Idlib province: SOHR sources have reported that Turkish forces have erected soil barriers on the outskirts of Saraqeb city to the east of Idlib city, as Turkish forces are preparing for establishing a new military post in that position which is near regime positions in Saraqeb.
In 2019, disillusioned with their political system, thousands of Iraqis protested and called for an end to rampant corruption siphoning their country’s oil wealth, for better public services and change in the government. The protest triggered a new election in October 2021, the result of which has given a new picture, unlike in the past. The Iraqi nationalist parties have emerged as the main gainers. This has generated hope that the new government will try to address the issues of political instability, economic crisis, inflation, unemployment, among others. The government will also have to maintain a balance between the US, the Arab allies, Iran and Turkey, the main external actors active in Iraq. Given the number and intensity of the challenges, the new government will have to show some extraordinary diplomatic skills to manage them.
“Guys, listen, most of you want to emigrate. Follow this plan: we need 40 volunteers. All the Brooklyn guys who book a flight to Turkey will fly over Spain. One of you will activate the GPS and when the plane approaches Spain you will begin to scream and feign an illness. The stewardess will come and ask for patience until the plane arrives in Turkey. At this moment the others begin to protest and claim that the passenger is going to die… If everyone shows sympathy for the sick passenger, the plane will make an emergency landing in Spain to protect the reputation of the company and to free itself of responsibility.” — Description of a plot to enter Spain illegally, published in a Moroccan Facebook group, as reported by El Mundo and EFE news agency, November 7, 2021.
All is still not well in Iraqi politics some eighteen years after the U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein’s regime. In 2019, a wave of popular protest known as the Tishreen movement swept across the country, as demonstrators called for fundamental reform of the post-2003 political system. Elections held in October, which the government brought forward by six months in response to anger on the street, are the only tangible result of the protests to date. Yet well under half the electorate showed up to vote, raising doubt that the system can generate the legitimacy it so desperately needs. Meanwhile, some of the losing parties are crying fraud in a bid to change the results or at least improve their chances of gaining advantageous positions in a new cabinet. Some have resorted to violence – including, it appears, an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi – to press their demands. The most plausible outcome is another coalition that is ill equipped to govern and thus may not survive for very long.
Violent explosions rocked the areas under the control of the Syrian regime in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor, yesterday morning (Sunday), caused by intense air strikes, carried out by Russian warplanes on areas in the desert of the region, in an attempt to target ISIS, which is hiding in the caves and caves of the Badia. From him, hours after an ambush carried out by the organization, which caused heavy casualties among the militias loyal to the regime.
“In my estimation, Syria will be present at the next Arab summit in Algeria,” Omar Rahmoun tells the Tehran Times.
It seems that the ice between Damascus and Arab countries are thawing.
United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Tuesday in a sign of reestablishing ties between Syria and the Persian Gulf states.
Iraq’s October elections may have strengthened the Iraqi Kurdistan administration’s hands in the Yazidi enclave of Sinjar.
The ongoing power struggle between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP, the main political group ruling Iraqi Kurdistan) and armed Kurdish militants from Turkey over the Iraqi Yazidi enclave, Sinjar, has extended to the Iraqi elections, with the vote resulting in a surprising debacle for the latter.
The Syrian Observatory for Human rights’ sources have reported that an unidentified drone struck, with missiles, positions where Iranian-backed militias have been stationed on the outskirts of al-Bokamal city in the eastern countryside of Dei Ezzor. Plums of smoke were seen in the targeted sites. However, no casualties have been reported yet.
This attack came a few days after replacing Iranian-backed militias’ flags with the internationally recognized Syrian ones in some posts and military headquarters of these militias in al-Bokamal city for fear of expected attacks.
Members of the Iraqi security forces on Friday killed a senior ISIS figure in an operation south of the disputed Kirkuk province, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense said.
The ministry said in a statement that an Iraqi army unit had “killed the commander of the terrorist sniper detachment nicknamed (Abu Qatada) in the al-Bu Muhammad area in Wadi al-Shay.”
An ISIS ambush has killed at least 13 fighters loyal to the Syrian government, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.
The attack in the country’s east killed “at least 13 members of a local pro-regime group and wounded others”, the watchdog said.
It took place in the Masrib area, in the West of Deir Ezzor province, while the fighters were conducting a sweep of the area, said the observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria.