Syria

20 Oct 2021; MEMO: Five people were killed and four injured in a blast inside a Syrian army ammunition depot alongside the Homs-Hama road in the centre of the country, Iran's state-run TV channel Al-Alam said today.

According to Reuters, the Iranian channel reported the explosion happened during a routine maintenance operation inside the depot.

20 Oct 2021; MEMO: A deadly bomb blast hit the Syrian capital Damascus during this morning's rush hour, killing at least 14 military personnel and wounding three others. An army bus was targeted by explosives under Al-Rais Bridge.

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Two roadside bombs exploded near a bus carrying troops during the morning rush hour in the Syrian capital early Wednesday, killing 13 people and wounding three others, state TV reported.

Syrian state TV showed footage of the charred bus in central Damascus, saying the blasts occurred while people were heading to work and school. The report said a third bomb was discovered and dismantled in the same area.

17 Oct 2021; MEMO: The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria said on Sunday the government and opposition co-chairs of the Syrian Constitutional Committee had agreed to start the process of drafting a new constitution, Reuters reports.

The committee, comprising 45 representatives of Syria's government, opposition and civil society, has a mandate to draw up a new basic law leading to U.N.-supervised elections.

17 Oct 2021; MEMO: Syria has accused Israel of being behind the assassination of a high-ranking government official near the border of occupied Syrian Golan Heights yesterday.

Midhat Al-Saleh, 54, an intelligence officer, was the head of Syria's Golan Affairs Office and a former lawmaker. According to the state-run SANA news agency, Saleh was shot outside his home near the village of Ain Eltineh, situated opposite the Druze town of Majdal Shams.

12 Oct 2021; MEMO: Unidentified drones targeted sites of militant groups affiliated with Iran in the city of Al-Bukamal in the countryside of Deir Ez-Zor governorate, eastern Syria, yesterday.

Local sources told Anadolu that the "unidentified" drones targeted at least three sites belonging to Iranian groups in the city of Al-Bukamal on the Syrian-Iraqi border, noting that the bombing caused seven explosions in the area.

DAMASCUS, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- The visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian arrived in Syria's capital Damascus on Saturday, speaking about "comprehensive developments" in the relations between his country and Syria, according to the state news agency SANA.

Speaking jointly with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad to reporters upon arrival, Abdullahian said that over the past few weeks, Syria and Iran have reached "important agreements" for achieving comprehensive development in the relations in all fields.

09 Oct 2021; MEMO: Syrian regime President Bashar Al-Assad has allowed his uncle back into the country after a decades-long exile in France, news reports revealed on Friday, noting that Al-Assad allowed his uncle's return to avoid a four-year imprisonment.

Rifaat Al-Assad, 84, arrived in Damascus on Thursday, pro-regime Al-Watan newspaper posted on its Facebook page.

08 Oct 2021; MEMO: A leading Syrian Kurdish politician said yesterday the United States will stay on in Syria to destroy Daesh, build infrastructure and remain a player in the search for a political settlement after more than ten years of civil war, Reuters reports.

DAMASCUS, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad on Thursday warned the U.S.-backed Kurdish militias to stop being agents for the U.S. forces in northeastern Syria.

Speaking during an interview with Syrian national TV, Mekdad said the U.S. forces must leave these areas, adding that the Syrian army will go there eventually.

The minister reiterated that the Syrian army will not abandon any part of Syria's territory, stressing that the U.S. and Turkish occupation forces should withdraw from Syrian lands.