Syria

15 June 2020; MEMO: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) revealed on Saturday that Maher Al-Assad, the brother of Syrian regime President Bashar Al-Assad, has rejected direct orders from Russia to withdraw all checkpoints erected by the 4th Division from around the country.

According to the war monitor, the 4th Division led by Maher Al- Assad is deployed across Syria though it is only supposed to be stationed in the capital Damascus.

13 June 2020; MEMO: Parts of opposition-held Syria have adopted Turkish Lira as the local currency with the value of the Syrian pound continuing to plummet ahead of new US sanctions on the country.

DAMASCUS, June 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) —Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has sacked Prime Minister Imad Khamis, as he struggles with a worsening economic crisis that has triggered protests.

State media did not give a reason for the decision to replace Khamis, who had been prime minister since 2016.

But it came after days of rare anti-government demonstrations in the mainly Druze city of Suweida, at which people called for the overthrow of Assad.

09 June 2020; MEMO: The United States special envoy to Syria, James Jeffrey, announced on Sunday that Washington offered to get Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad out of his crisis.

Jeffrey explained that the collapse of the Syrian pound’s value is in part due to the measures taken by the United States against the regime.

DAMASCUS, June 9 (NNN-SANA) – At least 41 Syrian soldiers and rebels were killed on Monday, during a showdown in the country’s central province of Hama.

The rebels launched an offensive using suicide bombers and booby-trapped vehicles, in the northern part of the al-Ghab Plains, in the northwestern countryside of Hama Province.

The rebels captured two military points in that area, before the Syrian army succeeded in returning them, following clashes with the rebels.

08 June 2020; MEMO: At least 12 people were killed in airstrikes launched by unknown warplanes which targeted the headquarters of Iranian militias at a military base in the eastern countryside of Deir Ez-Zor.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) monitored eight strikes from unknown planes, targeting Iranian militia’s headquarters in the Maizilah base late on Saturday night. They killed at least 12 Iraqi and Afghan militia members and destroyed vehicles and ammunition.

06 June 2020; MEMO: Turkey on Friday distributed food packages to 120 families in northern Syria, Anadolu Agency reports.

The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) distributed the aid in six villages of Tal Abyad, cleared of terrorists during Turkey’s Operation Peace Spring, the provincial governorate in Turkey’s border province of Sanliurfa said in a statement.

Along with the food aid, face masks and toys were also distributed.

DAMASCUS, June 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least nine fighters loyal to the Syrian government, including four Syrians, were killed during Israeli air raids late Thursday in the Hama province a central region controlled by the Syrian army and Iranians, a monitor group said.

Those killed were either “part of the regime forces or (allied) Iranian forces,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

The toll of nine dead could rise as some people were seriously injured in the raids, it added.

04 June 2020; MEMO: Turkey has warned the Syrian opposition groups in the north-west province of Idlib to prepare for a potential military offensive by the Assad regime and its allies Iran and Russia in the coming days, according to a former senior opposition official.

The information was revealed by the former spokesman of the New Syrian Army – now rebranded as the Revolutionary Commando Army – which is part of the US-led Operation Inherent Resolve against Daesh.

1 June 2020; AFP: Abdelkader Rahmoun hasn't slept in days.

The 44-year-old Syrian and his family are among thousands of recognised refugees about to lose the temporary homes they were given under Greece's asylum seeker housing scheme.

As of Monday, authorities will start moving more than 11,200 people out of flats, hotels and camps on the mainland, to make room for other asylum seekers currently living in dismal island camps.