Syria

DAMASCUS, March 16 (Xinhua) -- A total of 4,440 Turkish military vehicles and 9,450 Turkish soldiers have been sent to Syria's northwestern province of Idlib since February, a war monitor reported on Monday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 60 vehicles and tanks entered areas in Idlib on Monday alone.

The Britain-based watchdog group said the Turkish military gears and soldiers are deployed in Turkish observation points in Idlib, as part of the de-escalation zones' deal established with Russia two years ago.

16 Mar 2020; MEMO: Russia and Turkey yesterday were forced to cut short their first joint military patrol along the M4 highway linking Syria’s east and west near the north-western province of Idlib due to “rebel provocations”.

The joint patrol was recently reported to have started yesterday morning, in coordination between the two armies.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Some 4.8 million children have been born in Syria since the conflict began nine years ago. An additional one million have been born as refugees in neighbouring countries. They continue to face the devastating consequences of a brutal war, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said,

DAMASCUS, March 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Syria’s brutal conflict enters its 10th year Sunday with President Bashar al-Assad’s government consolidating its hold over a war-wracked country with a decimated economy where foreign powers flex their muscle.

When Syrians took to the streets on March 15, 2011, they could scarcely have imagined their anti-government protests would turn into a complex war entangling rebels, jihadists and outside forces.

DAMASCUS, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Two Turkish soldiers and three Turkey-backed Syrian rebels were killed on Thursday by an explosion in northwestern Syria, a war monitor reported.

The blast was caused by a booby-trapped truck that ripped through a checkpoint manned by Turkish and Syrian rebels in the village of Tal Halaf in the countryside of Ras al-Ayn city in the northwestern province of Hasakah, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

12 Mar 2020; MEMO: Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper revealed that retired Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar has recently visited Damascus secretly, followed by Head of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamel, who also attended the Syrian capital last mid-week, in light of coordinating efforts against Turkey.

DAMASCUS, March 11 (Xinhua) -- An airstrike targeted an area in Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zour on Wednesday evening, state news agency SANA reported.

The airstrike targeted an area southeast of the city of al-Bukamal in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour, said the report with no further details.

It's known that the Iranian-backed fighters have several positions in areas near al-Bukamal.

DAMASCUS, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem on Tuesday underlined the need for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to avoid politicization of its humanitarian work, state news agency SANA reported.

Al-Moallem made the remarks during his meeting with the visiting chief of ICRC Peter Maurer in the capital Damascus, where they highlighted the need to maintain constant coordination and communication to overcome challenges and obstacles regarding the humanitarian work in the country.

DAMASCUS, March 7 (Xinhua) -- As many as 22 civilians lost their lives and 70 others got wounded on Saturday in an accident on the Damascus-Homs highway, state news agency SANA reported.

The accident happened when a fuel tanker hit two passenger buses and 15 other cars on the Damascus-Homs highway, said the report.

It said the accident took place near the Jisr Bagdad area between the capital Damascus and Homs province.

Citing Syria's Interior Minister Mohammad Rahmoun, the report said the civil defense units were removing the cars off of the road.

06 Mar 2020; MEMO: Syrian regime forces violated the ceasefire only half an hour after it came into effect, Qatari news outlet Al Jazeera, local sources and Syrian journalists reported.

“Assad forces continue bombardments in the south of Idlib and west of Aleppo after the cease-fire deal,” Al Jazeera reported in a tweet.