An American who was detained in Syria for seven months has been freed, as Syrian rebels scour areas once controlled by Bashar al-Assad’s now-deposed regime.
Travis Timmerman, from Missouri, was found when trying to find his own way out of Syria after being freed from a prison by Syrian rebels.
He was initially mistaken by some on social media to be American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in Syria in 2012.
Mr Timmerman was detained when he entered Syria without permission for “spiritual purposes” seven months ago, he told CBS News. He was freed by two armed men with AK-47s on Monday after a stretch in prison which “wasn’t too bad”.
Meanwhile, the newly formed administration of Syria is planning to suspend the country’s constitution and parliament.
A source close to the Syrian government told Reuters news agency that a new committee of experts would make amendments to the constitution, but did not reveal what this might consist of.
It comes as the Turkish foreign minister, intelligence chief and Qatar’s head of state security are set to meet rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani and caretaker prime minister Mohammed al-Bashir in Damascus on Thursday.
KEY POINTS
- Syria’s new administration to suspend constitution
- American found alive after seven months in Syrian prison
- Thousands of ethnic minorities attempt to flee Syria
- Israel continues bombarding Syria - war monitor
UN chief calls on Israel to withdraw from buffer zone
03:30
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned by the recent and extensive violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
The UN in a statement said the Israeli forces have not only moved into parts of the separation zone but also conducted a “defensive” air campaign.
Israel has captured the buffer zone on the border of Israel and Syria near Golan Heights and has launched hundreds of missiles inside Syria targeting weapons stockpiles, military facilities and airfields.
It has also bombed naval vessels off the Syrian coast.
“The secretary-general is particularly concerned over the hundreds of Israeli airstrikes on several locations in Syria,” the UN statement said, calling for urgent de-escalation “on all fronts, throughout Syria”.
Mr Guterres added it was “imperative to support credible, orderly and inclusive transitional arrangements in Syria”.
Syrian military officer charged with several counts of torture
03:02
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
A court in the US has charged a former Syrian military official with several counts of torture for overseeing a prison where alleged human rights abuses took place.
He was arrested in July for visa fraud charges.Samir Ousman al-Sheikh, who oversaw Syria’s infamous Adra Prison from 2005 to 2008 under recently ousted president Bashar al-Assad, was charged by a federal grand jury with several counts of torture and conspiracy to commit torture.
“It’s a huge step toward justice,” said Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the US-based Syrian Emergency Task Force.
“Samir Ousman al-Sheikh’s trial will reiterate that the United States will not allow war criminals to come and live in the United States without accountability, even if their victims were not US citizens.”
Bel Trew | ‘They used us as a testing ground for all kinds of weapons’: Syrians return to destroyed town
03:01
Alex Croft
For miles, the bleached ribcages of bombed-out buildings on either side of the main highway north of Damascus flick past as you drive – a grim monument to some of the fiercest battles that took place between Bashar al-Assad’s forces and rebels at the start of the revolution more than a decade ago.
None of the residents of Jobar – once a revolutionary heartland – were able to return to or rebuild their homes as Syria’s civil war rolled on, even after the regime retook control.
Now, after Assad’s stunning defeat, families, some of whom returned from fleeing the country, pick through the dust-choked rubble of what was once their homes. They gather at Jobar’s chewed-up central graveyard to host the first funeral here in 13 years.
Our chief international correspondent Bel Trew reports:
Syria’s caretaker PM urges refugees to ‘come home’
02:03
Alex Croft
Syria’s caretaker prime minister Mohammed al-Bashir has urged all Syrians who fled president Bashar al-Assad’s brutal dictatorship to return and help “rebuild” the Arab nation.
“My appeal goes out to all Syrians abroad: Syria is now a free country that has regained its pride and dignity. Come back,” he told Corriere della Sera.
“We need to rebuild, to get our country on its feet again, and we need everyone’s help.”
At least 7.4 million Syrians remained internally displaced and nearly 4.9 million were seeking refuge in neighbouring countries, the UN said in a 2024 report.
We will not pardon Assad’s torturers, rebel commander says
01:01
Alex Croft
Syrian rebel commander Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who fronted the group responsible for the collapse of the Assad regime, has vowed not to pardon the former dictator’s henchmen.
On Wednesday afternoon, Syria’s state broadcaster posted the commander’s comments.
“We will not pardon those who were involved in the torture and liquidation of detainees and were the cause of this,” the leader of Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) said.
