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by Delil Souleiman with Sarah Benhaida in Mosul AIN ISSA, Syria (AFP) — US-backed Kurdish-Arab forces launched an offensive Sunday on the Islamic State group’s de facto Syrian capital Raqa, upping pressure on the jihadists who are already battling Iraqi troops in Mosul. The start of the assault by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) came as Iraqi forces fought inside Mosul for the third day running amid fierce jihadist resistance. The two cities are the […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — A Russia-declared unilateral ceasefire is to take hold in Syria’s Aleppo Friday even as rebels stepped up a week-old assault to break a government siege of the city’s eastern districts. Regime ally Russia, which announced the 10-hour “humanitarian pause” on Wednesday, said it would start at 0700 GMT. The pause is the second declared by Moscow in less than a month after a three-day ceasefire in late October failed to encourage […]
by Omar Haj Kadour ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) — Syrian rebels renewed their bid to break a government siege of eastern Aleppo on Thursday, shelling regime-held parts of the city hours before a brief Russian-declared ceasefire was due to begin. State media said at least 12 people had been killed in rebel rocket and gunfire on regime-controlled neighbourhoods, after an assault that began with a double car bomb attack. Rebels have been battling for nearly a […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A near miss between Russian and US warplanes over Syria this month was the closest the two air forces have come to a midair mishap in the war-torn country, the Pentagon said Monday. The incident occurred in eastern Syria on October 17, when a Russian jet that was escorting a larger spy plane maneuvered near an American warplane, coming to within half a mile (0.8 kilometer) of the US jet, […]
ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) – by Omar Haj Kadour and Karam al-Masri Syrian rebels launched a major assault Friday aimed at breaking a months-long siege of opposition-held districts of Aleppo, as regime ally Russia held off on renewed air strikes. Rebel groups including the powerful Ahrar al-Sham faction and former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front fired waves of rockets into government-held western Aleppo, killing at least 15 civilians, a monitor said. The rebels also targeted government […]
by Sammy Ketz BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Russia Thursday denied any involvement in deadly air strikes on a Syrian school and rejected a UN-led investigation showing its ally Damascus had carried out chemical attacks, as Moscow’s relations with the West took another hit. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanded an immediate probe into Wednesday’s attack on the school in rebel-held Idlib province that he said “may amount to a war crime”. The tensions mounted a day […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) – by Laurent Barthelemy with Cecile Feuillatre in Paris As Iraqi forces backed by a US-led coalition inch towards the Islamic State group in Mosul, experts and security sources warn that any assault on the jihadists’ main Syrian stronghold of Raqa would be even more difficult. The US and British defence ministers said on Wednesday they expected an assault to drive IS from its de facto capital of Raqa to begin in […]
NIZIP, Turkey (AFP) –France’s foreign minister urged the international community to “do everything” to end the “massacre” in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday after fighting resumed following a 72-hour truce declared by Damascus ally Russia. Speaking in the southeastern province of Gaziantep, Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said: “We’re 150 km (93 miles) — perhaps no further — from Aleppo. And right now bombing, artillery continue to destroy this city and massacre the population.” […]
ARBIL, Iraq (AFP) — US defence chief Ashton Carter said Sunday that an operation to isolate the Islamic State group in Syria’s Raqa should begin in conjunction with the assault on the jihadists’ Iraqi bastion Mosul. “We want to see an isolation operation begin around Raqa as soon as possible,” Carter said during a visit to Iraq’s autonomous region of Kurdistan to review an ongoing offensive to retake Mosul from IS. “We are working with […]
by Karam al-Masri ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) — The United Nations hopes to carry out the first medical evacuations from Aleppo on Friday, if the “humanitarian pause” in the Syrian army’s Russian-backed assault on the city holds. Despite a drop in violence after the truce took effect on Thursday there was little sign civilians were heeding calls to leave, and Russia accused rebels of preventing civilians from fleeing the east of the city. Meanwhile NATO chief […]
by Danny KEMP BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — EU leaders backed down Friday from an explicit threat of sanctions against Russia over the bombing of Aleppo but warned that they would consider “all available options” if atrocities in Syria continue. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi demanded that any mention of possible punitive measures against Moscow over the Syrian carnage should be removed from a statement issued after a summit in Brussels. The climbdown underscored the deep […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — EU leaders agreed Thursday to consider “all available options” against Syria and its allies including Russia if atrocities in Aleppo continue, president Donald Tusk said, but backed down from threatening sanctions. “The European Union is calling for an end to the atrocities and immediate cessation of hostilities. It considers all available options if these atrocities continue,” Tusk said after a summit in Brussels. © 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse
