Orientul Mijlociu

BEHIND THE LINES: What is a charity based in Israel, apparently devoted to the Palestinian cause, doing building mosques in northern Syria? Turkish ethnic cleansing.

On June 21, 2021, a newly built mosque was inaugurated in the village of Sheikh Khurez, in northwest Syria, close to the Turkish border.

On 3 February, U.S. commandos raided a house in Syria’s Idlib province, killing Abdullah Qardash, head of the Islamic State’s core group in the Levant. In this Q&A, Crisis Group experts Jerome Drevon and Dareen Khalifa explore the implications of the ISIS leader’s demise.

Who was the ISIS leader killed yesterday in north-western Syria?

Abdullah Qardash, an Iraqi national also known as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi, became ISIS leader on 31 October 2019, one week after his predecessor, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed in a U.S. raid in Idlib province in north-western Syria. Qardash was a long-time jihadist veteran. He joined what was known as al-Qaeda in Iraq shortly after the 2003 U.S. invasion to fight the U.S.-led coalition forces and the new Iraqi government. Like several other future ISIS leaders, he was arrested for his role in the insurgency and spent time in the U.S. Camp Bucca detention facility.

Turkey announced the beginning of an air campaign against “terrorist groups” on the border with Syria and Iraq, according to the Shaam News Network.

On Wednesday, the defense ministry of Turkey announced the launch of an air operation called Winter Eagle against so-called terrorists in the areas of Malikiyah – Derik, Sinjar, and Qarajiq –which they use as bases in northern Iraq and Syria, Turkey’s Anatolia news agency reported.

A report by the Guardian showed how underground networks in Turkey provide ISIS terrorists with fake passports, according to SANA.

Networks specializing in fake passports with official visas and travel stamps spread in Turkey and they are offering fake passports and official visas for terrorists from ISIS, the British Guardian newspaper revealed.

In a statement released today by the Media Office of the SDF, it declared that four of their fighters were martyred in the last night Turkish occupation strike on the rural Derik in the countryside of Qamishli.

The SDF signed an agreement with an HTS-affiliated company to supply it with oil, according to Athr Press.

Anonymous sources revealed to Athr Press that an oil supply agreement was signed between representatives of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the militants of the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, al-Nusra Front and its allies). The latter are responsible for managing the Watad company, which is affiliated with the so-called Abu Muhammad al-Julani in Idleb. It distributes oil derivatives in the areas controlled by al-Nusra in the Idleb countryside.

The Secretary-General of the Arab League said a ministerial meeting would be held next month to discuss the return of Syria to the organization, al-Watan writes.

On Wednesday, the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, announced that an Arab ministerial meeting will be held next month to discuss “the possibility of the return of Syria to the Arab League.” At the same time, King Abdullah II of Jordan emphasized his country’s keenness to support any effort to develop and institutionalize joint Arab action.

The imminent war in one of the eastern European countries has seen the comeback of the cold war situation between Russia and the United States for the last few weeks. Both countries show no flexibility in their stand on Ukraine, which has been in the grip of severe cold, surrounded by arms and ammunition, and mostly, the uncertain future.

In comparison to US invasions in the Muslim countries, the approach of the West has been altogether different. There was fast and furious military action in the past without giving any heed to appeals for a peaceful resolution. Even, the concerns of the United Nations or the non-European international community were ignored. It was not only the war fought inside the Muslim countries, the leadership was eliminated and the whole population annihilated.

The Houthis – also known as Ansar Allah, who now control most of Yemen’s north, have launched repeated missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia and the UAE over the course of Yemen’s civil war.

Houthi rebels in Yemen on Monday launched a ballistic missile at the United Arab Emirates. The missile was intercepted by the UAE military and no casualties were reported. It was the third Houthi attack on the UAE, a key member of the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognized government, in less than two weeks, and follows a series of territorial defeats for the Houthis in its years-long battle to control the country. UAE’s Defense Ministry said Emirati forces responded by destroying the missile launch site in Yemen’s northern Al-Jawf region.