SDF, Int’l Coalition Launch Anti-ISIS Campaign in Eastern Syria

 A resident of the city of Raqqa, northern Syria. (AFP)
A resident of the city of Raqqa, northern Syria. (AFP)
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SDF, Int’l Coalition Launch Anti-ISIS Campaign in Eastern Syria

 A resident of the city of Raqqa, northern Syria. (AFP)
A resident of the city of Raqqa, northern Syria. (AFP)

The Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by the international coalition forces, stormed Friday al-Zarr village in Dier Ezzor countryside as helicopters searched for ISIS cells, a war monitor reported.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said clashes erupted between the SDF and suspects as some of them escaped to al-Kassar area in northern Deir Ezzor.

Thirteen people were arrested during the operation, nine of whom were released after investigation.

On Tuesday, SOHR activists reported that the SDF, backed by the international coalition forces, carried out a similar operation in al-Baidar village in al-Karamah district in eastern al-Raqqah countryside.

Two ISIS leaders were arrested. Later, clashes erupted between the raiding force and the wanted men, leaving an ISIS member and his son dead, and another son injured.

This coincided with ISIS retaliatory attacks following the Operation Humanity and Security, which was launched by Asayish in the overcrowded refugee camp on August 25, in light of the increase in acts of murder and violence.

The camp, located 45 km east of al-Hasakah city in northeastern Syria, is considered one of the largest refugee camps in Syria. It houses about 56,000 people, most of whom are displaced Syrians and Iraqi refugees.

It also includes a special section for ISIS families, housing 10,000 people from 54 Western and Arab countries.

According to SOHR, ISIS carried out 16 retaliatory attacks, leaving 17 people dead, including two civilians, a child, and 14 members of the SDF and other military formations operating in areas run by the Autonomous Administration.



Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would travel to Syria on Friday to encourage the country's transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by insurgents, and appealed on Europe to review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.
Tajani presided over a meeting in Rome on Thursday of foreign ministry officials from five countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.
The aim, he said, is to coordinate the various post-Assad initiatives, with Italy prepared to make proposals on private investments in health care for the Syrian population.
Going into the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their European counterparts, Tajani said it was critical that all Syrians be recognized with equal rights. It was a reference to concerns about the rights of Christians and other minorities under Syria’s new de facto authorities of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HT.
“The first messages from Damascus have been positive. That’s why I’m going there tomorrow, to encourage this new phase that will help stabilize the international situation,” Tajani said.
Speaking to reporters, he said the European Union should discuss possible changes to its sanctions on Syria. “It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.
Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the US, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.
HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.
The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of a Syrian opposition leader whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.
Syria’s new leaders also have been urged to respect the rights of minorities and women. Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of insurgents.