Syrian Regime Deploys Huge Reinforcements to Aleppo Countryside

A member of the Ankara-backed factions during military exercises in the Aleppo countryside. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A member of the Ankara-backed factions during military exercises in the Aleppo countryside. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Syrian Regime Deploys Huge Reinforcements to Aleppo Countryside

A member of the Ankara-backed factions during military exercises in the Aleppo countryside. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A member of the Ankara-backed factions during military exercises in the Aleppo countryside. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Syrian regime forces and Iranian militias pushed massive reinforcements to northeast Aleppo, accompanied by hovering Russian helicopters.

Opposition activist Jihad Shihabi said regime forces and Iranian militias sent a large military convoy to the front lines on the axes of Tal Rahal, Tal Zwayan, and Daghlbash, in the vicinity of al-Bab city.

The city is under control of Turkish forces and the Syrian National Army factions.

Shihabi added that the military reinforcements include Syrian soldiers, militias loyal to Iran, and a large number of tanks, rocket launchers, heavy artillery and military logistical equipment.

He added that two Russian helicopters flew overhead amid the deployment. They took off from the al-Assad Military Academy in southern Aleppo and the Kuweires military airbase east of the city.

Meanwhile, the Syrian National Army factions continued their military mobilization and combat readiness to launch a military operation against the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Tal Rifaat area northwest of Aleppo.

Violent clashes erupted between pro-Turkish factions and the Kurdish factions on the Kafr Khasher front in the northern countryside of Aleppo after Kurdish groups attempted to infiltrate opposition positions in the area.

A leader in the armed Syrian opposition factions said that Turkish military bases and forces in the southern and eastern Idlib countrysides are on alert, while new Turkish military reinforcements are dispatched to Banin, al-Bara, al-Naiyrab, and Taftanaz.

Opposition factions in the al-Fateh al-Mubin operations room are also on alert in anticipation of any attack.

In recent days, the military forces have sent three large military convoys, of about 230 vehicles, including tanks, heavy artillery, rocket launchers, cars carrying ammunition and cement blocks, through the Kafr Lusin border crossing into Syrian territory.

The reinforcements were sent to more than six Turkish military points near Maarat al-Numan and in the vicinity of Saraqib.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that regime forces renewed their ground attack on the de-escalation area with missile and heavy machine gun fire on areas in al-Barah and al-Futirah in Jabal al-Zawiyah in the southern Idlib countryside. No casualties were reported.

On Saturday, the Observatory reported that a regime soldier was killed and a child was injured in rocket fire by opposition factions in the Jurin neighborhood.

The targeted area hosts Jurin camp, the military base used by regime forces in Sahl al-Ghab in the Hama countryside.



Libya Says UK to Analyze Black Box from Crash That Killed General

Military personnel carry portraits of the Libyan chief of staff, General Mohamed al-Haddad (2-R), and his four advisers, who were killed in a plane crash in Türkiye, during an official repatriation ceremony at the Ministry of Defense headquarters in Tripoli, Libya, 27 December 2025. (EPA)
Military personnel carry portraits of the Libyan chief of staff, General Mohamed al-Haddad (2-R), and his four advisers, who were killed in a plane crash in Türkiye, during an official repatriation ceremony at the Ministry of Defense headquarters in Tripoli, Libya, 27 December 2025. (EPA)
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Libya Says UK to Analyze Black Box from Crash That Killed General

Military personnel carry portraits of the Libyan chief of staff, General Mohamed al-Haddad (2-R), and his four advisers, who were killed in a plane crash in Türkiye, during an official repatriation ceremony at the Ministry of Defense headquarters in Tripoli, Libya, 27 December 2025. (EPA)
Military personnel carry portraits of the Libyan chief of staff, General Mohamed al-Haddad (2-R), and his four advisers, who were killed in a plane crash in Türkiye, during an official repatriation ceremony at the Ministry of Defense headquarters in Tripoli, Libya, 27 December 2025. (EPA)

Libya said on Thursday that Britain had agreed to analyze the black box from a plane crash in Türkiye on December 23 that killed a Libyan military delegation, including the head of its army.

General Mohammed al-Haddad and four aides died after a visit to Ankara, with Turkish officials saying an electrical failure caused their Falcon 50 jet to crash shortly after takeoff.

Three crew members, two of them French, were also killed.

