“Israel” responds to a rocket attack on the Occupied Golan Heights by shelling and targeting South Syria.
Syrian air defenses respond to Israeli missiles targeting south of the capital Damascus, July 20, 2020 (AFP)
Syrian air defenses shot down several Israeli rockets that targeted the southern region of Syria.
Israeli Occupation Forces attacked Syrian territory with shells and rockets at around 5:00 AM on Sunday 9 April, a military source told SANA.
Some of the incoming missiles were shot down by Syrian air defenses, while the rest reached their targets and caused material damage in the area.
Later on, the IOF announced that they were shelling Syrian territory in response to three rockets fired from Syria towards the Occupied Golan Heights.
At dawn, three more rockets were launched at the occupied Golan Height, also originating from Syrian territory. The IOF reported that two of the rockets landed in open areas.
Sirens were activated in the southern Golan Heights after explosions were heard in the area.
Meanwhile, Israeli media experts expressed their discontent with the multiple threats to the Occupation arising from several areas.
The recent activation of the Syrian front adds to recent attacks from Gaza and Lebanon. The operations come in response to the Occupation’s desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and increased aggression toward Palestinian worshipers.
The 34 rockets launched from Lebanon on April 6 mark the largest incident of rocket attacks from Lebanon toward the occupied territories since the 2006 War. The IOF responded to the attack by hitting open areas in South Lebanon without any injuries or deaths reported.
Israeli media reported that the occupation is reinforcing its armed forces in Northern Palestine in response to the multiple fronts.
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The resistance factions prove the equation of the unity of the Battle squares and turn into the difficult number in the confrontation
لا مكان للتزامن بالصدفة بين الأحداث الكبرى في ساحة شديدة الحساسية كحال سورية، ولا مكان لتزامن الصدفة عندما يكون اللاعبون المعنيون هم أميركا و”“إسرائيل”” وداعش، فما جرى بعد كارثة الزلزال الذي ضرب سورية وأصابها بكارثة إنسانيّة، هو تراجع أميركي إلزامي تحت ضغط موج التعاطف الإنساني الكبير معها، وصعوبة المضي بنظام العقوبات والحصار دون تحمل مسؤولية سقوط الضحايا. وبالتوازي وبسرعة كان لا بد من تعويض هذا التراجع ببديل من حواضر البيت الأميركي، فتمّ استدعاء تنظيم داعش من فرق الاحتياط، واستنهاض الدور الإسرائيلي من الإحباط، وقام كل من الطرفين بارتكاب مجزرة بحق المدنيين. ومن الواضح أن المجزرتين تحملان رسالة وجع واحدة تحاول التعويض عن وجع الحصار والعقوبات.
تدرك واشنطن أن لا شيء مضموناً ولا شيء موثوقاً في الحسابات، وهي تراقب العمليات التي تستهدف قواتها في القرية الخضراء قرب حقول العمر النفطية، وارتفاع المناداة بالانسحاب الأميركي والإفراج عن الثروة النفطية السورية المنهوبة، التي يتقاسم عائداتها الضباط الأميركيون مع عصابة من المتعاونين في بيعها عبر تركيا مرورا بالكانتون الكردي في سورية ومنطقة كردستان في العراق وصولاً الى الساحل التركي، لكن واشنطن المأزومة في حرب أوكرانيا، والمرتبكة في المواجهة مع الصين، تخشى أن يؤدي تراجعها في المنطقة الى تفكك تحالفاتها، وقد بدأت تقرأ مواقف متمايزة عن سياساتها إلى حد الافتراق لدى كل من تركيا والسعودية وبنسبة معينة مصر، وتظهير الحضور بالقوة مخاطرة لا ترغب خوضها بقواتها، فتسند المهمة إلى “إسرائيل” التي لها أسبابها أيضاً للقيام بهذا الدور، لكن هل أخطأت “إسرائيل” الحساب بقبول المهمة هذه المرة؟
عشية الغارة الإسرائيلية كانت سفينة إسرائيلية تُصاب في الخليج، وكانت القواعد الأميركية حقول العمر في شرق سورية تستهدف بالصواريخ، وكان الأمين العام لحزب الله السيد حسن نصرالله يضع معادلات ردع جديدة وقواعد اشتباك جديدة، محورها أن المقاومة الجاهزة لحرب مع كيان الاحتلال لا تعتبر اتفاق الترسيم البحري، الذي نال لبنان عبره مطالبه النفطية، كافياً كمعادل استراتيجي لوضع فائض قوة المقاومة على الطاولة، ولا يعتبر “إسرائيل” نداً للمقاومة على هذه الطاولة، فيوجه تحذيره للأميركي بعدم العبث بفرضية دفع لبنان إلى الجوع والفوضى وإلا فالحرب على “إسرائيل”، وفق معادلة “يدكم التي توجعكم مقابل يدنا التي توجعنا”. وفي مناخ الانقسام الداخلي الإسرائيلي من جهة وتصاعد الموقف الفلسطيني المقاوم بوجه التطرف الإسرائيلي من جهة مقابلة، هل تملك “إسرائيل” فرصة عزل اعتداءاتها على سورية عن ميزان القوى الإقليمي المختل لصالح قوى المقاومة؟ وهل لا زالت تملك فرصة عزل اعتداءاتها على سورية عن الموقف الروسي المتعاظم الغضب من حجم انكشاف الدور الإسرائيلي في أوكرانيا، في ظل وضع دولي تتراجع فيه أميركا وتضعف فرص الحديث عن حياد “إسرائيلي في حرب أوكرانيا؟ وهل تملك “إسرائيل” ان تشكل فائض قوة أميركي في أوكرانيا دون أن تفقد هوامش الموقف الروسي في سورية؟
الأكيد أن الإيقاع الفلسطيني المتعاظم يضع المنطقة على أبواب مرحلة جديدة، والأكيد أن موقف السيد نصرالله يعبّر عن انتقال نوعيّ للمقاومة من معادلة الردع بالامتناع عن الحرب إلى التهديد بخوض الحرب، والأكيد أن الزلزال الذي أصاب سورية أضعف شوكة دعاة حصارها السياسيّ، والأكيد أن روسيا تفقد ثقتها بحياد “إسرائيل” في حرب أوكرانيا، والأكيد أن الغارات الإسرائيلية على سورية تسير عكس اتجاه كل ذلك، وأن الصدام بين الاتجاهين واقع لا محالة، فهل أخطأت “إسرائيل” الحساب؟
الحسكة | تعرّضت قاعدة لـ«التحالف الدولي» في معمل غاز «كونيكو» شمال دير الزور، لأوّل استهداف صاروخي في العام الجديد على يد «المقاومة الشعبية»، وذلك بعد وقت قصير من الاعتداء الإسرائيلي الأخير على مطار دمشق الدولي، والذي أدّى إلى إخراجه عن الخدمة لعدّة ساعات. وينبئ هذا الاستهداف بأن «المقاومة» تنوي الحفاظ على قاعدة اشتباك رئيسة مع الأميركيين، باعتبارهم قوّة احتلال، وداعم استخباري رئيس للعدوّ على الساحة السورية، مفادها أن أيّ قصف إسرائيلي على منشآت الدولة السورية، سيقابله قصف على القواعد العسكرية الأميركية في شرق الفرات. ولم تكد تمرّ 48 ساعة على استهداف مطار دمشق، حتى جرى ضرْب ثاني أكبر قاعدة لـ«التحالف» في سوريا، يُعتقد أنها تضمّ أكثر من 150 جندياً أميركياً وفرنسياً وبريطانياً. وأقرَّ «التحالف»، في بيان، بتعرّض «مركز له في حقل كونيكو شمال شرقي سوريا للاستهداف بصاروخَين»، مضيفاً أن «القصف لم يؤدِّ إلى جرحى أو أضرار في القاعدة أو الممتلكات». ولفت البيان إلى أنه «بعد أن مسحت قوات سوريا الديموقراطية الموقع، تبيّن وجود صاروخ ثالث غير منفجر». من جهتها، أكّدت مصادر ميدانية، لـ«الأخبار»، أن «المنفّذين تعمّدوا استهداف القاعدة بأكثر من 5 صواريخ، للبعث بعدّة رسائل ميدانية مع مطلع العام الجديد، أهمّها أن وجود الاحتلال مرفوض، وعليه المغادرة». ورجّحت المصادر أن «تتواصل المقاومة الشعبية إلى حين تحقيق هدفها، بإخراج الاحتلال الأميركي من الأراضي السورية».
