Syria

DAMASCUS, May 31 (NNN-SANA) – The Syrian army, on Saturday, received a batch of MiG-29 warplanes from Russia.

The delivery took place during a ceremony, held at the Russian-run Hmeimim air base, in Syria’s north-western province of Latakia, said the report, adding that, the warplanes flew from Hmeimim to the respected Syrian bases.

The Syrian pilots will start using the warplanes in manoeuvres, as of June (tomorrow), said the report.

ANKARA, May 29 (NNN-Xinhua) — Turkish and Russian troops conducted their 13th joint patrol along a key highway in northwestern Idlib province of Syria, the Turkish defense ministry said.

“Within the framework of TUR-RF Agreement/Protocol, the 13th TUR-RF Combined Land Patrol on M-4 Highway in Idlib was conducted with the participation of land and air elements,” the ministry tweeted.

28 May 2020; MEMO: Militias fighting alongside the Syrian regime of President Bashar Al-Assad destroyed and desecrated the grave of the eighth Umayyad Caliph Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz yesterday, located in the north-west province of Idlib.

TARTUS / Syria /, May 25. / TASS /: Russian and Syrian military have conducted a joint exercise to protect the port of Tartus, where a Russian naval base is located, against a group of saboteurs, the head of the naval station, Vyacheslav Rodionov, told Russian journalists.

He said that the joint tactical exercise involved "the naval forces of the Syrian Arab Republic and the Russian Navy. "All aims of the scheduled exercise were achieved," Rodionov said, stressing that the naval forces of the two countries "are ready to protect and defend the Tartus naval base".

19 May 2020; MEMO: The Syrian government ordered the seizure of assets belonging to President Bashar Al-Assad’s cousin Rami Makhlouf, one of Syria’s richest men, as well as his wife and children, according to a government document reviewed by Reuters.

The document, stamped 19 May and signed by the Syrian finance minister, said the “precautionary seizure” aimed to guarantee payment of sums owned to the Syrian telecom regulatory authority.

PALMYRA/, May 19. /TASS/: Refugees in Syria’s Rukban camp receive only 10% of the international humanitarian aid, the rest is being sold by the Islamic State terrorists, controlled by the US military, says Abu Hamzi, a 34-year old former militant commander who surrendered to the Syrian Army.

DAMASCUS, May 18 (NNN-SANA) – A U.S. aircraft dropped thermal balloons over agricultural lands in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah on Sunday, setting fire to wheat crops.

The targeted area was in agricultural lands, in the countryside of Shaddadi city, in the southern countryside of Hasakah.

The fire gutted 200 dunums (0.2 square km) of wheat fields.

16 May 2020; MEMO: The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) broadcasted on Thursday evening what it claims are the “confessions” of Daesh fighters, who have been recently arrested.

14 May 2020; MEMO: The General Director of the Syrian Grain Establishment, Youssef Qassem, said a tender has been issued for the import of 200,000 tonnes of wheat from Russia.

Qassem added that a ship carrying 26,000 tonnes of wheat coming from Russia had arrived at the port of Tartus; noting that the shipment is one of the contracts concluded last year while other shipments will arrive soon.

According to Qassem, the wheat is immediately moved from the port to the mills.

12 May 2020; MEMO: A Syrian member of parliament has refused to apologise to Russia for a series of insults he made against the regime’s ally in response to reports that it was considering ridding itself of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.