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Israel Launches Airstrike near Syria's Baniyas

Israeli previous strike on Syria (File- Reuters)
Israeli previous strike on Syria (File- Reuters)
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Israel Launches Airstrike near Syria's Baniyas

Israeli previous strike on Syria (File- Reuters)
Israeli previous strike on Syria (File- Reuters)

Israel has launched an air attack targeting a site in the vicinity of the Syrian city of Baniyas that caused some material losses, the Syrian state news agency said on Tuesday quoting a military source.
The Israeli military said "no comment" in response to a query from Reuters.
For years Israel has been carrying out attacks against what it has described as Iran-linked targets in Syria, where Tehran's influence has grown since it began supporting President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war that started in 2011.
Israeli strikes on Syria increased after the start of the war in Gaza last October. Israel typically does not comment on specific reports of strikes in Syria.
 

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Chinese Citizen Missing in Syria’s Suwaida

 Visa entry of Chinese citizen Han Mingyi who went missing in Suwaida, south Syria (Suwaida 24)
 Visa entry of Chinese citizen Han Mingyi who went missing in Suwaida, south Syria (Suwaida 24)
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Chinese Citizen Missing in Syria’s Suwaida

 Visa entry of Chinese citizen Han Mingyi who went missing in Suwaida, south Syria (Suwaida 24)
 Visa entry of Chinese citizen Han Mingyi who went missing in Suwaida, south Syria (Suwaida 24)

A Chinese citizen on a visit to Syria reportedly went missing on Monday during a trip to the city of Suwaida in southern Syria.
“The weather is nice and comfortable” is the last message a Chinese national texted to his friend in Damascus, informing him that he had arrived in Suwaida.
All contact was later cut off with the tourist, according to activists in the Syrian province who said that the Chinese citizen Han Mingyi, arrived in Suwaida last Monday, then disappeared.
The Suwayda 24 news website published a photo of the tourist’s entry visa to Syria with his personal data.
Born in 2003, Mingyi was a guest in a hotel owned by a Chinese person in the capital, Damascus.
The tourist said he was traveling to the province of Daraa, but hours after he left Damascus, Mingyi texted the hotel owner and informed him that he had arrived in Suwaida.
All contacts with him were then lost.
A source from the security services in the province told the news website “there was no report of a missing Chinese tourist in Suwaida or Daraa until this hour.”
The source explained that tourists usually travel in tour groups, and are under security surveillance.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said contact with the Chinese tourist in Suwaida has been lost for days, also listing reports about his kidnapping.
The Observatory noted that the Chinese embassy received a report of the disappearance of the tourist while he was leaving the capital towards southern Syria.
It added that it lost contact with him in the Suwaida province after the man made a phone call with the “hotel owner.”
Despite the presence of security checkpoints, chaos reigns in cities of southern Syria amid the spread of armed gangs, kidnapping, robbery and car theft gangs.
Sources in Damascus told Asharq Al-Awsat that despite the fragility of security in Syria, Europeans and Chinese nationals did not stop visiting the country during the war, but that the majority of them are employees of international organizations and companies.
“During the war, we saw Chinese employees visiting different Syrian areas and sightseeing on the sidelines of their missions,” the sources said.
They said China has already expressed its hopes to play an active role in solving the Syrian crisis, and had appointed a special envoy to Syria in 2016.
However, the sources added that China's ambitions were hit by instability and international economic sanctions on Damascus that continue to impede investment.