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Dear Readers: Here’s your weekly update on the war in Syria.
New Offensives: Syrian opposition forces launched two new offensives this week, both spearheaded by Tahrir al-Sham, a coalition of rebel and jihadist factions led by al-Qaida’s former affiliate in Syria.
On Sunday, Tahrir al-Sham launched a surprise offensive on government positions in eastern Damascus. Pro-government forces regained control of the area by Sunday night, but rebels began a new push toward the capital on Tuesday, advancing on a major road in an attempt to retake lost territory. Government forces retaliated with heavy airstrikes on Jobar, where rebels have been under pressure to surrender to the government.
War on ISIS: The Pentagon said it dropped fighters with the United States-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) close to the Tabqa dam, opening a new front in the battle against the so-called Islamic State near the militants’ de facto capital of Raqqa. French defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday that the battle for Raqqa “will start in the coming days.”
At least 33 people were reported to have been killed in an airstrike on a school sheltering displaced people in the village of al-Mansoura, near Raqqa, on Monday night. The SOHR said the U.S.-led coalition is believed to have carried out the attack. The United Kingdom-based monitor said that at least 152 people, including 19 children and 28 women, have been killed in U.S.-led coalition airstrikes between March 8 and March 24.
The Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), a major part of the U.S.-backed SDF, said Russia was training its fighters in Afrin, a Kurdish area in the northwest of Aleppo. Russia’s defense ministry confirmed that its forces had been deployed in the area, claiming that it is a part of its “Center for Reconciliation,” used to negotiate local truces and monitor cease-fire violations.
Geopolitical Tensions: Russia’s move to train the Kurds is likely to anger Turkey, which considers the YPG a terrorist group. Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Huseyin Muftuoglu described pictures of Russian soldiers with Kurdish fighters as “unpleasant,” and on Thursday Turkey summoned the Russian envoy in Ankara after a sniper in Afrin reportedly killed a Turkish soldier.
Israel challenged reports from earlier in the week saying Russia would no longer allow it to operate without restrictions in Syria’s airspace. On Tuesday, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country would continue to target Hezbollah weapon convoys in Syria.
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