“We will pursue them in our country, and we demand that countries hand over to us those of these criminals who fled to them in order to achieve justice against them.”
Watch: Tomb of Bashar al-Assad's father engulfed in flames as rebels set fire to mausoleum
00:02
Alex Croft
Syrian rebels set fire to the tomb of Bashar al-Assad’s father in his family’s hometown in Al-Qardahah, near Latakia.
Eyewitness video released on Wednesday, 11 December, showed men gathering around flames inside the mausoleum of Hafez al-Assad.
The date of the footage could not be independently verified, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that gunmen set fire to the tomb on Tuesday.
Hafez Al-Assad took office on March 14 1971, seizing power in a bloodless coup in which Dr Noureddin Al-Atassi was overthrown.
His son Bashar was ousted over the weekend and fled to Russia where he was given political asylum.
The family ruled Syria for more than 50 years with a brutal regime.
Israel continues bombarding Syria - war monitor
Thursday 12 December 2024 23:18
Alex Croft
Israel has continued its bombardment of Syria as the country looks to build a post-Assad future.
UK-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Wednesday: “Israeli warplanes continue to destroy what remains of Syria’s military arsenal for the fourth consecutive day since the fall of the former regime.”
Over 352 air strikes have been carried out in 13 Syrian provinces, the monitor said. They have been focussed on “warehouses, aircraft, radar systems and military signal stations, scientific research centres and weapons and ammunitions warehouses in different positions across Syria”.
Israel says it is targeting military infrastructure to guarantee its own security.
Palestinian factions in Syria set to meet new leaders
Thursday 12 December 2024 22:35
Alex Croft
Syria-based Palestinian factions have formed a unified delegation to meet the country’s new rebel-led authorities.
The factions said after a meeting at the Palestinian embassy that they stood by the side of the Syrian people.
They condemned Israel’s air strikes on Syria over the past few days that have destroyed much of the assets of the Syrian army.
The factions decided to form a joint committee to run the affairs of Palestinians in Syria as well as to be in contact with the new insurgent-led transitional government, following the ousting of president Bashar Assad.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians live in Syria, many of them refugees, and the factions that have been based in Damascus were close to Assad’s government. Hamas was based in Syria until it left in 2012, a year after the county’s civil war began.
Israeli military video said to show strikes on Syria 'weapons stockpiles'
Thursday 12 December 2024 21:56
Alex Croft
Syria’s former ruling party led by Assad suspends activities
Thursday 12 December 2024 21:22
Alex Croft
Syria’s Baath Party said it is suspending its work and activities until further notice as it deposed ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad.
All work and activity “will be suspended in all its forms until further notice,” a statement said on the party’s website.
The former ruling party, which has been led by the Assad family for decades, said that all its property, funds and weapons would be handed to police and law enforcement authorities.
“All the party’s property and funds will be placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice, and its proceeds are to be deposited in the Central Syrian Bank.”
How Putin’s intelligence agents convinced Assad to flee Syria
Thursday 12 December 2024 20:47
Alex Croft
Russian intelligence agents persuaded Bashar al-Assad to flee Syria with Moscow having become convinced that he would lose against the insurgents rapidly advancing on Damascus, sources have said.
Moscow offered Mr Assad a safe exit if he left the country immediately as the rebel forces led by former al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahir al-Sham (HTS) approached, leading to the toppling of 50 years of rule by the Assad family.
According to a report by Bloomberg, citing three people with knowledge of the situation, Russian agents flew Mr Assad out via a Russian airbase in Syria, with the aircraft’s transponder turned off to avoid being tracked.
Angus Thompson reports:
In Focus | History tells us dictators who build the biggest bunkers have the most fragile minds
Thursday 12 December 2024 20:15
Alex Croft
We have seen these scenes before, of course. As soon as the dictator has fled, his properties are stormed, revealing more wealth than his benighted people could have ever expected. The images and video coming out of Damascus over the past few days are therefore unexceptional – there are the requisite rows of incredibly expensive cars; the predictably naff and soulless marble palace; the textbook lurid and ghastly furniture. You can imagine Loyd Grossman taking us through the keyhole to ask “Who would live in a palace like this?”
The wealth of evil men such as Bashar al-Assad is always stolen from the people they claim to protect, but these images of dictator kitsch provide light relief from the other terrible scenes that always accompany a toppling – the horrors of the prisons and torture chambers.
