US-sponsored Israel assassinated the commander of the IRGC – Al Quds Forces in a bombing that targeted an Iranian diplomatic building in the Syrian capital Damascus, the Israeli bombing led to the destruction of the building which also houses Syrian civilian business offices.
The Israeli bombing in the late afternoon follows a heinous Israeli war crime bombing of the Syrian Scientific Research Center in Jamraya in Damascus countryside the day earlier, and a widespread coordinated Israel and Al Qaeda aerial bombing of Aleppo two days ago.
A Syrian military spokesperson said in a statement conveyed by the Syrian news agency SANA:
“At approximately 5 pm today, the Israeli enemy launched an air aggression from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting the Iranian consulate building in Damascus. Our air defense forces intercepted the aggression’s missiles and shot down some of them.
The aggression led to the destruction of the entire building and the martyrdom and injury of everyone inside. Work is underway to recover the bodies of the martyrs, treat the wounded, and remove the rubble.”
Local sources reported that ‘the commander of the Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria in the IRGC, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, was martyred in the Israeli aggression against Damascus.’
Yesterday Sunday 31st of March evening, at approximately 9:30 pm, the US-sponsored Israel bombed the Scientific Research Center in Jamraya in the western Damascus countryside. To make it understandable to our US readers, this is akin to bombing the Berkeley scientific centers of the University of California, the destruction of which is paid for by the US taxpayers with US-made bombs and fighter jets, facilitated by US spying satellites and capabilities, and protected diplomatically by the ‘democratically’-elected US officials.
it’s a war crime to bomb a diplomatic facility disregarding who is in it at the time of the bombing, diplomatic facilities across the world are protected by international law and the relevant Geneva Convention, Israel bombing the Iranian diplomatic facility gives Iran the right to retaliate in kind anywhere in the world bombing Israeli diplomatic facilities.
It’s a war crime to bomb scientific research centers, Israel’s repeated bombing of Syrian research centers including Syrian research centers for medical and other civilian purposes has given Syria the absolute right to bomb all of Israel’s research centers including those used for medical and civilian purposes at any given time and these Israeli war crimes do not have a statute of limitation.
If Western citizens do not approve of the war crimes sanctioned by their ‘elected’ officials and committed by their armies, their allies, and their proxy terrorist groups, they should immediately hold their ‘elected’ officials accountable before crying when retribution commences. There is absolutely no power that ever existed on the planet throughout the history of mankind that shields the people of evil countries from retribution, and it always comes when they are at their weakest stages.
When prioritizing the destruction of other countries over the welfare and well-being of their own, the US taxpayers need to keep in mind that Karma serves its plates cold and when they are in dire situations, and it never fails.
The people of the countries invaded by the US military to protect its Israel project hold the USA directly responsible for all the war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocides committed by Israel.
The Russian role in Israel’s war crimes continues to puzzle the Syrian people, despite the overall support for the Russian people and their fight against neo-Nazism by the vast majority of the Syrians.
The Syrian people cannot help but wonder why Russia insists on supporting Israel directly and indirectly, Russia withheld the deliveries of weaponry including at the time modern Geneva Convention air defense systems to Syria in the year 2010 upon instructions from Israel’s current PM Netanyahu to the Russian President Putin paving the way for the US-led war of terror and later the US-led bombing campaigns of Syria, and Russia has an active military agreement with both Israel and the US to coordinate their aerial movements in Syria’s skies!
Russia, whose top officials including President Putin and his Foreign Minister Lavrov never failed to express their commitment to Isreal’s security at a time when Russia’s only proven real ally throughout its modern history, Syria, is being bombed by Israel, the top Russian officials never fail to remind the Syrian leadership that their help in Syria is limited to combating terrorism.
Israel’s bombing of Syria and the assassination of Iranian officials in Syria will not go unanswered, even if the current Israel genocide of Gaza stops and even if there is a peace treaty signed across the region, very highly unlikely, but even then, there’s a price that will be paid by Israel and its sponsors for the war crimes they have committed and continue to commit on behalf of the Anti-Christ.
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The Syrian Ministry of Defense has reported a devastating Israeli airstrike originating from Athriya, southeast of Aleppo Governorate, which occurred at approximately 1:45 am. This attack targeted multiple locations in the Aleppo countryside in northern Syria.
The Ministry disclosed that this Israeli aggression coincided with a drone attack orchestrated by terrorist organizations from Idlib and the western countryside of Aleppo.
The result of this dual assault led to the martyrdom and injury of numerous civilians and soldiers. Moreover, the aggression caused significant losses in both public and private property.
Remarkably, the Syrian army’s air defenses were able to intercept the Israeli aggression in the airspace over Aleppo.
This recent attack comes only days after another Israeli assault targeted a residential building in the countryside of Damascus, leaving two innocent civilians injured. The Israeli enemy launched this aerial aggression from the occupied Syrian Golan in a blatant violation of Syrian sovereignty.
In light of these events, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, expressed deep concern over the escalating Israeli airstrikes against Syrian civilian sites. Nebenzia called the attacks “irresponsible” and condemned them as a flagrant violation of Syria’s sovereignty and international law. He further warned of the serious negative consequences these actions would have on the timely humanitarian response of UN agencies.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declares its targeting of “espionage headquarters and terrorist gatherings” in both Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan. This action is in response to the two terrorist attacks that occurred in Kerman earlier this month.
The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps in Iran announced it targeted “the headquarters of terrorist groups in the region with ballistic missiles.” According to the IRGC statement, the attack came in response to “the terrorist crimes recently committed by Iran’s enemies.”
The Revolutionary Guard specified that its target included “gatherings of terrorists linked to the terrorist operations carried out in Iran recently.”
In a subsequent statement, the Revolutionary Guard confirmed that it had targeted “one of the main headquarters of the Israeli Mossad in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.” This action was stated to be a response to the Israeli occupation entity’s assassination of leaders within the Revolutionary Guard and the Axis of Resistance.
It explained that the targeted Mossad headquarters is “the center for developing espionage operations and planning terrorist operations in the region, especially against Iran.”
On the other hand, Al Mayadeen‘s correspondent in Syria reported the sounds of explosions that shook the city of Aleppo. Preliminary information suggested missile strikes targeting locations in the southeastern part of the city.
Simultaneously, Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in Iraq reported that “the sounds of at least seven explosions were heard in Erbil” within the Kurdistan region, highlighting the presence of sirens at the American consulate in the city.
🚨 BREAKING: Alarms sound at the US consulate in Erbil in northern Iraq, which has reportedly come under fire of a ballistic missile or heavy drone attack. At least eight explosions have been heard.
Reuters, citing security sources, reported that “Erbil Airport in Iraqi Kurdistan region halts air traffic after explosions were heard in the city”
Moreover, two US officials told Reuters that the missile strikes in Iraq did not affect any US facilities and there were no US casualties.
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Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies eliminated more than 2000 NATO-sponsored Al Qaeda terrorists in 30 days in the northwestern provinces of Idlib, Aleppo, Hasakah, and Hama, multiple sources reported.
Following up our chronological reporting of the ongoing Syrian war on the US-led NATO-sponsored terrorism of Al Qaeda, ISIS, and their affiliated terrorist groups in the northwestern region of Syria, bordering the southeastern NATO flank, the following are the updates from 19 September until the time of this report:
19 September 2023, 12 noon, SAA heavy artillery continued since early morning shelling the posts of the Nusra Front (Al Qaeda Levant aka HTS) in western Aleppo countryside, and across the Al Zawya Mountain in the southern Idlib countryside.
12:10 noon, SAA heavy artillery shells a post of the Nusra Front on the outskirts of Ain Eissa town in the northern Latakia countryside.
Local Syrian sources and military analysts monitoring the latest escalation in the region stated that in the past 30 days, (20 August through 19 September 2023), there are at least 160 confirmed killed terrorists reported by the colleagues of those terrorists, excluding the foreign terrorists who burned their passports upon joining the ranks of the NATO foreign legion to destroy Syria (al Qaeda, ISIS, Uighur, et al) who estimates put the minimum number of the eliminated ones of them at 40, especially on the southern Idlib countryside axis.
20 September 2023, 00:05 am, SAA heavy artillery, and missiles bomb the posts and gatherings of the Nusra Front on the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside and on the axis of eastern Idlib city.
01:00 am, SAA bombs the posts of Ansar Tawhid (ISIS remnants) on the outskirts of Al Fatirah town in the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
01:05 am, local sources reported that so-called Muhammad Talal Al-Haj Ahmad aka Abu Jaafar Zammar, a field commander in the Nusra Front was among the killed in the SAA heavy artillery bombing of their posts on the Kafr Ta’al axis in Aleppo’s western countryside. Unnamed foreign terrorists were also eliminated with this terrorist.
09:30 am, SAA heavy artillery and grad MLRs bomb posts of Ansar Tawhid (ISIS remnants) on the outskirts of Kafr Awayed and the town of Al Fatirah in the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
12:30 pm, SAA heavy artillery and grad MLRs missiles bomb the posts of Ansar Tawhid on the outskirts of Kansafrah in southern Idlib countryside.
The SAA units expanded their bombing to target the posts of Ansar Tawhid and Nusra Front on the outskirts of Fatirah, Sufuhun, Kafr Awayed, Flaifil, and the hill of Tareesha in the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
21 September 2023, 04:35 pm, SAA heavy artillery eliminates several Ansar Tawhid (ISIS remnants) terrorists in a bombing of one of their makeshift posts in Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
08:45 pm, SAA artillery bomb posts of Al Qaeda on the axis of Ain Eissa in the northern Latakia countryside.
10:55 pm, SAA heavy artillery and grad MLRs bomb the posts and gatherings of Ansar Tawhid on the outskirts of Al Fatirah town in the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
22 September 2023, 00:05 am, SAA expands the shelling of Ansar Tawhid posts on the outskirts of the towns of Fatirah and Ruweiha in the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
Local sources reported direct casualties among the Ansar Tawhid (ISIS remnants) in the SAA bombing.
11:30 am, SAA heavy artillery resumes bombing Ansar Tawhid posts on the outskirts of Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside after repeated attempts of the NATO Turkey-sponsored terrorist group to infiltrate the outposts of the Syrian Arab Army defending the Syrian villages in the region.
23 September 2023, 01:55 pm, SAA missiles bomb the fortifications of the Turkestani Islamist Party (Uighur and Central Asia terrorists) on the Zaqqum – Karkour axis in the western Hama countryside.
08:00 pm, SAA artillery destroys a mortar and inflicts direct casualties among the Nusra Front terrorists operating it in the fields to the north of the town of Afis in Idlib’s eastern countryside.
09:55 pm, SAA heavy artillery, and MLRS bomb the Nusra Front posts in eastern Idlib countryside and Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside with confirmed casualties among the terrorists.
11:10 pm, SAA targets with intensified missiles new posts of Ansar Tawhid and their gatherings in the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
24 September 2023, 00:05 am, SAA bomb with grad MLRS the posts and gatherings of Nusra Front terrorists on the outskirts of the town of Sarmin in eastern Idlib countryside.
00:45 am, SAA intensifies the bombing of the posts of Ansar Tawhid on the outskirts of al Fatirah town in the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
11:15 am, SAA heavy artillery bombs the gatherings of the Nusra Front on the axis of Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside and on the outskirts of the town of Sarmin in Idlib’s eastern countryside.
11:45 am, SAA artillery bomb the posts of a Nusra Front affiliate on the outskirts of Al Nayrab town in the eastern Idlib countryside and the Kafr Ammah and Kafr Ta’al axis in the western Aleppo countryside.
12:10 pm, SAA shoots down a kamikaze drone sent by Nusra Front terrorists over the Al Ghab Plains in the western Hama countryside.
12:20 pm, the posts and gatherings of the Nusra Front terrorists on the outskirts of Al Fatirah, Kansafra, Al Nayrab, Sarmin, Maarat Naasan, Kafr Ta’al, and Kafr Ammah are at the receiving end of the SAA artillery bombing since the early morning hours.
25 September 2023, 08:15 am, Al Qaeda Levant (Nusra Front) terrorists bomb the town of Suqalbiyah and the village of Al Ashareh in the western Hama countryside with kamikaze drones, several civilians were injured in the terrorist attack including children, the injured were rushed to the Hama National Hospital for treatment.
10:00 am, several sorties of Russian fighter jets bomb the posts and quarters of the Nusra Front terrorists on the outskirts of the villages of Ankawi, Fatatirah, and Haloubah.
03:05 pm, SAA heavy Krasnopol guided artillery and MLRS missiles bomb the posts and gatherings of Nusra Front terrorists in Idlib countryside.
06:20 pm, Nusra Front terrorists fired two shells on the villages in Latakia countryside resulting in a fire in the farmlands.
In response, the SAA heavy artillery and MLRS missiles bomb the posts and gatherings of Nusra Front terrorists in the city of Jisr Shoghour in Idlib’s southwestern countryside.
06:40 pm, Nusra Front terrorists bomb the village of Naour Shahta in western Hama countryside with a drone killing a civilian and injuring several others including a child who was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
26 September 2023, 02:00 pm, the Syrian Ministry of Interior mourns the martyrdom of Syrian Police Honorary Major Ali Jawdat Dib of the Special Task Force who was martyred in Hasakah province, northeast of Syria, succumbing to the wounds he sustained during his duty earlier.
27 September 2023, 09:00 am, Russian fighter jets bomb Nusra Front posts on the outskirts of the village of Ankawi in the Al Ghab Plain in the northwestern Hama countryside and the outskirts of the village of Halloubah in the Al Zawya Mountain in the southern Idlib countryside.
11:00 am, SAA heavy artillery bomb the gatherings and posts of Ansar Tawhid (NATO Turkey-sponsored ISIS remnants) on the outskirts of the village of Binin in the Al Zawya Mountain in the southern Idlib countryside.
08:35 pm, SAA heavy artillery shells the fortifications of the Nusra Front (NATO Turkey-sponsored Al Qaeda Levant) and Turkestani Islamist Party (Uighur) terrorists on the Kabbani Hills axes in the northern Latakia countryside.
28 September 2023, 10:00 am, Nusra Front terrorists bomb with rockets several villages in the western Hama countryside inflicting material damage to the properties of the villagers.
09:05 pm, Syrian and Russian aircraft destroyed underground bunkers used by the NATO-sponsored Al Qaeda terrorists to store their weapons, munition, military gear, and personnel in Idlib countryside.
09:20 pm, SAA bombs a post used by an Iranian terrorist group in the town of Tuffahiya in the Latkia northern countryside. The terrorist group calls itself the ‘Iranian Sunnah Migrants Movement’, and it’s part of the Syrian opposition!
29 September 2023, 10:35 am, SAA units bomb with laser-guided Krasnopol heavy artillery the posts of Ansar Tawhid (ISIS remnants sponsored by NATO, the ‘defensive’ alliance) in the vicinity of the towns of Kafr Awayed, Kansafrah, and Fatirah in the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
07:40 pm, the Syrian Ministry of Defense stated that the Syrian Arab Army shot down 2 drones in the northern Latakia countryside and a third in the western Aleppo countryside from the drones used by the NATO-sponsored terrorists to bomb the villages in these areas.
The Syrian MoD statement added that the Syrian Arab Army units responded to these terrorist attacks by bombing the quarters of the terrorists inflicting serious damage and eliminating several terrorists and their commanders, a so-called Abu Marwan Azzo, a commander in the Nusra Front (NATO-sponsored Al Qaeda Levant) among the killed terrorists, in addition to destroying a 4 x 4 vehicle with the terrorists in it in the western Aleppo countryside.
09:35 pm, SAA shells with MLRS grad missiles the posts of Ansar Tawhid on the outskirts of Al Fatirah town in the Zawya Mountain in the southern Idlib countryside after the terrorists fired a drone at the SAA units on the Mallajah axis, the drone was shot down by an SAA sniper.
10:45 pm, SAA shells with artillery and missiles the posts and gatherings of Nusra Front terrorists on the axes of Al Zawya Mountain in the southern Idlib countryside, the Al Ghab Plains in the northwestern Hama countryside, and the northern Latakia countryside.
30 September 2023, 11:15 am, SAA artillery and grad missiles guided by surveillance drones targeted the gatherings of the Nusra Front on the Karkour village axis in the Al Ghab Plains, Hama northwestern countryside.
12:20 pm, the Russian Reconciliation Center in Hmeimim (the Russian Army command in Syria) stated that its military destroyed the dens used to manufacture and store drones in Idlib used by the terrorists to target the Syrian forces and the civilians in addition to underground bunkers in the towns of Halloubah and Ankawi, vowing to escalate further against the terrorists in future retaliations.
End of the updates.
The recent debacle at the Canadian parliament, where a standing ovation was given to glorify a Nazi SS war criminal in the presence of the Canadian prime minister, the Jewish Zionist president of Ukraine, and a number of ambassadors of NATO member countries, including the German ambassador, exposes the true nature of the NATO “defensive” alliance.
In addition, declassified and leaked reports from the past few years confirm the role of the US CIA, UK MI6, and other NATO spy agencies in creating and commanding terrorist groups and committing terrorist attacks around the world, especially against Arabs, Slavs, Africans, Chinese, and Latin Americans, and even against their own who do not follow their agenda, such as the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy.
Furthermore, the presence of tens of thousands of Al Qaeda and ISIS terrorists in areas occupied by the US and Turkish armies in Syria, ISIS, and Al Qaeda terrorists were treated by the Israeli army medics with state-of-the-art medical equipment provided to them for free by US taxpayers, debunks the US and NATO claims to be fighting terrorism.
In light of this evidence, it is reasonable to conclude that the US and its Western allies were never committed to combating terrorism, but are instead using terrorist groups to achieve their own sinister and hegemonic geopolitical goals.
If there’s such a person, it’s safe now if you’re living in a NATO member country, it seems, to come out from the closet and declare your terrorist Zionist Nazi reality.
The Syrian people and their armed forces and allies are fighting to defend themselves, their families, their homes, their culture, their heritage, their values, and their future on their land; explain what the US Army is doing halfway across the planet in Syria other than stealing Syrian oil and wheat and to whose benefit other than the AntiChrist as they believe in their biblical prophecies.
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Live broadcast – a dialogue about the latest developments and the latest events of the news hour 01.10.2023
Vanessa Beeley The two Presidents sign multiple memorandums of understanding in Guangzhou and Beijing.
On Thursday 21st September President Assad and the First Lady, Asma Al Assad arrived at the Chinese city of Ghuangzhou as honoured guests of President Xi Jinping. The Chinese President had chartered a private plane to bring Assad and his wife to China for their first visit since 2004.
The Assad Xi summit began on a foggy, damp day in Ghuangzou but the warmth of the welcome was palpable. Many have spoken about the symbolism of the First Lady’s outfit which was of the finest silk damask to honour the historical importance of the Silk Road now transformed into the Belt and Road Initiative that Syria joined officially in January 2022. It is rare these days that we see such a nod to history, culture and civilisation from Western leaders.
The Syrian delegation accompanying the President was a high level one – including Dr. Faisal Mikdad, Foreign Affairs Minister and long term advisor to the Presidency, Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban. The plan was to hold a summit meeting and a discussion session and a luncheon in honour of President Assad and Asma. Assad and the delegation would then travel to Beijing to meet with senior Chinese officials and to discuss future economic cooperation projects and to sign a number of bilateral agreements.
The two Presidents seal the future of the Belt and Road Initiative
Xi Jinping referred to the sixty seven years of Syrian-Chinese relations that have remained steadfast despite the ever changing international landscape. Syria is perceived as a strategic partner in the Belt and Road Initiative. Xi also supports Syria joining the Shanghai Organisation as a partner for dialogue.
China supports Syria’s battle against hostile external interference, rejects the occupation of Syrian territory by illegal forces and urges the lifting of economic sanctions which unilaterally punish the Syrian people for resisting regime change since 2011.
President Xi also acknowledged Syrian support over US interference in Taiwan.
President Assad described China as an advanced and economically strong nation but one that has not lost its humanity unlike developed counterparts in the West.
Rather, according to Assad, China plays a major role in bringing balance to the global political sphere and in developing a win-win cooperation paradigm. Syria will remain a loyal friend of China because they are united in principles and vision for the region.
Assad reiterated support for ‘One China’ and supports initiatives proposed by Xi that envision a secure future for Humanity.
Assad confirmed the need to confront Western military power with the principles of soft power based on ethical trade and cooperation that China has adopted.
Assad considered this to be a historic visit, one that comes as a multipolar world is being created that will restore global equilibrium and stability.
Perhaps most importantly for the Syrian people, there were extensive discussions about the restoration and development of the electricity, oil and gas sectors in Syria that have been decimated by the 12 year proxy war and with the US still occupying the north-east oil-rich region of Syria. President Al Assad and First Lady Asma Al Assad arrive for the welcome banquet in Ghangzhou and the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games.
History in the making
“China is a rising power, it is important. Most of the world has different kinds of relations with China whether in science, politics, economy, business – in every field you need China now. And our relationship for the future is going to be on the rise. It was good, but it will be better because when a country like China proves that it is a real friend, a friend you can rely on, it is very natural to have a better relationship on the popular level, not only on the formal level”
President Assad – March 2017
President Xi described China’s role in the region at a meeting of the Arab League in 2016:
Instead of looking for a proxy in the Middle East, we promote peace. Instead of seeking any sphere of influence, we call on all parties to join the circle of friends for the Belt and Road initiative. Instead of attempting to fill the “vacuum” we are building a cooperative partnership network for win-win outcomes.
The Chinese Arab Policy paper published in 2016 is well worth reading. “Over two thousand years ago, land and maritime Silk Roads already linked the Chinese and Arab nations. The policy paper emphasises historic cooperation, peaceful relations and the openness of diverse civilizations to each other’s perspectives. It seeks to build relations based on trust, regional peace, stability and mutually beneficial economic development.
In July 2018 President Xi gave a speech at the opening ceremony of the Eighth Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum. Xi proposed a road map that incorporated economic partnership and multi-dimensional cooperation in politics, culture and technology.
