Syria

10 July 2020; MEMO: Dozens of elements within the pro-regime National Defence Forces (NDF) have withdrawn from the Syrian army and joined Iranian militias “seeking higher salaries”, official sources reported yesterday.

“More than 70 members of the NDF have joined the Sheikh Akram militia, affiliated to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, in Syria’s Al-Bukamal city,” local media quoted the sources as saying.

09 July 2020; MEMO: Syria President Bashar Al-Assad has been shaken by meetings held by Russia with members of his Alawite community, NEWSru has revealed.

The Russian site reported the meetings were held at the headquarters of the Russian diplomatic mission to the United Nations in Geneva, with participants saying they had received death threats as a result of their participation in the talks.

DAMASCUS, June 29 (NNN-SANA) – Fresh airstrikes targeted Iranian-backed forces in eastern Syria on Sunday, killing nine, a day after similar strikes hit the same area, a war monitor reported.

The airstrikes targeted positions of Iranian-backed forces in the desert region, in the countryside of al-Bukamal city in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based watchdog group said, the death toll could likely rise due to the number of critically wounded fighters.

DAMASCUS, June 28 (NNN-SANA) – Unknown warplanes struck positions of the Syrian army and Iranian forces, in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour on Saturday, a war monitor reported.

The warplanes struck positions before sunset in the al-Abbas village, in the countryside of the city of Al-Bukamal, in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based watchdog group said, no reports have emerged yet about losses.

It is the latest in a string of airstrikes targeting military positions in Deir al-Zour.

DAMASCUS, June 24 (NNN-SANA) – Israel launched strikes at military bases in southern and eastern Syria on Tuesday evening, killing two soldiers and wounding four others.

The strikes targeted a military site in Kabajeb, west of the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, and the Sukhneh area in the remote eastern countryside of Homs province, as well as, the Salkhad area in the southern countryside of the southern province of Sweida, said the report.

DAMASCUS, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Tuesday that the U.S. new sanctions against Syria aim to affect the next presidential elections in Syria.

At a press conference, al-Moallem said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will remain in power as long as the Syrian people want that.

He stressed that the new tightened U.S. sanctions on Syria aim to affect and overshadow the presidential elections that will take place in 2021.

HATAY, 22 June 2020; AA: Two Turkish charities on Monday sent six trucks carrying humanitarian aid to Idlib, northwestern Syria, where millions of people are in need of assistance due to internal conflict in the country.

Truckloads of supplies, including flour, clothing and dry food, by Adana Dosteller and Eskisehir Gunisigi charities, entered Idlib through the Yayladagi border crossing of Turkey's southern Hatay province.

DAMASCUS, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The new set of U.S. sanctions under the so-called Caesar Act aims to change the behavior of the Syrian government, not the downfall of the administration of President Bashar al-Assad, an expert said.

On Wednesday, the United States announced massive sanctions against Syria, in an effort to further deprive the revenue of the Syrian government.

The latest sanctions involve 39 individuals and entities including President al-Assad and his wife, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced in a statement.

18 June 2020; MEMO: The 17th joing Turkey-Russia patrol in northwestern Syria’s Idlib province was “lightly damaged due to detonation of an unidentified explosive”, Turkey’s Defence Ministry said onTuesday.

Turkish-Russian forces were attacked during a joint patrol on the M4 highway in Syria’s Idlib province, no personnel were harmed in the attack, the ministry added.

Turkish and Russian forces carried out their 17th joint patrol along the highway, the ministry added.

16 June 2020; MEMO: Syrian regime President Bashar Al-Assad said yesterday that his ruling Baath Party committed some mistakes during its rule causing its role to decline.