Ukraine ‘gave rebels drones’
Thursday 12 December 2024 19:43
Alex Croft
Syrian fighters received about 150 drones and other covert support from Ukrainian intelligence operatives last month, weeks ahead of the rebels’ advance that toppled Bashar al-Assad over the weekend, according to The Washington Post.
The paper said Ukrainian intelligence sent about 20 drone operators and about 150 first-person-view drones about four to five weeks ago to aid Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Russia’s foreign ministry had earlier said the rebels had received drones from Ukraine and training in how to operate them, an accusation that Ukraine’s foreign ministry at the time said it categorically rejected.
Kurds in Syria face an uncertain future
Thursday 12 December 2024 19:11
Alex Croft
The jihadi rebels who toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad say they want to build a unified, inclusive country. But after 14 years of civil war, putting that ideal into practice will not be easy. For Syria‘s Kurdish minority - America’s closest ally in the country - the struggle for a new order is entering a potentially even more challenging phase.
Over the course of Syria‘s civil war, Kurdish fighters have fended off an array of armed factions, partnered with the US to rout the Islamic State group and carved out a largely autonomous region in the country’s oil-rich east. But the gains of the non-Arab Kurds are now at risk. The ascendance of the Sunni Arab rebels who overthrew Assad — with vital help from Turkey, a longtime foe of the Kurds — will make it hard for the Kurds to find a place in the new Syria and could prolong the conflict.
The jihadi rebels who rode into Damascus over the weekend have made peaceful overtures to the Kurds. But the rebels violently drove Kurdish fighters out of the eastern city of Deir al-Zour days after government forces abandoned it. To the north, a separate opposition faction backed by Turkey that has been battling the Kurds for years seized the town of Manbij. And Turkey carried out airstrikes on a Kurdish convoy it said was carrying heavy weapons looted from government arsenals. The Kurds have long counted on US aid in the face of such challenges.
Around 900 American troops are in eastern Syria, where they partner with Kurdish forces to prevent an Islamic State resurgence.
But the future of that mission will be thrown into doubt under president-elect Donald Trump, who has long been skeptical about US involvement in Syria.
Safeguarding Russian bases and diplomats in Syria paramount: Kremlin
Thursday 12 December 2024 18:40
Alex Croft
The Kremlin says ensuring the security of Russia’s military bases and diplomatic missions in Syria is of paramount importance.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was maintaining contacts with those in charge in Syria and that it was hopeful stability would be achieved.
Russia, whose airforce carried out strikes against advancing Syrian rebels earlier this month, before Bashar al-Assad’s regime was toppled, has a key air base in Latakia province and a naval facility at Tartous, its only Mediterranean repair and replenishment.
The Kremlin also took aim at Israel’s strikes against the Golan Heights region, in the border area abbutting Israel and Lebanon, after Israeli forces moved into the territory to prevent militant groups from occupying regions along the border which could be used to launch offensives into its territory.
Russia said Israel’s actions on the front were unlikely to contribute to Syria’s stabilisation.
Who is Mohammed al-Bashir? Syria’s new interim PM who has connections to both Assad and the rebels
Thursday 12 December 2024 18:08
Alex Croft
After more than half a century of the Assad family ruling over Syria, a little-known local politician has been named as the country’s interim leader and tasked with ushering in a stable government.
Three days on from rebels completing a sweeping offensive forcing Bashar Al-Assad, who succeeded his father as ruler, out of Syria and out of office, the country is looking to ensure a peaceful transition of power.
Mohammed al-Bashir, a politician who has been governing the rebel-controlled province of Idlib in northwest Syria, from which the offensive began, from January this year, has been made responsible for that transition.
In a brief address on state television on Tuesday, he announced that representatives of the rebels and the ousted government had agreed for him to act as caretaker until 1 March.
Tom Watling reports:
Rights group says Syrian refugees should not be forcefully sent back
Thursday 12 December 2024 17:37
Alex Croft
As debate swirls over what to do with millions of displaced Syrian refugees seeking asylum in Western nations, Human Rights Watch said earlier today no government should send Syrian refugees back forcefully.
The statement comes after several European nations, including the UK and Germany, this week announced plans to pause asylum applications for Syrian citizens.
“Every citizen has the right to return to their home country, safe or not. But because one refugee chooses to repatriate is no justification to forcibly return another who remains fearful, as many Syrian refugees do, especially given the country’s unstable and possibly dangerous conditions,” the group said.
“This approach carries real risks, especially given how keen some European states are to declare Syria safe and begin returns,” it said, adding that Syria remains “inherently volatile”.
EU to discuss Syria’s future - but too early to lift sanctions
Thursday 12 December 2024 16:54
Alex Croft
Foreign ministers in the European Union will discuss a common position on how to approach Syria’s transformation as the country embarks on a new era.
France’s foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine told a news conference on Thursday that it is too early to discuss lifting the sanctions imposed on Syria.
The EU first issued sanctions against Syria in May 2011.
Travis Timmerman: American who travelled to Syria on Christian pilgrimage freed from Assad jail
Thursday 12 December 2024 16:36
Alex Croft
An American who spent seven months in a Syrian prison after crossing into the country on foot on a Christian pilgrimage has been found.
Travis Timmerman, who was found in the town of Dhiyabiya, says he was one of thousands of people released from Syrian prisons after rebel groups ousted the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad after a 13-year civil war on the weekend.
Speaking with CBS, Mr Timmerman revealed that he was freed by two men with AK-47s on Monday, after being detained when he entered Syria for “spiritual purposes”. He told Al-Arabiya TV network that he crossed into Syria on foot from the eastern Lebanese town of Zahle.
After being detained and spending seven months in prison, Timmerman’s “door was busted down”, he told CBS. “I thought the guards were still there, so I thought the warfare could have been more active than it ended up being.
Read the full report:
Israeli incursion into Golan Heights buffer zone is logical, says US
Thursday 12 December 2024 16:20
Alex Croft
Israel’s incursion into the Golan Heights buffer zone is logical and in keeping with its right to self defence, the US national secuity adviser Jake Sullivan said on Thursday.
Mr Sullivan, who met with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, is visiting the Middle East to discuss the situation in Syria and a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
He told reporters that the US is in deep consultation with Israel over its actions in Syria, adding that the US expects Israel’s seizure of the buffer zone to be temporary.
Israel seized the buffer zone separating the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria proper on Sunday, hours after Bashar al-Assad’s regime was deposed by Syrian rebels.
Israel described reports that it had moved beyond the buffer zone as “false”, before later stating troops had been deployed beyond the buffer zone into Syria to create a “sterile defence zone”.
In pictures: Funeral of activist Mazen al-Hamada
Thursday 12 December 2024 16:03
Alex Croft
The funeral of Syrian activist Mazen al-Hamada, whose dead body was found inside the notorious Sednaya prison after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, took place on Thursday.
Mr Hamada, who escaped Syria after months of torture and abuse - physical, mental and sexual - in Syrian prisons, sought Asylum in the Netherlands.
But upon returning to Syria in 2020, Mr Hamada disappeared. One going theory posed that Mr Hamad was lured back to Syria with the promise of other detainees being released if he did so.
A symbol of the brutality of Assad’s dictatorship, Mr Hamada is believed to have been executed days before his body was discovered on Monday.
Turkish and Qatari officials to meet rebel leaders in Damascus
Thursday 12 December 2024 15:48
Alex Croft
Turkey’s foreign minister, intelligence chief, and Qatar’s head of state security will meet with Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani and caretaker prime minister Mohammed al-Bashir in Damascus, the Syrian information ministry said.
The Turkish foreign ministry has confirmed that minister Hakan Fidan is in Damascus.
It comes after Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin was revealed to be in Damascus by two sources speaking to Reuters.
Turklish media outlet Yeni Safak said Mr Kalin was at the Ummayyad Mosque in Damascus, where a Reuters reporter saw at least one car moving towards the mosque amid heavy security and large crowds.
It was not immediately clear who was in the car.
In pictures: American Travis Timmerman found in Syria
Thursday 12 December 2024 15:31
Alex Croft
Syria’s new administration to suspend constitution
Thursday 12 December 2024 15:13
Alex Croft
The newly formed administration in Syria will suspend the existing legislature and constitution after president Bashar al-Assad was topped, a source close to the government told Reuters on Thursday.
A committee of experts will be created to make amendments to the current constitution, the source indicated.
Report: Thousands queue to flee Syria as ethnic minorities fear post-Assad future
Thursday 12 December 2024 14:55
Alex Croft
Thousands of Syrians are stranded on the Masnaa border crossing with Lebanon, looking to flee the country in fear for their futures after Islamist rebel groups ousted Bashar al-Assad’s brutal regime.
