Author: Steven Sahiounie

Russia and Turkey held the fourth joint patrol of the M4 highway in the Syrian province of Idlib, the Russian military said Wednesday. “In accordance with the agreement of presidents of Russia and Turkey dated 5 March, on 15 April, another — the fourth —  Russian-Turkish joint patrol of a stretch of the M4 highway in the Idlib de-escalation zone linking the cities of Aleppo and Latakia took place”, the Russian centre for reconciliation of opposing sides said. Earlier this week, Russian army planes carried out patrols along a fixed route in northern Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his…

The Saudi-led coalition has conducted 26 air raids on Yemen’s northern and western provinces despite the alliance’s step towards a ceasefire in the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Yahya Sarai, the spokesman for the Houthi rebel movement, said on Wednesday. “Air forces of the Saudi-US [coalition] launched more than 26 air raids, with 18 of them [having been conducted] on the districts of Majzar and Sarwah in the Marib [northeastern province], six on the district of Khabb Wa Shaaf in the Jawf province [in the northwest]”, Sarai said. He added that two more air raids were conducted on the northern province of…

Turkish gendarmerie forces have “neutralised” two armed militants in the Kurdish-dominated Sirnak Province in the country’s southeast, media said Wednesday. The raid on the militants was part of an ongoing domestic security operation in the Mount Cudi region, the state news agency Anadolu reported, citing the Interior Ministry. It is unclear what happened to the militants, as there were no additional details in the official statement. The news agency said they could have been killed, captured, or surrendered. Ankara has been fighting Kurdish militants since the early 1980s. The Turkish authorities designated the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which seeks to…

Damascus has repeatedly accused Israel of conducting illegal airstrikes on Syrian territory. Tel Aviv has indeed claimed responsibility for some of those strikes, insisting that it targeted alleged Iranian forces or its proxies in the Arab Republic, despite Tehran denying their presence in Syria. A drone, allegedly belonging to the Israeli Air Force has carried out an attack against a vehicle in Syria near the country’s border with Lebanon, Reuters reported citing an anonymous security source. According to the media’s sources, the car was carrying Hezbollah forces, who managed to escape the vehicle before it was hit with the attack reportedly resulting…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator There are 2 camps in the Middle East: those countries which work with ‘Israel’, and those who do not. The countries which have established relationships with ‘Israel’ are Turkey; United Arab Emirates (UAE); Saudi Arabia; Qatar; Bahrain; Oman; Jordan; Egypt. This group of countries is backed up by the US and the EU. The countries which do not have a relationship with Israel are Syria; Lebanon; Iraq; Iran; Occupied Palestinian; Yemen; Algeria. This group of countries has established a very good relationship with Russia and China. The world is split between 2 spheres of…

On April 11, Syrian Arab Army (SAA) repelled ISIS’ attack on its positions in the’ eastern countryside of Homs, according to several sources. The large-scale attack, which began two days ago, targeted army positions between the town of al-Sukhanh and Wadi al-Waer. Opposition sources are claiming that up to 40 Syrian soldiers and officers were killed in the attack. Syrian and Russian warplanes provided army troops with a close air support during the clashes, targeting ISIS’ personnel, positions and equipment. Sources affiliated with ISIS claimed that two warplanes were hit. These claims appear to be an obvious war propaganda not based on any…

Russian and Turkish forces are preparing to establish a joint position in the northeastern Syrian governorate of al-Hasakah, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on April 12. According to the UK-based monitoring group, the position, which will be first joint post of Russian and Turkish forces in Syria, will be set near the town of Umm Ushbah in the northern countryside of al-Hasakah. “Preparations are secretly ongoing amid intensifying Russian movements [in the region], where logistic equipment is being deployed,” the SOHR’s report reads. Two days ago, units of the Russian Military Police and the Turkish military conducted…

U.S. forces in northeast Syria have recalled hundreds of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters who used to work with them, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) revealed on April 12. “U.S. forces are largely working to reestablish their influence in the Eastern Euphrates region,” the monitoring group said in the report. According to the SOHR, hundreds of SDF fighters have already rejoined service in U.S. bases in the governorates of al-Hasakah and Deir Ezzor. The fighters are reportedly receiving training from U.S. forces and are involved in logistic operations. “The U.S. offered those who returned a monthly salary larger…

Libyan observers have revealed that the Libyan National Army (LNA) shot down at least 24 Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) over the last six months. The observers released on April 12 an infographic detailing the date and location in which each of the UCAVs was shot down. At least 12 of the drones were shot down near the Libyan capital, Tripoli. The Bayraktar TB2, introduced by Turkey’s Bayraktar in 2014, has an endurance of 24 hours and an operational range of 150 km In the most recent incident, a Bayraktar TB2 was downed near the town of Tarhuna on April…

As the OPEC+ deal is pending, US senators from oil states held phone talks with Saudi officials to ensure that Riyadh finally puts an end to the problem “it helped to create” – the ‘oil price war’ that tanked the market. The two-hour phone call, led by Republican Senators Kevin Cramer and Dan Sullivan, came on Saturday, two days after OPEC+, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, agreed to cuts that would take 10 million barrels per day offline. The massive deal is meant to stop crude prices from tumbling and boost the oil market. While stabilization efforts are seemingly…