Author: Steven Sahiounie

On June 6, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) shelled militants’ positons in the southern part of the so-called Greater Idlib region. According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the shelling targeted the towns of Hantoteen, al-Ruwaihah and Benin. The three towns are located in the eastern part of the al-Zawiya mount. “[The shelling] coincided with the flight of a Russian warplane and reconnaissance aircraft [drones] in the airspace of Idlib countryside,” the monitoring group said in a report. Several opposition activists confirmed that Russian warplanes and drones were unusually active over Greater Idlib today. Earlier this week,…

After 14 months and hundreds of lives lost, military commander of the ‘Libyan National Army’ (LNA) Khalifa Haftar’s attempt to seize Tripoli is over, for the moment at least. On June 5, forces of the ‘Government of National Accord’ (GNA) captured the city of Tarhuna, the LNA’s last major stronghold in western Libya, a day after the GNA announced that it had retaken the Greater Tripoli area in its entirety. General Khalifa Haftar’s military campaign to capture Tripoli, the seat of the GNA since early 2016, began in April of 2019. The military base at Tarhuna had served as a…

On June 7 afternoon, a suicide attack rocked the border city of al-Qamishli in the northern countryside of Syria’s al-Hasakah. According to the Hawar News Agency (ANHA), a suicide attacker wearing an explosive vest blew himself up in the district of Helkw, in al-Qamishli’s city center. The explosion reportedly took place near a checkpoint of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) security body, Asayish. Both the ANHA and the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) confirmed that the suicide attack didn’t result in any losses. Al-Qamishli city is jointly controlled by the SDF and Syrian government forces. Russian forces also maintain an…

On June 7, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched the second phase of its large security operation against ISIS cells in northeast Syria. In a statement, the group said that a 30 km long and 60 km wide area including 15 towns was secured during the second phase of the operation. Ten positions were raided. At least 12 suspects and terrorists were arrested. Furthermore, ammo and weapons were also seized. Around 6,000 troops are taking part in the operation that was launched on June 4. The U.S.-led coalition is providing a direct support. The SDF concluded the first phase of the operation on…

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq – ‘Ashab al-Kahf (AK) has warned Iraqi companies against working with the U.S.-led coalition. In an official statement, the group vowed to use force against security and logistic companies if they don’t cease their work with the US-led coalition. The group said that nothing bars it from using force against these companies, anymore. “You must focus on three important points of the enemy: We monitor you at a high level and you may not expect the extent of the influence within you, with regard to our field for sureWe call on the workers in those Iraqi…

Turkish-led forces ingored the ceasefire initiative proposed by Egypt for the conflict in Libya and continued their advance on positions of the Libyan National Army supported by Egypt and the UAE. So, now, Egypt is sending massive columns with battle tanks to the border with Libya. Egypt could opt the strategy of direct actions if the situation escalates even further and Turkish proxies continue their advanc on Sirte

Former leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement Ramadan Shallah has passed away after battling a long illness. Shallah, who served as secretary general of the resistance group from 1995 to 2018, died at the age of 62 on Saturday night, according to Lebanon’s al-Manar television network. The Gaza-based movement said in a statement that Shallah had been in a coma for more than three years. It didn’t say where he died, but he is believed to have been in Lebanon. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas offered his condolences over the death of Shallah. “By losing Shallah we lost a great national man,”…

Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has condemned certain attempts to incite division among the Lebanese, warning against the emergence of sectarian strife. “Sectarian violence has surged again in a bid to polarize the country and undermine national unity as well as civil peace. Such strife is much worse than mass murder. Cursed are those who stoke it! Exercise due vigilance in order not to get carried away as strife will spare no one,” Berri stated on Sunday. “Definitely and with absolute certainty, any insult or act of sacrilege against Muslim and Christian sanctities, symbols and sacred places is strongly denounced.…

As part of Washington’s stiff competition with some of its regional allies to maintain control over oil reserves in Syria and plunder natural resources in the country, the US military has reportedly sent a new convoy of trucks carrying military and logistical equipment to the northeastern province of Hasakah. Local sources in the town of Yaarubiyah, requesting not to be named, told Syria’s official news agency SANA that a convoy of about 50 vehicles, including trucks and oil tankers, crossed the al-Walid border crossing into Syrian territories on Sunday. Since late October 2019, the United States has been redeploying troops to the…

Washington has accused Beijing of encroaching on Hong Kong’s freedom by moving to enforce a new national security law in the city and US President Donald Trump has threatened to revoke Hong Kong’s special trading status. Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of the Chinese newspaper Global Times, has compared US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Goebbels in a row over Hong Kong. Pompeo said on Saturday, the D-Day anniversary, that China’s actions regarding the city are reminiscent of the Third Reich’s occupation of Europe during WW2. Hu Xijin replied on Twitter: “You are inciting radical hostility and ripping the world apart. You aren’t like…