Switzerland to Try Syria’s Rifaat al-Assad for War Crimes
Swiss federal prosecutors have referred Syria’s ex-Vice President Rifaat al-Assad, the uncle of the country’s current president, for trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed more than four decades ago (Al Jazeera). The attorney general’s office said on Tuesday the eighty-six-year-old was accused of the crimes in February 1982 while serving as commander of the defense brigades that carried out an attack in the Syrian city of Hama during a conflict between the military and the opposition; security forces killed thousands to crush a Muslim Brotherhood uprising in the central city that year (AP).
Purge in Northwest Syria Highlights Discontent with HTS’ Grip on Power
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a powerful militant group that grew out of Syria’s al-Qaeda branch that largely controls Idlib province and parts of the Aleppo countryside, is conducting a security campaign in northwest Syria, detaining dozens of people and accusing them of treason and espionage (Middle East Eye)
Frustrated and paranoid Syrians held protests in HTS-held towns and villages, including Binnish, Marea, Killi, and al-Atarib, chanting against the group’s policies and calling for the overthrow of HTS leader Abu Mohamed al-Jolani, the freedom of prisoners, and an end to the group’s grip on people (Voice of America)
IRGC Member and Two Others Killed in Attack in Syria
A member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Reza Zarei, and two other people have been killed in a suspected Israeli attack in the port city of Baniyas in Syria, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA (Al Jazeera). Meanwhile, Syrian regime forces shot and killed one protester and injured another in Sweida, a Druze-majority governorate in southern Syria (DW)
This is the first recorded death since economic protests gripped Sweida last year and quickly turned into protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (Al Jazeera).
Islamic State Kills Nine Soldiers at Syrian Military Barracks
Islamic State (IS) militants claimed responsibility for the attack near the town of Al-Sukhna in central Syria during which they also set fire to the building and seized weapons left behind by escaping soldiers (AP)
Air Strikes Hit Syrian City of Homs, Reportedly Killing at Least Eight
A United Kingdom-based war monitor said that two people from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and at least six civilians were killed in the strikes; the Syrian military blamed Israel for the strikes, but Israel did not immediately comment (AP)
Iran-Backed Iraqi Militia Claims Responsibility For Attack on Syria Base
The attack on a Syrian base killed six U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters (CBS)
Despite the recent attacks between U.S. and Iranian-backed forces, the United States “will not escalate the conflict,” an unnamed senior State Department official told reporters traveling with Blinken (WaPo)
U.S. Carries Out Retaliatory Strikes on Iran-Backed Groups in Syria
U.S. forces conducted dozens of air strikes on targets in Syria in what National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan described as “the beginning of our response” to the killing of U.S. troops in Jordan last month (NYT)
Sullivan told CNN that Iran-backed militia attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria are “distinct but related” to those on shipping in the Red Sea; while top U.S. officials “are not looking to take the United States to war,” he said, they aim to respond to the attacks “with force and clarity” (CNN)
Reuters: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Pull Senior Officers From Syria
Iranian forces in Syria decided to scale back their deployment after a series of Israeli strikes on their positions, five unnamed sources told Reuters; while Iran says it has no intentions to leave Syria entirely, the decision indicates how the escalating war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas is affecting the broader region (Reuters)
Iran: Israeli Strike Killed Five IRGC Members in Damascus
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed an Israeli air raid killed five of its military advisors in a residential building in Damascus; Al Jazeera reported the target was an IRGC intelligence unit (UN)
Iran Blames Israel For Killing Senior Officer
Sayyed Razi Mousavi was killed in Syria; Iran’s president said Israel would pay a price for the officer’s death, Tehran’s state media reported (Bloomberg)
Syrian Strikes Kill Six Civilians in Last Rebel Stronghold
