Latest news with #Ahmedal-Sharaa
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Kurdish delegation heads to Damascus for talks: Kurdish source
A delegation from northeast Syria's semi-autonomous Kurdish administration was headed to Damascus on Saturday for talks on implementing a March deal to integrate Kurdish institutions into the state, a member of the delegation said. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Under the agreement signed by Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Kurds are to integrate their civil and military institutions into the national government. The deal includes all border crossings, oil and gas fields and a regional airport. A member of the Kurdish delegation, requesting anonymity in order to brief the media, told AFP that "a delegation from the autonomous administration is on the way to Damascus to discuss" details of the March deal. Despite the accord, the Kurds have criticised a constitutional declaration announced by the new authorities, who took power after ousting longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, and said the new government failed to reflect Syria's diversity. Last month, Syrian Kurdish parties adopted a joint vision of a "decentralised democratic state", a move rejected by Damascus, which warned against attempts at separatism or federalism by the minority group. The March agreement states that the Kurds are an "essential component of the Syrian state", guaranteeing the "right to citizenship and all... constitutional rights". Syria's Kurds suffered marginalisation and repression under Assad's rule, being deprived of the right to speak their language and celebrate their holidays and, in many cases, of Syrian nationality. Earlier this month, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani warned that delaying the implementation of the deal would "prolong the chaos" in the country. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now In an interview broadcast Friday by Shams TV, based in Arbil in northern Iraq's Kurdistan region, SDF chief Abdi said that "we are committed to what was agreed with Damascus and we are currently working on implementing this agreement". He emphasised the need for a "decentralised Syria where all its components live with their full rights and nobody is excluded". But he accused Syria's new authorities of wanting centralisation and of "not being ready for everyone to live in Syria". Kurdish-led forces took control of much of Syria's northeast, including its oil fields, during the country's civil war and the Islamic State group insurgency. With support from a US-led international coalition, the Kurdish-led SDF played a key role in the jihadist group's territorial defeat in Syria in 2019. Abdi said all Syrians should benefit from Syria's oil wealth but said the Kurds wanted "an autonomous administration to govern locally and for the people of the area to manage security and political institutions".
Egypt Independent
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Egypt Independent
ISIS claims first attacks against forces loyal to new government in Syria
CNN — ISIS has claimed two attacks on Syrian security forces – the first since the transitional government under former jihadist Ahmed al-Sharaa took office. The terror group, also known as Islamic State, said it had killed and injured seven members of 'the apostate Syrian regime' with an explosive device that was detonated on a road in southern Syria. It said the attack took place in the remote desert area of Talul al Safa in the southern Syrian province of Suwayda. A military source in the Suwayda region told CNN that a reconnaissance unit from the Free Syrian Army was ambushed Wednesday while tracking ISIS movements in the area. One fighter had been killed and three injured. Units of the Free Syrian Army are supported by the US military in what is called the al Tanf Deconfliction Zone close to the borders with Jordan and Egypt, where the US has a small outpost. The source added that the Talul al Safa area is 'extremely rugged and dangerous area, as ISIS had been exploiting its terrain for a long time.' ISIS lost almost all the territory it controlled in Syria by the end of 2017 but has maintained a foothold in Syria's vast central desert. ISIS claimed another attack in the same area several days ago. CNN has reached out to the government in Damascus for comment. Last week, the Syrian Interior Ministry said security forces operating in an area not far from where the attacks took place had seized 'a number of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), as well as weapons' at locations belonging to a terrorist cell affiliated with ISIS. The Washington DC-based Institute for the Study of War says the group has likely maintained cells in southern Syria despite not carrying out any attacks there for at least two years. The US and other Western governments have urged the new Syrian government to prevent a resurgence of ISIS and other terror groups on Syrian soil. But the government has struggled to extend its authority to Suwayda, where there have been clashes between Druze and Sunni groups.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
ISIS claims first attacks against forces loyal to new government in Syria
ISIS has claimed two attacks on Syrian security forces – the first since the transitional government under former jihadist Ahmed al-Sharaa took office. The terror group, also known as Islamic State, said it had killed and injured seven members of 'the apostate Syrian regime' with an explosive device that was detonated on a road in southern Syria. It said the attack took place in the remote desert area of Talul al Safa in the southern Syrian province of Suwayda. A military source in the Suwayda region told CNN that a reconnaissance unit from the Free Syrian Army was ambushed Wednesday while tracking ISIS movements in the area. One fighter had been killed and three injured. Units of the Free Syrian Army are supported by the US military in what is called the al Tanf Deconfliction Zone close to the borders with Jordan and Egypt, where the US has a small outpost. The source added that the Talul al Safa area is 'extremely rugged and dangerous area, as ISIS had been exploiting its terrain for a long time.' ISIS lost almost all the territory it controlled in Syria by the end of 2017 but has maintained a foothold in Syria's vast central desert. ISIS claimed another attack in the same area several days ago. CNN has reached out to the government in Damascus for comment. Last week, the Syrian Interior Ministry said security forces operating in an area not far from where the attacks took place had seized 'a number of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), as well as weapons' at locations belonging to a terrorist cell affiliated with ISIS. The Washington DC-based Institute for the Study of War says the group has likely maintained cells in southern Syria despite not carrying out any attacks there for at least two years. The US and other Western governments have urged the new Syrian government to prevent a resurgence of ISIS and other terror groups on Syrian soil. But the government has struggled to extend its authority to Suwayda, where there have been clashes between Druze and Sunni groups.
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Islamic States claims its first attacks on new Syrian gov't as bombs allegedly kill soldiers
While the Syrian government said it conducted two raids in Damascus earlier this week, to arrest ISIS operatives, it has not yet acknowledged any attack by the terror group. Islamic State (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for two bomb attacks on the new Syrian government, which would be the first move against the new Syrian government since it took power in December, according to a war monitoring group and international media reports on Friday. The bombs allegedly killed and wounded multiple government soldiers and members of a government-allied militia, according to the SITE Intelligence Group. ISIS said it had planted a bomb on a "vehicle of the apostate regime" in the desert of the southern province of Sweida last Tuesday and claimed to have killed a member of the US-backed Free Syrian Army in a second bomb attack this week. While the Syrian government said it conducted two raids in Damascus earlier this week to arrest ISIS operatives, it has not yet acknowledged any attack by the terror group. While ISIS's hold on Syria was significantly reduced in 2019 after large-scale efforts by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, small cells have continued to carry out attacks. Kurdish authorities struck a deal with the Syrian government earlier this week to begin clearing camps of ISIS families in eastern Syria, TheJerusalem Post's Seth Frantzman reported. 'THE KURDISH authorities and the Syrian interim government have reached an agreement to empty the notorious al-Hol camp from Syrians and return them to their homes, a Kurdish official said on Monday,' according to a report from Kurdish media Rudaw on Monday. While Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, was once a member of a group affiliated with Al-Qaeda, he has since distanced himself from the group in order to seek alliances among Western nations. While Sharaa has warmed ties with the Trump administration, ISIS has planned several attacks against the US. An ISIS-affiliated attack claimed the lives of 14 people in New Orleans in January and only two weeks ago a national guardsman was arrested for allegedly planning an attack in the name of the group. An anonymous senior US defense official told Reuters that following the New Orleans attack, there had been growing concern about the Islamic State increasing its recruiting efforts and resurging in Syria - worries which were heightened when the Assad regime fell. A UN team that monitors Islamic State activities reported to the UN Security Council in July a 'risk of resurgence' of the group in the Middle East and increased concerns about the ability of its Afghanistan-based affiliate, ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K), to mount attacks outside the country. European governments viewed ISIS-K as 'the greatest external terrorist threat to Europe,' it said. 'In addition to the executed attacks, the number of plots disrupted or being tracked through the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Levant, Asia, Europe, and potentially as far as North America is striking,' the team said. REUTERS contributed to this report.
Al-Ahram Weekly
a day ago
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
IS group claims first attack on new Syria forces since Assad fall - Region
The IS group on Thursday claimed its first attack on Syria's new government forces since the fall of longtime Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, two war monitors said. In a statement picked up by SITE Intelligence Group, IS said it had planted an "explosive device" on a Syrian forces' vehicle in the southern province of Sweida. SITE and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said it was the first IS-claimed attack on Syria's new government. SOHR said that one person was killed and three members of the Syrian army's 70th division were injured when a patrol was hit by a remote control landmine on Wednesday. The man killed was accompanying the Syrian government forces in the desert area, according to SOHR. Once in control of large swathes of Syria and Iraq, IS was territorially defeated in Syria in 2019 largely due to the efforts of Kurdish-led forces supported by an international coalition. It has maintained a presence mainly in the country's vast desert. Reported attacks by the group in areas controlled by Syria's new government, which took power after Assad's ouster in December, have been scarce. However, they have continuously carried out attacks on Kurdish-led forces in the northeast. This week, Syrian authorities said they arrested members of an IS cell near Damascus, accusing them of preparing attacks. Another government operation in the northern city of Aleppo this month saw the death of one security forces officer and three IS members. During a meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh this month, US President Donald Trump called on him to "help the United States to prevent to resurgence of IS", according to the White House. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