وفي الوقت الذي اختار فيه الإسرائيليون تأكيد استمرارهم في استراتيجية «المعركة بين الحروب» في سوريا، مع مطلع العام الجديد، واصل الأميركيون، من جهتهم، إدخال أسلحة ومعدّات لوجستية إلى قواعدهم غير الشرعية، بالتوازي مع تنفيذ تدريبات عسكرية في كلّ من التنف ودير الزور، في ما يؤشّر إلى عدم وجود أيّ نوايا لديهم لتغيير سياساتهم تجاه هذا البلد.
نظّمت قوات «التحالف» تمريناً على أسلحة مضادّة للطائرات
وتُظهر أنشطة «التحالف» عزمه على العودة إلى قاعدة سابقة في «الفرقة 17» في الرقة، بعد رصد آليات هندسية تعمل ضمنها تمهيداً لاعتمادها ربّما كمهبط للمروحيات الداعمة لعمليات «قسد» المُفترضة ضدّ تنظيم «داعش» في مدينة الرقة وأريافها. كما أظهر «التحالف» استجابة تصعيدية تجاه أيّ محاولة مساس بوجوده في سوريا، بعد مضيّ كلّ من أنقرة ودمشق في خطوات «تصالحية» برعاية روسية، أوّل ثوابتها اعتبار الوجود الأميركي على الأراضي السورية غير شرعي، وداعم لكيانات تهدّد وحدة أراضيها. ومن هنا، أعلن «التحالف»، في بيان أول من أمس، «تنفيذ تمرين الجاهزية العملياتية، باستخدام المدفعية الرشاشة المضادة للطائرات في شرق سوريا، للتحقّق من فاعلية المنظومة والاحتفاظ بالجاهزية لتنفيذ المهام الأساسية التي تساعد على تعزيز الأمن والاستقرار الإقليميين». ولأن الأميركيين دائماً ما يكرّرون لازمة أن وجودهم على الأراضي السورية غرضه محاربة «داعش»، الذي لا يمتلك أيّ وسائل قتال جوّي، فيبدو أن الاختبار الأخير لمضادات الطائرات، هو رسالة استباقية ضدّ أي تنسيق ميداني سوري ــــ تركي، يهدّد الوجود الأميركي في شمال سوريا وشرقها.
Established under the presidency of late leader Hugo Chavez, teleSUR celebrates its 17th anniversary, at which Al Mayadeen CEO sent a letter of congratulations.
Al Mayadeen Media Network Ghassan Ben Jeddou, standing next to the President of teleSUR, Patricia Villegas.
On the occasion of the 17th anniversary of the launching of the Global South media outlet teleSUR, Al MayadeenMedia Network CEO, Mr. Ghassan Ben Jeddou, sent a heartening letter to the Venezuela-based television network, praising the steadfastness of the outlet’s vision and work against imperialist media.
TeleSURwas founded in 2005 – funded primarily by the Venezuelan government, as well as other neighboring countries in the region. It was launched under the presidency of revolutionary leader Hugo Chávez, who passed away in 2013.
TeleSUR, like many alternative media outlets, challenges misleading neoliberal narratives that continue to demonize the struggles of the peoples of the Global South, push forward imperialist and exploitative narratives, and circulate war-mongering propaganda.
In his letter to the media outlet, Mr. Ghassan Ben Jeddou wrote:
“The establishment of teleSUR was a strategic media event. It is not only an informative channel, in spite of its significant media role and success in Latin America and the world, but it was also indeed a bright and visionary decision from the internationalist leader, Hugo Chávez.
Today, on the anniversary of its establishment, we cannot but recall with much appreciation the channel’s journalistic professionalism, political commitment, strategic decisions, and humanitarian example.
We extend our warm greetings to all the brave, creative, and resilient media workers in this steadfast outlet. Despite the numerous pressures that have been exerted against teleSUR, it is, however, still devoted to its values, and a reference for all the free peoples of the world.
This is a tribute to the teleSUR administration on its success in cementing its position as one of the most important media outlets Worldwide.”
Moreover, Mr. Ben Jeddou extended his warm greetings to the President of teleSUR, Mrs. Patricia Villegas, remarking that “Patricia is not only a great president of a great channel, but she is also a media icon in the Global South and international community.
With Patricia and teleSUR, we have established an influential, high-end, candid, professional, intellectual media partnership… We, at Al Mayadeen Media Network, will proceed in this cooperative partnership in full depth, strength, and a long-term vision.”
#Venezuela | On Sunday, July 24, Ghassan Ben Jeddou, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Al Mayadeen news network, sent a message of congratulations to the entire team of the multinational teleSur on the occasion of its 17th anniversary. https://t.co/Jn7grhenN4pic.twitter.com/BbyZfWCeo4
“The Al Mayadeen family yields heartful felicitations to all their friends and colleagues on the 17th anniversary of the establishment of teleSUR.
From the bottom of my heart, I extend to my colleagues at teleSUR, and to the dear captain of the ship Patricia, the most sincere congratulations. I do so with the conviction that this leading channel, whose headquarters are rooted in beautiful Caracas – the capital of victorious Venezuela over conspiracies, sanctions, blockades, and slander under the presidency of the unfaltering Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, resembles steadfast Venezuela, its great people, its vigorous leadership, and its iconic President.
Thus, teleSUR is destined to succeed, innovate, shine, and triumph.”
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Syria’s centuries-old refusal to take orders from foreign powers and its resistance to repeated foreign interventions has led to its ‘punishment’ by frustrated imperial forces, says Syria’s Vice Foreign Minister Dr. Bashar Al-Jaafari.
Syria’s centuries-old refusal to take orders from foreign powers and its resistance to repeated foreign interventions has led to its ‘punishment’ by frustrated imperial forces, says Syria’s Vice Foreign Minister Dr. Bashar Al-Jaafari. “We are like Cuba; or perhaps Cuba is like us”, said the veteran diplomat.
That independent history can be traced back to ancient times, when Queen Zenobia broke away from Roman rule. It was inflamed a century ago when Sultan Pasha Al-Atrash led the Great Arab Revolt of the 1920s against the French colonial power. And it rose again with Syria’s defeat of a massive, decade-long proxy war, driven by Washington and other NATO states, “Israel” and some of the Gulf monarchies.
