ISIS Landmines Kill 10 Russia-backed Fighters in Syria’s Homs

Syrian soldiers stand near s checkpoint in Deir Ezzor. (Reuters file photo)
Syrian soldiers stand near s checkpoint in Deir Ezzor. (Reuters file photo)
TT

ISIS Landmines Kill 10 Russia-backed Fighters in Syria’s Homs

Syrian soldiers stand near s checkpoint in Deir Ezzor. (Reuters file photo)
Syrian soldiers stand near s checkpoint in Deir Ezzor. (Reuters file photo)

Ten Russia-backed fighters were killed when ISIS landmines exploded in al-Tayba area in al-Sukhna, in Syria's eastern Homs countryside near the administrative border with the Deir Ezzor province.

Meanwhile, Russian warplanes carried out on Sunday 40 airstrikes targeting ISIS positions in Aleppo, Hama and Raqqa.

The Russia-backed forces launched a security campaign in the deserts of Deir Ezzor and Homs, where forces from the al-Quds Brigade, 5th Corps and National Defense militias continue to comb the area from Kabajib and al-Shoula to al-Sukhna, in an attempt to secure the Deir Ezzor-Homs road.

ISIS has recently increased its attacks against regime forces, killing and injuring dozens.

Analysts believe this reflects the difficulty of completely eliminating ISIS remnant cells operating in the Badia desert area stretching from eastern Homs, in central Syria, to the easternmost parts of the Deir Ezzor province in the east.

On December 30, ISIS targeted three busses carrying pro-regime militants and members of the 4th Division, in al-Shula desert on Deir Ezzor-Homs road, killing 39 and injuring others.

The terrorist organization also ambushed various vehicles on the Damascus-al-Raqqah highway in the beginning of the year. The attack resulted in the death of 12 regime soldiers and affiliated militias, as well as three civilians, including a little girl.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has documented the killing of at least 1,199 regime soldiers and loyalists of various nationalities, including two Russians and 145 Iran-backed militants.

They were all killed during ISIS attacks, bombings and ambushes in the deserts of Deir Ezzor, Homs and al-Suwaida from March 2019 to this day.

The Observatory also announced that during the same period, four civilians working in gas fields, 11 shepherds and four other people were killed in terrorist attacks, while 633 ISIS members died in attacks and bombardment.



Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
TT

Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus’ offer is grounded on its own past experience both with helping rid Syria of chemical weapons 11 years ago and its own ongoing, decades-old search for hundreds of people who disappeared amid fighting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and a 1974 Turkish invasion, The AP reported.

Cyprus in 2013 hosted the support base of a mission jointly run by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to remove and dispose of Syria's chemical weapons.

“As a neighboring country located just 65 miles from Syria, Cyprus has a vested interest in Syria’s future. Developments there will directly impact Cyprus, particularly in terms of potential new migratory flows and the risks of terrorism and extremism,” Kombos told The AP in written replies to questions.

Kombos said there are “profound concerns” among his counterparts across the region over Syria’s future security, especially regarding a possible resurgence of extremist groups like ISIS in a fragmented and polarized society.

“This is particularly critical in light of potential social and demographic engineering disguised as “security” arrangements, which could further destabilize the country,” Kombos said.

The diplomat also pointed to the recent proliferation of narcotics production like the stimulant Captagon that is interconnected with smuggling networks involved in people and arms trafficking.

Kombos said ongoing attacks against Syria’s Kurds must stop immediately, given the role that Kurdish forces have played in combating extremist forces like the ISIS group in the past decade.

Saleh Muslim, a member of the Kurdish Presidential Council, said in an interview that the Kurds primarily seek “equality” enshrined in rights accorded to all in any democracy.

He said a future form of governance could accord autonomy to the Kurds under some kind of federal structure.

“But the important thing is to have democratic rights for all the Syrians and including the Kurdish people,” he said.

Muslim warned that the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, near Syria’s border with Türkiye, is in “very big danger” of falling into the hands of Turkish-backed forces, and accused Türkiye of trying to occupy it.

Kombos said the international community needs to ensure that the influence Türkiye is trying to exert in Syria is “not going to create an even worse situation than there already is.”

“Whatever the future landscape in Syria, it will have a direct and far-reaching impact on the region, the European Union and the broader international community,” Kombos said.