Oct. 2nd, 2017
Welcome to our weekly summary of Syria Deeply’s top coverage of the crisis in Syria.
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Airstrikes In Idlib: Russian and Syrian warplanes have increased airstrikes on the northwestern province of Idlib, killing dozens of civilians in the course of the past week despite the area being one of four designated de-escalation zones.
Airstrikes on Saturday in the Idlib town of Amanaz, just a few miles from Turkey’s southern border, killed at least 34 civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. As of last Thursday, the Civil Defense had already “pulled 152 bodies and … rescued 279 civilians since the Russian and regime bombing campaign,” Salem Abu al-Azem, a senior rescue worker with the group in Idlib told Reuters.
At least four hospitals were also hit in the recent aerial bombardments in Idlib and north of Hama province, and at least two others evacuated “out of fear of being bombed,” according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
Russia’s defense ministry said its airstrikes in Idlib province targeted only militant groups and not civilians. Moscow’s statement also said that one of its airstrikes killed five senior members of the al-Qaida-linked Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in southern Idlib, including “the leader of the group’s unit in south Idlib province, a financial chief, and an adviser to one of the group’s ideologues, Saudi cleric Abdullah al-Muhaysini.”
Documenting Death Tolls: September was the deadliest month in Syria so far this year. The month also closed with the second anniversary of Russia’s intervention in the Syrian conflict.
SOHR documented the death of 3,055 people in Syria last month, including 955 civilians (of which 207 were children and 148 were women). At least 395 civilians, including 92 children and 71 women were killed in Syrian or Russian air raids. U.S.-led coalition warplanes killed at least 282 civilians, including 68 children and 45 women. Rebel clashes and shelling killed at least 17 civilians, HTS forces killed at least 4 civilians and the Syrian Democratic Forces killed at least 7 civilians.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights released a report claiming that Russian forces have killed 5,233 civilians, including 1,417 children and 886 women since September 30, 2015. The report also accused Russia of using cluster munitions more than 200 times, the majority in Idlib province, and using incendiary ammunitions more than 100 times, the majority in Aleppo province.
HTS Appoints New Leader: A statement circulated on social media over the weekend allegedly from the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) alliance claiming that the group’s leader, Abu Jaber al-Shaykh, resigned and that Abu Muhammad al-Julani was appointed as his interim replacement.
Al-Julani previously led Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaida’s former branch in Syria. He was then a commander in Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (JFS), a group formed when Nusra publicly separated from al-Qaida. When JFS merged with other factions to form HTS, al-Julani was appointed as a military commander.
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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.
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Syria Deeply: Natural gas and tensions in Eastern Syria, Syrian-Kurds vote in northern Syria, and Syria at the UNGA
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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Long Read: Elites, War Profiteers Take Aim at Syria’s Economic Future
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In the second of a two-part series, we report on Kurdish-led forces’ rigorous security screening procedures at the Ain al-Issa IDP camp that aim to weed out potential ISIS fighters from the thousands of civilians fleeing militant-held territory every day.
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Chronicle of Care: Providing Health Services for Millions of Syrians
Mahmoud Mustafa, Field ophthalmologist and the director and founder of Independent Doctors Association (IDA)
In the first in our series of diary entries from Syrian doctors, Mahmoud Mustafa, director of the Independent Doctors Association, explains how he went from being an eye surgeon in Aleppo to providing emergency care amid attacks, sporadic aid access and exhaustion.
Pixels of War: Photographing Damascus From Besieged Rooftops
Tom Rollins, Cairo-based freelance journalist
In this installment of ‘Pixels of War,’ our series on Syrian photographers, Faris al-Khattab discusses his view of Damascus from a besieged village in the south of the capital and a looming reconciliation deal in the area.
Why the Euphrates Crossing has Deep Implications for the U.S.. in Syria
Andrew Tabler, Senior fellow in the Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute, where he focuses on Syria and U.S. policy in the Levant
By enabling Assad’s forces to bridge the Euphrates river, Moscow is denying Washington leverage over the Syrian government and is raising the risk of direct confrontation between U.S. and Russian proxies in east Syria, writes the Washington Institute’s Andrew Tabler.
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.