But while Syria, at great cost, has defeated mass terrorism, according to Dr. Al-Jaafari, the “unprecedented” military interventions, occupations and economic war remain. The USA and Turkey, two NATO states, occupy huge swathes of Syrian land in the north and east and the Israeli occupation remains in the south. Each provides safe haven for terrorist groups.
These days Washington does not even bother to deny that it is stealing Syrian oil and wheat. It even signs UN declarations supporting the “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Syria, while occupying Syrian land out of spite, to punish and divide the peoples of the region, for the benefit of Israeli and US hegemony.
Syria as an Arab nation once included current-day Iskenderun, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan. Colonists tried to crush its Pan-Arab ideology, which rose against the French and the British, leading to the hard-fought renewal of independence in 1947. Dr. Al-Jaafari says Pan-Arabism, which forms the basis of the Syrian Arab Baath Party and other groups (like Nasserites and the SSNP), is a reflection of the region’s Arab-speaking peoples, with a shared history, aspiration and culture.
Further, Syria, almost uniquely in the region, has led the process of separating religion from politics which, in turn, supports its broader, inclusive Arab traditions and historic defense of multiple and rich social communities. Syria’s famous pluralism was attacked by the NATO-sponsored terrorist groups, mainly Jabhat al Nusra and ISIS/DAESH, who abused minority communities while slaughtering anyone who backed the Damascus government.
The country remains under a severe US economic blockade, backed by the European Union, and subject to multiple foreign occupations. Repeated ‘chemical weapons of mass destruction’ scams, false flag massacres, fake claims of ‘freedom and democracy’, ‘moderate armed opposition’ slogans and the demonizing of President Assad were all part of a war to destroy, not just the Syrian government, but the Syrian state.
Dr. Al-Jaafari says that “from day one the Western strategy was based on making Syria a failed state”. That meant undermining Syria’s means of subsistence and strength – wheat, water, oil, the Tabqa dam, irrigation for agriculture, health systems and energy sources. “When you are a failed state, you lose your sovereignty; once you lose your sovereignty they can do to you whatever they want, because there is no state.”
“Our strength,” he says, “was to counter this strategy; and that is why they are extremely upset. We resisted their strategy and they failed It cost them trillions of dollars, eleven years of depriving the Syrian people of their basic needs. But they failed … We won the war, diplomatically speaking … militarily speaking, not yet”.
“The game is over … I think we preserved what is essential, we preserved the state, the country, the dignity, the independence and the political independence. It is costly yes, it has been so costly. But nowadays nobody says that we are wrong.”
Yet they do try to falsify history. If we look at the distorted ‘open source’ site Wikipedia we will see that ‘The Dirty War on Syria’ is listed as the ‘Syrian Civil War’. It is nothing of the sort. It is one of more than 20 proxy wars Washington has driven in the first two decades of this century.
Dr. Al-Jaafari points out that a UN sub-committee on Afghanistan’s Taliban in 2017 listed 101 countries as having exported terrorists to Syria. A number, like Indonesia, had governments friendly to Syria. On top of this, Israelis and the two largest NATO armies still occupy Syria. This is hardly a ‘civil war’.
Even though the Astana process (involving Russia, Iran and Turkey) has made some progress, by helping create ‘de-escalation zones’, Turkey under Erdogan has done tremendous damage to Syria. Dr Bashar says: “the Turkish policy has caused Syria and the Syrian people great damage, great damage.” On top of its support for the terrorist groups, the Turkish government has attacked critical civilian infrastructure.
Syria had an agreement with Turkey on sharing water which committed to passing 500 cubic meters per second, down the Euphrates. Yet for the last 10 years, “they have allowed less than half of this”, causing great damage to the electricity-generating Tabqa dam: “They did the same to a station in Al-Hasakah governate.”
So there have been chronic shortages of water for agriculture, as well as the theft of oil and wheat by the Americans. In Iraq, the situation is even worse. “Now the Iraqis walk in the [bed of the Tigris] river”.
Turkey is part of NATO and “is benefiting greatly from the American wrongdoings in the region… sharing benefits from the chaos that they themselves created.”
The Vice Minister made two points about aid and the refugees. He tells countries saying they want to provide ‘aid’: “We don’t need” your aid. He says Syria needs to rebuild its own capacities, reopening factories and creating employment.
He tells them “lift the sanctions so that the refugees can go back to their villages. “However these countries “know what they are doing … they spent millions of dollars on the refugees so that they don’t go back to their homeland.”
These foreign states use correct words about refugees having “dignified and safe” lives. But their programs serve to keep them forever in the camps. “They will not come back because they don’t have jobs and homes.”
Instead of spending billions of dollars on the refugees, Dr. Al-Jaafari aks, “why not give them all $10,000 each, enough to restart their lives back home? Why not pay them $10,000 once, instead of the same amount every year?”
What the enemies of Syria did to Syria “has gone beyond the threshold”, he says. “In my opinion, they did it … because we did not punish them for what they did in Iraq … that was the biggest mistake ever.”
Yet there have been great geopolitical changes in recent years. “The whole world is shifting”, he says, with the rise of BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and other blocs. “The whole Asian part of the world” has given up on Western-dominated organizations like the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank.
“They don’t believe in that anymore and they want to create alternatives … let me say eastern alternatives, and this is very important.” The geopolitical center is shifting because the west has committed so many errors. This “might be a positive development, it might be a prelude to further confrontation, or it might be both.” In any case, he says, it is a sign that “enough is enough”.
Asked if Syria has applied to join the SCO, Dr. Al-Jaafari replies “of course, we submitted our request … recently.”
Local media report on a rocket attack targeting a US occupation military base in Al-Hasakah Governorate, near the Syria-Iraq border, on Sunday morning.
The US military base in Al-Shaddadi
The US occupation base in Al-Shaddadi, in the Syrian eastern province of Al-Hasakah, was targeted by rockets.
Local media reported on Sunday morning that a rocket attack targeted the US occupation facility in Al-Hasakah governorate, near the Syria-Iraq border.
No further details were revealed on the attack.
Several explosions were heard from the American occupation base in Deir Ezzor Province about two weeks ago. Some speculated that the explosions were caused by three rockets hitting the base.
The US occupation bases in Syria come under rocket and drone attacks frequently.
Earlier in July,violent explosions rocked a US occupation Army base in Al-Jebsa oil fields in eastern Syria, Sputnik reported Wednesday.
The Russian agency quoted informed sources as saying that they heard strong explosions in the northern and western countryside of the oil city of Al-Shaddadi, which includes the largest US base in Al-Hasakah Governorate.
Sputnik pointed out that the explosions coincided with an intense overflight of warplanes and helicopters of the so-called “International Coalition” that took off from its base in Al-Shaddadi and fired flares, as information reported that the base was being targeted with missiles.
Sources revealed to Al Mayadeen that the missiles that targeted the US base in Al-Jabsa were launched from Tal Al-Shayer near the Iraqi border, an SDF-controlled region.
One of the missiles fell 200 meters from an aircraft runway within the base, and two close to the residential area, according to the sources.
What is the US doing in Syria?
Besides being an occupation that backs armed groups for its own operations and agenda in the region, the US occupation forces continue to steal Syrian oil by smuggling it from their bases in Syria to their bases in Iraq.
