Assad, if Syria had followed the demands of certain countries, the war could have been prevented. However, doing so would have come at the expense of the rights and interests of the Syrian people.
Regarding Syria’s relationship with friendly nations, he said their support is essential but emphasised that the true resilience lies with the Syrian people.
Assad criticised the US “Caesar Act,” saying it impedes Syria’s economic development, worsening the country’s situation.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield informed the council that the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad has consistently provided false information to the global community….reports Asian Lite News
The United States and its allies vowed Tuesday to keep Syria’s failure to account for its chemical weapons program in the spotlight at the UN Security Council every month despite opposition from Russia and China.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the council Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government “has repeatedly lied to the international community” and to investigators from the international chemical weapons watchdog, which has confirmed that it used these banned weapons on at least nine occasions.
She said the Biden administration will continue to demand a full accounting from Syria as it pledged after joining the Chemical Weapons Convention in September 2013, when it was pressed by its close ally Russia following a deadly chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta, which the West blamed on Damascus.
For the first time, Russia and China refused to speak at the monthly meeting on the Syria chemical weapons issue, saying they are repetitive and should be cut back.
Syria’s minister counsellor Alhakan Dandy did speak, saying his country was surprised at this month’s meeting “given that there have been no developments that would require it,” other than what he called continuous attempts by the United States “to exploit the chemical weapons file to serve their agenda of hostility against Syria.”
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s
He repeated Syria’s condemnation of the use of chemical weapons and called claims it used such weapons in Ghouta, where more than 1,400 people were killed, “lies.” He also insisted the Syrian military doesn’t possess any chemical weapons.
Dandy said Syria has cooperated with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which monitors implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. But he also accused its investigators of being politicized and “using unprofessional working methods and double standards.”
UN deputy disarmament chief Adedeji Ebo told the council, however, that Syria has failed again to provide the OPCW with a full accounting of its program, citing “gaps, inconsistencies and discrepancies” in its declaration.
He singled out unanswered questions about activities at Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center “and the declaration of quantities of nerve agents produced at one chemical weapons production facility that was declared by the Syrian Arab Republic as never having been used to produce chemical weapons.”
Ebo reiterated the UN’s repeated call on Syria “to respond with urgency” to all OPCW questions.
Syrian representatives did meet a delegation from the OPCW’s technical secretariat in Beirut on June 22 and 23, and Ebo said Syria committed to present proposals for better implementing its obligations. He said the OPCW is waiting to hear from Damascus about resuming consultations.
Thomas-Greenfield expressed regret that two permanent council members, which she didn’t name, didn’t speak. Russia and China were the only countries to remain silent.
“The Assad regime is betting that this council will simply move on,” she said. “It is hoping we will change the subject.”
“We must not succumb to fatigue or, worse, indifference. The Assad regime used weapons of mass destruction against its own people. … And we will not move on, and the regime will not escape accountability,” the US ambassador said.
There was widespread support from other council members that Syria must answer all questions from the OPCW, although the United Arab Emirates, the Arab representative on the council, said the council should discuss the Syria chemical weapons issue every three months, not every month.
When touching upon the issues of Syrian refugees, Mekdad briefed on the Syrian government’s efforts to facilitate their safe and dignified return…reports Asian Lite News
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad has said that sanctions imposed by the West have thrown the Syrian people into humanitarian suffering, media reported.
The Syrian Minister made the remarks during a meeting with representatives of a number of UN agencies and international humanitarian organisations in Syria, during which he expounded on the severe humanitarian hardships faced by the Syrian people, said the report on Thursday.
When touching upon the issues of Syrian refugees, Mekdad briefed on the Syrian government’s efforts to facilitate their safe and dignified return, the report added as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.
Assad said Syria’s main goals in the upcoming talks are Turkish withdrawal from Syrian territory and the fight against terrorism…reports Asian Lite News
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said that the Syria-Turkey normalisation talks should work toward the goals of Turkish withdrawal from Syria and counter-terrorism, media reported.
During his meeting with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister’s senior advisor Ali Asghar Khaji, Assad said Syria’s main goals in the upcoming talks are Turkish withdrawal from Syrian territory and the fight against terrorism, state news agency SANA reported on Monday.
The two sides must find ways to realise these goals in cooperation with the Russian and Iranian sides, the President added.
For his part, Asghar Khaji, an advisor on special political affairs, lauded Syria for normalisation with some other Arab countries, Xinhua news agency reported.
Iran and Russia have been mediating normalisation talks between Syria and Turkey recently, arranging several meetings on the level of Defence Ministers and Foreign Ministers.
Since late last year when Russia and Iran were paving the way for the Syria-Turkey negotiations, the Syrian government has prioritised the withdrawal of the Turkish forces from Syria as a prerequisite for the normalisation.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Interior Ministry announced that a criminal ring that trafficked poverty-stricken women had been dismantled in the countryside of the capital Damascus.
In a statement, the Ministry on Sunday said its Criminal Security Branch, after investigation and monitoring, busted a large human trafficking network and arrested all its members, adding they would soon be tried in court.
The network had trafficked Syrian women out of the country in cooperation with “people running parallel networks within one of the neighbouring countries,” the Ministry added, without detailing further as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.
In 2020, the branch’s chief in Damascus, Walid Abdelali, said the crime was born out of the crisis in Syria, according to the al-Watan online newspaper.
He said those criminals took advantage of the poverty of some people to dupe them with so-called employment opportunities, thus trafficking them internally and sometimes externally.
