Tag: Assad

US strike wiped out fifth of Assad air force, Mattis says

by Thomas Watkins with Ella Ide in Lucca Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US strike on a Syrian air base destroyed a fifth of the Damascus regime’s remaining warplanes, Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said Monday as Washington fired a fresh salvo of warnings at President Bashar al-Assad. The public assessment of Friday’s missile strike and the forceful rhetoric came as G7 ministers met in Italy to send a “clear and coordinated” […]

United States’ UN envoy Haley: No peace in Syria under Assad leadership

  (Reuters) — United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said on Sunday (April 9) peace in Syria would not be possible if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad remained in power. “In no way do we look at peace happening in that area with Iranian influence. In no way do we see peace in that area with Russia covering up for Assad. In no way do we see peace in that area with Assad […]

Watch: Damascus residents denounce US strikes on Syria as “int’l terrorism” on sovereign state

  Damascus residents criticize an American air strike on a Syrian airbase that marked the first direct US assault on President Bashar al-Assad’s government, saying it amounts to “international terrorism against a sovereign state.” Najeed Haj Bakri, university student said, “The US will intervene, whether it’s in the Shayrat airfield or any other airfield, every time the Syrian army advances and captures new areas. The Israelis and Turks did the same thing.” Esam Remeh, a […]

Trump’s far-right backers rebel over ‘hoax’ Syria attack

  by Paul Handley Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Far-right backers of US President Donald Trump rebelled Friday after he ordered a missile strike to punish Syria for a suspected chemical weapons attack that killed 86 people. Bandying the hashtag #Syriahoax, leaders of the “Alt-Right” white nationalist fringe lashed out at the president for abandoning his election campaign stances. Some denied the suspected chemical attack took place. Others rejected the broadly accepted […]

Syrian people do not want Assad in power: US envoy to UN

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The United States believes the Syrian people do not want President Bashar al-Assad to remain in power and does not accept that he could stand in elections, Ambassador Nikki Haley said Monday. Haley told a news conference that Assad is a “war criminal,” “a hindrance to peace for a long time” and that his treatment of Syrians was “disgusting.” The ambassador was asked about whether US Secretary of State […]

Desperate for respite, civilians brave Aleppo front line

JIBRIN, Syria (AFP) – by Maher Al-Mounes Fawwaz al-Ashaari stayed on in rebel-held east Aleppo through the loss of his eldest son and his home. But as fighting got closer, he joined a mass exodus to government territory. Some 20,000 civilians have made the same journey since Saturday as a government offensive on rebel-held areas has intensified. Another 30,000 have sought refuge in a Kurdish-controlled enclave between the city’s two sectors. “I can’t lose any […]

US threatens to end cooperation unless Russia stops Aleppo assault

ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) – by Karam al-Masri with Maya Gebeily in Beirut The United States threatened Wednesday to suspend its engagement with Russia over the conflict in Syria following escalating attacks on rebel-held parts of Aleppo city, including strikes on two hospitals. UN chief Ban Ki-moon denounced the attacks — which saw the two largest hospitals in Aleppo’s opposition-controlled east hit with air strikes and artillery fire — as “war crimes”. President Bashar al-Assad’s forces […]

Syria’s Aleppo set ablaze ahead of fresh diplomatic efforts

ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) – by Karam al-Masri with Maya Gebeily in Beirut Huge blazes erupted in Syria’s Aleppo as the city was rocked by fighting and air strikes Thursday, ahead of last-ditch efforts by world powers to salvage a failed ceasefire. Key players in the Syrian peace process were to meet in New York later Thursday, with the clock ticking down as the UN warned undelivered aid for desperate civilians in Aleppo would expire in […]

Kerry calls on Russia, Assad to “restrain” from offensive strikes

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday urged Russia to “restrain” itself and the government in Syria as fierce fighting there continues on the day he had hoped political transition could start. “It is critical, obviously, that Russia restrain both itself and the Assad regime from conducting offensive operations, just as it is our responsibility to get the opposition to refrain from engaging in those operations,” he told journalists. […]

US: Islamic State oil is going to Assad, some to Turkey

Islamic State militants have made more than $500 million trading oil with significant volumes sold to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and some finding its way to Turkey, a senior U.S. Treasury official said on Thursday. The United States, France, Britain and Russia have vowed to defeat Islamic State, which uses an extreme interpretation of Islam to justify attacks and brutality in large parts of Syria and Iraq that it controls. A U.S.-led […]

Rebels capture last Syrian town in Idlib province

The Syrian army has pulled back from the northwestern city of Ariha after a coalition of insurgent groups seized the last city in Idlib province in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border that was still held by the government. A coalition of rebel groups called Jaish al Fateh, or Conquest Army, said it had taken over the city. Syria’s al Qaeda offshoot Nusra Front is a major part of the coalition. The coalition said it […]

Confident Assad launches new term in stronger position

(Reuters) – Bashar al-Assad was sworn in for a new term as Syria’s president on Wednesday, after an election which his opponents dismiss as a sham but which he said proved he had achieved victory after a “dirty war” to unseat him. Once written off in the West as certain to fall, he launches his seven-year term in his securest position since the early days of the three-year-old war. Those close to Damascus say he […]