Convoys of tens of vehicles, including tankers loaded with stolen oil from oil fields occupied by US forces in Syria, are frequently seen crossing toward northern Iraq, in addition to trucks loaded with military equipment.
The US interference in the crisis-stricken Middle Eastern country continues to be exposed, from occupation to military agenda and the theft of oil.
US forces smuggle dozens of oil tankers out of Syria
In one of the latest acts of a series of US forces looting Syrian oil, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported on September 9 that a US convoy loaded with looted Syrian oil left from the illegitimate Al-Mahmoudiyah crossing and entered Iraqi territory.
According to the Syrian agency, “a convoy of the US occupation forces, consisting of 88 tankers loaded with stolen Syrian oil, left from the illegitimate Al-Mahmoudiyah crossing and entered Iraqi territory.”
The local sources mentioned that the US convoy exited the Syrian territories toward the bases of the US occupation in northern Iraq.
It is noteworthy that US forces control about 90% of Syria’s oil-producing territory, depriving the government of its most significant source of fuel and income.
Some local reports reveal that US forces smuggle not only oil out of the country but also indispensable food supplies.
In August, the Syrian Oil Ministry revealed that the US occupation forces loot the majority of Syria’s oil, knowing that the daily production of the eastern oil fields is 80.3 thousand barrels.
The United States has been for years supporting the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militias, and the US-backed forces are currently occupying parts of the provinces of Al-Hasakah, Deir Ezzor, and Raqqa, where the largest Syrian oil and gas fields are located.
The actions carried out by the United States constitute state piracy with the aim of plundering Syria’s oil resources and depriving the Syrians of their own resources amid a harsh economic situation caused largely by the US occupiers.
Local sources report a massive explosion and smoke coming from a US occupation base in Syria.
In 2019, Trump announced US troops would largely withdraw from Syria, with the exception of a small force that would remain to ‘protect’ oil resources (AFP)
A massive explosion was reportedly heard in the province of Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria, on Wednesday afternoon.
Smoke was reported rising from the vicinity of a US occupation base in the Omar oil field, east of Deir Ezzor, local media reported.
Sputnik reported that plumes of smoke were visible for a decent amount of time.
US troops flew drones in the sky of the area while the fire was blazing from the US base, according to the report.
Local sources reported to Sputnik that several explosions were heard after the fire broke out in the US base. The cause of the fire and loud explosion was not revealed to the media.
Besides being an occupation that backs armed groups for its own operations and agenda in the region, the US occupation forces continue to steal Syrian oil by smuggling it from their bases in Syria to their bases in Iraq.
Convoys of tens of vehicles, including tankers loaded with stolen oil from oil fields occupied by US forces in Syria, are frequently seen crossing toward northern Iraq, in addition to trucks loaded with military equipment.
The US interference in the crisis-stricken Middle Eastern country continues to be exposed, from occupation to military agenda and the theft of oil.
US forces smuggle dozens of oil tankers out of Syria
In the latest act of a series of US forces looting Syrian oil, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported on September 9 that a US convoy loaded with looted Syrian oil left from the illegitimate Al-Mahmoudiyah crossing and entered Iraqi territory.
According to the Syrian agency, “a convoy of the US occupation forces, consisting of 88 tankers loaded with stolen Syrian oil, left from the illegitimate Al-Mahmoudiyah crossing and entered Iraqi territory.”
The local sources mentioned that the US convoy exited the Syrian territories toward the bases of the US occupation in northern Iraq.
It is noteworthy that US forces control about 90% of Syria’s oil-producing territory, depriving the government of its most significant source of fuel and income.
Some local reports reveal that US forces smuggle not only oil out of the country but also indispensable food supplies.
In August, the Syrian Oil Ministry revealed that the US occupation forces loot the majority of Syria’s oil, knowing that the daily production of the eastern oil fields is 80.3 thousand barrels.
The United States has been for years supporting the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militias, and the US-backed forces are currently occupying parts of the provinces of Al-Hasakah, Deir Ezzor, and Raqqa, where the largest Syrian oil and gas fields are located.
The actions carried out by the United States constitute state piracy with the aim of plundering Syria’s oil resources and depriving the Syrians of their own resources amid a harsh economic situation caused largely by the US occupiers.
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A military facility housing US forces in Syria’s eastern province of Deir Ezzor came under attack on 25 August, mere hours after rockets struck US bases in the same area, injuring three US service members.
According to Syria’s state-run new agency SANA, one US military personnel was injured during the second attack. In response, a US aircraft circled over the area and targeted a Syrian base with projectiles.
Earlier today, The Washington Post cited a US military source claiming that the aircraft “targeted infrastructure used by groups with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).”
Tehran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani dismissed all claims that Iran was involved in either of the 25 August attacks.
A day prior, three rockets struck a US base near the Conoco gas field in Syria’s northeastern Deir Ezzor countryside.
The rocket landed inside the base, injuring at least three US soldiers and causing material damage. In retaliation, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the destruction of three vehicles and equipment used to launch some of the rockets.”
Indeed, minutes after that missile attack on US troops, local Syrian sources confirmed combat chopper activity in the area’s airspace.
Russia media outlet Sputnik said ambulances quickly arrived at the explosion site to transport the casualties and wounded, amid a large deployment of US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militants in the area.
Conoco is the largest gas field in Syria, producing nearly 10 million cubic meters of natural gas per day. Earlier this month, the Syrian oil ministry revealed that US troops plunder 80 percent of the country’s daily oil output.
At dawn on 23 August, the US military announced it carried out raids on facilities used by groups allegedly affiliated with the IRGC.
The US maintains approximately 900 troops in Syria, primarily split between the Al-Tanf base and the country’s eastern oil fields.
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Special coverage on the aggression that targeted points in the vicinity of Masyaf
The US occupation forces in Syria announce that they carried out precision airstrikes on facilities linked to the IRGC in Deir Ezzor, Syria.
Boys look out the window of a building damaged by an Israeli occupation air strike near Damascus airport, in Damascus, Syria, November 20, 2019 (Reuters)
The US occupation forces in Syria said early Wednesday they carried out airstrikes in eastern Syria on areas used by groups linked to the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC).
The strikes “took proportionate, deliberate action intended to limit the risk of escalation and minimize the risk of casualties,” the US military’s Central Command said.
CENTCOM did not identify the targets nor offer any figures killed in the strikes that the military said came at the orders of US President Joe Biden.
“Today’s strikes were necessary to protect and defend US personnel,” CENTCOM spokesperson Colonel Joe Buccino claimed in a statement.
Buccino underlined that the offensive was in response to an attack that took place on August 15, which was allegedly launched by “Iran-backed groups” in Syria against a US occupation forces post in Al-Tanf region. CENTCOM claimed that the attack did not result in any casualties or damages.
“These precision strikes are intended to defend and protect US forces from attacks like the ones on August 15 against US personnel by Iran-backed groups,” the statement read.
“The US strikes targeted infrastructure facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s [IRGC],” it added.
Iranian media announced Tuesday the martyrdom of IRGC officer Abolfazl Alijani during an advisory mission in Syria.
According to Iranian media, martyr Alijani, a graduate of the Imam Hussain Military College of the IRGC, is one of the combat engineering cadres of the ‘Amir Al-Mu’minin’ college for Military Sciences of the Revolution Guards Ground Force.
