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☆ Drones have ushered in a brutal new phase of Syria's civil war
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-22 | by ( Paul Iddon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewDrones are increasingly shaping warfare in the Syrian civil war that entered its 14th year in March. Kasim Rammah/Getty ImagesHowever, unlike drones, Syrian Air Force aircraft require significant support from Russia. Advertisement"The Russians might not want to spend any more jet fuel and Soviet-designed bombs on Assad just to help him blow up hospitals and marketplaces in Idlib," Lund said. Advertisement"It seems well within the means of Tahrir al-Sham, the dominant jihadi militia in Idlib, to manufacture and use kamikaze drones," Lund said. Even though many of these opposition drones are often described as crude, low-tech, and DIY, Lund also does not rule out the possibility that Syrian opposition groups have received state backing for some attacks.

Persons: —, Bashar al, Assad, Freddy Khoueiry, RANE, Khoueiry, Aron Lund, Lund, Kasim Rammah, Moscow's, they're, RANE's Organizations: Service, Business, Century International, Syrian Air Force, embroilment, Scientific Studies, Research Center, Ministry of Defense, Hezbollah, Russia Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Damascus, Hayat Tahrir, Idlib, Homs, East, North Africa, Syria, Aleppo, Soviet, Iran, Yemen, Lebanon, Hmeimim, Latakia, Tahrir, Turkey

She lost her mother and brother when the building collapsed in the earthquake. Damage from the earthquake is still visible in Antakya, Hatay province. Scott McLean/CNNSearch for the missingLast year’s earthquake killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey, and thousands more in neighboring Syria. “If I can’t find his body, then I will be waiting for him my whole life.”Smoke billows from the scene of collapsed buildings on February 7, 2023 in Hatay, Turkey. Smoke billows from the Iskenderun Port as rescue workers work at the scene of a collapsed building on February 7, 2023 in Iskenderun, Turkey.

Persons: Karabas, Sengul, Rukiye, Mehmet, “, ” Karabas, Scott McLean, Guray Ervin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ismail Demir, ”, Sema Gulec, DEMAK, Gulec, Weeks, Batuhan, –, can’t, Burak Kara, Nur, She’s, Khaled Kassar, Kassar, Anwar, Jamal, ” Kassar, Mustafa Kara Ali, Erdogan, Yasin Akgul, Ekrem Imamoglu, Imamoglu, “ Banks Organizations: Southern, Southern Turkey CNN —, CNN, Hatay, Gulec’s, Interior Ministry, CHP, Getty, Development Party Locations: Southern Turkey, Turkey, Syria, Gaziantep province, Islahiye, Antakya, Hatay province, Iskenderun, Hatay, morgues, Syrian, Homs, Gaziantep, Turkish, AFP, Turkey’s, Istanbul, Istanbul’s, Kocaeli

☆ Fact Check: Photo of woman walking down stairs of destroyed building is from Syria
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A photograph of a woman carrying a toy down a flight of stairs in a crumbling building was captured during the conflict in Syria, contrary to posts sharing the photograph saying it is from the 2023 Israel-Hamas war. The description of the photo on the awards website reads, “Homs, Syria's third largest city, had been involved in war for four years. A mother, who returned home after the end of the conflict, found her child's toy car in their destroyed house.”Ghaedi did not immediately respond to a Reuters message via social media. The photograph shows a woman walking down a flight of stairs in a destroyed building in Homs, Syria. This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team.

Persons: Hassan Ghaedi, ” Ghaedi, Read Organizations: Siena, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Syria, Israel, Homs, Iranian, Syria's

☆ North Korea Condemns Attack in Syria -KCNA
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-08 | by ( Oct. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea on Monday condemned "hostile forces inside and outside Syria" for a drone attack last week that caused many casualties in the country, calling it a terrorist attempt to overthrow the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Scores of people were killed in a drone attack on a graduation ceremony at a military academy in the Homs region in Syria on Oct. 5, in one of the bloodiest strikes against the military in more than 12 years of civil war. "The recent hideous terrorist act was prompted by ... the hostile forces inside and outside Syria who are ... attempting to overthrow the legitimate regime of Syria," state media KCNA said on Monday, citing North Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesperson. In November last year, Assad swore in a new ambassador to North Korea according to a statement by the Syrian government, continuing a history of ties between reclusive Pyongyang and Damascus, diplomatically isolated under a decade of Western sanctions. (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Sonali Paul)

Persons: Bashar al, Assad, KCNA, Joyce Lee, Sonali Paul Organizations: North Korea's Foreign Ministry Locations: SEOUL, North Korea, Syria, Syrian, Homs, Pyongyang, Damascus

☆ North Korea condemns attack in Syria
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SEOUL, Oct 9 (Reuters) - North Korea on Monday condemned "hostile forces inside and outside Syria" for a drone attack last week that caused many casualties in the country, calling it a terrorist attempt to overthrow the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Scores of people were killed in a drone attack on a graduation ceremony at a military academy in the Homs region in Syria on Oct. 5, in one of the bloodiest strikes against the military in more than 12 years of civil war. "The recent hideous terrorist act was prompted by ... the hostile forces inside and outside Syria who are ... attempting to overthrow the legitimate regime of Syria," state media KCNA said on Monday, citing North Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesperson. In November last year, Assad swore in a new ambassador to North Korea according to a statement by the Syrian government, continuing a history of ties between reclusive Pyongyang and Damascus, diplomatically isolated under a decade of Western sanctions. Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Bashar al, Assad, KCNA, Joyce Lee, Sonali Paul Organizations: North Korea's Foreign Ministry, Thomson Locations: SEOUL, North Korea, Syria, Syrian, Homs, Pyongyang, Damascus

☆ Syria mourns scores killed in drone attack on military academy
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Coffins carrying the bodies of some of the people who were killed on Thursday in drone attack on a military academy, lie on the ground outside a military hospital during the funeral in Homs, Syria October 6, 2023. Several weaponised drones hit the Homs Military Academy's courtyard where families were gathered with the new officers on Thursday, minutes after defence minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas had left. On Friday morning, coffins carrying victims and draped in the Syrian flag were sent out from the Homs Military Hospital. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which reports on the Syrian conflict, put the toll at above 120. Russia has helped in efforts to strengthen the Syrian military.

Persons: Firas, Ali Mahmoud Abbas, Abbas, Bashar al, Assad, Maya Gebeily, Tom Perry, William Maclean Organizations: REUTERS, Homs Military Hospital, Syrian Observatory, Human Rights, Observatory, Authorities, Thomson Locations: Homs, Syria, Idlib, Aleppo, Qardaha, Latakia, Russia, Iran, Tehran

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish warplanes have carried out airstrikes on sites believed to be used by U.S.-backed Kurdish militant groups in northern Syria after the U.S. military shot down an armed Turkish drone that came within 500 meters (yards) of American troops. Turkey has been carrying out strikes on Kurdish militant targets in Iraq and Syria following a suicide attack outside the Interior Ministry building in the Turkish capital earlier this week. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the two assailants had arrived from Syria, where they had been trained. He said PKK and YPG positions in Iraq and Syria had now become legitimate targets. Political Cartoons View All 1202 ImagesIn Washington, the Pentagon said Thursday that the Turkish drone bombed targets near the U.S. troops in Syria, forcing them to go to bunkers for safety.

Persons: Tal, Hakan Fidan, Patrick Ryder, “, Lloyd Austin, CQ Brown Organizations: Turkish, U.S, Kurdistan Workers ’ Party, PKK, Kurdish, Interior Ministry, Washington, Pentagon, Air Force, NATO, Joint Chiefs, Islamic Locations: ANKARA, Turkey, U.S, Syria, Turkish, YPG, Iraq, State, Syrian, Homs, Dabik, United States

Thursday’s strike on the Homs Military Academy killed 89 people, including 31 women and five children, and wounded as many as 277, according to the health ministry. No group immediately claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack as Syria endures its 13th year of conflict that has killed half a million people. Syrian Defense Minister Gen. Ali Abbas was present Friday outside the hospital, where he comforted the families of victims. An opposition war monitor reported Thursday that Abbas had left the graduation ceremony shortly before the attack. The tide turned in Assad’s favor against rebel groups in 2015, when Russia provided key military backing to Syria, as well as Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Persons: —, Thursday’s, Syria’s, ”, Qader, Ibrahim Shaaban, Raneem, Mohammed, Rima, Hussein Quba, ” Shaaban, Bassam Mohammed, Ali Abbas, Abbas, Jaafar Mohammed, “, Bashar Assad’s, Bassem Mroue Organizations: Homs Military Academy, Syrian Civil Defense, Syrian Defense, Associated Press Locations: HOMS, Syria, Homs, Russia, Turkey, Russian, Idlib, Aleppo, Daret, Raneem Quba, Iran, Lebanese, Beirut