There will be no Haj pilgrimage for Syrians this year as the relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia have just been restored …reports Asian Lite News
Syrians’ Haj pilgrimage to the Islamic holy cities of Medina and Mecca in Saudi Arabia will be resumed in 2024 after 12 years of suspension, Syria’s head of Hajj affairs said.
There will be no Haj pilgrimage for Syrians this year as the relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia have just been restored and the Haj arrangements need time and coordination, the pro-government al-Watan newspaper quoted Hassan Nasrallah as saying on Wednesday.
The Muslim Haj pilgrimage in 2023 will be observed between July 18 and 23, Xinhua news agency reported.
In the years when the Syrian-Saudi relations were severed, Syrian pilgrims who wanted to perform Haj needed to obtain visas from neighbouring countries.
Syria and Saudi Arabia agreed to resume consular services in April and restored full diplomatic relations this month.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad attended the Arab Summit held in Saudi Arabia last week for the first time in 12 years, marking the return of Syria to the Arab fold after long years of isolation.
Syrian refugees
A total of 50 Syrian refugees from Lebanon have reached the refugee camps in Syria’s northern Raqqa province controlled by the Kurdish-led militias, a war monitor reported on Tuesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the refugees, mostly women, and children, reached Raqqa overnight on Monday via illegal smuggling routes carrying little belongings.
The observatory said those people were forced to leave after their homes were raided by Lebanese security forces.
The report collaborates with stories emerging from Lebanon about Lebanese forces cracking down on Syrian refugees who don’t have legal residency in Lebanon.
The UK-based watchdog group said there are currently 54 refugee camps in Raqqa, housing displaced Syrians from several areas. It noted that the humanitarian situation there is dire.
The visit, the first since the beginning of the ongoing Syrian war in 2011, comes as Damascus and Riyadh have resumed diplomatic missions…reports Asian Lite News
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has arrived in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah to attend the Arab League’s 32nd Summit on Friday, marking the first time since the war-torn nation was suspended from the regional body 12 years ago.
Upon his arrival late Thursday night, Assad was greeted by Prince Badr bin Sultan, the deputy governor of Mecca, along with Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, and several other local officials, according to the Syrian presidential media office in Damascus.
Striking a positive vibe, Assad smiled while shaking hands with the officials receiving him at the airport.
The visit, the first since the beginning of the ongoing Syrian war in 2011, comes as Damascus and Riyadh have resumed diplomatic missions in both countries, which had been suspended since November 2011.
Earlier this month, the Arab League voted to reinstate Syria’s membership in the 22-member regional bloc.
At a meeting of the Arab League Foreign Ministers on Wednesday, Aboul-Gheit had declared that he hoped that “Syria’s regaining of its seat is a precursor to the end of its conflict”, reports the BBC.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud also welcomed Syria, saying: “Our world today is facing numerous challenges and difficulties that place us at a crossroads… It is necessary for us to stand together and try harder to strengthen joint Arab action to meet them.”
As a result of the war in Syria, half of the country’s pre-conflict population of 22 million have had to flee their homes.
Some 6.8 million people are internally displaced, while another 6 million are refugees or asylum-seekers abroad, reports the BBC.
Even before the February 6 devastating earthquake struck, an estimated 15.3 million people inside Syria were in need of some form of humanitarian assistance — an all-time high since the war began.
During the meetings, the Arab ministers have welcomed Syria’s return to the Arab League….reports Asian Lite News
Arab foreign ministers met in the Saudi city of Jeddah ahead of the annual Arab League Summit, state media reported.
The ongoing conflict in Sudan, the readmission of Syria to the Arab bloc and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict top the agenda of the meeting and the upcoming summit, the Al Arabiya news channel reported on Wednesday.
The meeting also tackled draft resolutions that will be discussed during the summit, Xinhua news agency reported.
Saudi Arabia, which took over the rotating presidency of the summit from Algeria during the meeting, will host the summit on Friday that gathers Arab leaders to discuss regional and international issues.
During the meeting, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud highlighted the need for unity among Arab countries to overcome challenges, while his Algerian counterpart Ahmed Attaf called for joint efforts to overcome hurdles as the summit takes place under “special” regional circumstances.
Meanwhile on the sidelines, the Saudi FM also hosted his Syrian counterpart Dr. Faisal Al-Miqdad.
During the meeting, they discussed developments in the Syrian arena and the region, and exchanged views on issues of common concern.
The two sides also exchanged views on the issues on the agenda of the preparatory ministerial meeting.
During the meetings, the Arab ministers have welcomed Syria’s return to the Arab League.
The ministerial meeting, chaired by Prince Faisal, also discussed the draft agenda of the Arab leaders’ summit this Friday, and considered the draft decisions that will be adopted.
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad confirmed that president Bashar Assad will attend the summit later this week.
Speaking at the meeting, Prince Faisal joined Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit and the rest of the delegates in welcoming Syria’s return to the Arab bloc.
The Saudi foreign minister also called for Arab unity to confront major global challenges.
“We have to invent new ways to meet the challenges facing our countries,” Prince Faisal said.
Algeria’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf expressed concerns over Sudan’s unrest, reiterating his country’s support to Saudi Arabia’s effort to reach a ceasefire.
The ministers stressed the importance of a ceasefire in Sudan to ensure the safety of its citizens, and called for the crisis to be treated as an internal matter.
