Syria - The African Mirror

Feb

2024

By PHIL STEWART, IDREES ALI and TIMOUR AZHARI

U.S. launches strikes in Iraq, Syria, nearly 40 reported killed

THE United States launched airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against more than 85 targets linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and the militias it backs, reportedly killing nearly 40 people, in retaliation for a deadly attack on U.S. troops. The strikes, which included the use of long-range B-1 bombers flown from the United States, were the first in response to the attack last weekend in Jordan by Iran-backed militants, and more U.S. military operations are expected in the coming days. The strikes intensified a conflict that has spread into the region since war erupted between Israel and Hamas after the militant Palestinian group's deadly assault…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

Iran won’t start a war but will respond to bullies, says president

WORLD

IRAN will not start a war but would "respond strongly" to anyone who tried to bully it, President Ebrahim Raisi said, a day after the U.S. said it was planning attacks on Iranian sites in Iraq and Syria. There has been mounting speculation this week about how Washington might retaliate after three U.S. soldiers were killed last Saturday in a strike on their base in Jordan by an Iranian-backed group. CBS News, citing U.S. officials, reported on Thursday that the United States had approved plans for multi-day strikes in Iraq and Syria against multiple targets, including Iranian personnel and facilities in those…

Dec

2023

By The African Mirror

Israeli airstrike in Syria kills senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards member

WORLD

AN Israeli airstrike outside the Syrian capital Damascus killed a senior adviser in Iran's Revolutionary Guards, three security sources and Iranian state media said. The sources told Reuters that the adviser, known as Sayyed Razi Mousavi, was responsible for coordinating the military alliance between Syria and Iran. "I won't comment on foreign reports, these or others in the Middle East," IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in response to a reporter's question at a nightly press conference. "The Israeli military obviously has a job to protect the security interests of Israel." Iran's state television interrupted its regular news broadcast…

Jul

2023

By The African Mirror

What does the Wagner Group do? Operations in Africa and the rest of the world explained

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE abortive mutiny by Russia's Wagner group last week calls into question the fate of the group's wide network of military and commercial operations across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This factbox shows what Wagner is doing and where. UKRAINE Wagner deployed in Ukraine soon after the invasion began early last year and by the summer it was enlisting thousands of prisoners to fight for it on the front lines. By December, as it took a central role in the battle for Bakhmut, U.S. intelligence estimated it had 40,000 prisoner recruits fighting in Ukraine, though Wagner itself has not commented on…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

Exclusive: Iran exploits earthquake relief mission to fly weapons to Syria

WORLD

IRAN has used earthquake relief flights to bring weapons and military equipment into its strategic ally Syria, nine Syrian, Iranian, Israeli and Western sources said. The sources told Reuters that the goal was to buttress Iran's defences against Israel in Syria and to strengthen Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Reuters is the first to report this development. After the Feb. 6 earthquake in northern Syria and Turkey, hundreds of flights from Iran began landing in Syria's Aleppo, Damascus and Latakia airports bringing supplies, and this went on for seven weeks, the sources said. More than 6,000 people died in all of…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

UK sanctions ‘global violators of women’s rights’

NEWS

BRITAIN announced a package of sanctions against what they described as 'global violators of women's rights' based in Iran, Syria, the Central African Republic and South Sudan. The asset freezes and travel bans were introduced on International Women's Day, applying to four individuals, including military figures accused of overseeing rape. An Iranian government institution was also sanctioned. "These sanctions send a clear message that the perpetrators of abhorrent gender-based violence must be held accountable," foreign minister James Cleverly said in an emailed statement. "We are increasing our efforts to stand up for women and girls, and will use all the…

Feb

2023

By ECE TOKSABAY and HUSEYIN HAYATSEVER

Turkish leader declares emergency as Turkey-Syria quake death toll passes 5,200

WORLD

TURKISH President Tayyip Erdogan declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces devastated by two earthquakes that killed more than 5,200 people and left a trail of destruction across a wide area of southern Turkey and neighbouring Syria. A day after the quakes hit, rescuers working in harsh conditions struggled to dig people out of the rubble of collapsed buildings. As the scale of the disaster became ever more apparent, the death toll looked likely to rise considerably. One United Nations official said it was feared thousands of children may have been killed. And residents in several damaged Turkish cities voiced anger and despair…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

Huge earthquake kills 2,700 in Turkey and Syria, bad weather worsens plight

WORLD

MERT OZKAN and KINDA MAKIEH A huge earthquake killed more than 2,700 people across a swathe of Turkey and northwest Syria on Monday, with freezing winter weather adding to the plight of the thousands left injured or homeless and hampering efforts to find survivors. The magnitude 7.8 quake brought down whole apartment blocks in Turkish cities and piled more devastation on millions of Syrians displaced by years of war. It struck before sunrise in harsh weather and was followed in the early afternoon by another large quake. "It was like the apocalypse," said Abdul Salam al-Mahmoud, a Syrian in the northern town…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Putin meets Assad, takes swipe at US and Turkish forces in Syria

WORLD

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has met his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, for the first time since 2018 and criticised foreign forces that are in Syria without permission or a U.N. mandate - a rebuke of the United States and Turkey. Putin is Assad's most powerful ally in the decade-long Syrian conflict; his deployment of Russia's air force in 2015 helped to turn the tide in Assad's favour, allowing him to recover most of the territory lost to insurgents. However, Turkish forces are now present in much of the north and northwest, helping to shore up the last major bastion of…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Syria to hold presidential election, slammed by opposition

WORLD

SULEIMAN AL-KHALIDI SYRIA will hold a presidential election on May 26 that is virtually certain to return President Bashar al-Assad for a third term - an event that Washington and the opposition say is a farce designed to cement his autocratic rule. Assad's family and his Baath party have ruled Syria for five decades with the help of the security forces and the army, where his Alawite minority dominate. This year is the 10th anniversary of a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters which triggered a civil war that has left much of Syria in ruins. The multi-sided conflict has sucked…