Syria’s Kurds faced with all-out war as Turkey, Sunni allies target Kobani

A day after the fall of the SDF-controlled town of Manbij, Turkish proxies advanced today toward the town of Kobani.

The collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime following a lightning offensive led by al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and an array of Sunni factions supported by Turkey has created new realities on the ground for the country’s Kurds, who have since 2012 administered the northeast and eastern parts of the country. The overall picture is negative as the US-backed Syrian Kurdish Democratic Forces loses control of growing swaths of territory east of Afrin, including the towns of Tell Rifaat and Manbij lying to the West of the Euphrates River, to Turkish-backed Sunni opposition forces.

By The Numbers: Coups in Africa

What is a coup?

A coup is an “illegal and overt attempt by the military or other elites within the state apparatus to unseat the sitting executive,” Powell and Thyne wrote in a 2011 article published in the Journal of Peace Research. A successful coup, they determined, lasts at least one week.

Syria Insight: Assad’s rampant corruption leads to his downfall

The Syrian Arab Army is no more, an institution built to fight Israel that eventually ate itself due to rampant corruption and ineptitude.

Few analysts could have predicted the events that unfolded last week in Syria when a limited rebel offensive in Aleppo province led to the downfall of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, 13 years after a revolution against his corrupt and authoritarian rule began.

What happened in Syria? How did al-Assad fall?

Opposition forces have taken control of the capital after a significant offensive. Here is how it unravelled.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, opposition forces declared Syria liberated from the rule of President Bashar al-Assad as opposition forces surged into the capital.

Syrian government services come to a ‘complete halt’ as state workers stay home after rebel takeover

Syria’s prime minister said Monday that most cabinet ministers were back at work after rebels overthrew President Bashar Assad, but some state workers failed to return to their jobs, and a United Nations official said the country’s public sector had come “to a complete and abrupt halt.”

Meanwhile, streams of refugees crossed back into Syria from neighboring countries, hoping for a more peaceful future and looking for relatives who disappeared during Assad’s brutal rule.

Libya Energy Profile: Despite Large Oil Reserves, Political Conflicts And Militia Attacks Have Limited Investments In Sector – Analysis

Libya was the seventh-largest crude oil producer in OPEC and the third-largest total petroleum liquids producer in Africa, after Nigeria and Algeria, in 2023.1 At the beginning of 2024, Libya held 3% of the world’s proved oil reserves and 41% of Africa’s proved oil reserves.2 Despite Libya’s large oil reserves, political conflicts and militia attacks on hydrocarbon infrastructure have limited investments in the country’s oil and natural gas sectors. These challenges have also constrained exploration and development of its reserves since 2011.

What Role Is Turkey Playing in Syria’s Civil War?

What role are outside powers playing in Syria’s new rebel offensive?

Turkey is the most important outside power supporting the rebel side. It geographically adjoins Syrian rebel territory in the northwest, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government supported the 2011 Arab Spring uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. At times, he also backed a variety of Islamist groups during the Syrian civil war. The leading and most substantial rebel group, Ha’yat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is the former Al-Nusra Front, a jihadist organization that fought the self-declared Islamic State (ISIS). It renamed itself and claimed that it renounced some of its more extreme positions, has become more respectful of minorities, and has taken on some institutional responsibilities in the form of local government. While there are indications that HTS acquired Turkish help in the form of arms, primarily drones, prior to this offensive, HTS is not Ankara’s primary client. It’s also worth noting that HTS has reportedly been manufacturing its own arms in recent years.

In historic campaign across Syria, IDF says it destroyed 80% of Assad regime’s military

After rebel takeover, Israeli Air Force and Navy strike missile depots, naval vessels, fighter jets and more to ensure they don’t fall into wrong hands

Following a major 48-hour bombing campaign in Syria, the Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday said it had destroyed most of the former Bashar al-Assad regime’s strategic military capabilities, in an effort to prevent advanced weaponry from falling into the hands of hostile elements.