The future of trade ties between China and the Arab nations, including Syria. would be channelled through the BRI and the 1+2+3 system. The core of this pattern is hydrocarbon-based energy, its two branches are infrastructure construction and trade and investment facilitation. There is a third sector of development that includes new energy, nuclear energy and space exploration.
The BRI with its focus on developing infrastructure, open trade and connectivity between continents will be a major component of any Syrian strategy for reconstruction.
In August 2017 President Assad coined the phrase “Heading East” when he informed the Syrian foreign service to embark on a revision of Syria’s international relations – the pivot East.
Syria and the Ancient Silk Road
Relations between East and West Asia span three millennia. The Ancient Silk Road was originally concentrated in two or three overland routes and one sea route. The most important began in the city of Chang’an, capital of Tang China, running through Central Asia to Persia and then into ancient Syria and the Arabian Peninsula reaching the cities of Palmyra and Petra in Syria and Jordan respectively.
From Petra, the trade caravans would head to Alexandria in Egypt and then towards Rome. At a later stage Palmyra rather usurped Petra and dominated the trade scene. Palmyra is located at the centre of the Levant, the midpoint between Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean.
Crossing the Syrian desert was one of the shortest and most accessible of the Ancient Silk Road routes.
Palmyra developed into a quasi empire built on the riches acquired through the Silk Road trade until Roman imperial armies besieged, destroyed and looted the great Syrian city state in 273 AD bringing the Palmyrene Empire to an early demise.
Of course during the regime change war waged against Syria, the Western-backed ISIS terrorists looted, destroyed and besieged Palmyra again until liberation in 2016 and re-liberation in 2017 by the Syrian Arab Army and allies.
In the North-East of Syria is the ancient city of Dura-Europos located between the modern day cities of Al Mayadin and Al Bukamal (border crossing with Iraq coveted by the US) in the Syrian governorate of Deir Ezzor, another region that has been targeted both by ISIS, the US military and their proxy Kurdish Separatist militia.
Dura Europos became one of the main hubs of the Ancient Silk Road.
Today, as I stand here and look back at history, I seem to hear the camel bells echoing in the mountains and see wisps of smoke rising from the desert and this gives me a specially good feeling
President Xi Jinping – September 2013
The much fought-over city of Aleppo is located at the crossroads of trade routes between East and West, straddling a strategic position connecting Anatolia, the Mediterranean and Europe.
The city of Antioch, now annexed by Turkiye, is located West of Aleppo on the Orontes River and was also an important trade hub for the Silk Road caravans which journeyed from Antioch eastwards – through Aleppo, modern day Jarablus (occupied by Turkish proxy armed groups) towards Persia and East Asia to trade commodities with Chinese traders. Antioch was also a hub for traders from the Arabian Peninsula and Yemen via Palmyra.
It is not coincidental that these cities and regions were targeted early on in the regime change war by the West and Turkiye (NATO member state) in a clear attempt to take control of the primary hubs along the Ancient Silk Road that would also play a pivotal role in the new Chinese Belt and Road Initiative.
The Five Seas Project
Ever since President Bashar al-Assad first announced the Five Seas vision in 2004 as a response to the newly virulent regime change operation launched in the wake of 9/11, the battle lines have been clearly drawn over two opposing destinies shaping the Arab world. When the western-directed Arab Spring of color revolutions sabotaged the efforts of the Five Seas program (and also broader Libyan plans for a Great Manmade water project funded by a gold backed Dinar), things took a very dark turn.
Ehret outlines the the Five Seas strategy as “the construction of rail, roads, and energy grids connecting the water systems of the Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, Black Sea, Red Sea, and Caspian Sea with Syria. The project serves as a logical node uniting the diverse nations of Mackinder’s world island behind a program of harmonization, integration and win-win industrial cooperation.”
“Once the economic space between Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran becomes integrated, we would link the Mediterranean, Caspian, Black Sea, and the [Persian] Gulf . . . we aren’t just important in the Middle East . . . Once we link these four seas, we become the unavoidable intersection of the whole world in investment, transport, and more.”
These weren’t empty words. By 2011, Assad had led delegations and signed agreements with Turkey, Romania, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon to begin the Five Seas projects.
This was done at a time when Libya’s President Qaddafi was well underway in building the Great Man-Made River, the largest water project in history alongside a coalition of nations that included Sudan, Ethiopia, and Egypt.
The stark difference between US and Chinese policy for Syria
Syria’s centuries-old relationship with China, the US nemesis in the region, and President Assad’s vision for a multipolar world providing the so called Global South with wealth and independence was a bridge too far for the US oligarchy and deep state who envisioned the world as their exclusive bread basket to be picked clean at the expense of the peoples of the nations they saw as their feeding ground.
According to an NGO established by Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban to record the human rights abuses committed by the Western-backed terrorist groups – Wathiqat Wattan Foundation:
The foreign policy of China is built on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence – its main axioms are respect for all nation’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs and cooperation based on mutual benefits.
China, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has repeatedly referenced these principles when voting against Western-proposed resolutions entailing grave interventions in Syrian internal affairs.
On the 4th October 2011, Russia and China vetoed a UNSC draft resolution on Syria put forward by the US alliance. This was the first of seven vetoes by China (half of the vetoes ever cast by China at the UNSC) that not only placed essential obstacles in the path of the US/UK-led agenda but also upheld the principles of the United Nations Charter that has been corrupted by the US and other aligned member states.
According to a paper published by Wathiqat Wattan Foundation:
The BRI is a Chinese program that aims to maintain an ‘open world economic system and achieve diversified, independent, balanced and sustainable development’. It is also a Chinese proposal intended to ‘advance regional cooperation, strengthen communication between civilisations and safeguard world peace and stability’. The general thrust is towards an equitable, more inclusive, multilateral global order. It is open to all nations and does not require conformity to a fixed political or economic model. On the contrary, the initiative thrives on the diversity of nations taking part.
President Assad, First Lady Asma Al Assad meet with President Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Li Yuan at the welcome banquet for the 19th Asian Games in Ghangzhou.
China can contribute to every sector with no exception, because we have damage in every sector. When we talk about the current situation before the comprehensive reconstruction process starts, China is now involved directly in implementing many projects, mainly industrial ones in Syria and we have many Chinese experts here working to set up different sectors. When there is more stability, the most important goal is to rebuild the destroyed areas. The second is the infrastructure, the sanitation systems, electricity and oil fields. The third is the industrial sector and projects, whether private or public sector.
President Assad in 2017
It is worth noting that before the war was kicked off by the West in 2011, China was a primary trade partner of Syria and Syria an important market for Chinese products. In 2010 trade between the two countries was $ 2.2 billion. 99% of the trade value was in Chinese imported goods to Syria.
China has maintained a policy of assistance throughout the twelve year crisis and regular Syrian Chinese discussions on trade cooperation, investment, education, health, energy, telecommunications, transport have continued unabated.
The Assad Xi summit is a landmark one which has demonstrated to the West that they are no longer driving the agenda in the region through piracy and disproportionate military force.
There is a new dawn rising and Syria is a hub that all nations have effectively been fighting over and for – the difference is that China appears to foster dialogue, peace and development while the West is hellbent on destruction and subjugation.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Geng Shuang in 2017:
“Too many people in the Middle East are suffering at the brutal hands of terrorists. We support regional countries in forming synergy, consolidating the momentum of anti-terrorism and striving to restore regional stability and order. We support countries in the region in exploring a development path suited to their national conditions and are ready to share governance experience and jointly build the Belt and Road and promote peace and stability through common development.”
Below are my segments for UK Column on the current situation in the southern districts of Syria and Assad’s visit to China.
The shocking true story that the mainstream media never told about the war on Syria – told by independent journalists, witnesses, and Syrians.
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The war on the US-led NATO-sponsored al Qaeda and ISIS terrorism in the northwestern Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, and Idlib, the de facto Al Qaeda Levant capital continues around the hour, NATO escalated its attacks on the Syrian people. The Syrian Arab Army and their allies are retaliating.
Since our last update on early Sunday 17 September (Syria’s local time), there have been a series of large attacks by the NATO Turkey-sponsored Al Qaeda terrorists (Nusra Front, HTS) against the posts of the Syrian Arab Army, one of those attacks resulted in the martyrdom of Syrian Arab Army (SAA) soldiers.
Here are the chronological updates on the war on the terrorists sponsored by NATO, the “defensive” alliance, since our last report. These updates cover the period from early September 17 to the evening of September 18, the last update we received from the northwest front:
17 September 2023, 00:05 am, Syrian Arab Army (SAA) units operating in the southern Idlib countryside bomb Al Qaeda Levant (Nusra Front) in the Al Zawya Mountain axis and northern Latakia countryside with MRLs grad missiles and heavy artillery.
09:30 am, SAA units resume bombing Nusra Front terrorists on the outskirts of Al Fatirah town in the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside, and on the outskirts of Maarat Naasan in the northern Idlib countryside, and the Nusra Front posts on the outskirts of Kafr Nouran town in the western countryside of Aleppo with heavy artillery and MRLs grad missiles.
11:25 am, SAA units bomb with heavy artillery Nusra Front posts in the Al Ruweiha axis in the eastern Al Zawya Mountain in the southern Idlib countryside.
11:25 am, along with targeting Al Qaeda Levant (Nusra Front) terrorists in the Al Ruweiah axis, the SAA units bombed with heavy artillery the posts of Ansar Tawhid (the Obama-created ISIS remnants) on the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
01:00 pm, SAA heavy artillery units bomb Nusra Front posts and gatherings on the outskirts of the town of Afis in the eastern Idlib countryside, and in the Al Zawaya Mountain in the southern Idlib countryside.
08:20 pm, SAA units bomb with artillery and missiles the posts of the Nusra Front on the outskirts of the towns of Kafr Ammah and Kafr Ta’al in the western Aleppo countryside, and on the outskirts of the towns of Al Fatirah, Kansafrah, and Flaifil in the Al Zawya Mountain axes in southern Idlib countryside.
10:40 pm, SAA heavy artillery, and MRLs grad missiles bomb the posts and gatherings of Ansar Tawhid (ISIS remnants) on the outskirts of Al Fatirah and Kansafrah towns in the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
18 September 2023, Propagandists of the Nusra Front and Ansar Tawhid started to publish obituary posts for some of their killed terrorists on the southern Idlib countryside front on social media.
00:20 am, at least 10 of the Ansar Tawhid (ISIS remnants) were confirmed killed in the bombing of their posts in the Al Zawya Mountain in the southern Idlib countryside by the Syrian Arab Army artillery and missiles.
01:30 am, 6 commanders of Ansar Tawhid (ISIS remnants) were confirmed killed in the SAA heavy artillery bombing of their command post on the outskirts of the village of Sufuhun in the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
06:20 pm, SAA units bomb with intensified heavy artillery and MRLs grad missiles a fortified post of Nusra Front (al-Qaeda Levant aka HTS) in the Al Ghab Plains in the northern Hama countryside, and one of their gatherings in the vicinity of Al Fatirah town in the Al Zawya Mountain in southern Idlib countryside.
