Syrian Rebels Give Up Another Town To Assad Forces
The Syrian government took control of Dumayr, a town in the northeast of Damascus, after rebels evacuated to northern Syria, one of the latest in a string of handovers by rebels to the government after an offensive to capture eastern Ghouta that lasted several months and allegedly killed over a thousand civilians, and displaced hundreds of thousands (Associated Press)
Separately, the Syrian government reached an agreement to retake the last Islamic State-controlled pocket in Damascus, Syrian media said (Associated Press)
Assad Steps Up Efforts to Crush Last Rebel Enclaves
The Syrian government stepped up efforts to retake the last besieged enclaves, as some five thousand people prepare to withdrawal from the town of Dumayr outside Damascus (Reuters)
Separately, Iraq, in coordination with the Syrian army, conducted “deadly” airstrikes against Islamic State fighters in Syria, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s office said (Al Jazeera)
Chemical Weapons Watchdog Yet to Reach Syria’s Douma
A UN security team visiting the city of Douma, the site of a suspected recent chemical weapons attack, to determine if investigators from a chemical weapons watchdog could safely visit the area had to return to Damascus after explosives were set off and the group was shot at near one of the sites. On Monday, the watchdog’s head accused Syria and its ally Russia of blocking its experts from reaching the city (CBS/Associated Press)
Airstrikes in Syria Target Chemical Weapons Development Centers
The United States, France, and the United Kingdom carried out a joint attack on Syrian chemical weapons facilities on Saturday, firing more than one hundred missiles at three sites, including some in the capital of Damascus, associated with the Syrian regime’s chemical and biological warfare programs. At least forty people were reportedly killed in the attack (BBC)
Chemical Weapons Watchdog Headed to Syria
Chemical weapons experts are expected to arrive in western Syria tomorrow to investigate the site of a suspected chemical attack in the rebel-held town of Douma (Guardian)
The Syrian regime denies carrying out the attack that reportedly killed at least seventy people, and Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said foreign agents staged the chemical attack (BBC)
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis appeared to walk back the threat of launching a strike made by President Donald J. Trump, telling lawmakers yesterday that the administration is seeking to keep the situation from “escalating out of control” (New York Times)
Trump Changes Message on Syria Attack
Twenty-four hours after warning that airstrikes would be coming, U.S. President Donald J. Trump said in a Twitter post that he “never said when an attack on Syria would take place”, “could be very soon or not soon at all” (Washington Post)
Separately, the Russian military announced that the Syrian government is now in full control the town of Douma, site of last weekend’s the suspected chemical attack (Associated Press)
U.S.-Russia Tensions Escalate Over Syria
U.S. President Donald J. Trump challenged Russia over its defense of the Syrian regime, writing on Twitter that missiles “will be coming” to Syria, after the United States and Western allies vowed a military response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on an opposition-held town in Syria last week. Moscow in turn had warned of a possible counterattack if Russian personnel in Syria come under threat (Guardian)
Rival U.S.- and Russia-backed UN resolutions to address the suspected chemical attack were both defeated at the Security Council yesterday (Associated Press)
U.S., France Vow Response to Reported Chemical Attack in Syria
The UN Security Council will host an emergency meeting on Syria today after U.S. President Donald J. Trump and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron said they would coordinate a “strong, joint response” (RFE/RL) to the reported gas attack on the suburb of Douma (New York Times)
No Change on Syria Strategy, Pentagon Says
After U.S. President Donald J. Trump said that he wants to withdrawal U.S. troops from Syria, U.S. defense official says “nothing actually has changed” with regard to the two thousand U.S. troops currently deployed and that the Pentagon had always planned to “adjust” troop levels as the fight against the Islamic State winds down (Voice of America)
Trump Orders Military to Begin Planning U.S. Withdrawal from Syria
U.S. President Donald J. Trump has reportedly instructed the U.S. military to prepare to pull U.S. troops from Syria, although a date for the withdrawal has not been set (Washington Post)
Trump said yesterday that U.S. troops could remain if Saudi Arabia would foot the bill (Al Jazeera)
U.S. Service Member Among Two Coalition Personnel Killed in Syria
Two coalition personnel, including a U.S. service member, were killed and five were wounded by an improvised explosive device yesterday in Syria, as U.S. President Donald J. Trump appeared to signal the withdrawal of U.S. troop from the country in the near future (Washington Post)
U.S., Russia Narrowly Avoid Clash in Syria
The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke to his Russian counterpart as U.S. and allied local forces neared clashing with what Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called “Russian elements” in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor Province earlier this week (Voice of America)
