Syria

DAMASCUS, Aug 14 (NNN-SANA) – Syria is beefing up its forces in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, where its troops were recently ambushed by the Daesh militants, a war monitor reported, yesterday.

The Syrian army brought in reinforcements for its 17th and 18th divisions, stationed in al-Mayadeen City, in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour, after the Daesh militants attacked its bus there and killed 35 Syrian soldiers early on Friday, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

DAMASCUS, Aug 13 (NNN-SANA) – Syria yesterday blamed the United States, for the deadly attack that was carried out by the Daesh against a Syrian military bus, which resulted in the killing of at least 33 soldiers on Friday.

In a statement released last night, the Syrian Foreign Ministry viewed the attack as part of the ongoing American campaign, against Syria’s sovereignty and independence, accusing the United States of supporting the Daesh to destabilise Syria.

11 August 2023; MEMO: An attack on a military bus in Syria's east killed 23 government troops and wounded more than 10, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor said on Friday, Reuters reports.

Daesh, which operates sleeper cells in lands it once ruled, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on its Telegram channel.

10 August 2023; MEMO: Syrian President, Bashar Al Assad, has said he would welcome home refugees who escaped the country's long-running civil war, Sky News Arabia reports.

According to the report, Assad blamed the country's economic situation as the reason why refugees are not returning to their homeland, pointing to the "image of war" in Syria for the lack of much-needed international investment in its economy.

DAMASCUS, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Hussein al-Husseini al-Quraishi was killed in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib by a rival rebel group, a war monitor reported on Friday.

Al-Quraishi was killed during clashes near a refugee camp in the village of Atama in northern Idlib, which is a few kilometers away from the town of Jindires in Aleppo province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Both areas are under the control of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), previously known as the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.

DAMASCUS, Jul 27 (NNN-SANA) – Fire crews yesterday battled numerous blazes, amid a heatwave and have controlled most of them, in Syria’s north-western province of Latakia, said officials.

Amer Ismail Hilal, governor of Latakia, said that, firefighters have been trying to control new blazes in the area for two days, as flames have burned large swathes of agricultural and forest areas in Latakia.

About 70 percent of regional fires were controlled, the Civil Defence Commander in Latakia told local media.

25 July 2023; MEMO: The US military said a Russian fighter jet hit a US drone with a flare and "severely" damaged its propeller over Syria, the latest in a series of closer interactions by Russian military aircraft in the region, Reuters reports.

Over the past several months, US officials say, Russian jets have increased the pace of dangerous encounters with US military aircraft over Syria, where forces from both countries operate.

23 July 2023; MEMO: An expert from the United Nations has expressed concern over the rampant abduction and detention of children in north-east Syria by the autonomous Kurdish authorities in the region.

DAMASCUS, Jul 17 (NNN-SANA) – Firefighters have been battling massive forest wildfires in central, western and north-western Syria since last Wednesday, said state-run and pro-government media outlets.

The fires broke out in the countryside of the central province of Hama, the western coastal provinces of Tartous and Latakia, and the north-western province of Idlib, burning large swathes of agricultural and forest land in the areas, with Hama and Latakia most affected.

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Iraq’s prime minister held talks Sunday with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus during the first trip of its kind to the war-torn country since the 12-year conflict began.

The two leaders told reporters that they discussed fighting drugs, the return of Syrian refugees and the imperative of lifting Western sanctions imposed in Syria. They also talked about Israel’s strikes on the war-torn country and water shortages in the Euphrates River that cuts through both countries because of projects in Turkey.