Syria

DAMASCUS, Feb 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Syrian air defences intercepted missiles over the capital Damascus on Thursday, state media reported, without specifying the source of the attack.

“Our air defences intercepted hostile targets over the skies of Damascus,” state agency SANA said.

It said the “missiles were launched from over the occupied Golan Heights”.

Several missiles were intercepted before they could reach their targets, it added.

A Syrian army source quoted by SANA said the attack took place at 11:45 pm.

DAMASCUS (AP) — A Syrian was killed and another was wounded when government supporters attacked American troops and tried to block their way as their convoy drove through an army checkpoint in northeastern Syria, prompting a rare clash, state media and activists reported.

The U.S. military said its force came under fire, and that troops responded in self-defense. It said an investigation of the incident was underway.

12 Feb 2020; MEMO: Turkey said on Tuesday 51 Syrian soldiers were killed in northwest Syria as Turkish-backed rebels struck back against Russian-supported government forces who had made gains in their campaign to eliminate the last insurgent bastion in the country.

The Turkish Defence Ministry cited sources on the ground for the information, adding that two Syrian tanks and one ammunition store were destroyed as well.

DAMASCUS, Feb 12 (NNN-SANA) – Turkish forces shot down a Syrian helicopter, in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, killing three pilots on board, a war monitor reported.

The Turkish forces targeted the helicopter, over al-Nayrab, in the northeastern countryside of Idlib, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The downing of the helicopter comes, as the Syrian rebels attacked al-Nayrab, before the Syrian army launched a counter-offensive and retook much of the town.

DAMASCUS, Feb 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russian air strikes killed at least five civilians in the last major opposition bastion in northwestern Syria bringing the death toll to 25 in less than 24 hours, a monitor said.

The early Monday morning raids hit a populous village in Aleppo province where battles between Russia-backed government forces and their opponents have raged for weeks, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The victims include at least one child and a number of internally displaced Syrians, the Britain-based monitor said.

09 Feb 2020; MEMO: Turkey sent hundreds of military vehicles on Saturday into Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, witnesses said, after Syrian government forces took control of a strategic town close to the provincial capital.

The fresh Turkish deployment came as officials from Turkey and Russia, who support opposing sides in Syria’s nearly nine-year war, met in Ankara to discuss the fighting in the last major enclave of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.

DAMASCUS, Feb 9 (NNN-SANA) – The Syrian government forces captured a strategic town in the south of Aleppo province in northern Syria on Saturday, a war monitor reported.

The army forces captured the town of al-Eis, one of the important areas in the army’s quest, to fully secure the Damascus-Aleppo highway, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian government forces captured new areas from insurgents in their efforts to control a key highway in the northwest Saturday, as Turkey sent more reinforcements into the war-torn country, state media and opposition activists said.

The weekslong government offensive has created a humanitarian crisis with about 600,000 people fleeing their homes in Syria’s last rebel stronghold since the beginning of December, according to the United Nations.

08 Feb 2020; MEMO: Around 90,000 more civilians have left their homes in Idlib de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria over the last four days due to attacks by regime forces and their allies, Anadolu reports.

The attacks by Bashar al-Assad regime, Russia and Iran-backed terrorist groups in residential areas of Aleppo and Idlib continue to displace thousands of Syrians.

07 Feb 2020; MEMO: Syrian regime jets targeted the Taftanaz military airport in Idlib on Thursday morning, just hours after the Turkish army set up a military base there.

A statement from the Foreign Ministry in Ankara made it clear that Turkey expects Russia to stop the Syrian regime’s attacks in Idlib. A Russian delegation will visit Turkey to discuss the situation in Idlib, it added; Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin will meet after that if it is deemed necessary.