The operations of Ansar Tawhid (ISIS remnants) and Nusra Front (al-Qaeda Levant) in southern Idlib near the illegal bases of the NATO Turkish Army prove that these three forces are working together. This includes the Turkish Army (NATO’s second-largest army,) al-Qaeda, and ISIS.
It is obvious that they are receiving their instructions from the same military command center. This allows them to avoid friendly fire and to target the Syrian Arab Army more effectively. The coordinates of the Syrian Arab Army must be collected by live satellite and electronic warfare. The US Army and the British MI6 base in Cyprus are providing these capabilities.
Everything you were told about the US-led NATO’s war on terror and that NATO is a defensive alliance has been proven to be the total opposite in the Syria Chapter of the war on humanity led by those ruling the United States of America since political Zionism took over that country.
Syria News is a collaborative effort by two authors only, we end up most of the months paying from our pockets to maintain the site’s presence online, if you like our work and want us to remain online you can help by chipping in a couple of Euros/ Dollars or any other currency so we can meet our site’s costs.
You can also donate with Cryptocurrencies through our donate page. Thank you in advance.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced his plan to return Syrian refugees in Turkey to Aleppo. For many years he has proposed a plan to create a safe zone, or de-escalation zone specifically developed to hold the millions of Syrian refugees living in Turkey.
The Erdogan plan, dubbed the Aleppo model, includes Idlib, and parts of the countryside of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia.
In March 2020, Russia and Turkey entered into an agreement concerning Idlib. Turkey had promised to secure the M4 highway stretching from Latakia to Aleppo. This vital route provides imported cargo, and exported cargo between the port of Latakia and Aleppo. The highway, when operating safely makes the drive time between Latakia and Aleppo about two hours in length. However, Turkey failed to fulfill their promise to Russia. The terrorists who occupy Idlib control the M4 highway and make it impassable for cargo or civilians. The trip takes six hours of drive time because a detour must be taken for safety, and Syria faces a chronic gasoline shortage, making the passage of goods and travelers an ordeal.
Idlib is the sole remaining territory in Syria occupied by Radical Islamic terrorists. They hold 3 million civilians as hostages. The UN, US, EU and other international humanitarian aid agencies such as Doctors Without Borders provide supplies to the civilians; however, it is the terrorists who manage and warehouse all the aid. Often the terrorists will distribute aid to those who are aligned with them, while depriving secular Syrians from any aid. The surplus aid is sold by the terrorists in a huge shopping mall owned by Mohamed al-Jolani, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Jolani is a Syrian who fought against the US occupation of Iraq. He first was a member of Al Qaeda, but after spending time in a US prison in Iraq with Abu Baker Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, Jolani switched to ISIS. Baghdadi asked Jolani to go to Syria and make an ISIS branch there, but after Jolani arrived in Syria he formed his own terrorist group Jibhat al-Nusra.
Jibhat al-Nusra was known as the Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria. The US had funded Jolani in Syria, but when the UN designated the terrorist group as banned, the US re-branded the group and changed the name to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Jolani and his terrorists have recently hung people in Idlib who refused to conform to the dictates of extreme Radical Islamic ideology. Jolani has prevented women in Idlib from benefiting from international aid programs targeting women with business education.
Erdogan’s ruling party, AKP, is aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood which is a global organization advocating the destruction of democracy in favor of Islamic Law. Erdogan has directed the AKP, the Ministry of the Interior, and the AKP members of the Parliament to promote Syrians returning to Syria from Turkey.
Turkey claims to be negotiating with Russia and Syria concerning the return of Syrian refugees to Aleppo under the Erdogan proposal to boost the commercial and social fabric there.
Aleppo is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world (tied with Damascus). Prior to the conflict which began in 2011, Aleppo was considered the industrial capital of Syria. The Industrial Zone in Aleppo was a vast center of factories making products from soap to fabrics for both domestic use and international export.
In the first few years of the conflict, Aleppo did not participate in the US-NATO attack on Syria for regime change. Jibhat al-Nusra saw the opportunity to surround and occupy the eastern section of Aleppo. This cut the huge city of 4 million into two: the free western section under Syrian administration, and the eastern section under the occupation of various Radical Islamic terrorist groups supported by the US and Turkey.
During the conflict years of 2014 to 2016 the terrorists dismantled the factories in Aleppo and transported the materials to Turkey where they were re-assembled by Erdogan loyalists and cronies.
After Erdogan’s terrorists destroyed the economy in Aleppo and stole the factories, now he suddenly proposes to rebuild factories and boost the economy of Aleppo. But, Erdogan is not proposing to fund or support existing Syrian businesses in Aleppo, instead under his plan Turkish businesses along the border region will develop Turkish businesses and employ Syrian workers. The workers will have an income, but the Syrian businesses will be targeted for extinction. It appears Erdogan is proposing an annexation of Aleppo and more regions in Syria.
The Syrian refugees returning to Syria would be working for Turkish businesses with no benefit for Aleppo.
Erdogan has repeatedly voiced his wish to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Damascus has said their condition for the meeting is the complete military withdrawal of Turkish military in occupation of area in Syria, and the removal of Radical Islamic terrorist groups which Turkey has employed in Syria.
A planned meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Erdogan is scheduled at the end of this month. According to the Turkish media, “Hürriyet Daily News”, the leaders will discuss two issues concerning Syria.
The return of refugees is the first issue, while the second is the normalization between Ankara and Damascus, which was originally proposed by Putin to Erdogan. The Russian negotiating teams in Syria have been successful in clearing areas from terrorist groups and targeting terrorists like ISIS and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
The Syrian people continue to suffer under the occupation of US troops illegally occupying parts of Syria, while stealing the Syrian oil production of the best producing wells, which prevents the Syrian people from having enough gasoline and almost no electricity. The US and EU continue sanctions on the Syrian people which prevent rebuilding or investment to recover from the years of armed conflict. The US continues to support the Radical Islamic terrorists holding Idlib civilians as hostages. The international community sits and watches as the Syrian people starve while the western governments maintain the status quo.
The Russian air force in Syria carried out a series of bombings against the positions of the NATO-sponsored Al Qaeda Levant terrorists in the western Idlib countryside.
At least 4 sorties shortly before noon today, Tuesday 20 June 2023, targeted quarters and weapons depots of Al Qaeda Levant (aka Nura Front – HTS – Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham) in the Sheikh Bahr area west of Idlib in the northwest of Syria.
Local sources confirmed the targeting while Al Qaeda propagandists were whining and claiming, as usual, that the weapons depots were civilian facilities. However, locals confirm that at least two area commanders of the HTS were among the casualties in the bombing, the locals couldn’t determine whether the terrorists were all killed or how many were killed and how many were injured.
The bombing of Al Qaeda Levant serves as a message to the Turkish madman Erdogan and his NATO and Israel sponsors that time to deliver on the Idlib agreement signed in September 2018 to clear Idlib from Al Qaeda terrorists and the Turkish Army of the NATO ‘defensive’ alliance is long overdue, and that the patience of the Syrian leadership and its allies has run out.
Large reinforcements of the Syrian Republican Guards Corps, particularly Brigade 105, were spotted near the frontline with the Turkish Army and its Al Qaeda proxies in Aleppo countryside. Brigade 105 of the Syrian Republican Guards Corps is credited for the series of victorious battles eradicating Al Qaeda from Damascus and its Ghouta countryside.
On the Idlib front, Al Nimr ‘Tiger’ Forces of the Syrian Arab Army are more than ready to confront the Turkish Army and its Al Qaeda proxies in the province, the ‘last stronghold of Al Qaeda’ in the region.
Tiger Forces are one of the elite units of the Syrian Arab Army’s special forces and have won numerous battles against the US-sponsored terrorists in all of Syria’s terrains and in all weather conditions including air drops behind enemy lines in Deir Ezzor province.
The beefing up of the Syrian troops in Aleppo comes after a Turkish army drone bombed a Syrian Army’s post near Tal Rifaat in the northern Aleppo countryside killing 3 Syrian soldiers last Wednesday 14 June after a Russian armored vehicle was bombed killing two Russian soldiers and injuring others, all as the Russian capital Moscow was hosting talks between Syrian and Turkish officials along with their Russian and Iranian counterparts to follow up on the Turkish request for rapprochement with Syria!
In the same pretext, the US CENTCOM, the Pentagon’s military branch responsible for US war crimes committed in the Levant has deployed F22 fighter jets to its bases in Jordan amid what it claims Russian fighter jets provocative actions against the US fighter jets.
The Russian air force in Syria is operating legally upon the request of the Syrian government to combat terrorism while the US air forces and the US military operate illegally in Syria to prolong the war of terror and war of attrition against the Syrian people exerting pressure on the Syrian leadership as per Pentagon officials.
Syria News is a collaborative effort by two authors only, we end up most of the months paying from our pockets to maintain the site’s presence online, if you like our work and want us to remain online you can help by chipping in a couple of Euros/ Dollars or any other currency so we can meet our site’s costs.
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أعلنت تركيا تأسيس 12 مكتباً في 12 محافظة تركية لتسهيل عودة السوريين (أ ف ب)
في تطوّر هو الأوّل من نوعه منذ ستّة أشهر، نفّذت طائرات حربية غارات على مواقع لفصائل متشدّدة في منطقة جبل الزاوية قرب طريق «M4» (حلب – اللاذقية)، في وقت شهدت فيه نقاط التماس في ريف اللاذقية قصفاً متبادلاً بالمدفعية. وجاءت الغارات الجوّية التي طاولت، وفق مصادر ميدانية، مخازن أسلحة وغرف إدارة عمليات، في وقت تنتظر فيه تركيا تحديد موعد نهائي لعقد اجتماع على مستوى «الرباعية» (سوري – تركي – روسي – إيراني) لبحث مسوّدة تقوم لجان أمنية وعسكرية بإعدادها، حتى تكون بمثابة خريطة طريق (في حال تمّ التوافق عليها) لحلحلة المشاكل المعقّدة بين البلدَين.
وبينما سجّل الميدان السياسي اشتباكاً كلامياً غير مباشر بين أنقرة ودمشق، على خلفية تمسّك الأولى بوجودها العسكري على الأراضي السورية، وإصرار الثانية على وضع جدول واضح لخروج هذه القوات، زار وزيرا دفاع وداخلية تركيا، خلوصي أكار وسليمان صويلو، مناطق في الشمال السوري، في سياق الحملة الانتخابية للرئيس التركي، رجب طيب إردوغان. ووضع صويلو الحجرَ الأساسَ لقرية سكنية في مدينة جرابلس، في ريف حلب الشمالي الشرقي، ضمن مشروع «مدن الطوب»، معلناً، في كلمة بالمناسبة، تأسيس 12 مكتباً في 12 محافظة تركية لتسهيل عودة السوريين إلى بلادهم، والسكن في تلك المدن.