Government forces reportedly fired thirty-five missiles into industrial and residential areas in and around the city of Idlib in northern Syria (AFP)
Meanwhile, an Israeli drone strike in Syria killed three Hezbollah militia members (Reuters)
U.S. Welcomes ICJ Ruling on Torture in Syria
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), in its first proceeding on Syria’s civil war, ordered President Bashar al-Assad’s government to stop acts of torture and to preserve all evidence of torture (Rudaw)
World Court Orders Syria to Prevent Torture
The International Court of Justice ordered the Syrian government to “take all measures within its powers” to prevent torture and preserve evidence of possible torture as accusations against the Bashar al-Assad regime continue to move through the court; the move is intended to protect potential victims as the case is expected to take several years (AP)
U.S. Strikes Iran-Backed Targets in Syria
The United States struck positions in eastern Syria for the third time in three weeks in response to near-daily attacks on U.S. forces in Iran and Syria since October 17 (NYT)
U.S. Strikes Target in Syria as Attacks on U.S. Facilities in Mideast Grow
The United States conducted a “self-defense strike” on a weapons depot in Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said yesterday (NBC)
The strike was a retaliation against more than forty attacks against U.S. positions in Iraq and Syria by Iran-backed militias that have wounded over forty-six U.S. service members since October 17 (NYT)
Ambush in Eastern Syria Reportedly Targets Pro-Government Militia
A group from the self-declared Islamic State attacked pro-government fighters in eastern Syria overnight, killing at least twenty-one, pro-government media and an opposition war monitor said; neither Syrian officials nor the Islamic State immediately commented on the attack (AP)
Meanwhile, a new study found that the severe drought in Iran, Iraq, and Syria over the last three years, the second worst on record, would have been “virtually impossible” in the absence of global warming (NYT)
Pentagon: 38 Attacks Target US Forces in Syria and Iraq
That figure includes six attempted missile and drone attacks by Iran-backed groups in the last two days, according to the Pentagon; the strikes have resulted in injuries to forty-six American military personnel (VOA)
Twenty-Four Attacks on U.S. Forces in Iraq and Syria in Recent Days
A Pentagon spokesperson blamed Iranian-backed militia groups for the attacks and said the United States will “hold Iran responsible for these groups” (VOA)
U.S. Carries Out Strikes on Iran-Linked Targets in Syria
The strikes launched today were a response to mostly unsuccessful attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed groups since October 17, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said; the operations targeted weapons and ammunition storage areas and were distinct from Israel’s war against Hamas, Austin added (AP)
Syria: Eight Soldiers Killed in Israeli Aerial Attack
In addition to striking military positions, Syria said Israel bombed the Aleppo airport for the fourth time in two weeks (Times of Israel;WSJ)
Drone Attacks on U.S. Bases in Syria and Iraq Injured Two Dozen Soldiers Last Week
U.S. Central Command said the strikes did not damage military equipment and accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of supporting the attacks (NBC)
U.S. forces have reportedly been targeted thirteen times in the past week (VOA)
Israeli Airstrikes Kill Two Workers at Syria’s Damascus Airport
Israel also struck Aleppo airport, putting both airports out of service again (Reuters;Reuters)
Activists Say Drones Targeted U.S. Bases in Syria
They said the attack targeted an oil facility in eastern Syria that hosts U.S. troops and a nearby U.S. base; the United States did not immediately comment on the reports (AP)
Syria Says Israeli Missiles Struck Aleppo and Damascus Airports
Simultaneous strikes damaged the airports’ runways, putting them out of service; Israel has not commented on the strikes, but experts say the decision was likely intended to disrupt Iran’s supply lines to Syria (Reuters)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian is set to visit Syria tomorrow (Reuters)
SDF Leader: Turkey Damaged Vast Amounts of Power, Oil Infrastructure in Northeast Syria
Mazloum Abdi, who heads the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said that Turkey’s bombing in Kurdish-held northeast Syria has damaged more than half of the power and oil infrastructure there; he criticized Washington for not doing more to stop the onslaught (AFP)