Deir Ezzor is a highly important region for the US occupation forces, as it lies on the borders with Iraq and contains vast oil fields.
The Syrian Oil Ministry revealed earlier this month that the US occupation forces loot the majority of Syria’s oil, knowing that the daily production of the eastern oil fields is 80.3 thousand barrels.
It is noteworthy that Syrian state media has accused over and over again the US and the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) armed groups of occupying areas in the vicinity of oil-rich fields, smuggling resources to Iraq, and then siphoning them out.
The United States has been for years supporting SDF militias against Damascus, and the US-backed forces are currently occupying parts of the provinces of Al-Haskah, Deir Ezzor, and Raqqa, where the largest Syrian oil and gas fields are located.
The actions carried out by the United States constitute state piracy with the aim of plundering Syria’s oil resources and depriving the Syrians of their own resources amid a harsh economic situation caused largely by the occupiers, the Americans themselves.
Press conference of the foreign ministers of Syria and Russia
-عام 2014 كان مفصلياً في حياة سورية عندما ظهر الطريق المسدود أمام مشروع إسقاط الدولة ورئيسها، وفشل الرهان على عشرات آلاف الإرهابيين الذين تم جلبهم من كل أنحاء الدنيا، وتكفل بهم الجيش السوري بدعم قوى المقاومة بإلحاق الهزيمة بهم، فجاء الجواب مركباً، تم تصنيع تنظيم داعش بقرار أميركي كشفه الرئيس السابق دونالد ترامب مشيراً بإصبع الاتهام إلى هيلاري كلينتون، ثم تمّ اتخاذ ظهور داعش وتمدده ذريعة للتمركز الأميركي على الأراضي السورية وعودتها الى الأراضي العراقية، وبالتوازي قام الجيش التركي الذي قدّم الملاذ لتكوين داعش وتنظيم صفوفه، كما فعل مع التشكيلات الإرهابية التي سبقته، بالتوغل داخل الأراضي السورية محكماً السيطرة على محافظة إدلب وأجزاء من محافظة حلب، وكما اتخذت أميركا من صنيعتها داعش ذريعة لاحتلال محافظتي الحسكة والرقة، وقامت بتشجيع نشوء كانتون كردي مسلح فيهما، اتخذ الرئيس التركي من ظهور الكانتون التركي ذريعة احتلال قواته للأراضي السورية، وتهديده الدائم بتوسيع عمله العسكري إلى المزيد من الأراضي.
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نهاية عام 2015 بدأ التحول المعاكس مع تموضع القوات الروسية في سورية، وتناغم الأداء الروسي السوري الإيراني بمشاركة المقاومة لخوض حرب إنهاء داعش في سورية، بينما كان الحشد الشعبي مع المقاومة و الجمهورية الإسلامية الإيرانية يعيدون تكوين الجيش العراقي بالتوازي مع خوض معركة تحرير العراق، وتحقق ستاتيكو استراتيجي في البلدين، حيث الاحتلال الأميركي والاحتلال التركي يسيطران على الأراضي السورية في عدة محافظات تعادل ثلث مساحة سورية، وبعض الأراضي العراقية، لكن مشروع اسقاط العراق وسورية بات من الماضي، حتى جاءت قمة طهران وفتحت طريق كسر معادلة هذا الستاتيكو، حيث تموضعت روسيا الى جانب ايران وراء الدولة السورية، سواء بقرار رعاية مقاومة سورية وطنية وشعبية بوجه الاحتلال الأميركي، أو بقرار الجيش السوري مواجهة أي عمل عسكري تركي نحو الأراضي السورية، والمعادلة واضحة، إنهاء الاحتلال الأميركي ينهي الكانتون الكردي ويسقط الذريعة التركية، فيفتح الباب لوضع مستقبل الاحتلال التركي على الطاولة، بينما يتولى الحشد الشعبي في العراق تذكير الأتراك بجدية القرار، بحتمية وقف العمليات وانسحاب الاحتلال. –
خلال السنوات التي مضت نضج وعي شرائح واسعة من أبناء سورية في مناطق الجزيرة، شرق الفرات حيث الاحتلال الأميركي، لصالح مشروع المقاومة، وبذلت الدولة السورية ومؤسساتها العسكرية والأمنية جهوداً جدية ودؤوبة على تنظيم صفوف قوى المقاومة السورية، وكانت قوى المقاومة في المنطقة المساندة للدولة السورية تنقل خبراتها لهذه المقاومة الصاعدة، وكانت إيران لا تبخل بما ينبغي لتكوين قوة المقاومة الواعدة، وخرجت تظاهرات عديدة بوجه الاحتلال الأميركي، ووقعت مصادمات شعبية مع وحدات الاحتلال، ونفذت عمليات محدودة متباعدة ضد مواقع الاحتلال، لكن قبل أيام قليلة بدا أن قرار بدء العمل المقاوم المتواصل حتى طرد الاحتلال الأميركي قد اتخذ، فكان كلام وزير الخارجية السورية فيصل المقداد عن حتمية انسحاب قوات الاحتلال الأميركي، والا فسيلقى مقاومة شعبية تجبره على الخروج، إشارة واضحة بهذا الاتجاه.
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. لم يبق للاحتلال من ذريعة بعد حرمان داعش من أي ملاذ آمن، غير المناطق التي يسيطر عليها الاحتلال الأميركي نفسه، وفضائح قيامه بنقل بعض قيادات داعش الى أفغانستان قبل انسحابه منها ضجت بها وسائل إعلام غربية، وكلام ترامب العلني عن تبرير الاحتلال بسرقة النفط بحد ذاته فضيحة، وطرد الاحتلال سيعني حكماً تحرير ثروات سورية من النفط والغاز، وما يترتب على ذلك من عودة فورية للكهرباء الى كل المناطق السورية، وحل أزمات المحروقات التي يعاني منها كل السوريين، والأميركي معني بأن يفهم بأن قصف معسكراته هذه المرة بالصواريخ ليس إلا بداية لعمل سيتواصل، ويفرض عليه الانسحاب، وعليه أن يختار سحب قواته عمودياً، أي وهم أحياء، قبل أن يبدأ بسحبهم أفقياً، أي في التوابيت.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the ‘Israeli’ occupation regime has secretly coordinated the majority of its airstrikes on Syria with the United States.
‘Israel’ secretly coordinates with the US on many of the airstrikes it carries out in Syria, according to current and former US officials, the report by the American newspaper read.
The report added that American officials have said little about ‘Israel’s’ bombing missions.
The airstrikes are allegedly aimed at interrupting arms supplies to the Resistance groups operating on Syrian territories.
The American side pays special attention to the ‘Israeli’ strikes near Al-Tanf military base, which is a US stronghold near the Syrian-Jordanian border, the report underlines.
At least three people were martyred after the ‘Israeli’ occupation’s warplanes launched fresh airstrikes on the outskirts of Damascus late on Friday, Syrian media said, adding that the country’s air defenses intercepted “hostile targets.”
The air raid launched from the ‘Israeli’-occupied Golan Heights targeted the southern parts of the Syrian capital amid renewed aggression against the Arab country.
State-run SANA news agency said the attack took place at around 23:01 local time on Friday [20:01 GMT on Saturday] when the ‘Israeli’ regime carried out surface-to-surface missiles at targets in southern Damascus.