وفي ما يمكن اعتباره سابقة، أشار الوزير التركي إلى أن هذه المشاريع تأتي بالتعاون مع قطر، التي تقوم عبر مؤسّسات تابعة لها بتمويلها، علماً أن أنقرة دأبت على الترويج لكون ما تقوم به في الشمال السوري مموَّلاً من المنظّمات الإنسانية الدولية ومنظّمات المجتمع المدني التركي. وتعيد مصادر سورية معارِضة، الحديث الصريح عن الدور القطري، إلى سببيَن: الأوّل، انتخابي، بهدف تقديم تطمينات للناخبين الأتراك بأن «مدن الطوب» ليست من جيوبهم؛ والثاني، رغبة قطرية واضحة في العودة إلى المشهد السوري، بعد مرحلة عملت خلالها الدوحة من خلف تركيا التي كانت تتصدّر المشهد.
وضع صويلو الحجرَ الأساسَ لقرية سكنية في مدينة جرابلس
وتكشف المصادر، في حديث إلى «الأخبار»، أن اجتماعاً عُقد أخيراً، ضمّ مجموعة من قادة الفصائل المنتشرة في ريف حلب، وناقش تشكيل غرفة عمليات للتصدّي لـ«هيئة تحرير الشام» (جبهة النصرة سابقاً)، بعد تعثّر تشكيل هذه الغرفة أكثر من مرّة في أوقات سابقة، موضحةً أن هذه التحرّكات تأتي استجابة لإيعازات تركية سابقة بتشكيل هيكلية مؤسّساتية للفصائل لوقف الفوضى القائمة، وتمهيد الأرض لإعادة اللاجئين، بالإضافة إلى تشكيل هيكلية اقتصادية تقلّل، قدر الإمكان، من الاعتماد على التمويل التركي الذي بدأ ينضب. وكان الأتراك أبلغوا الفصائل، بشكل واضح، بأن عليهم أن يقتدوا بما فعله زعيم «تحرير الشام»، أبو محمد الجولاني، تحت طائلة تسليم الأخير قيادة ريف حلب، خصوصاً أنه بات يتمتّع بعلاقات وطيدة مع أطراف دولية عدّة، من بينها الولايات المتحدة التي يتبادل معها معلومات استخباراتية بشكل مستمرّ حول «جهاديين» تعمل واشنطن على التخلّص منهم، بالإضافة إلى علاقته مع قطر، ودول أخرى مِن مِثل فرنسا التي يعمل أخيراً على تفكيك آخر ما تبقّى من «جهاديّيها» الناشطين ضمن جماعة «الغرباء».
وبالعودة إلى التسخين الميداني على نقاط التماس في ريف إدلب وصولاً إلى ريف اللاذقية، والذي كان يرتبط بمحاولات الجولاني إثبات وجوده عبر عمليات خاطفة ينفّذها «انغماسيون»، فهو يأتي هذه المرّة بالتزامن مع عكوف أنقرة على إعداد مسوّدة لخريطة طريق مشتركة مع دمشق. وتتركّز تلك المسوّدة، وفق تسريبات عديدة، على الجانبَين الاقتصادي والإنساني في مرحلتها الأولى، حيث تسعى إلى فتح طرق الترانزيت، بما فيها معبر باب الهوى في إدلب، والذي يُعتبر البوّابة الكبرى لمرور الشاحنات، بالإضافة إلى تثبيت معابر دائمة لعودة السوريين إلى مناطق سيطرة الحكومة السورية، سواءٌ منهم اللاجئون في تركيا، أو النازحون في المخيمات العشوائية قرب الشريط الحدودي. وينذر هذا التزامن بتحوّلات ميدانية عديدة، سواء في إدلب التي تشكّل نقطة ارتكاز الخطّة التركية، أو في ريف حلب الذي حوّله الجولاني خلال الشهور الماضية إلى حديقة خلفية قد يلجأ إليها في حال التوافق التركي – السوري على إخراجه من إدلب بشكل كامل. أمّا في حال تَقرّر نفيه منها بشكل جزئي، فقد يدفعه ذلك إلى تقوية حضوره الميداني عبر قضم ريف حلب، وصولاً إلى معبر باب السلامة قرب أعزاز، والذي يمكن أن يشكّل بديلاً من باب الهوى.
The visit of Iran’s President, Ibrahim Raisi, comes amid a time filled with distinct occurrences. Whether it is at the level of bolstering Syrian-Arab ties and the Iranian-Saudi accord under Chinese auspices, or at the level of the country’s economic crisis prompted by stringent US “Caesar” sanctions. In addition, while some Arabs attributed the efforts to rekindle the Arab League – Syria harmony to the latter’s distance from Iran, Raisi’s visit showed up. The unprecedented visit, in terms of circumstances and expected outcomes, came to confirm that the two allies’ relation is strategic.
Deep-Rooted Relations
In this context, a source in the Iranian president’s delegation stated to the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar that “Iranian-Syrian relations are deep-rooted and robust, and not a single force can separate the two countries, particularly as they have made sacrifices together in combating extremism and terrorism.”
“Raisi’s visit is quite normal,” the source noted, “and it comes in the context of providing support to the Syrian people. It also revitalizes the two nations’ economic relations, ensuring that their people profit primarily.”
In the same context, the Iranian source asserts the visit is in response to attempts aimed at compelling Damascus to choose between the Arabs and Tehran.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has changed its policies,” the source remarked. “In light of this, we reached an agreement with it that contributed significantly to the development of ties between Riyadh and Damascus, which is a positive step. We hope that the conditions in the entire region will be normalized”, the source added.
Stimulating Economies
As one of the prominent headlines of Raisi’s visit to Damascus was the economic aspect, Syrians hope that this visit will reflect positively on their country’s exhausting economic situation. This can be accomplished by the swift endorsement of the visit’s outcomes and the implementation of the major economic and commercial agreements struck during the visit.
The same source confirms that “the signed agreements have a positive impact on the lives of the Syrian people as well as the Iranian economy.” “President Raisi’s government is keen to foster economic ties, particularly between Iran and Syria. This issue was neglected in the past, and we must develop it now because of the positive impact it will have on the two peoples”, the source added.
The Axis of Resistance Comes First
The other key component of the visit, connected to strengthening the Axis of Resistance, was a “main course” on the discussion menu between the Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi, and his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Al-Assad.
This comes after ‘Israel’ publicly conveyed its displeasure with the visit even before it took place, whether via its media or with the air strike on Aleppo Airport a few hours before Raisi’s airliner arrived at Damascus airport.
Israel launches fresh missile strike on Syria, targeting Aleppo Intl. Airport, killing soldier https://t.co/DkVALgbcTW
According to the Iranian source, “the Israeli raids did not and will not change the reality in Syria.” Rather, they reinforce the logic that the Israeli entity is not acceptable as a legitimate entity in the region.”
Speaking of developing Syria’s capability to respond to these violations, the source tells Al-Akhbar that “the repeated Israeli attacks on Syria, particularly the recent attack on Aleppo Airport, are in violation of the international law. Such violations are committed by the apartheid regime that has killed numerous civilians in recent years, in addition to its support for the terrorists there.”
“Israel” carries out yet another aggression on Syria, and the country’s air defenses intercept the missiles.
Israeli aggression on Syria (Archive)
Syria’s official state agency reported that Israeli airstrikes have hit several sites in the vicinity of the Syrian capital Damascus, adding that the “Syrian air defenses have intercepted the missiles.”
SANA reported that explosions were heard in Damascus, only to later confirm that Israeli missiles targeted certain sites in the Syrian capital.
Not an isolated incident
The Syrian Transport Ministry confirmed on March 22 that “Israel” launched an aggression on Aleppo International Airport, and operations have been suspended.
At the time, the airport’s runway and navigation equipment were damaged and destroyed in the attack, while all flights were redirected to the airports in Damascus and Latakia.
On March 7, the Syrian news agency, SANA, confirmed that Syrian air defenses intercepted Israeli missiles in the airspace above Aleppo.
On February 18, the Syrian air defenses intercepted Israeli missiles that targeted areas in the Damascus countryside, in Kafr Sousa and Tal Al-Masih near the city of Shahba, north of Al-Suwayda.
Our correspondent indicated at the time that several civilians were killed as a result of the Israeli aggression that targeted residential buildings in Kafr Sousa. A source in the Syrian Health Ministry told Al Mayadeen that five civilians were killed in the aggression, with others were in critical condition.
At the beginning of this year, two Syrian soldiers were killed and two others were wounded as a result of an Israeli air attack on Damascus International Airport and its surroundings.
In recent years, “Israel” has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria, killing civilians and damaging property amid international silence.
A senior Iranian advisor comments on the US aggression on Deir Ezzor and reveals details about the US aggression.
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows a crater after an explosion hit a building, in Deir Ezzor, Syria, March 8, 2023 (AP)
The US occupation on Thursday waged aggression on civilian sites in Deir Ezzor from an occupied area in Al-Tanf, a senior Iranian advisor said Friday.
“The targets that were hit are food stores and service centers,” the advisor told the UNews news website. “This aggression left seven martyrs and injures seven other innocents who did nothing wrong except for serving the locals, their people, in the area.”
“We are fully aware that the US occupation is trying to cause injuries among our ranks under false pretexts that it has long used to justify its criminality,” he added. “Based on that, we underline that our mission, through our legitimate presence in Syria, has been to help the Syrian state to confront the terrorists and the takfiri project led by ISIS.”
“For years, the region has been under attack from the American occupation, in an attempt to impose an equation of force, and their pretext has always been that they are returning fire. In the end, it turned out that they are seeking to attack precision weapons and systems that Iran is transporting, which pose a threat to their protégé, Israel,” the top Iranian advisor said.
The Iranian defense official threatened that in light of the attack launched from the US-occupied Syrian region of Al-Tanf by the Americans, “we warn the US enemy that we have the upper hand, and we are able to respond in the event that our sites and forces are targeted on Syrian soil.”
The statements come after the US military said it carried out “precision airstrikes” in eastern Syria on Thursday in response to an alleged drone attack that killed one American and injured five US service personnel.
The US military controls parts of the provinces of Al-Hasakah, Raqqa, Aleppo, and Deir Ezzor, where the largest Syrian oil and gas fields are located. The Syrian government has repeatedly called the US military presence in the provinces an occupation aimed at plundering the country’s oil.
A Department of Defense statement claimed that the casualties fell “after a one-way unmanned aerial vehicle struck a maintenance facility on a Coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria.”
The US has for long employed the alleged “ISIS threat” as a pretext to continue its illegal occupation of northeastern Syrian territories, frequently looting oil and gas from Syrian fields and transporting them to other occupation bases in Iraq via illegal crossings.
The US shelling came after media reports said Friday that missile strikes targeted a US occupation base in the Al-Omar field, the largest oil field in Syria located in the governorate of Deir Ezzor in the country’s northeast.
Two occupation soldiers injured during the attack were treated on site, while three others were evacuated to the medical facility in Iraq along with a wounded contractor, The New York Times said.
It was reported earlier in the day that armed groups fired about a dozen rockets at a US base while attacking a second base in the area, but the strike led to no casualties.
The Syrian Resistance supported by its allied forces bombed illegal US military bases in northern Syria inflicting direct casualties among the US Army oil thieves and ‘American contractors’ aka CIA agents, the bombing comes after the US Army, in its desire to change the rules of engagement, dared to believe it had the right of retaliation against a previous bombing that was a retaliation in itself for the Israel bombing of Aleppo International Airport a day earlier.
