BEIRUT: With the fall of the Daesh group’s last significant stronghold in Syria, Iranian and Russian-backed Syrian troops now turn to face off with their main rival, the US-backed forces holding large oil fields and strategic territory in the country’s north and east.
The complicated map puts US and Iranian forces at close proximity, just across the Euphrates River from each other, amid multiple hotspots that could turn violent, particularly in the absence of a clear American policy.
There are already signs.
Iran threatened last week that Syrian troops will advance toward Raqqa, the former Daesh capital, which fell to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in October, raising the potential for a clash there. The Kurdish-led SDF also controls some of Syria’s largest oil fields, in the oil-rich eastern Deir Ezzor province, an essential resource that the Syrian government also says it will take back.
The question now is whether the United States is willing to confront the troops of Syrian President Bashar Assad and Iranian-backed militiamen. The Kurds are seeking a clear American commitment to help them defend their gains. American officials have said little of their plans and objectives in Syria beyond general statements about continuing to deny Daesh safe havens and continuing to train and equip allies.
Washington seems to be hoping to negotiate a deal for Syria that would protect the Kurds’ ambitions for autonomy while limiting Iran’s ambitions for a presence in Syria. Four US officials said Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin could announce a Russian-US deal on how they hope to Syria’s war after Daesh’s defeat if they meet Friday at a conference in Vietnam. However, prospect of such a meeting uncertain, it was not clear if such a deal had been reached.
But Assad underlined that his government plans to regain all of Syria and will now fight against plans to “partition” Syria, a reference to Kurdish aspirations for a recognized autonomous zone in the north.
Government victories “have foiled all partition plans and the goals of terrorism and the countries sponsoring it,” Assad said during a meeting this week with Ali Akbar Velayati, the adviser of Iran’s supreme leader.
With its collapse in Boukamal on Thursday, the Daesh group has no major territory left in Syria or Iraq. Its militants are believed to have pulled back into the desert, east and west of the Euphrates River. The group has a small presence near the capital, Damascus. Late Thursday, the extremist group carried out a counteroffensive in Boukamal, regaining control of more than 40 percent of the border town.
The Euphrates now stands as the dividing line between Syrian government troops and the SDF in much of Deir Ezzor province.
Government forces and their allies, including Iranian troops and fighters from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, control the western bank. They hold the provincial capital and several small oil fields.
The Kurdish-led force, along with American troops advising them, is on the eastern bank. They hold two of Syria’s largest oil fields, nearly a dozen smaller ones, one of the largest gas fields and large parts of the border with Iraq. They say they are determined to keep the government from crossing the river.
The coalition had said for weeks that the SDF was pushing toward Boukamal. With Assad’s forces taking the town, the coalition said in a statement to the AP on Friday that the SDF is now moving on Baghuz, a village also on the border near Boukamal but on the eastern bank of the Euphrates.
Iran’s Velayati said the US presence aims to divide Syria. “They have not and will not succeed in Iraq and they will also not succeed in Syria,” he said during a visit to Lebanon last weekend. “We will soon see the Syrian government and popular forces in Syria east of the Euphrates and they will liberate the city of Raqqa.”
The US coalition declined to comment on Velayati’s remarks, saying “it would not be appropriate to comment on speculation or rumor by any third party.”
Washington has been wary of Iran’s increasing influence in the area and its attempts to establish a land corridor from Iran across Iraq and Syria to Lebanon.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis acknowledged this week that allies have pressed for a clearer US policy in Syria. The priority was to get the UN-sponsored peace talks back on track, he said, offering few details.
“We’re trying to get this into the diplomatic mode so we can get things sorted out ... and make certain (that) minorities — whoever they are — are not just subject to more of what we’ve seen” under Assad, he said, apparently referring to ensuring some sort of accommodation to Kurdish ambitions.
The talks, scheduled for Nov. 28, have already been challenged by Russia, which seeks a bigger role. Moscow called for intra-Syrian talks to chart a political process and invited the dominant Kurdish party that forms the backbone of the SDF, the first such international invitation. A date for the Russia talks has not been set.
Yezid Sayigh, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, predicted the Syrian government will use military pressure to reach a negotiated solution with the Kurds amid lack of evidence that the US has any “commitment to engineering political change in Syria or indeed has a Syria policy at all.” In an article last week in the Al-Hayat newspaper, Sayigh said Russia is the likely arbiter between Kurds and the government.
Ilham Ahmed, a senior politician with the political arm of the SDF, said indirect talks with the government have taken place but there are no signs of a change in their position.
“A clear position from the coalition can prevent confrontation,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Kurdish-led SDF faces the complications of trying to run Arab-dominated areas. With US-backing, the force sought to allay any Arab residents’ fears of Kurdish domination by forming joint local councils and electing Arab and Kurdish officials.
But this week, the SDF-held town of Manbij saw protests by Arab residents against compulsory military conscription imposed by the SDF. Hundreds were briefly detained, according to Mohammed Khaled, with activist-operated Aleppo 24.
Ahmed described the protests as “fabricated” by the government and Turkey, which sees Kurdish aspirations as a threat.
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Associated Press writers Josh Lederman and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
After Daesh collapse, Syria government faces US-backed Kurds
After Daesh collapse, Syria government faces US-backed Kurds
Anxiety clouds Easter for West Bank Christians
- ‘There is a constant fear, you go to bed with it, you wake up with it’
ZABABDEH: In the mainly Christian Palestinian town of Zababdeh, the runup to Easter has been overshadowed by nearby Israeli military operations, which have proliferated in the occupied West Bank alongside the Gaza war.
This year unusually Easter falls on the same weekend for all of the town’s main Christian communities — Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican — and residents have attempted to busy themselves with holiday traditions like making date cakes or getting ready for the scout parade.
But their minds have been elsewhere.
Dozens of families from nearby Jenin have found refuge in Zababdeh from the continual Israeli military operations that have devastated the city and its adjacent refugee camp this year.
“The other day, the (Israeli) army entered Jenin, people were panicking, families were running to pick up their children,” said Zababdeh resident Janet Ghanam.
“There is a constant fear, you go to bed with it, you wake up with it,” the 57-year-old Anglican added, before rushing off to one of the last Lenten prayers before Easter.
Ghanam said her son had told her he would not be able to visit her for Easter this year, for fear of being stuck at the Israeli military roadblocks that have mushroomed across the territory.
Zababdeh looks idyllic, nestled in the hills of the northern West Bank, but the roar of Israeli air force jets sometimes drowns out the sound of its church bells.
“It led to a lot of people to think: ‘Okay, am I going to stay in my home for the next five years?’” said Saleem Kasabreh, an Anglican deacon in the town.
“Would my home be taken away? Would they bomb my home?“
Kasabreh said this “existential threat” was compounded by constant “depression” at the news from Gaza, where the death toll from the Israel’s response to Hamas’s October 2023 attack now tops 51,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Zababdeh has been spared the devastation wreaked on Gaza, but the mayor’s office says nearly 450 townspeople lost their jobs in Israel when Palestinian work permits were rescinded after the Hamas attack.
“Israel had never completely closed us in the West Bank before this war,” said 73-year-old farmer Ibrahim Daoud. “Nobody knows what will happen.”
Many say they are stalked by the spectre of exile, with departures abroad fueling fears that Christians may disappear from the Holy Land.
“People can’t stay without work and life isn’t easy,” said 60-year-old math teacher Tareq Ibrahim.
Mayor Ghassan Daibes echoed his point.
“For a Christian community to survive, there must be stability, security and decent living conditions. It’s a reality, not a call for emigration,” he said.
“But I’m speaking from lived experience: Christians used to make up 30 percent of the population in Palestine; today, they are less than one percent.
“And this number keeps decreasing. In my own family, I have three brothers abroad — one in Germany, the other two in the United States.”
Catholic priest Elias Tabban adopted a more stoical attitude, insisting his congregation’s spirituality had never been so vibrant.
“Whenever the Church is in hard times... (that’s when) you see the faith is growing,” Tabban said.
Houthi media says US air strikes hit Sanaa
- Houthi-held areas of Yemen have endured near-daily strikes, blamed on the United States, since Washington launched an air campaign against the militia on March 15
SANAA: Houthi media said more than a dozen air strikes hit the militia-held capital Sanaa on Wednesday, blaming them on the United States.
Houthi-held areas of Yemen have endured near-daily strikes, blamed on the United States, since Washington launched an air campaign against the militia on March 15 in an attempt to end their threats to shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
“Fourteen air strikes carried out by American aggression hit the Al-Hafa area in the Al-Sabeen district in the capital,” the Houthis’ Al-Masirah TV reported.
It also reported strikes blamed on the United States in the Hazm area of Jawf province.
The US campaign followed Houthi threats to resume their attacks on international shipping over Israel’s aid blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Since March 15, the Houthis have also resumed attacks targeting US military ships and Israel, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The Houthis began targeting ships transiting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, as well as Israeli territory, after the Gaza war began in October 2023, later pausing their attacks during a recent two-month ceasefire.
Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza at the beginning of March and resumed its offensive in the Palestinian territory on March 18, ending the truce.
The vital Red Sea route, connecting to the Suez Canal, normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic, but the Houthi attacks forced many companies to make a long detour around the tip of southern Africa.
At least 8,000 missing in war-torn Sudan in 2024: Red Cross
PORT SUDAN: At least 8,000 people were reported missing in war-ravaged Sudan in 2024, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Wednesday, adding that the figure is just “the tip of the iceberg.”
“These are just the cases we have collected directly,” Daniel O’Malley, head of the ICRC delegation in Sudan, told AFP. “We know this is just a small percentage — the tip of the iceberg — of the whole caseload of missing.”
Qatar renews $60m grant for Lebanon army salaries
- The provisions were to enable Lebanon’s army to “carry out its national duties of maintaining stability”
- The Lebanese President arrived in Qatar on Tuesday
DOHA: Qatar is to renew a $60 million grant to pay the salaries of Lebanon’s army and provide 162 military vehicles, the two countries said on Wednesday following Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s first official visit to the Gulf state.
Qatar’s ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani “announced the renewal of the Qatari grant to support the salaries of the Lebanese army, amounting to USD 60 million, in addition to 162 military vehicles,” a joint statement said.
It added the provisions were to enable Lebanon’s army to “carry out its national duties of maintaining stability and controlling the borders throughout Lebanese territory.”
Aoun, who was elected in January after more than two years of caretaker government in Beirut, has been tasked with charting a course out of the country’s worst economic crisis and reconstruction after all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Lebanese President arrived in Qatar on Tuesday accompanied by foreign minister Youssef Raggi, and departed Doha on Wednesday afternoon, the official Qatar News Agency reported.
The Gulf state in February pledged support for reconstruction in Lebanon after the recent conflict and was already a provider of financial and in-kind support to the Lebanese army.
“Both sides emphasized the national role of the Lebanese army, the importance of supporting it, and the need to implement Resolution 1701 in all its provisions,” the joint statement added, urging “de-escalation in southern Lebanon.”
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and formed the basis of the November truce that largely ended more than a year of fresh hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed group.
The resolution calls for the disarmament of all non-state armed groups and said Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only forces in south Lebanon.
Israel was due to complete its withdrawal from Lebanon by February 18 after missing a January deadline, but it has kept troops in five places it deems “strategic.”
Jordan briefs Lebanon on investigation into terrorist cell
- Beirut unsure if Lebanese citizens involved in missile-making group
- Army intelligence arrests 2 Palestinians for smuggling weapons across Lebanon-Syria border
BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun was briefed by Jordan’s King Abdullah on Wednesday on the results of investigations into a missile manufacturing cell uncovered in Jordan, two members of which had been sent to Lebanon for training.
According to his media office, Aoun expressed Lebanon’s “full readiness for coordination and cooperation” between the two countries and instructed Justice Minister Adel Nassar to work with his Jordanian counterpart, in cooperation with the security and judicial agencies, on the investigations and the exchange of information.
A judicial source told Arab News that Lebanese army intelligence was “following up on the case of the terrorist cell and we do not yet know whether any Lebanese individuals are involved.”
“This agency has requested Jordan to provide it with information regarding the investigations, to rely on the Lebanese investigations and in the event any Lebanese involvement is proven, the matter will then be referred to the Lebanese judiciary,” the person said.
In a parallel development, Lebanon’s army intelligence said it had arrested two Palestinians in the southern city of Sidon for “trading in and smuggling military weapons across the Lebanese-Syrian border and seized several weapons and military ammunition in their possession.”
The army command said the detainees were being investigated under the supervision of the judiciary.
Media reports said the pair were members of the security apparatus of the Hamas movement in Sidon.
No official security agency has confirmed a link between the arrests and the Jordanian cell.
The Jordan News Agency on Tuesday quoted intelligence officials as saying that “a series of plots targeting the country’s national security were thwarted and 16 individuals suspected of planning acts of chaos and sabotage were arrested.”
The plans involved the production of missiles using local materials and imported components. Explosives and firearms were discovered, along with a concealed missile that was ready for use, the report said.
The 16 suspects are thought to have been engaged in efforts to develop drones, recruit and train individuals domestically and send others abroad for further training.
According to the suspects’ statements, two members of the cell — Abdullah Hisham and Muath Al-Ghanem — were sent to Lebanon to coordinate with a prominent figure in the organization and receive training.
In December, the Lebanese army initiated a process to disarm Palestinian factions located outside Palestinian refugee camps. The factions were loyal to the former Syrian regime and mostly based in the Bekaa region along the border with Syria and the southern region.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam expressed Lebanon’s “full solidarity with Jordan in confronting schemes that threaten its security and stability” and its “readiness to cooperate with Jordanian authorities as necessary regarding information that some of those involved in these plots received training in Lebanon,” according to his media office.
At the launch of the Beirut Airport Road Rehabilitation Project, Salam said that security issues on the airport road were “being worked on with Defense Minister Michel Menassa and Interior Minister Ahmed Hajjar.”
In the past 48 hours, the Beirut Municipality has undertaken efforts to remove party flags and images of politicians and party leaders, particularly those associated with Hezbollah, from the streets of the capital.
