Sep. 25th, 2017
Welcome to our weekly summary of Syria Deeply’s top coverage of crisis in Syria.
Eastern Syria: The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in eastern Syria said they captured the major Conoco natural gas field in their advance against the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) in Deir Ezzor.
The Conoco gas plant is capable of producing nearly 450 tons of gas a day, according to the Wall Street Journal. According to al-Jazeera, it had the largest capacity of any natural gas field in Syria prior to the conflict, producing up to 459 million cubic feet (13 million cubic meters) of natural gas a day.
Tension also risks rising between Russian and U.S.-backed forces in the area. Russian special forces supporting Syrian government loyalists are only miles away from the SDF in Deir Ezzor. They are fighting simultaneous but separate campaigns against the militant group.
An American official told CNN on Sunday that U.S. forces have amped up surveillance efforts of Russian troops in Syria. The move comes after last week’s statement from Russia’s defense ministry that said Moscow would target U.S.-backed militia positions in east Syria if its forces come under fire by the group.
Russia accused the SDF of opening fire on Syrian troops and allied forces on the eastern bank of the Euphrates twice over the past week, and any more “attempts to open fire from areas where SDF fighters are located would be quickly shut down,” the statement said.
Syrian-Kurds Vote: Kurdish-held regions of northern Syria held the first round of a three-phase election on Friday, as part of a plan to set up a federal system of government.
Residents cast their ballots to select community leaders for some 3,700 communities spread across three regions of Kurdish-held northern Syria. Elections did not take place in the city of Manbij, which is controlled by the SDF or in areas recently liberated from ISIS near the city of Raqqa, senior Kurdish politician Hadiya Yousef told Reuters.
The second round of voting will take place in November with the election of local councils, and the final stage is expected to take place in January with the election of a local assembly that will act as a parliament, Reuters said.
The Syrian government is opposed to elections, but Syrian Kurds insist that they are not seeking independence from Syria. Yousef told Reuters that Friday’s elections were “a message to the Syrian regime that we as the Syrian people have will and want our will to be represented in the election of our administration to run our regions and societies.”
Syria at the UNGA: Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said that recent pro-government gains on the ground “prove that victory is now within reach,” in a speech on Saturday to the United Nations General Assembly.
As examples, al-Moualem cited military gains by pro-government forces in Aleppo and Palmyra, the recent breach of an ISIS-siege in an area of Deir Ezzor and the “eradication of terrorism from many parts of Syria.”
He also discussed the plans to create four de-escalation zones in Syria. Russia, Iran and Turkey signed off on the plan, proposed by Moscow in May.
“Syria reserves the right to respond to any violation by the other party,” al-Moualem said. “Syria also stresses that these zones are a temporary arrangement that must not violate the territorial unity of Syria.”
David Miliband, president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, pointed out that the crisis in Syria was otherwise largely overlooked at the UNGA, despite ongoing human rights violations and fighting in many of the country’s provinces.
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