As its custom, the US war ministry aka the Pentagon, and its propagandists will always minimize their casualties, deny them completely if they can get away with it, and later on, report the casualties as results of accidents or during training, at the same time they will maximize the casualties among their foes, invent them if needed to boost the morale among their personnel and their families 6000 miles away from the battlefronts.
As the exchange of fire is settled, for now, first, we will start with multiple local sources confirming the killing of at least 8 US Army oil thieves and 2 ‘American contractors’ who I will refer to as CIA agents unless the US commander in chief personally can officially prove otherwise.
In our earlier report, the toll was 1 CIA agent killed, another wounded in addition to 5 US Army oil thieves wounded as well. This was the result of bombing the illegal US military air base in Kharab Al Jief in Hasakah province, northeast of Syria.
The sequence of events started when Israel bombed Aleppo International Airport for the second time this month in the early hours of dawn on Wednesday, March 22, 2023.
The rule of engagement set by the Syrian Resistance is whenever Israel bombs any site in Syria, the US Army will be bombed in retaliation. The US Army in addition to stealing Syrian oil and food, helps Israel bomb Syria, Israel’s very existence depends on the US taxpayers, the US military, and the US political protection.
In retaliation to the Israeli bombing of Aleppo International Airport, a war crime by all laws, the Syrian Resistance within the set rules of engagement (its own version of the rules-based national order) bombed the illegal US Army air base in Kharab al Jier in Hasakah province.
Because the US Army wanted to break this rule of engagement in its quest to escalate its war crimes in Syria further, and because they sustained casualties, the US Army in their illegal military base in the Al Tanf area fired missiles or drones against two warehouses in a southern suburb of the Syrian city of Deir Ezzor, the warehouses used to distribute supplies for the needy Syrians suffering from the NATO member state Turkey cutting the water of the Euphrates, the shortage in fuel to farm their lands because of the US Army stealing their oil, and the shortage of wheat, Syria’s main food staple, because the US Army and its Kurdish SDF separatist terrorists steal the Syrian wheat and burn the wheat fields they cannot steal.
As a result of the bombing of the two warehouses, an unknown number of people were killed, sources say between 2 and 5, and several others were wounded. The warehouses are supervised by the Iranian Consular Center in Damascus which issued a statement strongly condemning the US aggression and vowing to respond.
The promise to respond took half an hour to materialize, a missile attack targeted the illegal US military bases in Syria’s largest oil field Al Omar and Syria’s largest gas field Conoco which alone has received 20 missiles, both in eastern Deir Ezzor countryside. Multiple sounds of explosions were heard all over the region.
To save face, and again to try to change the rule of engagement, the US Army fired missiles against a Syrian Resistance post which drew a massive exchange of missiles between the Syrian Resistance and their allies across Deir Ezzor province, and the illegal US Army bases in the region.
At least one heavy missile struck the US Army occupying the Conoco Gas field resulting in a fire in the base and reports of several US Army personnel killed.
Iranian Kamikaze drones joined in barbecuing US Army oil thieves
The illegal US Army base in the Youth Camp in Deir Ezzor came under a missile attack.
Soon after the first US Army attack occurred, the Syrian Arab Army went on alert and readied its missiles to join if needed.
Simultaneously, when the news of US soldiers and CIA agents being killed in Syria, the missile units of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps IRGC in western Iran also went on alert and were readied to join if needed.
The US Commander in Chief, one demented so-called Joe Biden claimed in a comment that he was in his cognitive powers to order his troops in Syria to ‘swiftly retaliate against the attack’ by what he called ‘Iranian-backed militias’.
During the exchange of fire, a former US official in hiding issued a statement ridiculing the handling of Biden’s junta of the situation and calling for a direct wide-scale confrontation. The US former official named Mike Pompeo said that ‘the US forces were attacked 78 times since 2021, and the Biden’s administration (junta) retaliated against only 3 of them.’
There’s a reward on the head of Pompeo by the Iranian IRGC for his role in killing Iran’s most revered general and the head of the IRGC General Qasim Soleimani while on a diplomatic peace mission in a 3rd country, near Baghdad International Airport. A heinous cheap war crime that sent this Pompeo into bunkers with expensive beefed-up security on the account of the US taxpayers. Sometimes, living in fear is worse than killing.
The escalations calmed down after the US Army stopped responding to the incoming missiles, hopefully, they understood that their role is to get bombed when Israel bombs Syria and not respond, firstly, they are aggressors, their presence in Syria is illegal and considered occupation, they help terrorist groups against the Syrian people, they steal Syrian oil and food, and they are a cause of instability in the region, they have NO right to self-defense, their only right is to accept the role of cannon fodders for the Zionist Joe Biden and his Greater Israel project.
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“No external factor enables a government or an army to stabilize, unless this government and this army enjoy a popular support that safeguard them.”
Egypt’s former Assistant Foreign Minister Hussein Al-Haridi in a recent interview
The pre-planned war in Syria has spanned twelve years and is still ongoing. It is well known that this warfare is not limited to battlegrounds but rather takes various economic, social, and political forms, in a bid to deplete President Bashar Al-Assad’s government. Surprisingly, all of these endeavors, however, were futile.
The Gloomy Tunnel
The arrest of two men in Daraa in March 2011 and the eventual outbreak of sporadic demonstrations in several regions, formed the full-fledged launch of a bloody scenario or even a global war that later appeared that it has been previously plotted. That was at a time when the entire region was experiencing “revolutions” dubbed as the “Arab Spring.”
It has been clear that all intents and schemes including the normalization of ties with the Zionist enemy- through subduing all resistance movements- as well as compensating for the defeat in Iraq, pass through Syria.
Soon after, Western powers, led by the United States, joined Arab countries in raising slogans such as “the freedom of the Syrian people” and “human rights in Syria.” Such moves were aimed at overthrowing the Syrian government’s legitimacy, neglecting thousands of Syrians who protested in support of President Al Assad.
In June 2012, world powers assembled in Geneva to declare “the necessity of a political transition.”
This declaration was only a pretext for escalating the demonstrations into a major military clash, resulting in the formation of organizations such as the “Free Syrian Army” (FSA) and the ” Jaysh al-Islam” (Army of Islam). These organizations comprised Syrians as well as a significant number of mercenaries from other Arab and Western countries, all with diverse backgrounds and agendas, who flocked to attack Damascus.
Since then, Syria has entered a dark tunnel: the country’s unity and sovereignty have been shattered, with almost all areas divided into pro and anti-regime factions. The emergence of Takfiri factions such as “Jabhat Al-Nusra” and “Ahrar Al-Sham” on the battlefield heightened the tensions.
Then in January 2014, the ISIL terrorist group took control of Raqqa and set out to govern vast areas of Syria and Iraq. Backed by regional and Western governments, these organizations have committed the most heinous terrorist acts against the Syrian people, as well as looting riches and systematically destroying the country’s infrastructure.
In addition to the military conflict, fierce media campaigns have intensified, relying on false flag chemical attacks in a bid to defame the Syrian government while disregarding the crimes committed by so-called “opposition factions.”
Syria Battles Bravely
Amid this reality, the Syrian state and its army stood firmly to protect the governing system and fortify Damascus, which had become a target for terrorists. The fall of the capital would have dealt President Assad a tremendous blow.
In September 2014, the US directly engaged in the struggle, organizing a coalition and assisting Kurdish factions under the pretext of eradicating “ISIL” in northern Syria. Later in 2015, and under the request of the Syrian government, Russia joined the war in a bid to aid Damascus in counter-terror operations.
This was a crucial turning point in the warfare, along with Iran’s and Hezbollah’s key roles in the battlefield and victories in more than one strategic battle, such as the clashes of Qusayr and Aleppo.
This video diplays scene of the couter-terror operations in Syria.
Such turning point reflected on Damascus’ recontrol of swathes of the Syrian territory, as well as keeping the threat of terror away from the capital and Aleppo. This was in addition to preventing Turkey, which aided the armed groups, from reaching its aim of dominating that region and eventually beating “ISIL” in the Syrian Badiya battles.
At the time when the military developments were unfolding in Syria, there was a political course emerging. Hence, when Russia, Iran, and the Syrian Army imposed a new status quo in the battlefield, the “Astana Talks” was established. The peace process came after the West and the UN yielded no substantive progress in the negotiations between the government and the so-called opposition, which remained split and withdrew the battlefield in favor of terrorist organizations.
Wary of Kurdish presence in Syria’s north, Turkey joined, afterwards, the Astana Talks as a guarantor state. This political process, which culminated in several rounds, concluded in a settlement, primarily brokered by the Russians and Turks in September 2018. The settlement involved Idlib and the northwest, which has been under terrorist control, resulting in a halt to fighting on those fronts.
Syria’s Outlook in 2020
On the eve of 2020, the Syrian state maintained control, as it had not done for the past nine years, except in the north, where the conflict created a kind of status quo represented by the limited presence of the US forces through several military bases. Undoubtedly, those bases were later utilized as a springboard for stealing oil and wheat. Also, there was a limited Turkish presence in the area under the pretext of countering the so-called Kurdish expansion.
On the other hand, the Israeli enemy found no means to voice concern over the failure of its allies and the victory of its foes. Thereupon, it occasionally breaches Syria’s airspace and launches strikes.
Despite this scenario in the country’s north, almost 12 years of war did not affect Syria’s Arabian identity, as the idea of its federalization had been buried.
This war has resulted in creating a powerful “Axis of Resistance” that extends from Iran through Iraq to Syria, then to Lebanon and Palestine. Consequently, Washington unleashed an economic warfare through the “Caesar” sanctions, depleting the Syrians who stood by their government.
In mid-2020, the Coronavirus pandemic spread all over the world, resulting in a stalemate in the Syria negotiations. Yet, the sanctions remained the most prominent feature in Syrians’ diaries.
Then in 2022, when the pandemic subsided, the war between Russia and the West in Ukraine commenced, casting a shadow across the entire world. The impasse was broken here by multiple communications reaching the gates of the presidential palace in Damascus, indicating what may be dubbed the “great turning point.” So, what happened, and what were the causes and effects?
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad gave a speech on Thursday night in which he tackled the repercussions of the earthquake that struck the country.
“A homeland is a home, and its protection is a duty, regardless of the type and magnitude of the challenge, and regardless of the capabilities. This was the case since the first moments of the earthquake,” Assad underlined at the beginning of his speech.
The Syrian president’s speech detailed all repercussions of the tragedy, stating the following:
This deep and overwhelming sense towards the homeland, our home, Syria, was felt by the one family inhabiting it, individuals and institutions. And there was this massive surge on the part of everyone to protect, save and help their brothers and sisters affected by the earthquake in Aleppo, Lattakia and Hama. This national patriotic and humanitarian scene is not surprising for any of us; for we have felt it at different turns of the war on Syria. But now, it is clearer and more comprehensive. More importantly, it is more expressive, for it comes after twelve years of war and embargo, with the accompanying death, sabotage and lack of resources on the national level.
However, despite the cruelty of all this, it has not changed the essence of our feeling and our thinking towards each other and towards the homeland, whether it is the land or the people inhabiting it, towards its concepts, customs and traditions.
