Syria

DAMASCUS, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Calm has prevailed in the de-escalation zone in Syria's northwestern Idlib province on Friday after a Turkey, Russia-backed cease-fire went into effect at midnight, a war monitor reported.

Friday started with no airstrikes from Russian or Syrian warplanes in Idlib, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The observatory added that 150 Turkish military vehicles entered Turkish observation points in Idlib on Friday, apparently as part of the Thursday's agreement with Russia.

05 Mar 2020; MEMO: Iran has deployed new military reinforcements in the strategic town of Saraqib in Idlib, northern Syria, to support the regime forces, Turkish media reported.

Yesterday, Turkey’s Yeni Safak newspaper reported that Iran had deployed 2,000 members of its proxy militias and the Revolutionary Guards Quds Force to Saraqib while its Fatemiyoun Brigade deployed a convoy of 200 vehicles to Ma’arat Al-Numan.

5 March 2020; AFP: Russian air strikes Thursday killed at least 15 civilians including a child in the last major opposition bastion of Idlib in northwestern Syria, a Britain-based war monitor said.

The strikes after midnight targeted an area where displaced Syrians had gathered outside the town of Maaret Misrin in Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

An AFP correspondent saw the bodies of some of the victims wrapped in thick winter blankets at a local hospital.

DAMASCUS, Mar 5 (NNN-SANA) – Syrian air defences intercepted Israeli missiles in the central province of Homs, and the southern Quneitra province, after midnight Thursday (early this morning).

The missiles were fired from Israeli warplanes, over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and from Lebanese airspace, said the report.

The attack is the latest in a string of missile strikes carried out by Israel.

02 Mar 2020; MEMO: As many as 21 members of Iran-backed militias have been killed during the recent armed confrontations between the Turkish army and the Syrian regime forces and its allies in Idlib.

The Hawzah News Agency in the Iranian city  of Qom reported that 18 members of the Pakistani Zainabiyoun Brigade and three members of the Afghan Fatemiyoun Brigade were killed in Idlib on Friday.

The news agency added that their funeral was held in Qom yesterday.

DAMASCUS, Mar 2 (NNN-XINHUA) – The Syrian government and a visiting Libyan diplomatic delegation, signed, on Sunday, a memorandum of understanding (MoU), regarding reactivating diplomatic missions between both countries.

The MoU was signed following a meeting between Syrian Foreign Minister, Walid al-Moallem and a Libya delegation, headed by Libya’s Deputy Prime Minister, Abdul-Rahman al-Ahiresh and Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister, Abdul-Hadi al-Hawaij.

DAMASCUS / Syria/, March 1. /TASS/: Six Turkish combat drones have been destroyed by Syrian air defense systems, a source in the Syrian defense ministry said on Sunday.

"On March 1, 2020, Syrian air defense systems destroyed six combat unmanned aerial vehicles of the Turkish army over the Idlib de-escalation zone," the source said.

According to the source, the drone were delivering strikes on the positions of the Syrian government army to provide backing to terrorist groups.

29 Feb 2020; MEMO: The UN on Friday urged the international community to step up support for Turkey in managing and hosting Syrian refugees, Anadolu Agency reports.

Babar Baloch, a spokesman for the UN Refugee Agency, at a news briefing in Geneva said: “We have been appealing to neighbouring countries including Turkey to broaden admission for people who are on the run inside Syria.

29 Feb 2020; MEMO: Turkey has reportedly killed at least 309 Syrian regime soldiers and destroyed dozens of military vehicles and defence systems in retaliation for the regime’s offensive which killed 33 Turkish soldiers last night.

DAMASCUS, Feb 29 (NNN-SANA) – At least 11 Syrian soldiers were killed on Friday, by strikes from Turkish drones in the northwestern province of Idlib.

The drone strikes targeted the Syrian positions in the area between the Maarat al-Numan city and Saraqeb city in the eastern countryside of Idlib on the M5 highway that links Damascus in the south with Aleppo in the north, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.