Minority groups in Syria, including Christians and Alawites, are among those concerned that the new Syria’s future may not be tolerant of their communities, many of whom opposed the revolution in 2011 and the subsequent 13-year civil war.
The Masnaa border point - the only operational crossing between Syria and Lebanon - has been inundated with huge queues of Syrians attempting to travel in both directions, with many hoping to return to a freed homeland after years of displacement in Lebanon.
Read the full report:
Syria’s caretaker PM urges refugees to ‘come home’
Thursday 12 December 2024 14:37
Alex Croft
Syria’s caretaker prime minister Mohammed al-Bashir has urged all Syrians who fled president Bashar al-Assad’s brutal dictatorship to return and help “rebuild” the Arab nation.
“My appeal goes out to all Syrians abroad: Syria is now a free country that has regained its pride and dignity. Come back,” he told Corriere della Sera.
“We need to rebuild, to get our country on its feet again, and we need everyone’s help.”
At least 7.4 million Syrians remained internally displaced and nearly 4.9 million were seeking refuge in neighbouring countries, the UN said in a 2024 report.
ICYMI: France urges Israel to withdraw from buffer zone
Thursday 12 December 2024 14:19
Alex Croft
France has called on Israel to withdraw troops from the buffer zone between Israel and Syria which was captured by Benjamin Netanyahu’s forces swiftly after the fall of the Assad regime.
Mr Netanyahu said on Sunday he had ordered his ground forces to take control of the buffer zone established by a ceasefire agreement with Syria after armed rebel groups pushed out president Bashar al-Assad from Damascus and took power.
“Any military deployment in the separation zone between Israel and Syria is a violation of the disengagement agreement of 1974,” a French foreign ministry spokesperson said yesterday.
Israel’s move has been condemned by Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Russian security boss holds talks with China’s Xi Jinping
Thursday 12 December 2024 13:59
Alex Croft
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and former president of Russia, held talks with Chinese president Xi Jinping on Thursday.
The pair discussed the crises in both Ukraine and Syria, according to the TASS state news agency.
Austria may begin forced deportations of Syrians back to homeland - foreign minister
Thursday 12 December 2024 13:40
Alex Croft
Austria’s forced deportation of Syrian refugees back to their original homeland will only happen when it is safe, the foreign minister said.
Chancellor Karl Nehammer called for a reassessment of security in Syria to enable the return of refugees to their home country. Similar to many centre-right parties in Europe, the ruling People’s Party (OVP) is under pressure from the far-right.
Asked when the returns might happen, Alexander Schallenberg told Reuters that “when it is possible, we will do it immediately”. He added: "I don't know (when). Can you see into the future?"
Austria was the first of more than a dozen European countries to announce a suspension on processing Syrians’ asylum applications.
Comment | How can Putin be defeated? Assad’s fall provides lesson for West
Thursday 12 December 2024 13:20
Alex Croft
The fall of the Assad regime in Syria has led to questions over Russia’s ability to sustain its military adventures abroad. Russia had supported Assad militarily for over a decade, building on long-standing ties between Moscow and Damascus. But the rapid advance of anti-government forces this month saw Russia apparently powerless to influence the situation beyond a number of airstrikes (as always, apparently mostly delivered on civilian targets) in support of government forces.
That has inevitably led people to draw conclusions about Russia’s ability to project power overseas, and what it may mean for the course of the war in Ukraine.
But hasty comparisons should be avoided. There is a world of difference between a distant operation in support of a friend of Moscow clinging to power and a major war on Russia’s own borders for territory which Vladimir Putin has declared should be Moscow’s to rule.
Keir Giles writes:
Pictured: The American found in Syria after seven months in prison
Thursday 12 December 2024 13:00
Alex Croft
A picture has emerged of Travis Timmerman, the American who was detained in Syria for seven months.
Mr Timmerman was trying to make his own way out of Syria after being freed from prison after the lightning offensive which ousted the Bashar al-Assad regime on the weekend.
Russia-Turkey relations have not deteriorated due to Syria, Moscow says
Thursday 12 December 2024 12:44
Alex Croft
Russia’s deputy foreign minister said bilateral relations between Moscow and Ankara have not detariorated as a result of the Syrian civil war, according to the Interfax news agency.
