Syria

Syrian army says Damascus ‘completely secure’ after taking Yarmouk camp from ISIS

Syria’s army said it was in full control of the capital Damascus and its outskirts after ousting Islamic State, marking a major milestone in the seven-year war. “The Syrian army announces today that Damascus, its outskirts and surrounding towns are completely secure,” it said in a statement carried by state media network SANA on Monday, May 21. The development came after troops had captured a key southern portion of Damascus from IS, the statement said, including the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk and the adjacent district of Hajar al-Aswad. “The wheel of our progress on the battlefield will not stop until all Syrian land is purified,” it added. Russian-langauge Russkaya Vesna posted video of Syrian Arab Army troops raising the national flag in the Yarmouk camp, which had been under siege for years. Syria’s war erupted in 2011 with protests against President Bashar al-Assad, including in the capital. The following year, the government began losing control of parts of Damascus and placed a crippling siege around Yarmouk, which lies in the capital’s south. The army’s announcement came hours after a tenuous evacuation deal saw hundreds of ISIS fighters and their relatives quit Yarmouk, according to reports. Videos posted on social media on Sunday …

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US troops unlikely to withdraw from Syria after ISIS defeat in Deir Ezzor

US troops are unlikely to leave Syria after defeating ISIS in Deir Ezzor despite tough talk from President Trump and Turkey's calls for the SDF to leave Manbij, Wladimir Van Wilgenburg reports

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High-value target captured by SDF isn’t ISIS spokesperson Abu Hasan al-Muhajir

Reports that the Syrian Democratic Forces backed by the U.S.-led Coalition against Islamic State captured the group's spokesperson Abu Hasan al-Muhajir in a raid in Eastern Syria are untrue, a spokesperson for the Coalition said

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Russian navy to ‘permanently’ patrol the Mediterranean armed with Kalibr missiles, Putin says

Russian naval ships armed with Kalibr cruise missiles will patrol off the coast of Syria on a continuous basis in order to ward off terrorist threats, President Vladimir Putin said

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Israel strikes dozens of ‘Iranian military targets’ in Syria overnight

Israel said it hit dozens of Iranian military targets in Syria overnight, including one where a rocket attack on the Israeli army in the Golan Heights originated.

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Israel blamed for strikes near Damascus after ordering shelters open in the Golan

Israeli forces struck Syria on Tuesday night, shortly after recalling reserve units and ordered shelters open in the Golan Heights

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Did the Kremlin influence Trump’s plan to withdraw from Syria?

In February, Putin and Trump spoke by phone. Around that time, Trump began telling White House personnel he wanted to pull out of Syria. Jared Szuba investigates Russia's role in his decision

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Russian Su-30 crashes in Syria, both pilots killed,

Both pilots of a Russian Sukhoi-30SM were killed when the fighter jet crashed in Syria shortly after takeoff, the Russian Ministry of Defence said.

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Pentagon prepares new policy for transferring terrorism detainees to Gitmo

The U.S. Department of Defense has developed new guidance on critera for transferring detainees to the military detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a Pentagon spokesperson said

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SDF to restart offensive operations against ISIS in the MERV and on Syria-Iraq border

The Syrian Democratic Forces announced its Operation Jazeera Storm would return to offensive operations against Islamic State in eastern Syria to the border with Iraq

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