☆ At least 60 killed in drone attack on Syrian military academy
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIRUT, Oct 5 (Reuters) - At least 60 people were killed on Thursday in an attack on a military academy in Syria, a war monitor and a security source said, with weaponised drones bombing the site minutes after Syria's defence minister left a graduation ceremony there. Civilians and military personnel were killed in the attack on the military academy in the central province of Homs, Syria's defence ministry said in a statement, adding "terrorist" groups had used drones to carry it out. The statement did not specify an organisation and no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Syria's defence minister attended the graduation ceremony but left minutes before the attack, according to a Syrian security source and a security source in the regional alliance backing the Damascus government against opposition groups. We don't know where it came from, and corpses littered the ground," said a Syrian man who had helped set up decorations at the academy for the occasion.

Persons: Syria's, Bashar al, Assad, Laila Bassam, Suleiman Al, Khalidi, Kinda, Jon Boyle, Mark Heinrich, David Gregorio, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: Reuters, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: BEIRUT, Syria, Homs, Damascus, Syrian, fatigues, Russia, Iran, Tehran, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey

☆ Drone attack on Syria military college leaves dozens of casualties
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Hamdi Alkhshali | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Drones laden with explosives hit a military college graduation ceremony in the western Syrian city of Homs on Wednesday, leading to dozens of casualties, Syria’s defense ministry said in a statement. The defense ministry blamed “terrorist organizations supported by well-known international parties.” No group has claimed responsibility yet. Located in the agricultural heartland of central Syria, the city had long been a transport and commercial hub of vital strategic importance. The road through Homs connects the capital, Damascus, in the south to Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, in the north. Turkey’s military has launched a series of airstrikes against Kurdish targets in Syria and Iraq following a deadly bombing in the Turkish capital on Sunday.

Persons: ”, Bashar Al Assad, Asayish Organizations: CNN, Kurdistan Workers ’ Party, European Union Locations: Syrian, Homs, Syria, Damascus, Syria’s, Aleppo, Turkish, Kurdish, Iraq, Ankara, Turkey, United States

☆ At least 100 killed in drone attack on Syrian military academy, monitor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

People stand and walk outside a building after drone attack on Syrian military academy in Homs, Syria October 5, 2023 is seen in this screen grab from a video. Video obtained by Reuters/via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsBEIRUT, Oct 5 (Reuters) - At least 100 people were killed on Thursday in an attack on a military academy in Syria, a war monitor and an official said, with weaponised drones bombing the site minutes after Syria's defence minister left a graduation ceremony there. Civilians and military personnel were killed in the attack on the military academy in the central province of Homs, Syria's defence ministry said, adding "terrorist" groups had used drones. Syria's defence and foreign ministries vowed to respond "with full force". The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 100 people were killed and 125 injured.

Persons: Syria's, Hassan Al, Ghobash, Bashar al, Assad, Laila Bassam, Suleiman Al, Khalidi, Kinda, Jon Boyle, Mark Heinrich, David Gregorio, Alexandra Hudson, Andrew Heavens Organizations: Reuters, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Syrian Observatory, Human Rights, Health, Thomson Locations: Homs, Syria, Rights BEIRUT, Idlib, Damascus, Syrian, fatigues, Russia, Iran, Tehran, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey

☆ I make up to $20,000 a month as a full-time traveler. I started posting my adventures on Instagram and have funded my way to 159 countries.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Elle Hardy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Tom Grond has been traveling full time since 2012 and sharing his adventures on social media. I travel full time, and I've visited 159 countries, including Vatican City, Kosovo, and Taiwan. After my big backpacking trip, I went back home and returned to my job, which I liked. When I was working as a dive guide in Ko Tao, Thailand, I started posting pictures of my work on Instagram, which had started getting popular. I love traveling, but I don't like to live as a touristAfter 4,000 days of traveling, I don't need to see every attraction.