Thousands Evacuate Syria’s Eastern Ghouta
Nearly seven thousand people left the besieged Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta overnight in some hundred buses, headed to opposition-controlled territory in northwestern Idlib province, Syrian state media and a UK-based monitoring group said (Reuters)
Syrian Rebel Group Agrees to Ceasefire, Evacuation in Eastern Ghouta
Failaq al-Rahman, the second-largest rebel group fighting in Eastern Ghouta, agreed yesterday to abide by an internationally brokered cease-fire to negotiate evacuations from the opposition enclave, according to the media arm of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah (Associated Press)
Rebels Leaving Eastern Ghouta, Assad Forces Closer to Victory
Dozens of Syrian rebels started leaving Harasta in the besieged suburb of Eastern Ghouta as part of an evacuation deal with the government. Hundreds are expected to leave the area in the upcoming days. Thousands have already reportedly left the larger town of Douma as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces move towards victory in Ghouta (BBC)
Assad Visits Eastern Ghouta as Rebels Discuss Ceasefire with UN
The main rebel group in the besieged suburb of Eastern Ghouta said it is negotiating a ceasefire, aid, and the evacuation of urgent medical cases with a UN delegation, as President Bashar al-Assad visited troops on the newly captured areas of Eastern Ghouta. Syrian government forces now control eighty percent of the area (Guardian)
At Least Forty Killed in Syrian Airstrikes
More than forty people were killed in Russian and Syrian government airstrikes in the besieged suburb of Eastern Ghouta today, as government forces advances into rebel-held zone has prompted a massive civilian exodus, according to a Syrian war monitoring group (Associated Press)
At least 20,000 people have fled the area in the past two days alone (BBC)
Thousands Flee Eastern Ghouta as Syrian Civil War Enters Eighth Year
Thousands of people fled the besieged suburb of Eastern Ghouta today after government airstrikes continued overnight (Washington Post)
Some 465,000 Syrians have been killed and half of the country’s pre-war population has been forced to flee their homes as Syria marks the seventh anniversary of the start of peaceful protests that were part of the Arab Spring uprisings (Al Jazeera)
Syrian Bombardment of Eastern Ghouta Continues
Syrian government forces continued their assault on Eastern Ghouta, the largest remaining rebel enclave on the outskirts of Damascus, with round-the-clock airstrikes and have captured nearly half the area. Reports allege the government continues to use both chlorine bombs and napalm, and local health authorities say that more than 1,400 people have been killed since the assault began on February 18 (Washington Post)
Syrian Government Forces Surround Rebel Enclave
After recapturing Mudeira over the weekend, forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad surrounded the largest town in the rebel-held enclave of eastern Ghouta, Douma (Guardian)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed the Security Council today on ongoing hostilities in Syria despite a recent resolution calling for a temporary cease-fire (Associated Press)
Some Aid Enters Syrian Enclave, Strikes Ongoing
A UN aid convoy delivered food and medical supplies to the besieged opposition-held Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta today amid a brief pause in government air strikes overnight. It is the first to reach the area since a partial delivery on Monday. Aid groups report that nearly one thousand people have died in this latest Syrian government offensive (BBC)
Turkish Military Seizes Control of Jinderes in Afrin
Turkish military forces and their Syrian allies seized control of Jinderes, a town in Syria’s Afrin region and of one of the largest settlements in the area. Turkey’s foreign minister said today that the offensives on the Syrian Kurdish-held enclave will be completed by May. Earlier this week, Kurdish-allied Syrian Arab forces said they were redeploying 1,700 fighters from fronts fighting the Islamic State to the northeast to bolster defenses against the Turkish offensive (Reuters)
Syrian Government Confiscates Aid to Ghouta
A World Health Organization (WHO) official said the Syrian government removed most medical supplies, including surgical kits, insulin, and dialysis equipment, from the first WHO convoy entering the besieged opposition-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta this week. A U.K.-based monitoring agency said 45 people were killed and another 190 injured today as the Syrian government’s assault continues (Reuters)
Russia Backs Hours-Long Truce in Syria
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a five-hour cease-fire in the besieged Syrian suburb of Eastern Ghouta to allow civilians to evacuate. A UK-based monitoring group recorded 550 civilian deaths in the area over the last eight days (Al Jazeera)
UN Resolution on Cease-Fire in Syria Fails
The UN failed yesterday to pass a resolution imposing a month-long cease-fire in Syria that would allow humanitarian aid to reach Eastern Ghouta, the besieged Damascus suburb, after opposition from Russia. Reports say more than three hundred people have been killed in a Syrian government offensive there over the past week (New York Times)