“We are in dialogue with Turkey on all issues,” Alexander Grushko said.
Family of missing Austin Tice say they are ‘incredibly hopeful’ the US journalist will be found in Syria
Thursday 12 December 2024 12:28
Alex Croft
The family of a US journalist who was captured in Syria more than a decade ago has said they are “incredibly hopeful” he will be returned.
Austin Tice was just 31 years old when he was captured close to Damascus in August 2012, while covering the Syrian civil war. It is believed he was taken by the Syrian government.
The complexity of the situation in Syria had made it difficult to know who had captured him or where he was being held, but after rebels ousted the Assad regime last week, the family had renewed hopes the journalist could be recovered.
Tom Watling reports:
Residents return to devastated Syrian village after 13 years
Thursday 12 December 2024 12:00
Alex Croft
American found alive after seven months in Syrian prison
Thursday 12 December 2024 11:43
Alex Croft
An American who spent seven months in Syrian prison has been found be rebels searching the country.
Travis Timmerman was trying to make his own way out of Syria after being freed from prison after the lightning offensive which ousted the Bashar al-Assad regime on the weekend, CBS News reported.
Mr Timmerman, of Missouri, told CBS that he had entered Syria without permission for “spirirual purposes” before he was detained. On Monday, he was freed by two armed men with AK-47s.
Explainer | What is the Golan Heights and why is the territory so important to Israel and Syria?
Thursday 12 December 2024 11:26
Alex Croft
The Golan Heights, situated in the southwest corner of Syria and bordering Israel, Lebanon and Jordan, is a 1,000 square mile rocky plateau around 40 miles (60 kilometres) from Damascus, although it possesses a significance far beyond that and has been a political flashpoint for decades.
Israeli has occupied the Golan Heights since the 1980s and now its troops have seized the demilitarised buffer zone, in response to the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal dictatorship in Syria.
Troops have also been deployed beyond the demilitarised buffer zone and into Syrian territory, with Israeli defence minister Israel Katz saying Israeli forces had been ordered to create a “sterile defence zone” in southern Syria, adding that they would not retain a permanent presence. Israel had previously described reports from Syrian sources that it had breached the buffer zone as “false”.
But what is the Golan Heights and why does Israel consider it so important?
Gaza death toll nears 45,000
Thursday 12 December 2024 11:09
Alex Croft
The number of Palestinians killed in Israel’s invasion and bombardment of Gaza is now at 44,835 since October 7, the Gaza health ministry said on Thursday.
The military offensive has also wounded 106,356, the statement added.
Turkey-backed forces continue advances in northern Syria
Thursday 12 December 2024 10:55
Alex Croft
Turkey-backed rebel forces are continuing their advances in northern Syria with an aim to “clear terrorism”, a Turkish defence ministry source said on Thursday.
The rebel forces are fighting a US-backed Kurdish militia in the region. Turkey has repeatedly told the US that “a terrorist organisation cannot be eliminated by using another terrorist organisation”, the source added.
The US is backing the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in its fight against Islamic State. The SDF is led by a Kurdish militia regarded by Ankara as a terrorist group.
Jordanian King supportive of political process, says Germany
Thursday 12 December 2024 10:38
Alex Croft
Jordanian King Abdullah has agreed with German chancellor Olaf Scholz on the importance of an inclusive political process in Syria, a German government spokesperson said on Thursday.
The two leaders held a phone call on Thursday. "Both agreed that an inclusive political process in Syria was now very important and that the transition process needed to be supported. Both attached great importance to the protection of ethnic and religious minorities," the spokesperson said.
They also stressed the importance of Syria’s territorial integrity, he added.
Comment | After Assad, can the Kurds survive in Syria?
Thursday 12 December 2024 10:21
Alex Croft
The US foreign policy establishment sees the return of Donald Trump to the White House as an imminent threat to the bipartisan consensus in foreign policy matters.
Joe Biden was understood to be the return to a “normal” foreign policy approach after the turbulence of Trump 1.0.
Biden has been staunchly critical of the Kremlin and four-square behind Israel. He has ramped up pressure on China and not relaxed it on North Korea.
Yet in one area – vital to the security, at least of those who live in it – the Biden administration has broken ranks with a US foreign policy tradition dating back to 1919. He now has less than six weeks left in the White House in which to abandon the Kurds.
