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Instability in Syria

U.S. Air Strikes Kill as Many as Thirty-Five Operatives of Self-Declared Islamic State

  • The Pentagon said in July that attacks by the group in Iraq and Syria in 2024 were on track to double last year’s numbers (NYT)

Turkey Bombs Kurdish Targets in Syria, Iraq After Attack on Defense Firm

  • The targeted strikes on a separatist Kurdish group in Syria and Iraq came hours after an attack on an aerospace contractor in Turkey’s defense sector that killed five people (WSJ)
  • No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on Turkey, but Ankara blamed the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) (AP)

Israeli Strike Hits Syrian Town of Latakia

  • The strike on the Mediterranean port city caused fires to break out, according to Syrian state media (Reuters)

Israeli Air Force Kills Iranian Revolutionary Guard Consultant

  • An Israeli airstrike in Damascus killed an Iranian Revolutionary Guard consultant and three civilians, according to Syrian state media (Reuters)

U.S. Military Says It Killed Thirty-Seven Militants in September Air Strikes in Syria

  • Two separate strikes this month killed militants affiliated with the self-declared Islamic State group and a group connected to al Qaeda, U.S. Central Command said yesterday; some nine hundred U.S. troops are stationed in Syria, mostly aimed at preventing a resurgence of the Islamic State (AP)

Syria Demands Timetable for Withdrawal of Turkish Troops Before Starting Talks to Restore Ties

  • The two countries had been sending signals they were interested in reviving bilateral engagement, but now Ankara perceives Damascus’s demand as an unwillingness for a “return to peace,” Güler added (Al-Monitor, AP)

Syria’s Assad Meets With Putin in Moscow

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Moscow, signaling interest in mediating tensions between Syria and Turkey, the Kremlin said; also discussed were events “in the Eurasian region,” Assad said (AP)
  • Syria and Turkey cut ties in 2011 after Turkey backed Syrian insurgent groups seeking to overthrow the Assad regime. Russia is one of Assad’s closest backers in Syria’s ongoing civil war (AP)

President Bashar al-Assad’s Party Wins 74 Percent of Parliamentary Seats in Low-Turnout Elections

  • That gives Assad enough parliamentary support to pass a constitutional amendment that could extend his rule; current term limits would limit his tenure to 2028 (AP)

U.S. Central Command: Self-Declared Islamic State of Iraq and Syria Attempting to Reconstitute

  • An unnamed U.S. defense official told the Associated Press that the group was behind 121 attacks in Iraq and Syria in 2023; in the first half of 2024, the group has claimed 153 attacks (AP)

Former Syrian Military Official Accused of Torturing Prisoners Arrested in Los Angeles

  • The accusations against Samir Ousman al-Sheikh were made in a U.S. Department of Homeland Security investigation, according to a court filing; he had been living in the city since 2020 and was also accused of attempted U.S. naturalization fraud (NYT)

Apparent Israeli Strike in Syria Kills Two Hezbollah Members

  • The Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah launched rockets into the Golan Heights in retaliation, further fueling concerns that the region is on the brink of full-scale war (NYT)

France’s Top Appeals Court Upholds Arrest Warrant for President Bashar al-Assad in War Crimes Case

  • Prosecutors had argued against the warrant, saying Assad has immunity as a sitting foreign head of state; lawyers for the plaintiffs hailed the decision as a first in a national court acknowledging that an active leader does not have total immunity (BBC)
  • The case against Assad was filed under the concept of universal jurisdiction, which says crimes of a certain gravity can be tried anywhere (AP)

United States Killed Senior ISIS Official in Syria Air Strike

  • U.S. Central Command reported that there was “no indication” that civilians were harmed in the strike on Sunday (CNN)

Children of Suspected ISIS Fighters Held Indefinitely in Poor Prison Conditions

  • Children and adolescents are enduring overcrowding and isolated conditions in prisons and detention camps for suspected self-declared Islamic State fighters and their family members, CNN reported; the head of U.S. Central Command said it presents a risk of radicalization (CNN)

