SYRIA

BRUSSELS – During a European Union summit in Brussels on Thursday, a phone conversation was made between Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss the situation in Idlib, where nearly one million displaced civilians have fled an advancing Syrian Arab Army (SAA).…

IDLIB, Syria – Over the last few days, the Turkish military has established deployed a number of observation points in Idlib, supplied armed opposition groups there with armor and artillery, and have also targeted Syrian Arab Army (SAA) positions. Yesterday, Russian aircraft responding to the growing Turkish presence and military…

NORTH AND EAST SYRIA – Amnesty International’s annual report for the year 2019 documents the crimes carried out by Turkish forces and their Syrian National Army partners in the occupied regions of North Syria. The Syrian National Army (SNA), a collection of militias, including several espousing Islamist ideologies, formed and…

DARAA, Syria – International humanitarian aid organization Oxfam said in a statement on Wednesday that several of their staff were attacked in the areas of Nawa and Yadouda in the western countryside of Daraa, Syria. A car carrying an Oxfam team was exposed to gunfire by unknown armed groups. The…

HASAKAH, Syria – Thirty-one displaced families, consisting of 284 people, were released from Al-Arisha camp south of Hasakah city, in order to return to their areas in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor. The Al-Arisha camp management said that the displaced were released from the camp at the urging of tribal…

HASAKAH, Syria – Local sources indicated that U.S. forces transported 11 trucks loaded with logistical equipment, armored vehicle loaders, and refrigerators to its base in Khirbet al-Jeer near Dayrik (al-Malikiyah) in the far northeast of Jazira Region. The convoy crossed into Syria through the Al Waleed border crossing. The sources…

IDLIB, Syria – The devastation, shelling, and displacement of civilians in the northwestern regions of Syria have led to a worsening humanitarian catastrophe. As a result, the United Nations has put forward a plan to provide more aid to those areas. U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Sir Mark Lowcock, has…

TAL TAMR – Plumes of smoke were reported over the skies of Tal Tamr yesterday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) stated that the Turkish forces withdrew from their positions along the Tal Tamr frontline. Before withdrawing, the Turkish forces set fire to their headquarters and there was no…

NORTH AND EAST SYRIA – Trials for the hundreds of foreign Islamic State detainees still held in camps by the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAA) are set to get underway withing the next three months, according to officials. The People’s Defense Court, which was established in…

Cover Image: Internally displaced Syrians ride on a vehicle packed with their belongings in Hazano, near Idlib, Syria. 11 February 2020. (Image: Khalil Ashawi / Reuters) This article was originally published by Al Monitor on 18 February 2020. The original article can be found here. By Rana al-Ahmde MANBIJ, Syria…