Mark Almond writes:
Bel Trew | ‘They used us as a testing ground for all kinds of weapons’: Syrians return to destroyed town
Thursday 12 December 2024 10:05
Alex Croft
For miles, the bleached ribcages of bombed-out buildings on either side of the main highway north of Damascus flick past as you drive – a grim monument to some of the fiercest battles that took place between Bashar al-Assad’s forces and rebels at the start of the revolution more than a decade ago.
None of the residents of Jobar – once a revolutionary heartland – were able to return to or rebuild their homes as Syria’s civil war rolled on, even after the regime retook control.
Now, after Assad’s stunning defeat, families, some of whom returned from fleeing the country, pick through the dust-choked rubble of what was once their homes. They gather at Jobar’s chewed-up central graveyard to host the first funeral here in 13 years.
Our chief international correspondent Bel Trew reports:
Thousands of ethnic minorities attempt to flee Syria
Thursday 12 December 2024 09:50
Alex Croft
Thousands of Syrians are attempting to flee Syria at the Masnaa border point with Lebanon, the only operational crossing between the two countries.
But many of them remain stuck on the Syrian side of the crossing and remain unable to cross, after the border was overwhelmed by a huge influx of travellers - going in both directions - since the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Many are members of Syrian minority groups, are living in fear of what a new Syria led by Islamist factions may mean for minorities, including the Alawites and Christians, many of whom weren’t in favour of the uprising against the Assad regime in 2011.
Israeli strikes kill 28 including 7 children, Palestinian medics say
Thursday 12 December 2024 09:39
Alex Croft
Seven children were among the 28 killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, Palestinian medical officials say.
It comes hours after the UN General Assembly approved a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and expressing support for Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, which Israel is set to ban.
One strike flattened a house in the Nuseirat refuge camp, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the nearby city of Deir al-Balah.
Two other strikes killed 15 men who were among local committees established to secure aid convoys, the Associated Press reported.
US defense secretary calls for close contact with Israel
Thursday 12 December 2024 09:21
Alex Croft
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has told his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz to remain in close contact over events in Syria, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.
Washington is monitoring developments in Syria and supports an inclusive political transition, and will continue its mission to prevent the Islamic State militant group from rebuilding in Syria.
Following the collapse of Assad’s dictatorship, Israel said its jets conducted hundreds of strikes in Syria and destroyed much of Syria’s military infrastructure.
"Secretary Austin emphasized the importance of close consultation between the United States and Israel on events in Syria," the Pentagon said.
We will not pardon Assad’s torturers, rebel commander says
Thursday 12 December 2024 08:53
Alex Croft
Syrian rebel commander Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who fronted the group responsible for the collapse of the Assad regime, has vowed not to pardon the former dictator’s henchmen.
On Wednesday afternoon, Syria’s state broadcaster posted the commander’s comments.
“We will not pardon those who were involved in the torture and liquidation of detainees and were the cause of this,” the leader of Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) said.
“We will pursue them in our country, and we demand that countries hand over to us those of these criminals who fled to them in order to achieve justice against them.”
Watch: Tomb of Bashar al-Assad's father engulfed in flames as rebels set fire to mausoleum
Thursday 12 December 2024 08:37
Holly Patrick
Syrian rebels set fire to the tomb of Bashar al-Assad’s father in his family’s hometown in Al-Qardahah, near Latakia.
Eyewitness video released on Wednesday, 11 December, showed men gathering around flames inside the mausoleum of Hafez al-Assad.
The date of the footage could not be independently verified, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that gunmen set fire to the tomb on Tuesday.
Hafez Al-Assad took office on March 14 1971, seizing power in a bloodless coup in which Dr Noureddin Al-Atassi was overthrown.
His son Bashar was ousted over the weekend and fled to Russia where he was given political asylum.
The family ruled Syria for more than 50 years with a brutal regime.
Israel continues bombarding Syria - war monitor
Thursday 12 December 2024 08:18
Alex Croft
Israel has continued its bombardment of Syria as the country looks to build a post-Assad future.
UK-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Wednesday: “Israeli warplanes continue to destroy what remains of Syria’s military arsenal for the fourth consecutive day since the fall of the former regime.”
Over 352 air strikes have been carried out in 13 Syrian provinces, the monitor said. They have been focussed on “warehouses, aircraft, radar systems and military signal stations, scientific research centres and weapons and ammunitions warehouses in different positions across Syria”.
Israel says it is targeting milita