If this war has exhausted and drained a lot of the national resources, and weakened the capabilities to face more crises, this war itself gave the Syrian society the expertise and the ability to act quickly and effectively in the early hours of the earthquake.
The magnitude of the disaster and the tasks that we should all shoulder are much larger than the available capabilities. However, what our society, its individuals and institutions, was capable of doing was also much larger than the available capabilities. This was not only because of the war and the sanctions, but also because Syria has not been an earthquake area for about two and a half centuries. Neither the buildings nor the institutions nor the equipment were prepared for different types of natural disasters. This made it the first challenge of its kind, and the largest of its kind. Nothing compensated for those weaknesses except the quick and highly effective response of the government, civil-society organizations and individuals who volunteered in the rescue work, those who made in kind or financial donations, residents and expatriates. They have tried every possible way to break the embargo in order to provide every possible assistance to their disaster-affected brothers and sisters. This is in addition to the emergency aid sent by sisterly and friendly countries, which constituted a significant support for the national efforts to alleviate the impact of the earthquake and save many of the injured.
However, from the experiences of other countries in this area, earthquakes have immediate and long-term effects. What we shall face for months and years, in terms of economic, social and service challenges is no less important than what we faced during the first days. And it needs a lot of thinking, dialogue, solidarity and organization on the part of all national sectors. It is important not to look at the repercussions as a separate case related exclusively to the earthquake; for it is a cumulative case of war, terrorist sabotage, the embargo and its effects and of the earthquake recently. Added to this are faults that have accumulated in different sectors for decades before the war.
The scene might look complicated, and it might be difficult to categorize the reasons leading to each problem separately. But it might give us an opportunity to solve those accumulated problems in an interrelated manner. This means moving from addressing the negative aspects of the emergency conditions into the positive aspects of comprehensive treatment. And it means moving forward instead of standing fixed in facing crises. This cannot happen all at once, but in a prioritized manner depending on the available capabilities, and in stages. But what is important is having the vision based on a national consensus and a broad dialogue.
But even then, we need to continue dealing with the repercussions of the earthquake step by step. After completing the rescue stage, providing emergency shelters and the basic requirement in terms of food, clothes and medicine, which have been done so far. The relevant government institutions have started to provide temporary housing, until permanent housing is provided at a later stage.
Creating a fund for supporting the affected people is under study. The fund aims at supporting them until they become capable of restoring the different aspects of their life capabilities. This will happen after the damage is assessed, and criteria are drawn for the identification of those covered and the support provided. All this should be done in parallel with curbing economic decline which usually hits affected areas and impacts the national economy in general. The necessary legislation will be passed and measures taken in order to alleviate the economic burdens on their population and accelerate the economic cycle there. These have been started to be examined before being presented for discussion and taking the appropriate decisions in the next few days. There are also some other ideas which have been proposed recently and will be announced by the relevant institutions, after being properly examined, discussed and their feasibility ensured.
When societies suffer different kinds of earthquakes, geological, political, military, cultural, social or other kinds of violent tremors, they are bound to lose part of their stability, because their institutional and social controls are shaken. This includes laws, regulations, concepts, traditions and morals. This, in turn, gives rise to negative aspects already there, but have been latent or limited as a result of those controls.
Enthusiasm and vigor in treating these manifestations which appear on the surface are necessary in crises, provided they are based on wisdom and awareness, on facts not exaggeration and illusions. So, let’s look for the truth instead of promoting rumors which have eclipsed scenes of heroism, sacrifice, devotion, solidarity and the unlimited enthusiasm we have seen during the hours and days which followed the earthquake. For they will send messages of frustration to all those who have made that amazing and extraordinary patriotic scene, and promote instead an image at odds with the pure and honorable image we have drawn in the minds of others.
Is there an event, small or large, that can obscure the images of heroism projected by our national civil and military institutions, civil society, and individual volunteers involved in rescue work like a beehive, day and night? They are credited with all that has been achieved. They have born the homeland, with all its hopes and pain, in unlimited enthusiasm and forbearance and great sacrifice. They have embodied the homeland in all its beautiful meanings and noble values.
Was it this spontaneous popular surge to support the disaster-affected with a flood of good that suspended their poverty and need? It was a surge of activity and feeling which equaled the well-off, who gave without being asked, and the needy, who cut some of their limited resources and daily sustenance in order to help a disaster affected person. They have been a real and live model of morals in their noblest manifestations, patriotism in its deepest meanings and humanity in its most sublime attributes.
Can we ever forget those who have mobilized in order to defend the real image of our society in the different mass and social media, not allowing the distorted image that some people have been trying to market to affect our reputation as a society, and preventing that image from affecting its morals, solidarity and altruism, which is the highest value on the individual and collective levels?
There are many other stories and endless details, individuals, heroes, courageous and valiant persons who stand as role models for the present and guiding lights for the future.
For all those, residents and expatriates, who alleviated this painful tragedy with what they could, materially and morally, with something or with a word, we don’t say thank you, because loving one’s homeland, serving and defending it is a duty that does not require thanks, but we say to them: we are proud of you, and your homeland is proud of you.
In the midst of our pain and sadness for the victims, our pride in our compatriots, we should not omit to thank all the countries which have stood with us from the first hours of the disaster, our Arab brothers and our friends whose kind and field assistance have made the greatest impact in strengthening our capabilities to face the difficult circumstances in those critical hours.
I would like to thank in particular the rescue teams from different countries which took active part in rescue operations and continued to work until the last moments of hope of finding a live person under the rubble. They conducted their work with the same enthusiasm and devotion as their Syrian colleagues. They were real brothers. So, on behalf of every Syrian, we thank them and are grateful to them.
All of us in this homeland, Muslims and Christians, believe in God; and believing in God means believing in God’s will. For us, God’s will is a destiny which brings us things we like and things we dislike. If we are not in a position to comprehend God’s wisdom in the calamities and graces which befall us, and their reasons, we are certainly in a position to learn the lessons from them. The first and most important thing which we should learn from this tough experience, now that we have been able, together, with all parts of our spectrum and sectors, to overcome our circumstances and limited capabilities, is to believe in our own tremendous capabilities, and to believe that our solidarity enables us to do it and that our fragmentation stifles it.
So, let’s believe in God, believe in our homeland, in the will capable of making miracles when we possess it, in order for Syria to remain proud of its people, strong in its history, rich in its dignity, capable in its will.
What happened on February 6 in Syria and northern Alexandretta – Geologist Ammar Ajeeb
Special and continuous coverage of the repercussions of the devastating earthquake 2/17/2023, presented and interviewed by Bushra Zaini
Al-Ekhbariya camera monitors the conditions of the affected people and the damage caused by the earthquake in the village of Astamu in the countryside of Lattakia
Close to 9 million people in Syria have been affected by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake, 65 seconds in duration on February 6, that Turkish President Erdogan has compared with the power released by atomic bombs. The hardest hit areas are Latakia, Aleppo, and Idlib.
The UN estimates that more than 4.2 million people have been affected in Aleppo province with 400,000 homeless, and 5,000 buildings declared unlivable. Aleppo has more than 1,600 dead and 10,000 injured.
The province of Idlib is a total population estimated at 3 million, but because there is no government or authority there, we can only guess how many have been affected.
UAE Aid plane landing in Aleppo International Airport
The UN says 5.5 million Syrians are without a home after the earthquake, with more than 7,400 buildings having been destroyed completely, or partially in Syria.
In Latakia, there are 820 dead, 142,000 homeless, and over 2,000 injured, with 102 buildings completely collapsed, and others condemned.
A total of 58 trucks have crossed from Turkey to north-west Syria through the Bab al Hawa crossing point over the past five days, carrying aid such as food, tents, and medicines. Those trucks are solely supplying Idlib, under the occupation of the armed group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Eleven trucks have gone through the newly opened border crossing of Bab al Salam today, carrying non-food items such as blankets, and mattresses.
Iraqi AAid plan landing in Damascus international Airport
Location matters in this quake
The map will show that Aleppo, Syria is just south of Gaziantep, Turkey which was the epicenter. Aleppo was heavily damaged in the earthquake, adding more misery to a city that was under the occupation of Al Qaeda terrorists in the eastern section until being liberated in December 2016.
Looking at a map, you see that Latakia is a 2 ½ hour drive west of Aleppo on the M4 highway. It seems like a long distance, but the power of the 7.8 magnitude brought the epicenter and Latakia together because they share the same fault line, which Aleppo does not.
Tunisian Aid plane landing in Aleppo International Airport
UN: no roadblocks to aid, no politics
Rula Amin, UN Refugee Agency Senior Communications Advisor, urged cooperation among nations to help Turkey and Syria. She said there should be no roadblocks to assistance for people in need. Referring to the UN and western aid coming almost exclusively to Idlib, and by-passing those in need in Latakia and Aleppo, she urged all to put politics aside, and focus on getting aid to those in need regardless of whether they are in the US-EU supported area in Idlib, or whether they live in Aleppo and Latakia under the Syrian administration from Damascus. Amin is no stranger to Syria. In March 2011, Amin was one of the very first international journalists in Deraa, covering what she had claimed was a ‘popular uprising’, and even interviewed the cleric who was the key player of the Obama-designed US-NATO attack on Syria for ‘regime change
.’ She did not go as far as to demand the lifting of all US-EU sanctions on Syria to send aid, but her meaning was clear. The sanctions prevent aid from arriving in Damascus. On February 9 the US Department of the Treasury issued General License 23, which allows for a humanitarian waiver of supplies to government-controlled areas in Syria, but must be received by an NGO and not the Syrian government. The 180-day waiver is far too short, as the need is enormous, and will people will need years to grapple with the damages. Rebuilding homes and businesses may take a decade or more. Also, most governments abroad would be sending official aid to Syria through a government-to-government mechanism, and using an NGO is a tedious stipulation designed to discourage aid from being sent.
Jordanian Aid plane landing in Damascus international Airport
Italy sent two planeloads of aid to Beirut, Lebanon to be transported to Syria by land. This demonstrates the extreme fear that western allies of the US have of the sanctions. By sending the aid to Lebanon, which is not sanctioned, Italy feels more comfortable that the US Treasury will not issue massive penalties against them.
Who refused aid to Damascus?
The US, the EU, and all US allies such as Canada have sent nothing to Syria for the earthquake-ravaged zones of Latakia and Aleppo. According to America, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the allies of the US, there is no place called Syria. There is only a small, rural agricultural province called Idlib. Syria is 10,000 years old, and Damascus and Aleppo both tie as the undisputed oldest inhabited cities on earth. But the great minds in Washington, DC. only acknowledge the tiny area called Idlib. The terrorist-controlled Idlib is suffering, and has innocent unarmed civilians in need of help; however, Latakia, and Aleppo are far bigger and have sustained more deaths, injuries, and structural damages than Idlib. The US and the west have used politics to judge who gets helped, and who is forgotten. The Syrian people will never forget this. The US and EU sanctions have made life unbearable in Syria before the earthquake of the century, and now when politics should be set aside for humanitarian needs, the US doggedly holds on to their dogmatic ideology to make sure the Syrian people know the full disdain of the American government. The Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates visited Damascus and met with President Assad after the quake, in an act of defiance of US-dictated policy.
