Free Syrian Army Commander: Attacks on Tanf Base Aimed at Sparking Side Conflicts

Commander of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) Mohammed Farid al-Qassem during a field tour of the al-Tanf region. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Commander of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) Mohammed Farid al-Qassem during a field tour of the al-Tanf region. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Free Syrian Army Commander: Attacks on Tanf Base Aimed at Sparking Side Conflicts

Commander of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) Mohammed Farid al-Qassem during a field tour of the al-Tanf region. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Commander of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) Mohammed Farid al-Qassem during a field tour of the al-Tanf region. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Commander of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) Mohammed Farid al-Qassem sad the strikes against the al-Tanf base on the Syrian-Iraqi-Jordanian border are aimed at sparking “side conflicts”.

The FSA is deployed at the al-Tanf alongside troops from the US-led anti-ISIS international coalition.

The base occasionally comes under drone attacks that are blamed on pro-Iran factions.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Qassem said his unit is the only one deployed in the 55-km region, which is a security belt or buffer zone that the American set up around al-Tanf.

He accused militias loyal to Iran of carrying out attacks against the base, but acknowledged that there was no evidence to back his claim.

The attacks are aimed at “dragging the region into side conflicts that do not help the Syrian people,” he added.

Such conflicts will make the area an open arena to carry out “destructive agendas.”

The area, he explained, is strategic because it is where the Syrian, Iraqi and Jordanian borders meet.

Moreover, Qassem stressed that the FSA is a “Syrian force that is opposed to the regime. The interference of the regime’s allies in the Syrian conflict forced the FSA to build international alliances that would meet their aspirations to build a new Syria.”

“We are open to working with all Syrian parties that want to become part of an alliance or share united Syrian agenda against the regime and ISIS,” he added.

On the drugs and arms smuggling operations taking place across the Syrian-Jordanian border, Qassem said the FSA and the international coalition have heavily deployed patrols along the border with Syria, Iraq and Jordan to crack down on the illicit operations.

The patrols have helped reduce the smuggling, he added, saying this was a priority for the forces in the area.

Qassem said the forces have “reached very positive results in combating smuggling in the past four months”. The latest drug smuggling operation was busted “just days ago.”



Rights Defenders Denounce US Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
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Rights Defenders Denounce US Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo

Human rights defenders rallied on Thursday to support the top UN expert on Palestinian rights, after the United States imposed sanctions on her over what it said was unfair criticism of Israel.

Italian lawyer Francesca Albanese serves as special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, one of dozens of experts appointed by the 47-member UN Human Rights Council to report on specific global issues.

She has long criticized Israeli treatment of the Palestinians, and this month published a report accusing over 60 companies, including some US firms, of supporting Israeli settlements in the West Bank and military actions in Gaza.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday Albanese would be added to the US sanctions list for work which had prompted what he described as illegitimate prosecutions of Israelis at the International Criminal Court.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk urged Washington to reverse course.

"Even in the face of fierce disagreement, UN Member States should engage substantively and constructively, rather than resort to punitive measures," he said, Reuters reported.

Juerg Lauber, the Swiss permanent representative to the UN who now holds the rotating presidency of the Human Rights Council, said he regretted the sanctions, and called on states to "refrain from any acts of intimidation or reprisal" against the body's experts.

Mariana Katzarova, who serves as the special rapporteur for human rights in Russia, said her concern was that other countries would follow the US lead.

"This is totally unacceptable and opens the gates for any other government to do the same," she told Reuters. "It is an attack on UN system as a whole. Member states must stand up and denounce this."

Russia has rejected Katzarova's mandate and refused to let her enter the country, but it has so far stopped short of publicly adding her to a sanctions list.

Washington has already imposed sanctions against officials at the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister for suspected war crimes in Gaza. Another court, the International Court of Justice, is hearing a case brought by South Africa that accuses Israel of genocide.

Israel denies that its forces have carried out war crimes or genocide against Palestinians in the war in Gaza, which was precipitated by an attack by Hamas-led fighters in October 2023.

"The United States is working to dismantle the norms and institutions on which survivors of grave abuses rely," said Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.

The group's former head, Kenneth Roth, called the US sanctions an attempt "to deter prosecution of Israeli war crimes and genocide in Gaza".

The United States, once one of the most active members of the Human Rights Council, has disengaged from it under President Donald Trump, alleging an anti-Israel bias.