“Three people were martyred and some material losses caused,” it said, citing a military source.
The report said the country’s air defense intercepted the “hostile targets” and shot down most of them.
According to reports, the attack also resulted in a fire near Damascus International Airport, leading to the postponement of two flights.
The latest ‘Israeli’ aggression came a week after five people, including a civilian, were martyred in a missile attack targeting the town of Masyaf in the Hama countryside.
Before that, on April 27, a deadly air raid left 10 people martyred, including six Syrian forces.
Syria has been in the throes of foreign-backed militancy since March 2011.
Although Daesh [Arabic for takfiri terrorist ‘ISIS/ISIL’ group] was crushed by Damascus with the help of resistance groups in the region, terrorist groups continue to hold sway in some parts of the country.
The Syrian government maintains that the ‘Israeli’ regime and its Western and regional allies aid these terrorist groups that continue to wreak havoc in the country.
The Tel Aviv occupation regime has been a key supporter of foreign terrorist groups in the Arab country, who have been seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad and his democratically-elected government.
The Zionist occupation regime frequently launches airstrikes at Syria, which many see as a knee-jerk reaction to the Syrian government’s phenomenal success in decimating Tel Aviv-backed terrorist groups.
The aerial bombardments intensified in scale and frequency after 2011 when the Arab country found itself in the grip of foreign-backed militancy and terrorism.
The Syrian government has, on numerous occasions, complained to the United Nations about the incessant ‘Israeli’ aggression.
Following the May 14 strike, Syria’s foreign ministry urged the UN Security Council to issue a “clear” condemnation of the Zionist regime’s recurrent attacks on the Arab country.
The ministry in a letter stated that the ‘Israeli’ strike came hours after an assault by foreign-backed terrorists in northern Syria killed 10 troops.
The back-to-back incidents “show a permanent coordination between ‘Israel’ and its terrorist stooges,” SANA said at the time, citing the country’s foreign ministry.
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US-sponsored terrorists of an ISIS-affiliated group operating out of the Al Tanf area have assassinated the head of the town council and the head of the Baath Party in the town of Al Nuaymah in the eastern countryside of Daraa.
Ali Awad Abboud, acting head of the town council, and Fouad Abboud, the head of the Baath party constituency in the town arrived dead at the National Hospital of Daraa, a source in the hospital informed the Syrian news agency Sana in a statement.
The hospital source said in the statement that both victims were killed by gunshots to their chests confirming the information circulating by local sources in the town who said ‘unknown gunmen shot the two officials in the town’ and they immediately fell dead.
This assassination indicates it was carried out by terrorists highly trained by an agency with such experiences, like the CIA or one of the US military agencies that carry out similar crimes around the world.
We’ve reported on the 23rd of December 2021, less than 5 months ago, the assassination of the mayor of the town of Al Nuaymah Alaa Al Abboud, he was killed by a bomb planted under his car, and some other members of his family were injured in the terrorist attack.
We also mentioned in the report on the previous assassination how the remnants of ISIS terrorists and members of the ISIS-affiliated terrorist group Maghawir Thawra operate out of the 50 kilometers no-fly zone established by the Biden forces illegally deployed in the Al Tanf area in the furthest southeastern Syrian desert, these forces have carried out military drills with the terrorists who also hold hundreds of Syrian families in the infamous Rukban concentration camp as human shields.
Syrian people, state and army officials, politicians, scientists, and tribal notables have all been targeted by the US-sponsored ‘Moderate Rebels’ or call use the latest trend by NATO the ‘Foreign Legion’ – Syria Branch, the US under the Noble Peace Laureate Obama have created these terrorist groups after failing to take over Syria by the color revolution dubbed Arab Spring, later beefed up by Trump, and now came back the diverse, most inclusive regime of Biden to continue investing in these terrorist groups to punish the Syrian people for not accepting the modern-day slavery decided upon them by the owners of the USA.
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This was the Syrian president’s second visit to Iran since the war on Syria began in 2011.
Iranian leader praised Syria’s president for his steadfastness during the foreign-backed war on the country, saying: “Today, Syria is not the same Syria that it was before the war, although the devastation [of war] was not there at that time, now Syria enjoys a higher degree of respect and credit and all countries look upon it as a power.”
“Some leaders of countries that are neighbors to us and you, have relations with the leaders of the Zionist regime and drink coffee together. However, people of the same countries pour into the streets on [International] Quds Day and chant anti-Zionism slogans, and this is the current reality of the region,” Khamenei added.
“One of the most important of those factors was your own high morale,” the Iranian leader said, adding, “and, God willing, you would be able to reconstruct the ravages of war with the same morale, because you have a great work to do.”
Elsewhere in his remarks, Khamenei said “That honorable martyr harbored a special zeal for Syria and made sacrifices in the true sense of the word. His conduct in Syria was no different from his conduct during the eight-year Sacred Defense in Iran,” referring to Martyr General Qassem Soleimani.
On his account, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said that “the steadfastness of Iran and its unwavering stances in the past four decades on regional issues, particularly on the issue of Palestine, have shown to the entire world that Iran’s path is a correct and principled path.”
Furthermore, he also praised the Iranian leader for carrying on the late Imam Khomeini’s legacy of support for the region’s nations, particularly the Palestinians.
“The steadfastness of the Iranian nation on the principles and fundaments laid by [the late founder of the Islamic Republic] Imam Khomeini, which has continued through your determination, has paved the way for great triumphs of the great nation of Iran and the regional people, especially the people of Palestine,” Al-Assad said.
The Syrian president concluded by saying: “What prevented the Zionist regime of Israel from gaining the rule over the region is the strategic relations between Iran and Syria, which must continue with might”.
It is worth mentioning that Iran’s Nour News reported that the Syrian leader left Tehran for Damascus on Sunday after important talks.
الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد يجري زيارةً إلى طهران التقى خلالها نظيره الإيراني إبراهيم رئيسي والمرشد الأعلى علي خامنئي.
الرئيس الإيراني ابراهيم رئيسي مع نظيره السوري بشار الأسد، والمرشد الإيراني السيد علي الخامنئي
دعا المرشد الإيراني السيد علي خامنئي، لدى استقباله الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد، اليوم الأحد، إلى “ضرورة التعامل مع سوريا على أنها قوة إقليمية في المنطقة”، مشيراً إلى أنّ “دمشق لم تعد اليوم مثل مرحلة ما قبل الحرب”.
وقال السيد خامنئي، بحسب بيانٍ على موقعه الإلكتروني إنّ “سوريا لم تعد اليوم مثل ما قبل الحرب فمكانتها أصبحت أعلى بكثير من السابق وعلى الجميع أن ينظر إليها اليوم كقوة إقليمية”، مضيفاً أنه “بوجود الروح العالية والتصميم لدى الرئيس والحكومة الإيرانية على توسيع التعاون مع سوريا، يجب بذل الجهود لتحسين العلاقات بين البلدين أكثر من ذي قبل”.
وأشار السيد خامنئي إلى أنّ “بعض قادة دول جوار إيران وسوريا، يجلسون ويقفون مع قادة الكيان الصهيوني ويشربون القهوة سوياً مع بعضهم البعض، ولكن أهالي وشعوب هذه الدول في يوم القدس ملأت الشوارع بالحشود والشعارات المعادية للصهيونية والصهاينة، وهذا هو واقع المنطقة اليوم”.
