Category Archives: Syria

Russia, Syria, United Nations, United States

Moscow is colluding with Syria’s Assad

SYRIA

Idlib

Syria conflict: ‘Chemical attack’ in Idlib has claimed the lives of 72 people. More casualties are expected.

Last September, President Barack Obama expressed doubt as to whether the United States could expect Russia to help end the bloody insurrection and civil war in Syria. In a speech that Mr Obama gave, he claimed that there were ‘gaps of trust’ between the two governments. Some seven months on, those gaps have become chasms. The very notion that the Russians could be entrusted to act responsibly over one of the most volatile regions in the world now appears fanciful.

Every iota of evidence from the recent ghastly atrocity in Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province indicates that the forces of President Bashar al-Assad committed war crimes. The Russian version of events – that an airstrike hit a rebel armoury, releasing toxic agents and nerve gases – has been roundly dismissed by every serious political actor.

According to Britain’s ambassador to the UN, Matthew Rycroft, the attack ‘bears all the hallmarks’ of Assad’s regime. It is believed that a nerve agent, sarin nerve gas, was used in killing dozens of innocent people.

Mr Rycroft says there is no intelligence to suggest rebel groups can access the sort of chemical weapons that appear to have been used in the strikes.

The suspected chemical attack has so far claimed 72 lives, with the death toll likely to rise as rescue and aid workers search for survivors. All the while, Russia has opposed a UN resolution drafted by Britain, France and the US which condemns chemical attacks in Syria and urges the government’s co-operation in an investigation.

Many will believe that Russia’s stance is little short of collusion, and for all the frustration that is being felt in the UN at present, it is imperative that more pressure is brought on Moscow as well as the Chinese to ensure Assad makes good on his previous pledge to give up his chemical weapons stockpile.

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Britain, Government, Syria, United Nations, United States

Prime Minister May seeks investigation into Syria ‘chemical weapons attack’

SYRIA

Idlib

A suspected Syrian government chemical attack killed scores of people, including children, in the northwestern province of Idlib.

Theresa May has called for an investigation into a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria as she condemned the atrocity which has claimed the lives of dozens of people.

The Prime Minister called on Russia to ensure Bashar Assad’s regime is brought to an end.

Opposition activists claim that dozens of people died in the attack in a town in the northern province of Idlib, with the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights putting the death toll at 58, including 11 children.

Mrs May said: “I’m appalled by the reports that there’s been a chemical weapons attack on a town south of Idlib allegedly by the Syrian regime.

“We condemn the use of chemical weapons in all circumstances.

“If proven, this will be further evidence of the barbarism of the Syrian regime, and the UK has led international efforts to call to account the Syrian regime and Daesh for the use of chemical weapons and I would urge the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to investigate this incident as soon as possible.

“I’m very clear that there can be no future for Assad in a stable Syria which is representative of all the Syrian people and I call on all the third parties involved to ensure that we have a transition away from Assad.

“We cannot allow this suffering to continue.”

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Britain, Islamic State, Syria, United States

U.S.-backed forces in Syria capture key airbase from ISIS

SYRIA

U.S.-backed Kurdish and Arab fighters in Syria have seized control of a strategic airbase from the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) near the eastern city of Raqqa.

The coalition, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is battling to defeat ISIS with the support of U.S.-led coalition aircraft and U.S. Special Forces advisers. The capture of the Tabqa military airbase comes amid fears that the Tabqa dam, the largest in Syria, may be on the verge of collapse.

Clashes appear to be ongoing with militants both inside and outside of the base but the SDF claim that they are controlling as much as “70 percent” of the compound.

The base, located some 25 miles west of Raqqa, has been in the extremist group’s hands since August 2014 when it wrested control of the area from Syrian government forces. After seizing the base, ISIS fighters paraded Syrian regime soldiers in the desert before executing them.

It was Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s last stronghold in Raqqa province before ISIS captured the entire territory. The province is now divided between ISIS, Syrian regime and SDF control.

Tabqa dam remains in ISIS hands, but the city is hemmed in on three sides. The SDF is fighting ISIS in the village of Karama, 10 miles east of Raqqa. According to Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the forces remain stationed at Al-Baleikh Bridge, northeast of Raqqa. The SOHR is a monitoring group with a wide network of contacts on the ground in Syria. Mr Abdulrahman says SDF fighters are 12 miles from the edge of Raqqa to the north, and 18 miles to the northwest.

The U.S.-led coalition continues with its air campaign against the Islamic State even as it draws criticism for incurring civilian casualties. U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly seeking to loosen restrictions on the U.S. military’s ability to launch airstrikes on ISIS in Syria, but the issues presented by such a decision became clear last week when a strike killed 35 civilians at a school sheltering families in Mansoura village near Raqqa, according to the SOHR. The U.S. military has also admitted that another likely airstrike killed 200 civilians in Mosul in the last few days.

The anti-Assad Syrian National Coalition said in a statement that it was “increasingly concerned” with reports of civilian casualties caused by the U.S.-led coalition in its campaign to defeat the extremist group.

The coalition was also criticised for potentially damaging the Tabqa Dam on the Euphrates River, but the SDF denies that any of the coalition’s airstrikes have hit the structure.

The Syrian government claims U.S.-led airstrikes have put the dam out of service, a potentially hazardous development for the region.

“Before the latest strikes by the Americans, the dam was working. Two days ago, the dam was functioning normally,” Nejm Saleh, director of the Syrian government’s General Authority of the Euphrates Dam, told reporters at a briefing.

“There could be collapses or big failures that could lead to flooding,” Saleh said.

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