UNIFIL Spokesman: Our Priority Is to Provide Support to Lebanon's Army

UNIFIL Spokesman: Our Priority Is to Provide Support to Lebanon's Army
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UNIFIL Spokesman: Our Priority Is to Provide Support to Lebanon's Army

UNIFIL Spokesman: Our Priority Is to Provide Support to Lebanon's Army

The spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, Andrea Tenenti, assured Wednesday that UNIFIL's priority is to offer maritime and land support to the Lebanese Armed Forces, denying possibility to reduce any operational support.

Tenenti noted to the National News Agency on whether the United Nations plans to downsize its UNIFIL force, saying that "the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said - earlier this week - that it is important for the Lebanese government to strengthen its naval capabilities, but he did not address the issue of downsizing operational activities and our assistance to the Lebanese armed forces."

"The UNIFIL's priority is to provide support to the Lebanese Army at land and sea, while working with the international community to provide all the necessary support to the Lebanese armed forces," Tenenti said.



International Flights Resume at Damascus Airport

An airport worker walks on the tarmac next to a Syrian Air plane at the Damascus International Airport on January 7, 2025. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
An airport worker walks on the tarmac next to a Syrian Air plane at the Damascus International Airport on January 7, 2025. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
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International Flights Resume at Damascus Airport

An airport worker walks on the tarmac next to a Syrian Air plane at the Damascus International Airport on January 7, 2025. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
An airport worker walks on the tarmac next to a Syrian Air plane at the Damascus International Airport on January 7, 2025. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)

International flights resumed at Syria’s main airport in Damascus on Tuesday for the first time since opposition fighters toppled President Bashar Assad last month.

A Syrian Airlines flight bound for Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates, took off at around 11:45 am, marking the first international commercial flight from the airport since December 8.

"Today marks a new beginning," Damascus airport director Anis Fallouh told AFP.

"We started welcoming outbound and inbound international flights," he said.

The first local flight since Assad’s ouster took off on Dec. 18 from Damascus airport to Aleppo in the country’s north.
Thirty-two people including journalists were on board the plane.

Assad fled Syria as a lightning opposition offensive wrested from his control city after city.