Persons: Tom Grond, he's, I've, Instagram, Ko, it's, Joe Biden, that's Organizations: Google, Service, Vatican City, Tourism Locations: Wall, Silicon, Simpelveld, Netherlands, Vatican, Kosovo, Taiwan, Aruba, Americas, Ko Tao, Thailand, Bangkok, Maldives, Istanbul, Dubai, Mongolia, Colombia, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Italy, Vanuatu, Nepal, Argentina, Hawaii, Namibia, New Zealand, Guyana, Syria, Homs, Tom Grond Pakistan, Kashmir, United States, Iran, Algeria, Pakistan, Switzerland, Grond

☆ ‘It brought back memories of Syria.’ For refugees in Sudan, war is a reminder of the terror they left behind
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Sana Noor Haq Nadeen Ebrahim Celine Alkhaldi | Sana Noor Haq | Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

It brought back memories of Syria,” Abad reflected. After settling in Khartoum, Shadi fled to Port Sudan in April when the conflict started – almost exactly six years after he first stepped foot in Sudan in search of stability. We have not received any confirmed report of casualties among Syrian refugees due to the conflict,” the spokesperson said in a statement. The agency has received reports of many Syrian refugees who self-relocated to safe areas, including over 2,000 in Port Sudan, the spokesperson added. But when I sit still, I start getting thoughts about (the war) in Khartoum and Syria,” Shadi, who works as a barista in Port Sudan, said.

Persons: CNN — Abad, ”, Abad, Bashar al, Assad, ” Abad, ‘, George Ourfalian, “, Uzair, ’, Stringer, they’re, Shadi, SANA, it’s, ” Shadi Organizations: CNN, UNHCR, Sudanese, Eritrean, Rapid Support Forces, Getty, “, ”, United, United Arab Emirates, Crescent, International Committee, UN, Port Sudan, Saudi Locations: Aleppo, Syria, Sudan, Sukkari, AFP, UNHCR, Khartoum, Port Sudan, Damascus, United Arab, UAE, Russia, Homs, Port, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Algeria, Egypt

☆ Russia and Ukraine are fighting the kind of drone war the US military has been worrying about, and it's scrambling to prepare for a future that's already here
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Christopher Woody | Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

The scale of the drone war in Ukraine is one of the most striking features of the conflict. "ISIS figured out how to arm their drones and attack us either with 'kamikaze' explosive-laden drones or drones that dropped" modified munitions, Townsend said. Soldiers with the 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment train on an Avenger air-defense system in in July. In 2018, the Army reactivated the 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, returning a short-range-air-defense capability to Europe. AdvertisementAdvertisement"The war is showing how much [drones are] here and are affecting the war every day.

Persons: Ukraine isn't, Mara Karlin, wasn't, Karlin, that's, John Moore, Stephen Townsend, Townsend, Frank McKenzie, MAHMOUD TAHA, I've, Syria —, Richard Clarke, Clarke, Tom Karako, " McKenzie, McKenzie, Maj, Sean Gainey, Gainey, FADEL SENNA, Douglas Bush, Bush, they've, Col, Michael Parent, Narciso Contreras, Parent Organizations: Pentagon, Service, Defense Writers, US Marine, US Army, US Africa Command, ISIS, Getty, Army, US Special, Command, Aspen Security Conference, Missile Defense, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Patriot, —, US Air Force, Congressional Research Service, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Spc, Yesenia, Asymmetric Warfare Group, Battalion, Stryker, Washington DC, Marine Corps, US Army Yuma, US, Anadolu Agency, Pacific . The Defense Department Locations: Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Mosul, Syria, Homs, Europe, Washington, Russian, Kyiv, Russia, Lviv Oblast, China, Pacific

It left us with nothing," Zuhaira told Reuters. The speed of the wind was a factor in the excessive spread of the fires," Qatna told Reuters during a tour of the area. [1/5]A firefighter attempts to extinguish a wildfire, in the northern countryside of Latakia, Syria July 29, 2023. Syria has been severely impacted climate change in recent years, including rising temperatures and erratic rainfall which have led to forest fires and poor harvests. "Syrians were already especially vulnerable because of the impacts of more than 12 years of conflict, which makes it even harder for them to deal with the impacts of climate change," Zakkout told Reuters.

