Syria

01 September 2022; MEMO: Syria's Foreign Minister said, on Thursday, that Israel was "playing with fire", following Israeli strikes near Damascus and on Aleppo's International Airport the previous evening, Reuters reports.

The strikes resulted in material damage only, according to state news agency, SANA, which said Syria's air defences shot down a number of Israeli missiles around the capital.

There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials.

24 August 2022; MEMO: The US military announced that it had carried out a strike in Deir Ez-Zor in Syria, targeting military facilities and infrastructure used by groups linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, as reported by Reuters.

The pro-Iranian groups are largely concentrated west of the Euphrates in the Deir Ez-Zor province, where they get supplies from Iraq through the Al-Bukamal border crossing,the news wire explained.

DAMASCUS, Aug 22 (NNN-SANA) – The U.S. forces sent 137 oil-laden tankers, from oil fields in north-eastern Syria, to its bases in Iraq yesterday, the latest shipment of stolen Syrian oil to be delivered to U.S. bases in Iraq.

The latest shipment was sent in two batches, from oil fields in the north-eastern province of Hasakah at dawn yesterday, with the help of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

With the latest shipment, the U.S. has taken a total of 535 tankers of stolen Syrian oil, since Aug 11.– NNN-SANA

DAMASCUS, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- A missile struck the vicinity of the largest U.S. base in Syria in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour on Friday night, a war monitor reported.

The missile landed near the al-Omar oil field, which has been taken by the United States as its military base, and no casualties were reported, said the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"It is likely that the missile comes from the area where the Iranian militias have influence in the west of the Euphrates," said the observatory.

DAMASCUS, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Up to 291 Syrian soldiers and Islamic State (IS) militants have been killed in confrontations between the two sides since the beginning of this year, a war monitor reported on Friday night.

The death toll includes 136 members of IS killed by Russian airstrikes in desert regions of the provinces of Homs, Sweida, Hama, Raqqa Deir al-Zour and Aleppo, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

DAMASCUS, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least 20 people, including children, have been killed and over 50 others injured in a fresh round of fighting between Syria and the Turkish-backed militia in northern Syria, a war monitor said Friday.

A total of 14 civilians, including five children, were killed and 38 others injured in a Syrian shelling on al-Bab, a city controlled by Turkish-backed rebels in the northern province of Aleppo on Friday, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

17 August 2022; MEMO: Syria has denied that it is holding the missing American journalist, Austin Tice, and other Americans, days after the United States said that it is "certain" Damascus has detained him.

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria denied on Wednesday it is holding U.S. journalist Austin Tice or other Americans after President Joe Biden accused the Syrian government of detaining him.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Damascus “denies it had kidnapped or is holding any American citizen on its territories.”

17 August 2022; MEMO: Eleven Syrian fighters have been killed in Turkish air strikes on a Syria border post run by regime forces, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said yesterday.

This came following an overnight flare-up between Turkish forces and Kurdish fighters who control the area in the north of Syria.

DAMASCUS/BEIRUT, Aug 16 (NNN-SANA/NNA) – Syrian and Lebanese officials, met in the Syrian capital, Damascus yesterday, to discuss ways to facilitate the monthly return of 15,000 Syrian refugees.

Syrian Minister of Local Administration and Environment, Hussein Makhlouf, held a meeting with visiting Lebanese Minister of the Displaced, Issam Charafeddine, during which they touched upon measures taken by Syria, to secure a safe and quick home return for the refugees, based on a timeline set by both countries.