Orientul Mijlociu

Informed sources revealed that Iranian militias emptied the T4 military airport in the eastern countryside of Homs, and transported its equipment to the Shayrat airbase in the south of the governorate (in the center of the country).

Ain al-Furat (Eye of the Euphrates, anti-regime, editor’s note) quoted unnamed sources saying that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard militia transported heavy military equipment in four trucks, including “communications equipment, heavy artillery, electric motors, and ammunition boxes” from T4 military airport, east of Homs, to the Shayrat airbase.

Cymbals, prayers and Chaldean Catholic liturgy resounded in Mosul’s Saint George Monastery on Friday as Iraqi faithful marked the restoration of two churches destroyed by ISIS during their occupation of the city.

Dozens gathered in one of the monastery’s churches that have been rebuilt in stone six years after the extremists pulverised them.

It is the latest sign of a slow return to normality in Iraq’s second city and the home of one of the world’s oldest Christian communities.

Aleppo province: Syrian Observatory activists have reported that Turkish forces renewed artillery attacks on areas under the control of Kurdish and regime forces in the northern countryside of Aleppo, as they targeted the surrounding areas of al-Ouda camp, which accommodated displaced people from Afrin, nearby al-Ziyyarah village in the northern countryside of Aleppo. Meanwhile, shrapnel of the artillery shells hit the camp.

SOHR sources have reported violent clashes with heavy machineguns between factions of “al-Fath al-Mubin” operations room and regime forces on the frontlines of Deir Sonbol village in the western countryside of Maarrat al-Nu’man. The clashes erupted following an infiltration attempt by regime forces into posts of the factions. However, no casualties have been reported so far.

În ciuda imenselor probleme economice din Turcia, acțiunile președintelui Erdogan pe scena internațională rămân extrem de abile. Ultima lovitură amenință să scoată de sub influența lui Putin fostele republici sovietice vorbitoare de limbi turcice.

Jeanine Antoinette Plasschaert, special representative of the secretary-general for Iraq, held talks with the head of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Qais al-Khazali, to settle the election results crisis.

Jeanine Antoinette Plasschaert, special representative of the secretary-general for Iraq, has attended last night, Nov 18, the meeting of Coordination Framework that includes most of the political parties lost in the elections.

Sadr calls for forming majority government as the Iraqi President Barham Salih hosted a meeting with the prime minister and the judiciary head to discuss the current political deadlock and present initiatives for it.

Amidst the political deadlock following Iraq’s elections on Oct. 10, Iraqi President Barham Salih hosted a meeting with Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Council Faiq Zaidan on Nov. 18 at Baghdad Palace in the Green Zone.

After suffering grievously under ISIS, and during the battles to defeat it, Raqqa is being rebuilt. The calm is tenuous, however. The U.S. and partners should work toward long-term stability in Syria’s north east, through investment and talks about sustainable governance and security arrangements.

Principal Findings

What’s new? Two years after an abrupt withdrawal of U.S. troops followed by a Turkish incursion, Raqqa is largely quiet. Yet the stability of this Kurdish-controlled predominantly Arab province in north-eastern Syria is precarious and hinges on U.S. deterrence of military moves from Turkey and/or Russia in tandem with the Damascus regime.