Persons: Izzadin Zuhaira, I've, Zuhaira, Mohammad Hassaan Qatna, Qatna, Suhair Zakkout, Zakkout, Firas Makdesi, Maya Gebeily, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Reuters, Firefighters, REUTERS, International Committee, Thomson Locations: Syria, Latakia, Homs, Hama, Damascus, Beirut

☆ Syria struggles to contain wildfires as temperatures rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] A wildfire burns near buildings in the countryside, causing some residents to evacuate, in al-Marana village, Homs, Syria July 18, 2023 in this handout image. SHAM FM/Handout via REUTERSDAMASCUS, July 18 (Reuters) - Firefighters were battling on Tuesday to extinguish multiple wildfires raging across the central Syrian countryside, local civil defence officials said, as temperatures reached 40 degrees Celsius in parts of the country. Another was raging across agricultural zones in the adjacent province of Homs, the head of civil defence there told SANA, saying civil defence teams were struggling to contain it due to "the mountainous and rugged terrain". Local outlet Sham FM reported that families from the village of al-Marana had fled their homes as the wildfire approached. They have shrunk Syria's wheat crop in recent years down some 75% from around 4 million tonnes annually pre-war.

Persons: Amjad Hammad, SANA, Marana, Mounira, Kinda Makieh, Maya Gebeily, Alex Richardson Organizations: Firefighters, Sham, Thomson Locations: al, Homs, Syria, DAMASCUS, Hama, Palmyra, Damascus, Maldives

☆ Turkey Wants Syrian Refugees to Go Home - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Joshua Levkowitz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

ANTAKYA, Turkey — It was the Syrians who were responsible for the earthquakes. That’s what a Turkish man told Seyfeddin Selim, a refugee from Homs, Syria, who used to sell groceries in Antakya, the capital of Hatay province in southern Turkey. When the earthquakes hit in February, Mr. Selim’s shop was cleared out by looters before he could get there. Turkey is host to the largest number of refugees of any country in the world — and currently about 3.6 million Syrian refugees. For the first few years after the Syrian conflict began in 2011, Turkey’s open-door policy was a source of national pride, and Turkey was lauded for its emergency care.

Persons: Seyfeddin Selim, Selim’s, Selim didn’t, Turkey’s Organizations: Mr Locations: ANTAKYA, Turkey, Turkish, Homs, Syria, Antakya, Hatay

"Given the events, their relationship with the Syrian defence ministry is now over." Mali authorities did not respond to a request for comment on the flights and whether any Wagner fighters had been redeployed from Syria to Mali. Wagner fighters secured Syrian oilfields and Western officials say Wagner is linked to Evro Polis, a company that profits from those assets. Reuters was unable to determine the fate of those commercial interests in the wake of the Russian defence ministry's moves against Wagner in Syria and Russia. In the wake of the Wagner uprising, Syria's leadership quickly restated publicly the importance of its military alliance with Russia.

Persons: Wagner, Nawar Shaban, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Bashar al, Assad, Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin, Russian Wagner, Evro Polis, Asmaa al, Laila Bassam, Tom Perry, Ed McAllister, Joanna Plucinska, Mike Collett, White, Daniel Flynn Organizations: Omran Center, Strategic Studies, Syrian Republican Guard, Republican Guard, Reuters, Russian Reconciliation Center, Moscow State University, Thomson Locations: BEIRUT, Moscow, Syria, Russian, Russia, Istanbul, Damascus, Ukraine, Belarus, Syrian, Syria's, Homs, Hmeimim, Latakia, Bamako, West African, Mali, Evro Polis, Libya, elswhere, Africa, Western, U.S, Deir, Beirut, London

U.N. investigators in 2012 concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe shabbiha militias committed crimes against humanity, including murder and torture, and war crimes such as arbitrary arrest and detention, sexual violence and pillaging. PAPER TRAILSome human rights scholars who have studied the role of the shabbiha in the Syrian war say the Assad regime initially used the groups to distance itself from violence on the ground. CIJA is a nonprofit founded by a veteran war crimes investigator and staffed by international criminal lawyers who have worked in Bosnia, Rwanda and Cambodia. While there is no international war crimes court with jurisdiction over Syria's conflict, there are a number of so-called universal jurisdiction cases in countries like the Netherlands, Sweden, France and Germany which have laws allowing them to prosecute war crimes even if they are committed elsewhere. Ghany said the documents were "necessary" pieces of evidence linking the shabbiha to the state in international justice cases.

