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Hezbollah Opens Workshops to Repair Drones in Homs Countryside

The highway linking the Syrian capital Damascus to Homs. (AFP)
The highway linking the Syrian capital Damascus to Homs. (AFP)
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Hezbollah Opens Workshops to Repair Drones in Homs Countryside

The highway linking the Syrian capital Damascus to Homs. (AFP)
The highway linking the Syrian capital Damascus to Homs. (AFP)

Lebanon’s Hezbollah has recently established workshops in Syria to manufacture artillery, rockets, and landmines and repair drones and various kinds of weapons, said sources in the southeastern countryside of Homs.

Sources said the workshops were established under the supervision of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) experts in a fortified depot of armories and ammunition in Maheen “strategic” area in the southeastern countryside of Homs, which is the second-largest arms warehouse in Syria.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) sources, many Maheen citizens are now working for local Iranian-backed militias, following the regime and yjr militias’ control of the area in early 2017, supported by Russian aerial bombardment.

Earlier this week, reliable sources informed the war monitor that Russian forces had withdrawn completely from Palmyra military airport in the eastern countryside of Homs.

“All Russian troops left the airport by a military hovercraft before Russian troops pulled their helicopters out of the airport,” the sources said.

However, the nature of this withdrawal remained unidentified. It is not clear whether it is a tactical withdrawal and forces will return anytime, or whether it is a complete withdrawal for specific purposes.

SOHR sources said the Russian helicopters and forces that left Palmyra airport headed to Tifor airport in the countryside of Homs.

Therefore, Hezbollah and Iran-backed Afghan “Fatemiyoun” militia now control the Palmyra military airport, where some regime soldiers and officers are also present.

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AU Urges Permanent Ceasefire in Libya After Clashes

A man holds a sign reading in Arabic "Libya is greater than all of you", as demonstrators gather for an anti-government protest, calling upon the Government of National Unity (GNU) to resign, at the Martyrs' Square in Libya's capital Tripoli on May 23, 2025. (AFP)
A man holds a sign reading in Arabic "Libya is greater than all of you", as demonstrators gather for an anti-government protest, calling upon the Government of National Unity (GNU) to resign, at the Martyrs' Square in Libya's capital Tripoli on May 23, 2025. (AFP)
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AU Urges Permanent Ceasefire in Libya After Clashes

A man holds a sign reading in Arabic "Libya is greater than all of you", as demonstrators gather for an anti-government protest, calling upon the Government of National Unity (GNU) to resign, at the Martyrs' Square in Libya's capital Tripoli on May 23, 2025. (AFP)
A man holds a sign reading in Arabic "Libya is greater than all of you", as demonstrators gather for an anti-government protest, calling upon the Government of National Unity (GNU) to resign, at the Martyrs' Square in Libya's capital Tripoli on May 23, 2025. (AFP)

The African Union called for a permanent ceasefire in Libya on Saturday after deadly clashes in the capital earlier this month and demonstrations demanding the resignation of Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, head of the Government of National Unity (GNU).

The latest fighting in the conflict-torn North African country pitted an armed group aligned with the Tripoli-based GNU against factions it has sought to dismantle, resulting in at least eight dead, according to the United Nations.

Despite a lack of a formal ceasefire, the clashes mostly ended last week, with the Libya Defense Ministry saying this week that efforts towards a truce were "ongoing".

On Saturday, the AU's Peace and Security Council condemned the recent violence, calling for an "unconditional and permanent ceasefire".

In a statement on X, the council urged "inclusive, Libyan-led reconciliation", adding that it "appeals for no external interference".

Libya is split between the GNU in Tripoli and a rival administration in the east.

The clashes were sparked by the killing of an armed faction leader by a group aligned with Dbeibah's government -- the 444 Brigade, which later fought a third group, the Radaa force that controls parts of eastern Tripoli and the city's airport.

It came after Dbeibah announced a string of executive orders seeking to dismantle Radaa and dissolve other Tripoli-based armed groups but excluding the 444 Brigade.

Egypt has flown 71 nationals home from Tripoli following the unrest, the foreign ministry said.

Friday's special flight by flag carrier EgyptAir "enabled the repatriation of 71 Egyptian citizens who had expressed a desire to come home", the ministry said.

Türkiye evacuated 82 of its nationals from Tripoli on a similar repatriation flight last week.