The aircraft's black box flight recorder was found on farmland near the crash site.

"We coordinated directly with Britain for the analysis" of the black box, Mohamed al-Chahoubi, transport minister in the Government of National Unity (GNU), said at a press conference in Tripoli.

Haddad was very popular in Libya despite deep divisions between west and east.

Haddad was chief of staff for the Tripoli-based GNU.

Chahoubi told AFP a request for the analysis was "made to Germany, which demanded France's assistance" to examine the aircraft's flight recorders.

"However, the Chicago Convention stipulates that the country analyzing the black box must be neutral," he said.

"Since France is a manufacturer of the aircraft and the crew was French, it is not qualified to participate. The United Kingdom, on the other hand, was accepted by Libya and Turkey."

After meeting the British ambassador to Tripoli on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Taher al-Baour said a joint request had been submitted by Libya and Türkiye to Britain "to obtain technical and legal support for the analysis of the black box".

Chahoubi told Thursday's press briefing that Britain "announced its agreement, in coordination with the Libyan Ministry of Transport and the Turkish authorities".

He said it was not yet possible to say how long it would take to retrieve the flight data, as this depended on the state of the black box.

"The findings will be made public once they are known," Chahoubi said, warning against "false information" and urging the public not to pay attention to rumors.


STC Says Handing over Positions to National Shield Forces in Yemen's Hadhramaut, Mahra

National Shield forces in Hadhramaut. (National Shield forces)
National Shield forces in Hadhramaut. (National Shield forces)
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STC Says Handing over Positions to National Shield Forces in Yemen's Hadhramaut, Mahra

National Shield forces in Hadhramaut. (National Shield forces)
National Shield forces in Hadhramaut. (National Shield forces)

Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces in Yemen began on Thursday handing over military positions to the government’s National Shield forces in the Hadhramaut and al-Mahra provinces in eastern Yemen.

Local sources in Hadhramaut confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the handover kicked off after meetings were held between the two sides.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources said the National Shield commanders met with STC leaderships to discuss future arrangements. The sourced did not elaborate, but they confirmed that Emirati armored vehicles, which had entered Balhaf port in Shabwah were seen departing on a UAE vessel, in line with a Yemeni government request.

The National Shield is overseen by Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) Chairman Dr. Rashad al-Alimi.

A Yemeni official described Thursday’s developments as “positive” step towards uniting ranks and legitimacy against a common enemy – the Houthi groups.

The official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, underscored to Asharq Al-Awsat the importance of “partnership between components of the legitimacy and of dialogue to resolve any future differences.”

Meanwhile, on the ground, Yemeni military sources revealed that some STC forces had refused to quit their positions, prompting the forces to dispatch an official to Hadhramaut’s Seiyun city to negotiate the situation.


One Dead as Israeli Forces Open Fire on West Bank Stone-Throwers

Israeli troops during a military operation in the Palestinian village of Qabatiya, near the West Bank city of Jenin, 27 December 2025. (EPA)
Israeli troops during a military operation in the Palestinian village of Qabatiya, near the West Bank city of Jenin, 27 December 2025. (EPA)
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One Dead as Israeli Forces Open Fire on West Bank Stone-Throwers

Israeli troops during a military operation in the Palestinian village of Qabatiya, near the West Bank city of Jenin, 27 December 2025. (EPA)
Israeli troops during a military operation in the Palestinian village of Qabatiya, near the West Bank city of Jenin, 27 December 2025. (EPA)

The Israeli military said its forces killed a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank in the early hours on Thursday as they opened fire on people who were throwing stones at soldiers.

Two other people were hit on a main ‌road near the ‌village of Luban ‌al-Sharqiya ⁠in Nablus, ‌the military statement added. It described the people as militants and said the stone-throwing was part of an ambush.

Palestinian authorities in the West Bank said ⁠a 26-year-old man they named as ‌Khattab Al Sarhan was ‍killed and ‍another person wounded.

Israeli forces had ‍closed the main entrance to the village of Luban al-Sharqiya, in Nablus, and blocked several secondary roads on Wednesday, the Palestinian Authority's official news agency WAFA reported.

More ⁠than a thousand Palestinians were killed in the West Bank between October 2023 and October 2025, mostly in operations by security forces and some by settler violence, the UN has said.

Over the same period, 57 Israelis were killed ‌in Palestinian attacks.