Russia Raids Central, Northwestern Syria

Russian air raids on Jabal al-Zawiya, south Idlib (Idlib News)
Russian air raids on Jabal al-Zawiya, south Idlib (Idlib News)
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Russia Raids Central, Northwestern Syria

Russian air raids on Jabal al-Zawiya, south Idlib (Idlib News)
Russian air raids on Jabal al-Zawiya, south Idlib (Idlib News)

Russian and Syrian regime warplanes targeted ISIS sites in the Syrian desert, within the administrative regions east of Homs, Raqqa, and Deir Ez-Zor, coinciding with Russian raids in Jabal al-Zawiya, south of Idlib.

Regime forces and affiliated militias also targeted the countryside of Idlib and Aleppo, northwest Syria.

A source in eastern Homs said that the Russian fighters, along with helicopters of the Syrian regime forces, carried out about 90 airstrikes, during which they targeted sites of ISIS fighters in Deir Ez-Zor and Raqqa countryside from the southern side and other areas in Homs.

He added that the Russian and regime escalation on ISIS remnants in the middle of the Syrian desert came after they lost contact with a group affiliated with the Afghan Fatimiyoun Brigade.

It coincided with massive military reinforcements of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and forces affiliated with the Fourth Division.

The forces combed the areas from al-Sukhna to the Iraqi-Syrian border and failed to find the group.

The source explained that massive military forces affiliated with the regime’s Fourth Division, Iran-affiliated groups, and the Lebanese Hezbollah units are preparing to launch a new combing operation within Homs, Raqqa, and Deir Ez-Zor.

The groups want to search the area for ISIS remnants to curb its recent activity, which targeted military convoys of the regime and Iranian-backed militias on the Deir Ezor-Sukhna road, east of Homs.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) indicated that four days ago, Russian warplanes launched more than 40 airstrikes on the Syrian desert, totaling 172 raids since the beginning of April.

Activist Mulhem al-Hassan reported that the Russian fighters carried out a series of air raids with high-explosive vacuum missiles on areas around Sufuhun, al-Fatirah, and Flaifel in Jabal al-Zawiya, south of Idlib.

He indicated that violent clashes erupted in the Lattakia countryside between the two parties with heavy artillery, tanks, and rocket launchers, amid reports of casualties among the regime forces.

Hassan pointed out that a new Turkish military convoy, including armored vehicles, personnel carriers, and logistical trucks, entered the Syrian territory from the Kafr Losin crossing.

The vehicles were distributed to several Turkish military bases and other units in Jabal al-Zawiya and west of Aleppo, during which a military convoy of the Turkish forces entered the military points near the Aleppo-Latakia international road (M4).



Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)

Politicians in Beirut said they have not received any credible information about Washington resuming its mediation efforts towards reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon despite reports to the contrary.

Efforts came to a halt after US envoy Amos Hochstein’s last visit to Beirut three weeks ago.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri dismissed the reports as media fodder, saying nothing official has been received.

Lebanon is awaiting tangible proposals on which it can build its position, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The only credible proposal on the table is United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, whose articles must be implemented in full by Lebanon and Israel, “not just Lebanon alone,” he stressed.

Resolution 1701 was issued to end the 2006 July war between Hezbollah and Israel and calls for removing all weapons from southern Lebanon and that the only armed presence there be restricted to the army and UN peacekeepers.

Western diplomatic sources in Beirut told Asharq Al-Awsat that Berri opposes one of the most important articles of the proposed solution to end the current conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

He is opposed to the German and British participation in the proposed mechanism to monitor the implementation of resolution 1701. The other participants are the United States and France.

Other sources said Berri is opposed to the mechanism itself since one is already available and it is embodied in the UN peacekeepers, whom the US and France can join.

The sources revealed that the solution to the conflict has a foreign and internal aspect. The foreign one includes Israel, the US and Russia and seeks guarantees that would prevent Hezbollah from rearming itself. The second covers Lebanese guarantees on the implementation of resolution 1701.

Berri refused to comment on the media reports, but told Asharq Al-Awsat that this was the first time that discussions are being held about guarantees.

He added that “Israel is now in crisis because it has failed to achieve its military objectives, so it has resorted to more killing and destruction undeterred.”

He highlighted the “steadfastness of the UN peacekeepers in the South who have refused to leave their positions despite the repeated Israeli attacks.”