Algerian aid plane in Aleppo International Airport
Where is Government controlled Syria?
The US-NATO attack on Syria beginning in March 2011 has resulted in three separate administrations in Syria. The biggest territory, about 75%, is the central government in Damascus. Aleppo and Latakia are the two hardest hit by the earthquake which is under the Damascus administration.
The second administration is the province of Idlib, which is an olive-growing region between Latakia and Aleppo. There is no government there. The 3 million persons there live under the occupation of an armed terrorist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly called Jibhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda. The terrorists embedded themselves there in 2012, and until now are safe from attack because the US, EU, and UN all lobby for their protection, and aid. The US supports the Al Qaeda terrorists because they represent the US interests in Syria to be decided upon in a final political settlement in Syria under the auspices of the UN.
The third administration is the Kurdish self-proclaimed region of the northeast, where the US military is occupying the Syrian oil wells, and allowing the Kurds to sell the stolen oil in Iraq to cover their expenses. This area was not affected by the earthquake. This administration exists separate from Damascus only because of the US military illegal occupation
Where is Idlib?
Many of the residents of Idlib most affected by the earthquake have had to sleep outside among the olive groves, in freezing temperatures. The UN acknowledged the international response to Idlib has been a failure.
Raed al-Saleh, head of the White Helmets, an award-winning video troupe headquartered in Washington, DC. has denounced the UN as incompetent in their response to the needs in Idlib. The White Helmets work solely in Idlib and have international donors. Al-Saleh was angry after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Syrian President Assad had agreed to allow UN aid deliveries to the area through two border crossings from Turkey for three months. The White Helmets and the terrorists do not recognize the Syrian government. Damascus had tried to send aid to Idlib, but the terrorists turned it back saying, “We don’t want help from the enemy.” Previously the UN trucks of aid to Idlib were also stalled after the terrorists demanded a $1,000 fee for each of the 10 trucks.
Why are the borders controlled?
The Syrian government has controlled the border crossings of Syria for security reasons. Serena Shim, an American journalist from Detroit, witnessed and reported seeing a UN food truck carrying Al Qaeda terrorists, and their weapons, from Turkey into Syria near Idlib. She was murdered in Turkey just days after publishing her report.
The terrorists in Idlib are contained in a small area and have weapons including missiles which have frequently been directed at Latakia, and Kessab, a small Christian Armenia village just north of Latakia. The Syrian government wants to keep the weapons from flowing into Idlib while allowing UN, and other humanitarian aid to flow into the 3 million civilians who are held there as human shields.
Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist
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A piece for the IOL outlines how the US sanctions against Syria reveal the fallacy that underlines the US humanitarian claims.
Members of the Algerian rescue team and Syrian Arab Army soldiers search for survivors in the aftermath of the earthquake in Aleppo, Syria February 8, 2023. (Reuters)
According to a piece by Abbey Makoe for the IOL, a South African newspaper, thousands of lives have been lost as a result of the catastrophic earthquake that hit both Syria and Turkey. While humanitarian aid to Turkey was “relatively smooth”, Makoe reported, that in Syria, unilateral sanctions “are frustrating efforts to transport aid to Syria.”
It is worth noting that Turkey is not only a member of the NATO alliance but also constitutes the second-largest military in the organization.
War-torn Syria suffocated by unilateral sanctions
The South African writer explained that Syria has suffered immensely under a 12-year war prior to the devastating earthquake. During that war, the US imposed unilateral sanctions against Syria as it supported “various Arab rebels fighting to overthrow the government of President Bashar Al-Assad,” as per US claims.
These restrictions have hindered aid to the Syrian people and nation leaving anyone stuck beneath the rubble to face their own fate as the Syrian search and rescue teams undergo major setbacks at all levels.
The newspaper also highlighted that the White Helmets, which are “Western-funded fighters to topple the Syrian government,” are also directly “supported by the US army on the ground.”
This group has become “fully in charge” of the situation in regions where they operate as those are “parts of Syria where the government has long lost control.”
On that note, it is worth reminding, as did IOL, that approximately “1000 US soldiers continue to operate in Kurdish-controlled areas in the country’s oil-rich northeast.” US soldiers are operating on “Syria’s southern border area” as they cooperate with “Arab rebel factions that they sponsor.”
Mao noted that “the devastating earthquakes – on top of years of war and turmoil – have left Syria in a terrible humanitarian crisis,” and emphasized that “the frequent [US] military strikes and harsh economic sanctions have caused huge civilian casualties and taken away the means to the subsistence of the Syrians.”
Furthermore, Mao attacked Washington for stealing Syria’s oil “at a staggering rate.” The spokesperson said, “As we speak, the US troops continue to occupy Syria’s principal oil-producing regions. They have plundered more than 80% of Syria’s oil production and smuggled and burned Syria’s grain stock,” adding, “All this has made Syria’s humanitarian crisis even worse.”
El-Mostafa Benlamlih, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim for Syria, characterized the current situation in Syria as “a crisis on top of a crisis.”
According to the article, Benlamlih’s statement during a press conference on Wednesday in which he stated, “We just hope that the political considerations will get out of the way and let us do our job,” is a veiled appeal to the US.
Alongside Benlamlih, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) President Khaled Hboubati said, “The evacuation process and rescue operations are restricted due to obstacles resulting from the severe sanctions. We have shortages in heavy machines and equipment needed to lift the rubble.”
The true face of America exposed
According to the IOL piece, the tragedy in Syria has revealed the US’ “cantankerous foreign policy” and exposed its “much-flaunted” humanitarianism “as a fallacy.”
The South African writer put forward a couple of questions in his quest to prove his abovementioned claims: “Is Washington truly oblivious to the human tragedy that is currently unfolding in Syria where innocent men, women, and children need to be rescued under thousands of collapsed buildings? Where is Washington’s heart, if they have any?”
Makoe also called on the international community to “blatantly disregard America’s unilateral sanctions in Syria and rush to the aid of fellow human beings,” adding, “After all, the US sanctions are not even the UN sanctions against Syria.”
The writer argued that the “US and the EU are a major threat to world peace” and explained that their “‘rules-based world order’ is a ploy to undermine the UN and the majority of its member-states.” On this note, Makoe warned that “if not careful, the UN would be moribund.”
With regard to the Syrian crisis and the US unilateral sanctions on the country, the IOL writer said, “The failure to allow a free and safe passage for international aid organisations to do their work of saving lives in Syria would be an indictment on all the UN-affiliated countries that are looking the other way as the US blatantly abuses its power.”
Syria refers to US temporary sanctions waiver as ‘misleading’
Due to the current logistical difficulties following the powerful earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria and following an international outcry, the US has decided to issue a six-month sanctions exemption on Syria for all disaster relief-related transactions, but Syria has dismissed the US sanctions waiver as “misleading”.
“The misleading decision taken by the US administration to temporarily ease some of the cruel and unilateral sanctions on the Syrian nation is out of sham and hypocrisy and is no different from previous gestures meant to convey an erroneous humanitarian impression. While the sanctions waiver is proclaimed to allow the flow of humanitarian aid, the realities on the ground prove the opposite,” the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said in a statement on Friday.
It added, “US coercive measures and policies have deprived Syrians of their natural wealth, which is being plundered, and have created obstacles for state institutions to improve living standards, implement development projects and achieve targeted goals, and provide basic services.”
Minimal Western aid to Syria, despite temporary lift of sanctions
Despite the US Treasury announcing the temporary lifting of some Syria-related sanctions, no Western country other than Italy has provided Damascus with aid following the devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the country and Turkey.
Although some Western countries pledged support for Syria, realities on the ground prove the opposite, as only militant-controlled areas have received Western aid so far.
Al Mayadeen correspondent reported that the first plane coming from Italy, loaded with aid to Syria from a Tunisian businessman, arrived at Beirut Airport in the Lebanese capital, with another expected to land later, as per Lebanese Minister of Public Works and Transport in the Lebanese caretaker government, Ali Hamieh, who said earlier in a statement to Al Mayadeen that two Italian aid planes will land at Beirut airport today and then head to Syria.
The head of the medical delegation coming from Italy, Tammam Yousef, said, “These planes are a message of solidarity from the Italian people to the Syrian people.”
According to Yousef, the planes are loaded with four ambulances, as well as clothes and medical materials, adding that there is a third plane that will take off in the coming days from Italy, carrying additional aid to the Syrian people.
The abstention of the West comes despite Geir Pedersen, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, stressing the need to avoid “politicization” of aid to earthquake victims in Syria and urging Washington and Brussels to ensure there were “no impediments”.
Pedersen told reporters in Geneva that aid is needed to get to Syrian state-controlled areas, as well as those controlled by militants.
“Certain” sanctions on Syria must be lifted in order for the international community to deliver essential goods to address peoples’ urgent needs in the aftermath of Monday’s earthquake, underlined Corinne Fleischer, UN World Food Programme (WFP) Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Mrs. Asma al-Assad inspected conditions of people affected by earthquake in Aleppo province and ongoing rescue operations in several areas.
During his visit, President Assad exclusively responded to Al-Manar reporter Ali Shoeib’s questions, stressing that he would exert all the possible efforts to alleviate the sufferings of the Syrians.
Two devastating earthquakes hit on Monday Turkey and Syria, leaving around 22,000 people dead as well as nearly 80,000 others wounded and flattening a huge number of buildings.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited Aleppo to observe relief and rescue operations following a devastating earthquake that has killed nearly 3,400 people in the war-torn country.
The Syrian Presidency on Friday shared images of Assad and his wife visiting people who were injured in the devastating earthquake.
The Syrian president also visited a site where rescue teams are working to remove rubble, rescue possible survivors and remove the bodies of victims, in al-Mashareqa neighborhood of the city of Aleppo.
During his visit, Assad promised the Syrian people that he will be working uninterruptedly to ease their suffering.
A day earlier, Assad expressed his appreciation of help from world countries to the Syrian nation and government, stressing, however, that many countries are “under pressure from the United States” not to help the Arab country.
Assad made the remarks in a meeting with a Lebanese delegation headed by caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib who traveled to the country to follow up on the latest status of the deadly earthquake in Syria.
The disastrous earthquake hit Turkey and neighboring Syria in the wee hours of Monday. The 7.8-magnitude temblor has so far killed close to 20,000 people in total in the two countries.
As rescue efforts continue in Syria following massive earthquakes there, calls are growing for the US and its allies to remove their sanctions, which are said to be hampering international aid efforts in the country.
Syria has been in the throes of foreign-backed militancy since March 2011.
The US government has over the past years imposed sweeping economic sanctions against Syria amid the Arab nation’s uphill battle for reconstruction and recovery.
The controversial Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, signed into law by former President Donald Trump, targeted individuals and businesses anywhere in the world that participated either directly or indirectly in Syria’s economy.
The restrictive measures have blocked imports of essential goods, affecting the Syrian people’s access to medical equipment, food, heating, gas, and electricity.
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From President al-Assad’s statement to the media at one of the sites for removing rubble and recovering the injured in the city of Aleppo
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