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Syria’s new rulers name HTS commander as defense minister

Syria’s new rulers name HTS commander as defense minister
Murhaf Abu Qasra. (AFP/Video grab)
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Updated 22 December 2024

Syria’s new rulers name HTS commander as defense minister

Syria’s new rulers name HTS commander as defense minister

DAMASCUS: Syria’s new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency which toppled Bashar Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday.
Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) group which led the campaign that ousted Assad this month. He led numerous military operations during Syria’s revolution, the source said.
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa discussed “the form of the military institution in the new Syria” during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.
Abu Qasra during the meeting sat next to Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed Al-Golani, photos published by SANA showed.
Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Assad’s army.
Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not declared plans for what will happen after that.
Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan Al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step “comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability.”
Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously led the political department of the rebels’ Idlib government, the General Command said.
Sharaa’s group was part of Al-Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to Idlib for years until going on the offensive in late November, sweeping through the cities of western Syria and into Damascus as the army melted away.
Sharaa has met with a number of international envoys this week. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.
Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.
Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying Al-Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad’s rule and establishing Islamic sharia law in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.


Israel asks diplomats to seek Houthis’ listing as terrorists

Updated 16 sec ago

Israel asks diplomats to seek Houthis’ listing as terrorists

Israel asks diplomats to seek Houthis’ listing as terrorists
  • The Houthis have repeatedly fired drones and missiles toward Israel
JERUSALEM: Israel has instructed its diplomatic missions in Europe to try to get the Iran-backed Houthi group in Yemen designated as a terrorist organization.
“The Houthis pose a threat not only to Israel but also to the region and the entire world. The first and most basic thing to do is to designate them as a terrorist organization,” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said in a statement.
The Houthis have repeatedly fired drones and missiles toward Israel in what the group describes as acts of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Turkiye says over 25,0000 Syrians returned home since Assad’s fall

Turkiye says over 25,0000 Syrians returned home since Assad’s fall
Updated 22 min 3 sec ago

Turkiye says over 25,0000 Syrians returned home since Assad’s fall

Turkiye says over 25,0000 Syrians returned home since Assad’s fall
  • Ankara is in close touch with Syria’s new leaders and now focussing on the voluntary return of Syrian refugees

Istanbul: More than 25,000 Syrians have returned home from Turkiye since Bashar Assad was overthrown by Islamist-led HTS rebels, Turkiye’s interior minister said Tuesday.
Turkiye is home to nearly three million refugees who fled the civil war that broke out in 2011, and whose presence has been an issue for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.
“The number of people returning to Syria in the last 15 days has exceeded 25,000,” Ali Yerlikaya told the official Anadolu news agency.
Ankara is in close touch with Syria’s new leaders and now focussing on the voluntary return of Syrian refugees, hoping the shift in power in Damascus will allow many of them to return home.
Yerlikaya said a migration office would be established in the Turkish embassy and consulate in Damascus and Aleppo so that the records of returning Syrians could be kept.
Turkiye reopened its embassy in Damascus, nearly a week after Assad was toppled by forces backed by Ankara, and 12 years after the diplomatic outpost was shuttered early in Syria’s civil war.


12 killed in blast at Turkiye explosives plant

12 killed in blast at Turkiye explosives plant
Updated 24 December 2024

12 killed in blast at Turkiye explosives plant

12 killed in blast at Turkiye explosives plant
  • The plant, located in the north of Balikesir, makes munitions and explosives and flares for the domestic and international markets

Istanbul: A powerful blast on Tuesday ripped through an explosives plant in northwest Turkiye killing 13 people and injuring four others, officials said.
Footage showed shards of glass and metal scattered outside the plant, where ambulances stood by.
“According to initial reports, 12 employees died and four were taken to hospital with injuries as a result of the explosion,” local governor Ismail Ustaoglu said.
“I wish God’s mercy upon our deceased citizens and a speedy recovery to our wounded,” he added.
Officials said the wounded were not in a serious condition.
The blast took place at 8:25 am (0525 GMT) at a section of the plant which local officials said collapsed by the force of the explosion.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the cause was not immediately known and authorities ruled out sabotage.
“We are trying to find out what caused it,” he said.
Prosecutors have launched a thorough investigation.
The plant, located in the north of Balikesir, makes munitions and explosives and flares for the domestic and international markets.
Turkiye has become a major defense exporter, particularly for drones, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a major supporter of the industry.


UN investigative team says Syria’s new authorities ‘very receptive’ to probe of Assad war crimes

UN investigative team says Syria’s new authorities ‘very receptive’ to probe of Assad war crimes
Updated 24 December 2024

UN investigative team says Syria’s new authorities ‘very receptive’ to probe of Assad war crimes

UN investigative team says Syria’s new authorities ‘very receptive’ to probe of Assad war crimes
  • International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria, was the first since the organization was established by the UN General Assembly in 2016

UNITED NATIONS: The UN organization assisting in investigating the most serious crimes in Syria said Monday the country’s new authorities were “very receptive” to its request for cooperation during a just-concluded visit to Damascus, and it is preparing to deploy.
The visit led by Robert Petit, head of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria, was the first since the organization was established by the UN General Assembly in 2016. It was created to assist in evidence-gathering and prosecution of individuals responsible for possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide since Syria’s civil war began in 2011.
Petit highlighted the urgency of preserving documents and other evidence before it is lost.
Since the rebel overthrow of Syria’s President Bashar Assad and the rebel opening of prisons and detention facilities there have been rising demands from Syrians for the prosecution of those responsible for atrocities and killings while he was in power.
“The fall of the Assad rule is a significant opportunity for us to fulfill our mandate on the ground,” Petit said. “Time is running out. There is a small window of opportunity to secure these sites and the material they hold.”
UN associate spokesperson Stephane Tremblay said Monday the investigative team “is preparing for an operational deployment as early as possible and as soon as it is authorized to conduct activities on Syrian soil.”
The spokesperson for the organization, known as the IIIM, who was on the trip with Petit, went further, telling The Associated Press: “We are preparing to deploy on the expectation that we will get authorization.”
“The representatives from the caretaker authorities were very receptive to our request for cooperation and are aware of the scale of the task ahead,” the spokesperson said, speaking on condition of not being named. “They emphasized that they will need expertise to help safeguard the newly accessible documentation.”
The IIIM did not disclose which officials in the new government it met with or the site that Petit visited afterward.
“Even at one facility,” Petit said, “the mountains of government documentation reveal the chilling efficiency of systemizing the regime’s atrocity crimes.”
He said that a collective effort by Syrians, civil society organizations and international partners will be needed, as a priority, ” to preserve evidence of the crimes committed, avoid duplication, and ensure that all victims are inclusively represented in the pursuit of justice.”
In June 2023, the 193-member General Assembly also established an Independent Institution of Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic to clarify the fate and whereabouts of more than 130,000 people missing as a result of the conflict.


US military says it conducts airstrike in Syria, killing two Daesh operatives

US military says it conducts airstrike in Syria, killing two Daesh operatives
Updated 24 December 2024

US military says it conducts airstrike in Syria, killing two Daesh operatives

US military says it conducts airstrike in Syria, killing two Daesh operatives
  • The Daesh operatives were moving a truckload of weapons in Dayr az Zawr Province

WASHINGTON: The US military said on Monday it conducted an airstrike in Syria that killed two Islamic State operatives and wounded one.
The Daesh operatives were moving a truckload of weapons in Dayr az Zawr Province, an area formerly controlled by the Syrian government and Russians, when they were targeted with the airstrike, US Central Command said in a statement on social media platform X.