Latest news with #Bashar Al Assad
Jordan Times
31-07-2025
- Politics
- Jordan Times
Syrian FM on Moscow visit says wants Russia 'by our side'
MOSCOW — Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani said his country wants Russia "by our side" and called for "mutual respect" between the two nations following the overthrow of Syria's previous Moscow-backed government last year. Former Syrian president Bashar Al Assad, a key Russian ally in the Middle East, reportedly fled to Moscow last year after being ousted in a lightning rebel offensive that ended five decades of rule by the Assad family. Russia's naval base in Tartus and its air base at Hmeimim -- both on Syria's Mediterranean coast -- are Moscow's only official military outposts outside the former Soviet Union. "The current period is full of various challenges and threats, but it is also an opportunity to build a united and strong Syria. And, of course, we are interested in having Russia by our side on this path," he told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov during a visit to Moscow, according to a Russian translation of his comments. "But, of course, there are a number of factors that determine and complicate these relations on the ground," al Shaibani said, adding that the relations should be based on "mutual respect." It is unclear whether the new Islamist government, against whom Russia supported Assad's forces with airstrikes in the civil war, will allow Moscow to keep its bases in the country. Lavrov said Russia was "ready to provide the Syrian people with all possible assistance in post-conflict reconstruction."
The National
24-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
Sweida stand-off eases as Syria set for talks with Israel
Hundreds of pro-government fighters have withdrawn from a front line near Sweida in southern Syria, sources in Jordan said on Thursday. The retreat of about 500 gunmen comes before a US -supervised meeting between Syrian and Israeli officials to contain the conflict, which has affected regional stability. The withdrawal of fighters stationed at the rear of the front line has lessened the thrust of an offensive on the north-western approaches to Sweida city, the provincial capital, the sources said. Sweida's Druze defenders have resisted waves of attacks since June 10 but hundreds of members of the sect have been killed. Israeli raids to defend Syria 's Druze, and US diplomatic pressure on Damascus, have contributed to curbing the government attacks. Israeli and Syrian officials will meet in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku on Thursday to discuss containing the hostilities. Axios first reported that Tom Barrack, the US envoy to Syria and Turkey, had arranged the meeting. However, officials from Turkey, the most powerful backer of the post- Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, will also be present in Baku, along with US officials, two diplomats said. In the past 24 hours, an auxiliary force comprised mainly of militiamen from the mostly Sunni governorate of Deraa, a launch pad of attacks on Sweida, has dispersed to other areas in Deraa, the sources said. 'Israeli drones have been hovering over their heads, and they risked being wiped out had they tried to advance,' said one of the sources, who has been monitoring the conflict from Jordan's border with Sweida. The force was part of a loose 1,000-man formation led by army and intelligence officers who have been using drones and Grad rockets to attack rural Druze areas next to the city of Shahba, near Sweida city. Israel conducted an aerial campaign last week that killed hundreds of Syrian military personnel, curbing a government offensive on Sweida. The city's Druze leadership has largely opposed attempts by Damascus to send security forces to take control of the area. The central government is dominated by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, a splinter group of Al Qaeda that ousted the former regime in December.
The National
22-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
Israeli army resumes strikes on southern Syria
The Israel i army carried out a new drone strike on Tuesday against pro-government troops in southern Syria, sources in Jordan said. The strike on Sweida province was the Israeli army's first attack on Syria since its air stirkes last week on government troops and allied militia forces from Syria's Sunni majority, who had aimed to capture Sweida city. The provincial capital and heartland of the Druze minority has been the centre of heavy fighting in Syria. Thousands of militants have been posted near the border with Jordan as part of the offensive. Israel has accused Damascus of breaching demilitarisation deals that forbade the Syrian government from posting the military in the south. The government is mainly comprised of Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, which led to assault that toppled former president Bashar Al Assad in December. One of the sources said the latest Israeli attack came after the pro-government forces used Turkish-made Shahin drones to attack the city of Shahba, near the provincial capital of Sweida. 'They want to capture Shahba because it is seen as a weak underbelly to Sweida [city],' said the source, who added that the use of drones indicates that Syrian army personnel drawn from HTS ranks are among the attacking forces. The target of the Israeli strike on Tuesday was a column comprised of fighters loyal to Damascus, whose members have been attacking a rural region near Shahba, using Turkish drones and Grad rockets, the sources said. The area is near the main road between Sweida and Damascus, a supply artery until the government laid siege to the governorate last week. Under a US-brokered truce, pro-government forces withdrew last week from Sweida city but remained in the mostly Druze governorate. Suwayda24, a network of citizen journalists, said a pro-government militia called 'the army of the clans' attacked grain silos near the road on Monday, and used drones to attack Shahba, a city 'full of the displaced' from the rest of the governorate. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Last week, Israel mounted dozens of raids against Syrian security formations to defend the Druze, a sect of several hundred thousand in Syria whose leaders say is facing one of the biggest threats to its existence. The government has mounted three waves of incursions against Sweida since June 10, saying order needed to be restored after Sunni-Druze clashes in the city, sparked by the abduction of a Druze merchant. The government said Druze militias killed hundreds of Sunnis in Sweida after its intervention. Sweida was a centre of a non-violent protest against the Assad regime in the last year of his rule. But the Druze spiritual leadership, which had mostly opposed the former regime, also resisted the takeover of power by HTS, accusing the group of extremism and non-commitment to democracy. US diplomatic pressure on Syrian authorities, and Israeli raids, halted the main thrust of the offensive on Sunday. However, Sweida remains under siege by the central authorities.
The National
14-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
Syria deploys troops to Suwayda as tribal clashes leave at least 30 dead
At least 30 people have been killed and 100 injured in armed clashes between Bedouin tribes and local fighters in the predominantly Druze city of Suwayda in southern Syria, the Interior Ministry said early on Monday. The ministry expressed 'deep concern and sorrow over the bloody developments'. 'This dangerous escalation comes amid an absence of relevant official institutions which has led to an exacerbation of chaos, a deterioration in the security situation and an inability of the local community to contain the crisis,' it added. The ministry said government forces would be sent to the region to stop the clashes and assess the situation, calling on all parties to co-operate. Bedouin and Druze factions have a longstanding feud in Suwayda, with violence occasionally erupting between the two. The latest clashes are the first outbreak of violence since deadly clashes between members of the Druze community and security forces in April and May, in which dozens of people were killed. However, this is the first time fighting has erupted inside the city of Suwayda. Since the collapse of the former regime under Bashar Al Assad last December, concerns have been raised over the rights and safety of minorities under the new Islamist authorities, who have struggled to re-establish security more broadly. In March, more than 1,000 people, including many civilians, were killed in fighting between fighters loyal to the former regime and government forces in the coastal provinces of Tartus and Latakia. These are strongholds of the Alawite minority group, to which the Assad family belongs.
