The army command issued the statement early on Sunday following reports of the terrorists’ entrance in Damascus and Assad’s departure from the city.
Reuters, citing two army officers, said that Assad had earlier on Sunday flown out of Damascus for an unknown destination before the groups reached the city.
Today’s news round on Syria highlights the rapid escalation of conflict and its far-reaching implications. Rebel forces, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Turkish-backed factions, have seized Aleppo in a major offensive, marking the most significant challenge to President Bashar al-Assad in years. The fighting has spread to key areas like Hama, with intense clashes between government troops and insurgents, supported by foreign powers on both sides. The United States and Russia are also actively engaged, with Centcom destroying weapons threatening U.S. forces in eastern Syria, while Moscow accuses “external forces” of fueling violence. Analysts warn of broader geopolitical repercussions as Syria’s civil war shifts from stalemate to intensified proxy battles, underscoring the need for a strategic international response to address the deepening crisis.
“Where is the victory? How much did it cost? What defeat is more terrible than such losses? How can one claim victory in the face of a massacre that has destroyed all the logic of resistance? It’s not too late to ask Hezbollah to explain its unilateral and deadly decision to open the confrontation [with Israel] under Iran’s cover.” — Nabil Bou Monsef, prominent Lebanese journalist, kataeb.org, November 27, 2024.
Offering to negotiate with Islamic terrorists is a statement of weakness. Jihadists only offer to negotiate out of fear, weakness or to entrap us, and they assume we do the same thing. Nothing would ever convince them that we genuinely want to live in peace with them, or that we prefer alternatives to violence. So any time we offer to negotiate, they see it as weakness or a trick.
For almost a decade, US troops have been on the ground in Syria to assist Kurdish-led forces in the defeat of the infamous Islamic State. These forces tamp down on the ISIS remnants in the northern and eastern regions they presently control, where tens of thousands of captured ISIS fighters, their families and suspected affiliates remain in open-air camps and prisons.
Devlet Bahceli also suggested that the conditions of the militant leader’s life sentence without parole be reconsidered if he agrees to make such a call.
In a U-turn that came as a bombshell for Turkish politics, Devlet Bahceli, a top ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), suggested that the conditions of Abdullah Ocalan’s life sentence without parole be reconsidered if the Kurdish militant leader accepts to declare the dissolution of his outlawed armed group.
Iranian-backed militias in Iraq continue to launch drone and missile attacks against Israel in a show of solidarity with their allies in Gaza and Lebanon. Although many claims remain unverified, some attacks have targeted Israeli military personnel. On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar urged the UN Security Council to pressure Iraq to curtail the activities of Iran’s proxies, emphasizing Israel’s right to self-defense under the UN Charter.
Abstract: It is critical for the counterterrorism community to have a sophisticated understanding of the components of external operations and the indicators that help to signal that a network’s interest, capabilities, or attack planning are advancing. It is even more critical to be able to effectively provide warning when an external operations terror attack is imminent. To help enhance and validate existing indicators and warning approaches, the authors conducted a survey of 30 practitioners, academics, and private sector specialists to acquire unique and varied insights on this important issue. This article provides a summary of key indicators that could indicate a change in a group’s intent and capability to conduct an external operations attack. It then examines existing shortfalls and offers potential solutions in the areas of artificial intelligence, data prioritization, and information sharing, before concluding with some unique models to consider from other fields that can help existing I&W approaches to evolve.
Le député Thomas Massie semble si différent des autres, si réel ! Et quel cran ! J’aimerais qu’il puisse être président – après avoir appris à esquiver les balles ! Voici un extrait de sa page Wikipédia.
Introduction
The atrocities committed by Hamas mujahideen in southern Israel on October 7, 2023 were carried out in the name of Islam, and for the sake of serving Allah’s will. Hamas’s activity, like that of other Islamist terrorist organizations, has its roots in Islamic religious sources, and aims to emulate the deeds and actions of the Prophet Muhammad and his seventh-century Companions.