Contents tagged with Syria

  • Turkey opens military operation control center in eastern Syria

    On March 31, Turkish Minister of Defense, Hulusi Akar, accompanied by the commanders of the country's troops, inspected military units stationed near the border with Syria. As part of the trip, the head of the military department took part in the opening of the Joint Operational Center for the management of the planned “anti-terrorist operation” in Syria’s territory, located east of the Euphrates River, reports Anadolu.

    The Turkish generals also drew attention to the military actions in …

  • Media provides details about deaths of Russian officers in Syria

    The location of the Russian major and two colonels who were killed in Syria may have been given out to the militants by the former Islamic State fighters or pro-Iranian units, reports Novaya Gazeta.

    Several days ago, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported deaths of three military in Syria as a result of militants’ attack at the end of February. Kremlin did not disclose any details of what happened.

    According to Novaya Gazeta, victims were a major and two colonels. They drove in a UAZ …

  • Israel carries out airstrike in Syria

    The Syrian news agency SANA has reported a series of explosions caused by airstrikes near the Aleppo airport and the adjacent industrial zones. Israeli fighter jets are believed to be behind the attack.

    “At around 23:00 [local time] on Wednesday, our aerial defense systems repelled an Israeli aerial attack on a number of facilities in the Shaykh Najjar industrial zone north-east of Aleppo, and shot down several missiles,” SANA cites its source as saying. The losses were reportedly limited to “ …

  • Media: Netanyahu pitched Syrian settlement plan to Putin and Trump

    Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, presented his settlement plan for Syria to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the United States President Donald Trump, reports The Times of Israel, quoting an unnamed high-ranking official.

    The Times of Israel did not specify when the presidents of the United States and Russia received proposals for a Syrian settlement from the Israeli prime minister. According to the newspaper, Putin showed interest in Netanyahu’s plan.

    The official noted that …

  • Russian Foreign Ministry confirms death of three officers in Syria

    The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that three officers from the Russian contingent in Syria, who were officially reported missing in February 2019, were killed in Syria.

    On February 22 in Syria, a car with three Russian servicemen, a major and two colonels, was ambushed by Islamic State militants. For a long time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not confirm the death of the servicemen, claiming that they were simply missing. However, it became known later that the military were …

  • Kremlin: Russia to adjust Crimea communication strategy in light of Trump’s Golan Heights decision

    The Russian Foreign Ministry intends to adjust its communication strategy on Crimea in light of the US’s pledge to recognize Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights, the department’s spokesperson Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook in response to a statement by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

    On Saturday, a Sky News reporter suggested that by condemning the annexation of Crimea but recognizing the annexation of the Golan Heights, the US is demonstrating double standards in its policy. Pompeo …

  • Two Russian military aircraft land in Venezuela

    Two Russian military transport planes landed in Venezuela on 23 March, according to flight-tracking data from CivMilAir. The Venezuelan news outlet El Nacional reports that the planes were transporting a group of Russian soldiers led by Colonel General Vasily Tonkoshkurov.

    El Nacional cites a post on Twitter by reporter Javier Mayorca, who claims that “a group of 99 Russian soldiers” had landed at the Caracas airport, where they were met by Marianni Mata, head of the Venezuelan Defense …

  • Media: Dozens killed and wounded by Russian airstrikes in Syrian Idlib

    The airstrikes of Russian fighters in areas of Idlib have killed ten and wounded 28 civilians, reported Turkey's TRT news agency with reference to Syrian Civil Defense Forces (the White Helmets).

    According to observers, “five Russian fighter jets that took off from the Khmeimin Air Base in the Latakia Governorate, struck villages and districts of Iblib”.

    It is noted that residential areas in the de-escalation zone, in particular, Khan Shaykhun and the towns of Al-Fu’ah and Kefriya in the …

  • Russian Defense Minister visits Syria to deliver Putin’s message to al-Assad

    The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that on Tuesday, March 19, Russian Defense Minister, Sergey Shoygu, paid an official visit to Syria, reports TASS.

    According to his representatives, the head of the Russian military department held talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus where he gave him a message from Putin. The ministry did not disclose the content of the message, only noting that during the negotiations Shoygu and al-Assad discussed "issues of combating international …

  • Iran trying to oust Russia from Syrian Latakia

    Iran could obtain control over a container port in the Syrian province of Latakia. Negotiations between the leaders of the Islamic republic and representatives of Damascus are already underway, and it is possible that Israel could have Iranian specialists on its doorstep by autumn, reports Rambler news outlet. A stronger foothold for Tehran in Syria will create risks not only for the Hebrew state, but also for Russia, whose relations with Iran can hardly be described as a “strategic partnership” …