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Russia Deploys Surprise Military Reinforcements to Syria’s Deir Ezzor

Russian patrol in northwestern Syria | Russia Today
Russian patrol in northwestern Syria | Russia Today
    London, Qamishli- Asharq Al-Awsat
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Russia Deploys Surprise Military Reinforcements to Syria’s Deir Ezzor

Russian patrol in northwestern Syria | Russia Today
Russian patrol in northwestern Syria | Russia Today

The Russian army on Saturday deployed a huge military convoy to Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria amid talks by Syrian opposition members of a potential breakout of clashes with Iran-backed militias near borders with Iraq.

Meanwhile, Turkish forces and artillery deployed in northwestern Syria reached 7,675 vehicles and 11,000 soldiers.

“Deir Ezzor 24” local channel reported on two Russian military convoys entering the city on Friday dawn. The convoys were transferred from the rural areas of Raqqa province.

According to the media report, around 60 military vehicles, among which were large trucks, had entered the Talay camp in Deir Ezzor.

Another news network, Dorar al-Shamiyyah, reported on a third Russian military convoy composed of around 30 military vehicles also entering the scene in less than 24 hours.

It is noteworthy that this is the first time a military convoy of that size enters Deir Ezzor city.

Dorar al-Shamiyyah channel pointed out to escalating conflict between militias loyal to Russia and others loyal to Iran in the region. As a result of this conflict, a security officer was killed in clashes that took place last week.

Clashes have so far killed four security officers and injured many others—they also resulted in the destruction of a military checkpoint and the burning down of militia camps.

This came after news that Iranian militias took control of Boukamal town in Deir Ezzor. Quds Force commander and successor to Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US airstrike in Baghdad earlier this year, Esmail Qaani visited the premise set up by Iran-backed militias in the Boukamal town.

According to Deir Ezzor 24, Iran-backed militias has forced Syrian regime troops to remove their roadblocks in Boukamal.

More so, they denied the Russian-backed Liwaa al-Quds forces from setting up camp and checkpoints in the town.

According to the local channel, this comes within the frame of the Russian-Iranian struggle for power in the region.

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RSF Shelling On Camp Kills 8 in Sudan's Darfur, Say Rescuers

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
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RSF Shelling On Camp Kills 8 in Sudan's Darfur, Say Rescuers

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig

Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled a displacement camp in Sudan's Darfur region on Thursday, killing eight civilians and injuring others, a local rescue group said.

The bombardment hit Abu Shouk camp, which hosts tens of thousands of displaced people on the outskirts of El Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur.

El-Fasher remains the last major stronghold in Sudan's western Darfur region not under the control of the RSF, who have been at war with the regular army since April 2023, AFP reported.

"The Abu Shouk camp witnessed heavy artillery bombardment by the RSF... killing eight people," the camp's Emergency Response Room said in a statement.

In recent weeks, El-Fasher, which has been under RSF siege since last year, has been locked in intense fighting between warring sides in a region also gripped by famine.

Thursday's offensive comes just days after a series of attacks by the RSF targeted another battleground region of Sudan.

More than 450 people, including 35 children, were killed in several villages of North Kordofan, southwest of the capital Khartoum, according to a statement released this week by the UN's children agency.

"No child should ever experience such horrors," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. "Violence against children is unconscionable and must end now."

On Sunday, the RSF claimed to have killed more than 470 army personnel near the town of El-Obeid, also in North Kordofan, in a statement posted to its Telegram channel.

Independent verification of casualties in Sudan remains difficult due to restricted access to its conflict zones.

Now in its third year, the conflict has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee, creating what the United Nations describes as the world's largest displacement crisis.

In December last year, famine was officially declared in three displacement camps near El-Fasher, namely Zamzam, Abu Shouk and Al-Salam, according to the UN.

Since the Sudanese army regained control of the capital Khartoum in March, the RSF has shifted its operations westward, focusing on Darfur and Kordofan in a bid to consolidate territorial gains.

In April, RSF fighters seized the Zamzam displacement camp, located near Abu Shouk.

The assault forced nearly 400,000 people to flee, according to UN figures, effectively emptying one of the country's largest camps for the displaced.

Sudanese analyst Mohaned el-Nour told AFP the RSF aims to redefine its role in the conflict.

"Their goal is no longer to be seen as a militia, but as an alternative government in western Sudan, undermining the legitimacy of the authorities in Port Sudan."

He added that the recent surge in violence in North Kordofan was likely intended to divert the army's attention from El Fasher, where the military is trying "at all costs" to maintain.