الرئيس السوري مع السيد علي خامنئي
بدوره، قال الرئيس الإيراني إبراهيم رئيسي خلال استقباله الأسد اليوم إنّ “ما يحدث اليوم في منطقة غرب آسيا هو ما توقعه قائد الثورة الإسلامية قبل فترة بأنّ مقاومة الشعوب أمام المعتدين والمستكبرين ستثمر”، مضيفاً أنّ “جنابكم كوالدكم، تمثّلون وجهاً من وجوه جبهة المقاومة”.
وأوضح رئيسي أنّ “مجاهدي المقاومة أثبتوا أنهم قوة يمكن الاعتماد عليها لإحلال الأمن والاستقرار في المنطقة ولا سيما في سوريا”، لافتاً إلى أنه “عندما كان بعض الزعماء في العالم العربي وخارجه يراهنون على انهيار النظام السوري، اصطفت إيران إلى جانب سوريا حكومةً وشعباً ووقفت معها”.
وشدد الرئيس الإيراني على ضرورة “تحرير كل الأراضي السورية من دنس المحتلين والعملاء الأجانب ويجب طردهم”، مضيفاً أنه يجب تنويع “معادلات ردع إسرائيل” في المنطقة.
وأشار رئيسي إلى أنّ “ما يحسم مصير المنطقة ليس طاولة المفاوضات وإنما مقاومة الشعوب التي تحدد النظام الإقليمي الجديد”.
الأسد: إيران كانت البلد الوحيد الذي وقف إلى جانبنا منذ بداية العدوان
من جهته، أكد الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد أنّ “البعض يعتقد أنّ دعم إيران لجبهة المقاومة هو دعم بالسلاح فقط، ولكن أهم دعم ومساعدة للجمهورية الإسلامية هو بث روح المقاومة واستمرارها”، مشيراً إلى أنّ “ما جعل الكيان الصهيوني غير قادر على حكم المنطقة هو العلاقة الاستراتيجية بين إيران وسوريا التي يجب أن تستمرّ بقوة”.
وتابع الأسد أنّ “أنقاض الحرب يمكن إعادة بنائها، لكن إذا دمرت الأسس والمبادئ فلا يمكن إعادة بنائها”، لافتاً إلى أنّ بلاده “مستعدة لتعزيز التعاون والتنسيق مع إيران على الصعد الأمنية والسياسية والاقتصادية”.
وشدد الرئيس السوري على أنّ “دور إيران مهم في مكافحة الإرهاب وإيران كانت البلد الوحيد الذي وقف إلى جانبنا منذ بداية مواجهة العدوان الغربي التكفيري”، مضيفاً أنّ “علاقتنا مع إيران استراتيجية والصمود أثبت أنه مؤثر”.
وأردف الأسد: “نشهد انهياراً للدور الأميركي في المنطقة وقد أثبتنا أننا قادرون على الانتصار أمام أميركا والقوى المهيمنة من خلال التعاون الوثيق بين دول المنطقة”، مشيراً إلى أنّ “نجاح المقاومة الفلسطينية أثبت أنّ تطبيع بعض العرب مع إسرائيل له نتائج عكسية”.
وأكد الرئيس السوري أنّ “ما يمنع الكيان الصهيوني من السيطرة على المنطقة هو العلاقات الاستراتيجية الإيرانية السورية”.
حضور وزيري الخارجية وعدد من المسؤولين ولاسيما العميد اسماعيل قاآني قائد قوة القدس
الرئاسة السورية
هذا وأكدت الرئاسة السورية أنّ “لقاءات الرئيس الأسد في إيران تناولت العلاقات التاريخية القائمة على مسار طويل من التعاون الثنائي”، مضيفةً أنّ “الرئيس الأسد أكد خلال لقاء السيد خامنئي أنّ مجريات الأحداث أثبتت مجدداً صوابية النهج الذي سار عليه البلدان”.
وتابعت أنّ “الأسد أكد أهمية استمرار التعاون لمنع أميركا من إعادة بناء منظومة الإرهاب التي استخدمتها للإضرار بالمنطقة”، مشيرةً إلى أنّ “الرئيس الأسد أكد خلال لقائه السيد خامنئي أنّ القضية الفلسطينية اليوم تعيد فرض حضورها وأهميتها أكثر فأكثر”.
وأردفت الرئاسة السورية أنّ السيد خامنئي “أكد استمرار إيران في دعمها لسوريا لاستكمال انتصارها على الإرهاب وتحرير باقي أراضيها”، لافتةً إلى أنّ “الرئيس الإيراني أكد للرئيس الأسد أنّ لدى إيران الإرادة الجادّة في توسيع العلاقات بين البلدين”.
الرئيس الأسد يجري زيارة عمل إلى العاصمة الإيرانية طهران التقى خلالها آية الله السيد علي الخامنئي قائد الثورة الإسلامية في إيران، وإبراهيم رئيسي رئيس الجمهورية الإسلامية الإيرانية. pic.twitter.com/aMQahfNOXE
We speak to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s political advisor Bouthaina Shaaban. She alleges that the US has been working with ISIS to demographically change Syria and make way for a Syrian Kurdistan, the US’ theft of Syrian oil and natural resources, Israeli bombing of Syria, Syria’s inclusion into China’s Belt and Road Initiative and much more.
Green Berets and their partner force, the Maghaweir al-Thowra (MaT), during a joint patrol mission near At-Tanf Garrison, Syria, April 29, 2020. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. William Howard)
The US-led coalition had withdrawn most of its troops from the al-Tanf garrison in southeastern Syria to Jordan, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on January 3.
According to the London-based monitoring group, the coalition took the step out of fear that pro-Iranian forces in Syria or Iraq may attack the garrison with suicide drones or rocket to honor the memory of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Deputy-Commander of the Popular Mobilization Units, and Iran’s Quds Force Commander, Maj. Gen. Qassim Soleimani, who were assassinated by the US exactly two years ago.
“The coalition kept a number of its troops at the base within special shelters that are difficult to penetrate, and the bulk of the troops withdrew to Jordan,” the SOHR’s report reads.
The US-led coalition also ordered its main proxy group at al-Tanf, the Revolutionary Commando Army (MaT), to deploy its fighters outside of the garrison.
Around 200 US troops and some 300 MaT fighters are usually deployed at al-Tanf garrison. The US-led coalition maintains a 55 kilometers no-fly, no-drive zone around the garrison.
On October 20, al-Tanf came under attack. The garrison was targeted with five suicide drones and indirect fire. The attack resulted in some serious material damage. However, there were no casualties. On December 14, a warplane of the Royal Air Force shot down one of two small drones that breached al-Tanf’s no-fly zone.
US officials believe that Iran or Iranian-backed forces were behind both the October 20 attack and the December 14 drone incident.
The US claims that its forces are present in al-Tanf to counter ISIS in Syria’s central and southern regions. However, the garrison was in fact established in 2016 to block a strategic highway that links the Syrian capital, Damascus, with Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
Several Katyusha rockets separately hit military facilities where US occupation forces are stationed in Syria’s oil-producing northern provinces of Deir Ez-Zor and Hasakah, but there were no immediate reports of serious injuries and the extent of damage caused.
