Month: October 2021

Russian Middle East Specialist Magid: Powerful Bloc Comprising Turkey, Pakistan And Azerbaijan Set To Target Iran, India And Russia

According to Russian Middle East Expert Mikhail Magid, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan and Azerbaijan hope to fill the political vacuum in the Middle East and Central Asia created by American retrenchment. Iran, India and Russia have reasons for concern about this bloc’s formation. The Three Brothers– 2021 military exercise involving special forces from Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Pakistan, was launched on September 12, 2021, and lasted 8 days.[1] illustrated the close relations between the participants, and it followed the acceptance of the Baku Declaration in July 2021, by the speakers of the three countries’ parliaments. The joint declaration urges increased cooperation between the three countries, based on cultural and historical ties, mutual respect and confidence. The declaration also emphasizes Turkey, Azerbaijan and Pakistan’s roles in building peace, stability and development in their regions.[2]

Ilham Ahmed: PKK Fought Terrorism, No Enmity Towards Turkey

In a press conference, Ilham Ahmed claimed that the PKK fought extremism, and expressed the SDC’s willingness to dialogue with the Assad regime and Turkey, according to Syria TV.

“The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has fought terrorism and extremism in several areas where the Kurds are present. They have given everything, their most precious offerings, including the lives of their members,” said Ilham Ahmed, joint president of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC). She noted that this “puts a moral obligation on the SDC towards the party.”

En Tunisie, Najla Bouden nommée première ministre

Chargée par le président, Kaïs Saïed, de former un nouveau gouvernement, l’universitaire sera la première femme à occuper ce poste en Tunisie.

Pour la première fois, une femme va diriger le gouvernement tunisien. Le président, Kaïs Saïed, a chargé Najla Bouden de former un gouvernement en Tunisie, a annoncé mercredi 29 septembre la présidence. A la fin de juillet, après des mois de blocage politique, M. Saïed avait limogé le précédent cabinet, gelé le Parlement et s’était octroyé aussi le pouvoir judiciaire.

US-Led Coalition Conducts Numerous Raids in Syria Killing ISIS Members

Despite President Biden’s remarks last week to the UN that the United States is at peace for the first time in 20 years, fighting continues against terrorism in the Middle East.

The US-led coalition conducted several operations against Islamic State fighters and support cells recently, even as the administration is trying to move the American troops from a combat role to an advisory one in neighboring Iraq.

Cash Camps: Financing Detainee Activities in Al-Hol and Roj Camps

Over two years since the fall of Baghouz, entities managing the detention facilities holding Islamic State-affiliated adults and minors in northeastern Syria face overwhelming challenges in securing this population, particularly alongside people displaced by conflict in the region. Often characterized as wastelands inhabited by a volatile population living in squalid conditions, camps like Al-Hol actually serve as a valuable hub for the region’s violent extremists and criminal networks. Since the international community has not decisively answered calls to remedy the humanitarian and detention crisis involving facilities holding Islamic State detainees, many actors have exploited opportunities afforded by inaction, particularly with regard to financial activity. This dynamic has short-, medium-, and long-term implications for terrorism financing and, more broadly, the region’s stability. The Islamic State, for instance, has leveraged the situation to raise and move funds, build ideological and financial support for the cause, and establish logistical channels that benefit the organization. To explore this phenomenon and inform how stakeholders in the counterterrorism community mitigate the issue, this report uses publicly available information and social media monitoring to trace how funds 1) move into, 2) move around, and 3) move out of two camps holding Islamic State detainees in northeastern Syria.

Russia bombs Turkey’s allies in Syria ahead of Putin-Erdogan summit

Russian jets shelled a camp for the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army in Afrin, north of Aleppo, and intensified its airstrikes against the areas controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Idlib ahead of the meeting between the Turkish and Russian presidents on Sept. 29.

Sources affiliated with the Syrian opposition’s so-called National Army, formerly known as the Free Syrian Army (FSA), told Al-Monitor that Russian jets launched several air raids on Sept. 26. The raids hit a military base of Al-Hamza Division, a group affiliated with the National Army, in the village of Barad in Afrin in the northern countryside of Aleppo.

Syrian jihadist group won’t reconcile with al-Qaeda affiliate in Idlib

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which controls Idlib, is refusing to sit down with al-Qaeda-affiliated Hurras al-Din leaders to resolve pending disputes.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which controls Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, is refusing calls from al-Qaeda-affiliated Hurras al-Din (Guardians of Religion Organization) to resolve their differences through Sharia arbitration.