Persons: shabbiha, Assad, CIJA, Bashar al, Ugur Ungor, Fadel Abdul Ghany, Nerma Jelacic, Ghany, Stephanie Van Den Berg, Maya Gebeily, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: UN, Reuters, Commission, International Justice, Committees, Assad's Baath, Popular Committees, Crisis Management, Dutch NIOD Institute for, Studies, Syrian Network for Human Rights, National Defence Force, Thomson Locations: HAGUE, BEIRUT, U.S, CIJA, Bosnia, Rwanda, Cambodia, Syria, Germany, France, Sweden, Netherlands, Karm, Homs, al, Adawiya

CNN —The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Sunday that Israeli warplanes had targeted a Syrian air defense battery from which they claimed an anti-aircraft rocket was launched towards Israel. The anti-aircraft rocket launched from Syria into Israel early Sunday exploded in the air in Israeli territory, the IDF said. No injuries were reported and no special instructions for civilians on the Israeli home front have been issued, it said. Israeli media reported Sunday that debris from the Syrian-launched rocket landed in two neighborhoods of the southern city of Rahat in Israel, damaging homes. Meanwhile Syria’s official news agency SANA said Israel carried out air attacks from the direction northeast of Beirut, targeting some points near the city of Homs.

Persons: Syria’s, SANA, Israel Organizations: CNN, Israel Defense Forces Locations: Israel, Israeli, Syria, Syrian, Rahat, Beirut, Homs

☆ After years of war, Assad returns to Arab fold
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

* Aug. 2011 - U.S. President Barack Obama says Assad has lost legitimacy to rule and should surrender power. * Nov. 2011 - The Arab League suspends Syria and urges its army to stop killing civilians. * Sept. 2015 - Russia joins the war on Assad's side, deploying war planes that bomb rebel-held areas - a turning point in the conflict. * March 2022 - Assad visits the United Arab Emirates and meets its leaders, his first trip to an Arab state since 2011. Assad says he will only meet Erdogan when Turkey is ready to withdraw forces from Syria.

CNN —Three civilians were injured and a gas station set on fire early Saturday near the Syrian city of Homs in an attack that Syria blamed on Israeli rockets, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported, citing a military official. At around 12:50 a.m. early on Saturday, Israel launched a “number of rockets” from the direction of Lebanon, “targeting several points around the city of Homs,” the military official told SANA. “Our air defense intercepted the rockets and downed some of them,” the official said. CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces. The Israeli military has yet to issue a statement on the incident.

Gamal Roshdy, spokesperson for the Arab League secretary general, said the organisation is not privy to every move on the bilateral level between Arab countries. Assad's attendance at an Arab League summit would mark the most significant development in his rehabilitation within the Arab world since 2011, when Syria was suspended from the organisation. The Saudi foreign ministry did not confirm an agreement was reached but said it was in talks with the Syrian foreign ministry to resume consular services. Arab League heavyweight Egypt has also resumed contacts with Assad. An Egyptian security source told Reuters the visit was aimed at putting in place steps for Syria's return to the Arab League through Egyptian and Saudi mediation.

☆ Syria says Israel hits Homs outposts, sources say air bases bombed
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Iranian military personnel alongside fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah are stationed at both airports and there is a strong presence of pro-Iranian militias in that area of Homs province, the sources said. Syria denies Western and Israeli allegations that Iran, whose top military officials frequently visit Syria, has an extensive military presence in the country. A Syrian military source said on state media that the strikes caused some material damage with five military personnel injured. Israel has intensified strikes in the last year on Syrian airports and air bases to disrupt what it says is Iran's use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to militias. read moreIran declined to comment on the Western and Israeli accusations.

☆ Syrian says air defenses confront Israeli attack over Homs area
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AMMAN, April 2(Reuters) - Israel targeted outposts in Syria's Homs province in a raid early on Sunday, the Syrian defence ministry said, while Western intelligence sources said the strikes hit a series of air bases in the central region of the country where Iranian personnel are based. The strikes pointed to intensifying Israeli efforts to counter Tehran's foothold in the country, analysts said. Two Western intelligence sources said the rocket strikes targeted the T4 air base located west of the ancient city of Palmyra, and al Dabaa airport near al Qusayr city near the Lebanese border where Iranian backed Hezbollah are entrenched. Iranian military personnel alongside fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah are stationed at both airports and there is a strong presence of pro-Iranian militias in that area of Homs province, the sources said. A Syrian military source said on state media that the strikes caused some material damage with five military personnel injured.

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