Syria

Syria’s foreign minister demanded on Saturday that American and Turkish forces evacuate the war-ravaged country immediately or face “any and all countermeasures authorized under international law.” Syrian officials have made similar threats in the past to push unauthorized forces from the country but have never taken serious steps to do so. Syrian troops, which have been ground down by years of war and defections, are in no shape to fight the United States, and it appears that the country has calculated that any attacks on American forces would bring about a formidable response. In a speech before the United Nations General Assembly, the foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, said the United States and Turkey “maintain an illegal military presence in northern Syria.” “Any foreign forces operating in our territories without our authorization,” he added, “are occupying forces and should withdraw immediately.” Mr. al-Moallem’s … [Read more...] about Syria Demands Immediate Withdrawal of U.S. and Turkish Forces, Again

The United States has concluded that Syria used chlorine gas in an attack against rebels last May, saying Thursday that it was the latest use of chemical weapons by President Bashar al-Assad’s government in the eight-year civil war but stopping short of threatening a military response. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Mr. Assad’s government that “we’re going to do everything we can reasonably do to prevent this kind of thing from happening again.” But he said that chlorine attacks amounted to a “different situation” than the suspected use of sarin, a nerve agent, that killed 80 people and provoked missile strikes against a Syrian air base by the Trump administration in April 2017. One year later, in April 2018, at least 40 people died in a chemical attack that may have involved sarin or chlorine — or possibly elements of both. That galvanized the United States, Britain and France to launch airstrikes against Syrian chemical weapons … [Read more...] about U.S. Concludes Syria Used Chemical Weapons in May Attack

Foreign Islamic State fighters held in overcrowded prisons and lawless refugee camps in north-east Syria – including about 60 Britons – should be put on trial there as part of an international effort to de-radicalise the region, according to senior local officials. Politicians and soldiers from the Kurdish-led region said they needed western help to deal with the prisoners locally, including setting up a recognised war crimes tribunal, amid warnings that Isis could otherwise rebuild. Images emerged this week of the insanitary conditions in makeshift prisons where people of more than 50 nationalities were held in packed cells, sometimes 20 to a room. Meanwhile, local politicians admitted they had lost control of the refugee camps to Isis radicals. Dr Abdulkarim Omar, the de facto foreign secretary of the self-styled Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, and the co-chair of its foreign affairs committee, said: “We call for the establishment of an … [Read more...] about Foreign Isis fighters in Syria ‘should face war crimes tribunal’

Traffic is light on the two creaking pontoon bridges over the Tigris that mark the only official crossing into the autonomous region of north-east Syria, a little known area of 5 million people engaged in a radical political experiment. At the border post stands a distinctive billboard: a martyrs’ memorial to the men and women who died eradicating the Islamic State (Isis), as well as those killed fighting what has become a more serious threat – Turkey. “Our martyrs are our honour,” the poster says, depicting 40 foreign fighters, including a Briton, Anna Campbell, who was killed in March last year, aged 26, defending the city of Afrin against a Turkish incursion. An estimated 12,000 fighters from the north-east region died in the territorial struggle against Isis, which ended in March, and a further 20,000 were wounded. What was initially a Kurdish force of ground troops with air and logistical support from a US-led coalition has expanded into an administration … [Read more...] about ‘We deserve support’: Reinvented north-east Syria strives for stability

“We are not going to support the Turks and we are not going to support the S.D.F.,” the official said. “If they go to combat, we’re going to stay out of it.” The White House statement and its ramifications come as the Islamic State is gathering new strength, conducting guerrilla attacks across Iraq and Syria, retooling its financial networks and targeting new recruits at an allied-run tent camp, American military, counterterrorism and intelligence officers say. Though Mr. Trump hailed a total defeat of the Islamic State this year — and asserted its territorial demise in Sunday night’s statement — defense officials in the region see things differently, acknowledging that what remains of the terrorist group is here to stay. A recent inspector general’s report warned that a drawdown ordered by Mr. Trump this year — from 2,000 American forces in Syria to less than half of that — has meant that the American military has had … [Read more...] about Trump Approves Turkish Military Operation in Syria, Shifting U.S. Policy