Discontent in Damascus due to Russian Police-Regime Forces Tension

Discontent in Damascus due to Russian Police-Regime Forces Tension
TT

Discontent in Damascus due to Russian Police-Regime Forces Tension

Discontent in Damascus due to Russian Police-Regime Forces Tension

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) revealed Thursday that there is rage and discontent among the regime supporters due to a tension between the Russian and Syrian forces by which its consequences haven’t ended yet. The reason behind the tension is that members of the Russian military police attacked an officer in the regime forces and other members in Babbila.

Meanwhile, the southern part of the capital Damascus is witnessing continued violent clashes between terrorist ISIS members and regime forces who are supported by militiamen loyal to them from Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities.

This is taking place in areas of Yarmouk Camp and the areas between it and Al-Hajar al-Aswad and in Al-Tadamon neighborhood, where the fighting between both parties is accompanied by intensive shelling from the regime forces on ISIS controlled areas, which caused further destruction amid raids by warplanes on the same areas, in an attempt by each party to further advance at the expense of the other side.

This ongoing fighting in south of Damascus left a lot of human casualties on both sides, where SOHR monitored the rise of human losses in the ranks of the both parties.

Since Thursday the 19th of April 2018 the number of losses reached up to 227 persons from regime forces and militiamen loyal to them, while at least 212 ISIS members have been also killed in the shelling and clashes that further left tens of wounded in the ranks of the both parties.

The death toll is expected to rise because of the continued combat operations and the presence of injured cases who are in critical situation.

The Syrian Observatory published Thursday that it monitored the regime forces being able to advance with the support of their allies, and forcing the organization to withdraw from the remaining areas it used to control in al-Hajar al-Aswad neighborhood, where the regime forces imposed their control over the entire neighborhood of al-Hajar al-Aswad.



Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
TT

Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.