The Turkish-backed Syrian National Army in north Syria announced a series of mergers recently, derailing plans by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham to seek rapprochement with some of the factions affiliated with the Syrian National Army.
The Azm Operations Room, which consists of a number of Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) factions, recently announced the merger of six FSA factions with the new Third Legion.
The main opposition CHP announced an hour before the session that it would vote against the motion.
Amid rumors of a Turkish military offensive in northern Syria, the Turkish parliament ratified today a motion that extends the government’s mandate of carrying out cross-border operations in Iraq and Syria for another two years.
During a four-day visit to Russia, the head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran, Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, discussed with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu ways of strengthening military-technical cooperation between the two countries. Bagheri was particularly interested in new Russian hardware now that international restrictions on arms supplies to the Islamic Republic have expired. Bagheri termed defense interaction with Moscow unprecedentedly wide in scale, and explained that Iran at this stage is interested in the implementation of previously concluded agreements with Russia covering the supply of fighters, training aircraft and military helicopters.
The issue of Abu Muslim al-Shishani” has come to the surface via an audio recording where he accused HTS with lie and deception in a bid to dismantle his faction after demanding them to hand their weapons and deport Idlib.
Abu Muslim al-Shishani said he doesn’t want to enter in clashes al-Mujahedeen and that the HTS has repeatedly asked for leaving Idlib and hand over the weapons on nullified charges for his and his group of sheltering criminals of ISIS.
He refuted such charges and called on members of the HTS to not believe their leaders and not to accept fighting against his group. He also affirmed that he wouldn’t accept their demands and if any of his headquarter in al-Shahel are attacked and he will defend himself and die in dignity instead of being humiliated in the HTS prisons like what has happened with other Jihadists.
Al-Haskah province: SOHR activists have went on in large protests outside the headquarters of the UN in al-Qamishly to condemn the Turkish attacks that target areas under control of the Autonomous Administration in north and east Syria and asked to stop it. The latest attack was on yesterday where military car has attacked the SDF by a drone which led to the murder of three of members of the SDF
While concerns of a terrorist resurgence in Afghanistan are front and center, we need to remember that there are thousands of ISIS fighters waging a low-level insurgency in Iraq and Syria. Containing that threat is critical, and doing so over the long term requires an international relations moonshot: creating an independent Kurdish state.
Based on past efforts to create an independent Kurdistan, it would seem unlikely and Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria and Russia would oppose such a move. However, the status quo is untenable, and no other solution likely would be as effective and durable in containing the terrorist threat in the region.
Turkey has threatened to launch a military operation against the SDF in the wake of attacks carried out by the latter in north Syria.
Turkey has threatened to launch a military operation against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which has recently stepped up its attacks in the areas controlled by the Turkish-backed factions in north Syria.
On Oct. 7, a rocket attack targeted a Turkish military convoy in the area, killing a Turkish soldier.
Iran is working on controlling and infiltrating the Syrian community by supporting local leaders affiliated with it, forming tribal councils and appointing new sheikhs from small clans and families to spread Shiism in its areas of control in east Syria.
A US airstrike in northwest Syria on Saturday killed senior al-Qaeda leader Abdul Hamid al-Matar, according to a United States Central Command (CENTCOM) press release.
“We have no indications of civilian casualties as a result of the strike, which was conducted using an MQ-9 aircraft,” U.S. Army Maj. John Rigsbee, a U.S. Central Command Spokesperson said.
Iraqis went to the polls on Oct. 10 to elect the 329 members of a new parliament, in what is considered one of the most crucial elections since the US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003. Iraq historically has been the focal point of Turkey’s regional politics due to its proximity and a failure to ensure security on Turkey’s doorstep.