Report: 10,000 Iranian Militants Killed in Syria

The ongoing military operations in Syria have resulted in extensive damage to the infrastructure (AP)
The ongoing military operations in Syria have resulted in extensive damage to the infrastructure (AP)
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Report: 10,000 Iranian Militants Killed in Syria

The ongoing military operations in Syria have resulted in extensive damage to the infrastructure (AP)
The ongoing military operations in Syria have resulted in extensive damage to the infrastructure (AP)

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) documented the death of 499,657 people since the outbreak of the Syrian uprising.

The Observatory also announced that the death toll included 1,712 Lebanese Hezbollah members and 8,628 others from non-Syrian militiamen backed by Iran and Russia.

Last year, the United Nations Human Rights Office announced that it compiled a list of 350,209 identified individuals killed in the conflict in Syria between March 2011 to March 2021.

In March 2011, the Observatory announced that 494,438 people had been killed since the start of the conflict in Syria when protests turned into an armed conflict.

The Observatory said that the civilian deaths are 160,681, including 120,158 men, 15,237 women, and 25,286 children in its new report.

It detailed the deaths as follows: 49,359 civilians died under torture in regime prisons, 52,508 were killed in shelling and gunfire by regime forces, and 26,403 in airstrikes by the regime’s air force.

In addition, 8,683 civilians were killed by Russian bombardments, and 2,504 others were killed in airstrikes, the source of which was not confirmed.

SOHR also reported that factions killed 2,320 civilians, militants killed 900 civilians, while 1,692 civilians died in various attacks. Up to 919 civilians died of poor living conditions, and the International Coalitions killed 2,676 civilians.

The non-civilian deaths amounted to 338,976 and were distributed as follows: 91,267 from the regime forces, 67,242 from militias loyal to the regime, Iran and Russia, 1,712 from the Lebanese Hezbollah, and 8,628 from non-Syrian militiamen backed by Iran and Russia.

The list also included 8,017 dead during the fighting and militant factions, 3,588 dissidents from the regime forces, 10,886 of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), 3,228 Kurdish fighters, and 41,101 ISIS terrorists.

The Observatory added that the figures do not include more than 55,000 citizens killed under torture in the regime’s prisons.

The report also does not account for over 3,200 Kurdistan Workers’ Party fighters who were killed during their fight alongside the SDF.

Furthermore, the Observatory could not verify the status of over 3,200 civilians and fighters abducted in ISIS prisons and more than 4,100 prisoners and missing members of the regime forces and loyal militiamen.

The Observatory said that over 1,800 persons were kidnapped by militant factions, ISIS, and Fateh al-Sham Front (former Jabhat Al-Nusra) on charges of “loyalty to the regime.”

The ongoing military operations, shelling, bombardment, and various explosions have injured more than 2.1 million civilians and displaced about 13,000,000 other civilians, including hundreds of thousands of children and women.

Meanwhile, the US State Department said that Washington does not support efforts to normalize relations with the Assad regime and will not normalize relations until there is irreversible progress towards a political solution.

“We will not normalize relations with Assad until and unless there is irreversible progress towards that political solution. The Syrian people deserve nothing less after more than a decade of war,” said spokesman Ned Price.”



Syria’s Assad: Problem Doesn’t Lie in Meeting Erdogan, but in What Will Be Discussed

This handout picture released by the Syrian Presidency Facebook page on July 15, 2024, shows Syria's President Bashar al-Assad voting in elections of new Members of Parliament (MPs) in the capital Damascus. (Syrian Presidency Facebook page / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Syrian Presidency Facebook page on July 15, 2024, shows Syria's President Bashar al-Assad voting in elections of new Members of Parliament (MPs) in the capital Damascus. (Syrian Presidency Facebook page / AFP)
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Syria’s Assad: Problem Doesn’t Lie in Meeting Erdogan, but in What Will Be Discussed

This handout picture released by the Syrian Presidency Facebook page on July 15, 2024, shows Syria's President Bashar al-Assad voting in elections of new Members of Parliament (MPs) in the capital Damascus. (Syrian Presidency Facebook page / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Syrian Presidency Facebook page on July 15, 2024, shows Syria's President Bashar al-Assad voting in elections of new Members of Parliament (MPs) in the capital Damascus. (Syrian Presidency Facebook page / AFP)

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad said on Monday he was ready to meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan if that would serve his country’s interest.

He added that the problem doesn’t lie in the meeting “but in what will be discussed,” questioning the point of a holding a meeting if they won’t discuss the withdrawal of the Turkish forces from northern Syria.

He made his remarks as he cast his vote in his country’s parliamentary elections.

“We have repeatedly said that we are positive towards any initiative aimed at improving relations. This is natural and no one is thinking about creating problems with their neighbors,” he stated.

“We are moving positively, but based on clear principles ... which are international law and sovereignty. We are working according to a specific methodology to guarantee that we will reach positive results,” Assad stressed.

“If we don’t achieve positive results, then that means the outcomes will be negative ... In this case, we either win or lose,” he went on to say.

“On the joint level, we and Türkiye are allies. So, everyone wins or loses; there is no middle ground or grey area,” he continued.

“If a meeting with Erdogan will lead to results ... and achieve the country’s interest, then I will go ahead with it,” he declared.