A military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Arabic-language Shafaq news agency that three projectiles slammed into a base in Deir Ez-Zor that sits near the border with Iraq and where US occupation forces are stationed, on Friday evening.
Witnesses, who preferred not to be named, said successive explosions were heard after the rockets targeted the military base. No group has claimed responsibility for the targeting yet.
The US military later responded and struck the rocket launchers with 155mm howitzers.
Furthermore, the General Organization of Radio and Television Syria [ORTAS] reported late on Friday that a number of rockets had been fired on a military airbase where US occupation forces are positioned in the country’s northeastern province of Hasakah.
The report added that the rockets landed at the edge of base in al-Shaddadi town, which lies on the southern outskirts of the provincial, without no immediate reports about casualties.
The US military has stationed its occupation forces and equipment in eastern and northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh [Arabic for ‘ISIS/ISIL’] terrorists.
Damascus, however, says the unlawful deployment is meant to plunder the country’s resources.
Former US president Donald Trump admitted on several occasions that American forces were in Syria for its oil.
After failing to oust the Syrian government with the help of its proxies and direct involvement in the conflict, the US government has now stepped up its economic war on the Arab country.
On the morning of 5 December, two US military bases used by the illegal occupation forces in Syria, as well as a US convoy in Iraq were attacked by several blasts, according to Syrian state TV and a local Iraqi Telegram channel, Sabereen News.
Various blasts were heard at Al-Tanf base in Syria, situated near Syria’s borders with Iraq and Jordan, according to the Syrian state TV report.
The US has come under attack for the first time by Syria and Iraq on the same day, as anti-US sentiment rises due to their illegal presence in both countries.
The cause of the explosions is yet to be known, but seemingly, no US troops were wounded or killed.
This is not the first time that Al-Tanf base has been attacked.
The US military base in southern Syria was attacked on 20 October by drones and rockets, in a strike described as “complex, coordinated, and deliberate” by Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
According to US officials, five drones loaded with explosives attacked Al-Tanf, and they hit both the US side of the base and the side where US-supported militants resided.
Al-Tanf is the base where the US trains its collection of mercenary militias.
On the evening of 4 December, RT Arabic reported that three missiles were also fired at a US military base in Syria’s Deir Ezzor province, citing a local source.
The source also said that, as a result of the attack on the US base inside the Conoco gas field, a large number of military helicopters went into action over the area.
Anti-US sentiments continue to build up in Iraq and Syria, as the illegal US-trained troops plunder the resources of both countries.
In Syria’s Hasaka governorate, Syrian citizens, along with the Syrian army, have managed to stop three US convoys attempting to enter the area, forcing them to retreat.
After a long decade of an imposed, cruel and bloody winter, the political recovery of the Arab block as an international actor is taking shape precisely around Bilad al-Sham.
Bilad al-Sham is much more than a mere geographic reference, as western outsiders seem to believe every time they equal what is an ancient rich and comprehensive social, cultural, and political reality with that of the Levant. The latter is indeed a purely physical tag. This misunderstanding is at the core of those western catastrophic cyclic policies towards Bilad al-Sham and beyond. It’s also the cause of the systematic failure of their interventionist schemes in what by far transcends a landscape.
Since the time of the crusaders, one after the other, all and each of western attempts to divide and conquer has ended up with the invaders expelled, puzzled and for a long time searching for the causes of their recurrent defeats. An example of this is what happened during the 20th century’s first half, when the French and British plot to dismember Bilad al-Sham according to the Sykes-Picot secret terms ended up shamefully on April 17th, 1946. On that date, the last of the defeated French soldiers evacuated off the core of Bilad al-Sham, nowadays the Syrian Arab Republic. In parallel, the other member of the aspiring terminator duo struggled to impose to the region a Zionist entity that 73 years later is still psychologically insecure and desperately trying to make true the impossible dream of its British putative father. Palestine, the Syrian Golan, and Lebanon are the mirror that every single day reflects a fiasco that cannot be overcome through a wishful thinking so-called “normalization”.
More recently, the war imposed on Syria with the declared aim to quarter it into confessional and ethnic cantons, or mini-states depending on outside powers, has failed once again. Now as then the reason is the same. Bilad al-Sham’s main strength is the will of its diverse people to live together, regardless of their ethnic and religious different affiliations. In short, they just keep adhering to what has been there the natural state of things for several millennia, a social way of life which defines a culture. In case of necessity, such a rich legacy gives a formidable impulse to resistance and becomes an unbeatable defense shield vis-à-vis any invader.
Ten years after the beginning of the conspiracy against the Syrian Arab Republic, and by extension against the whole Bilad al-Sham, this solid ancient reality that westerners don’t identify because they simply don’t understand it, is showing all its economic and political possibilities, not to mention its social and cultural ones. Umm Kulthum, Fairouz, Sabah Fakhri, Nizar Qabbani, Mahmoud Darwish, George Wassouf, or Edward Said –just to remind some- are the cultural voices that trespass the imposed borders to Bilad al-Sham, exposing in every concert, book, reading, or listening session the futility of the dismembering endeavor.
The energy crisis imposed on several Middle Eastern countries is being solved in a natural – let’s say Shami, successful way that challenges those borders imposed one century ago by the infamous Sykes-Picot treaty. Lebanon is already receiving Iranian petrol transported through the Syrian Sea to the Syrian Arab Republic port of Banias and from there to Lebanon. The latter will also increase very soon its gas and electricity supplies thanks to the agreement that will facilitate Lebanon to receive from the Egyptian Sinai gas or gas transformed into electricity through Jordan and Syria. All the countries involved have in one way or the other been historically core components of Bilad al-Sham.
After a long decade of an imposed, cruel and bloody winter, the political recovery of the Arab block as an international actor is taking shape precisely around Bilad al-Sham. Trust and bonds among Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon have resettled. Some non-Bilad al-Sham countries have understood it and are rushing to reconcile with Syria. The UAE’s constructive policy shows that Abu Dhabi understood that any Arab attempt to counterbalance the western diktat to the Arab region and especially the pernicious Turkish aggressive policies must be built around Bilad al-Sham in both, geographically and cultural terms. From the Gulf, however, others insist to establish a new Arabness based on the radical interpretation of a religion that they believe is the only one possible. One spiritual current among many others that they feverishly pretend has to shape everything, from the government to the rule of law and even personal behavior. An extremist and short-minded ideology exported to the rest of the world from the desert south of Jordan and from the lands north of the Taurus Mountains.
Michel Aflaq and Salah Bitar’s Pan-Arabism is linked to a collective Arab identity developed around political struggles for independence and the use of Arabic as a language of understanding. As a means of communication, Arabic was embraced long before by the people of Bilad al-Sham, a useful and valuable tool to express its culture, thoughts, and social unity. In that sense, the UAE is siding with those like Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, or Algeria. The latter has always realized that the political unity of Arab states is based on a common language and a pragmatic approach to counterbalance an unfair world order. That unity can only be possible if social and cultural differences are respected. Above all, the Emiratis have understood that without Bilad al-Sham other schemes of convergence are simply not possible. That’s the meaning and validity of Bilad al-Sham. No more, no less.
The opinions mentioned in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Al mayadeen, but rather express the opinion of its writer exclusively.
UPROOTED PALESTINIANS: SALAM ALQUDS ALAYKUM 