Syria

BEIRUT, Feb 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Israeli air strikes killed 23 Syrian and foreign fighters in Syria Thursday, a monitor said, the latest in a spate of raids Israel has said targeted an Iranian presence on its doorstep.

Israel has pledged to prevent its main enemy from entrenching itself militarily in Syria, where it is backing President Bashar al-Assad’s government alongside Russia and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

DAMASCUS, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Syria's air defense was triggered early Thursday by a fresh Israeli missile attack over the capital Damascus, Syrian state TV reported.

The missiles, launched from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, targeted areas west of Damascus, as people there heard powerful explosions, said the report.

The air defense intercepted several missiles, and the exact targets are not clear, it said.

03 Feb 2020; MEMO: At least four Turkish soldiers were killed and nine others injured in intense shelling by Bashar al-Assad regime forces in northwestern Syria on Monday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said, Anadolu reports.

In a statement, the ministry said the soldiers — who were sent as reinforcements to the region for the purpose of preventing conflicts in Idlib de-escalation zone — were attacked by the regime forces, although their locations were previously coordinated.

03 Feb 2020; MEMO: US forces are expanding their military presence in the two largest military bases at the Omar and Tal Baydar oil fields controlled by Kurdish units in the north-east of Syria.

The American army recently dispatched military and logistical equipment through Iraq to Syria in order to expand its bases in the oil-rich areas. They thwarted four attempts by Russian forces to advance towards the Rumaila oil field in January.

TASS, February 2: A Turkish military convoy has crossed the border with Syria, Al Arabiya TV channel reported on Sunday.

According to the report, the new convoy consists of several dozen armored vehicles, including tanks.

Asharq Al-Awsat reported that at least 40 armored vehicles and tanks of the Turkish army had crossed the border through the Kafr Lusein checkpoint located in the north of Syria’s Idlib Governorate.

MAARAT AL-NUMAN, Idlib, Syria, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- The smell of gunpowder is still fresh and the tracks of tanks and armored vehicles are still clear on the muddy road to Maarat al-Numan, the second-largest city in Idlib province, northwestern Syria.

The Syrian army captured the city recently, scoring an important victory against the rebel groups in their last major stronghold in Idlib and clearing part of the way toward securing the entire road connecting the capital Damascus in the south with Aleppo in the north.

01 Feb 2020; MEMO: Thousands of people in the Idlib Governorate have become homeless, as a result of the Syrian regime’s campaign against opposition-held areas.

IDLIB (Syria), Jan 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russian air strikes near a bakery and a medical clinic in Syria’s rebel-held Idlib region killed 10 civilians on Thursday as government forces kept up a ground offensive.

The government and its allies have upped their deadly bombardment of the last major rebel bastion, slowly chipping away at it from the south.

29 January 2020; AFP: Syrian government forces recaptured a strategic highway town in the northwest from jihadist and allied rebels Wednesday, in the latest blow to the country's last major opposition bastion.

Maaret al-Numan, a former anti-government protest hotspot turned ghost town after weeks of bombardment, lies on a key highway connecting the capital to second city Aleppo.

DAMASCUS, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- UN special envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen arrived in Damascus on Tuesday to meet with Syrian officials.

The pro-government al-Watan newspaper said the special envoy will discuss with the Syrian officials the meeting of the constitutional committee that has been formed to amend the Syrian constitution.

The newspaper said Pedersen will hear the stance of the Syrian government regarding the upcoming meeting of the constitutional committee.