Efforts to Activate Russian-US Coordination in Syria

Caption: A picture taken on October 3, 2015 shows Russian Sukhoi Su-30 SM jet fighters landing on a runway at the Hmeimim airbase in the Syrian province of Latakia. AFP Photo
Caption: A picture taken on October 3, 2015 shows Russian Sukhoi Su-30 SM jet fighters landing on a runway at the Hmeimim airbase in the Syrian province of Latakia. AFP Photo
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Efforts to Activate Russian-US Coordination in Syria

Caption: A picture taken on October 3, 2015 shows Russian Sukhoi Su-30 SM jet fighters landing on a runway at the Hmeimim airbase in the Syrian province of Latakia. AFP Photo
Caption: A picture taken on October 3, 2015 shows Russian Sukhoi Su-30 SM jet fighters landing on a runway at the Hmeimim airbase in the Syrian province of Latakia. AFP Photo

The Russian and US armies activated their communications days after their forces witnessed the most violent skirmish in months in Syria, when a vehicle collision in the eastern part of the war-torn country left American troops with injuries.

“The two sides activated communications through military channels with an aim of respecting the delicate protocols reached between them and to prevent any future collisions,” a Russian source told Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday.

He said that despite a turning up of rhetoric and accusations between the two sides following the incident, Moscow kept its patrols in the agreed areas and informed the US about their itinerary.

“The current contacts between the two sides aim to prevent any escalation and to enhance coordination in the future,” the Russian source said.

On Tuesday, one US official said Russian vehicles sideswiped a light-armored US military vehicle outside of the Syrian town of Al-Malikiyah located near Syria’s northeastern triple border with Turkey and Iraq, injuring four Americans.

Russia blamed the US military for the incident.

Washington then accused the Russian armored vehicle of hitting a US Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle and of violating “de-confliction protocols” worked out between Washington and Moscow since 2015.

Following the incident, a telephone conversation was held between the chief of the Russian military’s General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, and his US counterpart, Gen. Mark Milley, to contain the dispute.

Government-owned Russian media outlets stressed that the Russian forces “had succeeded in sending a clear message to the US to prevent it from continuing to stop Russian patrols in the area.”

Meanwhile, a delegation from the Syrian Democratic Council is in Moscow for expected talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday on the latest developments in eastern Syria.

Separately, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said Friday that a new air defense system will be sent to Syria to counter unmanned aerial vehicles by detecting and jamming the satellite “navigation system” channels.



US Airstrikes Killed 12 People in Yemen’s Capital

Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Houthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo)
Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Houthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo)
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US Airstrikes Killed 12 People in Yemen’s Capital

Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Houthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo)
Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Houthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo)

US airstrikes targeting Yemen’s capital killed 12 people and wounded 30 others, the Houthi group said early Monday.
The deaths mark the latest in America’s intensified campaign of strikes targeting the Houthis. The US military’s Central Command declined to answer questions about the strike or discuss civilian casualties from its campaign.
The Houthis described the strike as hitting the Farwa neighborhood market in Sanaa’s Shuub district. That area has been targeted before by the Americans.
Footage aired by the Houthis' al-Masirah satellite news channel showed damage to vehicles and buildings in the area, with screaming onlookers holding what appeared to be a dead child. Others wailed on stretchers heading into a hospital
Strikes overnight into Monday also hit other areas of the country, including Yemen's Amran, Hodeida, Marib and Saada governorates.
The strikes come after US airstrikes hit the Ras Isa fuel port in Yemen last week, killing at least 74 people and wounding 171 others.
The strikes follow the resumption of negotiations in Rome between the US and Iran over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, which Washington has linked to its attacks in Yemen.
The US is targeting the Houthis because of the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on Israel. The Houthis are the last militant group in Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” that is capable of regularly attacking Israel.
The new US operation against the Houthis under Trump appears more extensive than attacks on the group were under President Joe Biden, an AP review found. The new campaign started after the group threatened to begin targeting “Israeli” ships again over Israel blocking aid from entering the Gaza Strip.
From November 2023 until this January, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it. The Houthis also launched attacks targeting American warships without success.
Assessing the toll of the month-old US airstrike campaign has been difficult because the military hasn’t released information about the attacks, including what was targeted and how many people were killed. The Houthis, meanwhile, strictly control access to attacked areas and don’t publish complete information on the strikes, many of which likely have targeted military and security sites.