Israeli Strikes Against Syrian Weapons Sites Intensify

  • Israel increased strikes against weapons sites in Syria linked to Iranian officials and supply routes to hinder the ability of Hezbollah or Iran to operate in Syria (Reuters)

Germany to Deport Syrian Asylum Seekers Found Guilty of Serious Crimes

  • Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the policy today, a shift from a previous stance of avoiding deportations to those countries due to security risks there; immigrants who glorified or condoned terrorism would also be deported, Sholz said (FT)
  • Meanwhile, Kurds in Syria announced they will delay a planned election set for Monday for the second time, pushing the date to August; it would have been the first local vote since the territorial defeat of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (Al-Monitor)
  • Turkey had called the elections a threat to its territorial integrity and the United States advised that they were ill-timed (Al-Monitor)

Israeli Airstrikes Near Aleppo Kill Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Officer

  • The officer is thought to be the first Iranian killed by Israel since the country bombed Iran’s Damascus embassy compound in April; the Syria Observatory for Human Rights, a United Kingdom (UK)-based watchdog, said the target appeared to be a copper factory and a weapons warehouse (NYT)
  • The IRGC and Iranian government did not immediately comment on the strike (RFE/RL)

Passenger Flights Between Saudi Arabia and Syria Resume for the First Time Since 2012

  • The move is part of a thaw in bilateral relations (Al-Monitor)
  • While Syria and its Arab neighbors are putting the divisions of Syria’s civil war behind them, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said at an aid conference earlier this week that Syria’s humanitarian needs are at an all-time high (AFP)

The United States Repatriates Eleven Americans from Syrian Detention Camps

  • According to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, “This is the largest single repatriation of U.S. citizens” who were imprisoned in Syrian detention camps due to their familial ties with the Islamic State (NYT)

Syrian Man, Aid Organization Accuse Russia of Violating International Law

  • In a complaint made public today at the UN Human Rights Committee, Russia was accused of violating international law when it bombed a northern Syrian hospital in 2019 (Reuters)

Rockets Launched From Iraq Toward U.S. Military Base in Northeast Syria

  • It appeared to be the first such attack against U.S. forces since February when Iran-backed groups in Iraq halted their attacks (AFP)

Trial of Former Syrian General Begins in Switzerland

  • Former General Mohammed Hamo became the highest-ranking Syrian official to go on trial in Europe today for actions carried out during the Syrian government’s crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2011; he is accused of aiding and abetting war crimes (AFP)

Cyprus Suspends Syrian Asylum Applications

  • Cyprus will no longer process asylum applications by those arriving from Syria, President Nikos Christodoulides announced, as a large number of people from the war-torn country continue to flee to the island nation; he did not specify how long the suspension will remain in place (DW). People arriving from Syria must remain in the overflowing reception camps for as long as new arrangements are made, DPA reported on Sunday, citing government sources (Reuters). More than 1,000 people have arrived in Cyprus on boats from Lebanon this month amid deepening tensions in the Middle East (Al Jazeera).

Prominent Iraqi Jihadist Killed in Suicide Bombing in Northwest Syria

  • A leading Iraqi jihadist leader in Syria’s rebel-held northwest who founded a former al Qaeda affiliate was killed on Thursday when a suicide bomber blew himself up in his guest house in the town of Sarmada (Telegraph)
  • Abu Maria al Qahtani, whose real name is Maysr al Jabouri, was one of the most prominent commanders of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and founded its predecessor, al-Nusra Front; no group has taken responsibility, but HTS has accused ISIS of the killing (France 24)

UN Security Council Fails to Condemn Strike on Iran in Syria

  • The United States, Britain and France opposed a Russian-drafted U.N. Security Council statement yesterday that would have condemned an attack on Iran’s embassy compound in Syria, which Tehran has blamed on Washington’s ally Israel (Reuters)