Jordan’s shift in south Syria, the sixth round of Astana talks and the complex battle in Eastern Syria.
Sep. 15th, 2017
Jordan’s shift in south Syria, the sixth round of Astana talks and the complex battle in Eastern Syria.
For Syria Deeply’s ongoing feature, Expert Views, we’re gathering fresh insight and commentary from our expert community. This week, we invite you to share your insights on this topic: What factors contributed to the suddenly closer ties between Jordan and Syria and how did this impact their respective allies?
Southern Syria: Several developments in southern Syria this week have further pointed to a thawing of relations between Amman and Damascus, despite weeks of clashes between Jordan-backed Syrian rebels and pro-Syrian government forces.
The CIA, Saudi Arabia and Jordan allegedly have asked two Free Syrian Army (FSA) affiliates – Usoud al-Sharqiya and Martyr Ahmad Abdo – to surrender their positions, cease all fighting with pro-government forces and retreat to Jordan, Reuters reported.
“We have rejected the request, since if we entered Jordan we would consider it the end … the blood of our martyrs has not dried yet,” Badr al-Din al-Salamah, a senior official in the Usoud al-Sharqiya group, told Reuters.
Following the alleged request, Jordan and Russia’s foreign ministers met in Amman to discuss details of a proposed de-escalation zone in southern Syria.
“The goal is to set up a de-escalation zone in the fastest possible time. Our priority is that our borders are secure and that means that there should be no Daesh nor Nusra nor sectarian militias,” Jordan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi said, referring to ISIS and the former name of al-Qaida’s branch in Syria.
According to Reuters, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also brought up the issue of reopening Jordan’s Nasib border crossing with Syria. Jordan’s King Abdullah II said in an interview published on Thursday that the Jordanian border with Syria will open when security conditions in southern Syria improve.
Astana round six: De-escalation zones are the primary focus of the sixth round of Syria talks, ongoing in the Kazakh capital of Astana. The Iran, Russia and Turkey- brokered talks began on Thursday and included representatives of the Syrian government and some rebel factions.
On Friday, Turkey’s state-run news agency claimed that representatives from Moscow, Tehran and Ankara agreed on the borders of a fourth de-escalation zone in Syria’s northeastern Idlib province.
“Officials from Turkey, Russia and Iran have agreed the borders of the zone in the northern province of Idlib and are negotiating over which monitors will be deployed,” the Anadolu news agency reported, citing anonymous Turkish and Russian diplomatic officials.
Turkey’s foreign ministry released a statement later on Friday that said Turkey, Iran and Russia would deploy “observers… at check and observation points in safe zones that form the borders of the de-escalation zone,” Reuters reported.
“The main mission of these observers has been defined as the prevention of clashes between the regime and the opposition forces and any violations of the truce,” the statement added.
As of Friday afternoon, it was still unclear which areas of Idlib would be included. Idlib is the last province in Syria under full rebel control and was one of the four zones proposed in the May de-escalation agreement.
Battle in eastern Syria: The complex battle against the so-called Islamic State continued in eastern Syria, as various warring sides saw respective influxes of fighters.
Over the weekend, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces launched a campaign against militants in the oil-rich eastern province of Deir Ezzor. The Kurdish-Arab alliance reached an industrial zone outside Deir Ezzor city, but would not enter, anti-ISIS coalition spokesman said on Thursday.
According to U.S. Army Col. Ryan Dillon, the SDF will focus its operations on areas south of Deir Ezzor city, along the Euphrates River. This will detract from direct confrontation with pro-government forces in the area.
On Monday, reinforcements for Syrian troops and allied fighters arrived in Deir Ezzor, as pro-government forces prepare for “an attack to push Daesh [ISIS] from the city’s eastern neighborhoods,” said Rami Abdulrahman, head of the U..K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Reinforcements included equipment, vehicles and fighters, he added.
ISIS also saw fighter arrivals in eastern Syria this week. Part of the convoy carrying hundreds of ISIS fighters and their families who were recently evacuated from the Lebanese border, arrived in the town of Mayadin on Wednesday, the New York Times reported.
Russian and international coalition airstrikes reportedly killed more than a hundred people in eastern Syria since Sunday, many of them children, according to the SOHR.
MOST POPULAR
This Week’s Top Articles
In Syria’s War Economy, Women Have Become a Form of Currency
The sale and trade of women in Syria is not a wanton and senseless consequence of war. It is a consequence of a war economy in which nearly all warring parties and even civilians use women to secure profit, weapons, access or leverage in negotiations.
The Likely Winners in the Race to Rebuild Syria
Author Joseph Daher examines the Syrian government’s reconstruction strategy and warns that Assad will use rebuilding to reward foreign allies and consolidate power around a small core of Syrian elite.
EDITOR’S PICKS
Community Insight
How Facts No Longer Matter in the Syrian Conflict
Lina Khatib, Lina Khatib is the Head of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House.
In Syria, hard evidence no longer drives accountability. The biggest beneficiary has been the Assad regime and its allies, who cannot be blamed for thinking they can get away with anything, says Lina Khatib, head of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Program.
What Jordan’s Reopened Border Will Mean for Syria
Aron Lund, Aron Lund is a freelance journalist and analyst specializing in Syria and a regular IRIN contributor.
Depending on the stability of the cease-fire, it seemed likely that the Syrian-Jordanian border will reopen sooner or later, writes Aron Lund, senior fellow at the Century Foundation.
FIRST LOOK
Upcoming coverage
We are always looking for new writers, experts and journalists who are covering the crisis in Syria and are interested in writing about a variety of topics. Please send us your ideas, story pitches and any other thoughts about our coverage via email, Twitter or Facebook.
