Iran Secures Control over Water Smuggling Routes in Eastern Syria


Members of the Syrian Democratic Forces during the graduation of a military batch in the Al-Omar oil field (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Members of the Syrian Democratic Forces during the graduation of a military batch in the Al-Omar oil field (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Iran Secures Control over Water Smuggling Routes in Eastern Syria


Members of the Syrian Democratic Forces during the graduation of a military batch in the Al-Omar oil field (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Members of the Syrian Democratic Forces during the graduation of a military batch in the Al-Omar oil field (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has taken control over all waterways separating their area of control in east Syria’s al-Mayadeen region in Deir Ezzor and areas controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, reliable sources told the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The water crossings are usually used as smuggling routes.

“A Revolutionary Guard armed group captured Al-Bareed crossing after expelling the 4th Division’s members stationed there,” the Observatory said.

“The group also expelled National Defense Forces from the crossings of Al-Taybah and Al-Kurnish, bringing them under its control. However, the reasons behind this action have not been known yet,” it added.

National Defense Forces and the 4th Division both back the Syrian regime, which is supposedly an ally to Iran.

In other news, the Observatory reported that eleven people were killed in alleged Israeli airstrikes near Damascus on Monday night.

Syrian air defenses intercepted missiles over the southern region of the country on Monday near Damascus, state television cited a Syrian military source as saying. The source accused Israel of being behind the attacks.

The strikes reportedly killed seven Iranian-backed militants of non-Syrian nationalities and three Syrian soldiers, according to the Observatory.

The state news agency SANA, on the other hand, cited a military source as saying that only two people were killed, and seven were injured.

While Syrian officials accuse Israel of being behind the attack, Tel Aviv has not acknowledged the strike.

Israel, however, has repeatedly attacked Iranian targets in Syria and those of allied militias, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

According to Yedioth Ahronoth daily, the strikes targeted a number of Syrian Army positions that were being used by Iranian militias. These positions were located in the northeast of the southern Daraa province, south of the capital Damascus and in al-Kiswa region.



32 Go on Trial Over Fatal Hotel Fire in Türkiye

A fire truck is seen in front of a hotel, following a deadly fire, in the ski resort of Kartalkaya, in Bolu, Türkiye, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
A fire truck is seen in front of a hotel, following a deadly fire, in the ski resort of Kartalkaya, in Bolu, Türkiye, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
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32 Go on Trial Over Fatal Hotel Fire in Türkiye

A fire truck is seen in front of a hotel, following a deadly fire, in the ski resort of Kartalkaya, in Bolu, Türkiye, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
A fire truck is seen in front of a hotel, following a deadly fire, in the ski resort of Kartalkaya, in Bolu, Türkiye, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo

Thirty-two people went on trial in Türkiye on Monday over a fire at a luxury ski resort hotel in January that killed 78 people, including 36 children, local media reported.

Entire families perished when the huge blaze swept through the Grand Kartal Hotel in the northern mountain resort of Kartalkaya in the early hours of January 21.

Questions have multiplied about fire safety measures at the hotel and victims' families allege that negligence contributed to the high death toll.

More than 130 people were injured and the 12-storey building was destroyed.

Thirteen of the defendants -- including senior officials at the hotel, the fire department and the city council -- face up to 1,998 years in prison each on 78 charges, including "manslaughter with possible intent" to kill, AFP reported.

Survivors and experts have said the hotel's fire alarm system did not work.

According to the indictment, the suspects facing manslaughter charges include the hotel's owner, managers and members of the board, the deputy mayor of Bolu city and two fire department officials.

Before the hearing, victims' families gathered outside Bolu high school, where the trial is taking place, carrying portraits of the deceased.

They read out a statement, alleging countless breaches of safety and attempts to conceal evidence.

"During the fire, the owners, managers and employees of the Grand Kartal Hotel failed to alert guests or activate the alarm system.

"They rushed to save their cars while our loved ones were suffocating in the smoke," they alleged.

"An inspection report drawn up just one month before the fire clearly showed a lack of fire safety measures but the hotel owners ignored it on the grounds that the measures would be too costly," they continued.

"We know that the authorities turned a blind eye to this negligence, that evidence was concealed and that the camera recordings were deleted."

At the time of the fire, the tourism ministry and Bolu city council blamed each other for the disaster.

Due to the large number of defendants and plaintiffs -- 210 civil parties, the Bolu High Criminal Court is sitting at the high school's sports hall.

Ozgur Ozel, leader of the main opposition CHP, would attend the hearing, the social-democratic party said.

The trial is expected to last two weeks.