Author: Steven Sahiounie

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…

The United States has recorded more than 20,000 deaths since the coronavirus outbreak began, surpassing Italy as the country with the highest number of confirmed deaths, the latest updates show. According to the Johns Hopkins University count, so far 20,463 people have died across the United States compared with 19,468 in Italy. The university also says the US with 526,396 confirmed cases has the highest number, while Spain and Italy rank second and third with 163,027 and 152,271 cases respectively. Only on Friday, over 2,000 Americans died marking the single greatest death toll that any country has yet had. Public health…

The Yemeni Ministry of Education says the ongoing Saudi-led military campaign and all-out blockade against the war-ravaged Arab country have resulted in substantial losses to the education sector amounting to more than 12 billion dollars. The ministry announced in a statement on Sunday that the total cost of direct losses to the sector stands at around three trillion Yemeni riyals (over $12 billion), and at least 412 educational facilities have been completely destroyed as a result of Saudi-led airstrikes. The statement noted that the figure includes 110 schools in the northwestern province of Hajjah, and another 106 in the neighboring province of Sa’ada. The ministry…

The health ministry of the besieged Gaze Strip has warned of critical healthcare situation in the impoverished enclave as its main medical laboratory faces severe shortage of necessary supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic. In a press conference, Dr. Ashraf al-Qudra, the spokesman for the ministry, called on all concerned parties, donors and organizations to assist the Israeli besieged territory to curb the contagion by sending medical and lab needs plus respirators and intensive care beds, the Palestinian Information Center reported on Sunday. His distress call came just two days after he announced that the central laboratory in Gaza had run out…

President Hassan Rouhani says Iran has handled the novel coronavirus outbreak better than Europe and the United States, assuring that the country’s stocks of basic commodities are replenished better than ever. “We had a sanctions virus, to which the coronavirus was added, but you did not have the sanctions virus. You have one virus while we have two viruses,” he said Sunday, addressing Europe and the United States. “We did better than you in the fight against the coronavirus,” he said during a meeting of the National Headquarters for Managing and Fighting the Coronavirus. President Rouhani said in fighting the virus, the Iranian people resisted well, took…

In January, the United States and China signed the first phase of a trade deal, following months of tensions and tariff war between the two economic giants. However, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the strain on the global economy it has created, might have diverted their attention to some more pressing issues. China’s ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai, said the first phase of the trade deal between the two states is still being implemented despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and expressed hope that it still will be done in the end. The comments were made during Cui’s interview with…