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Tag: Bashar al-Assad
December 9, 2024
Jack Montgomery
Immigration

UN Says 1.5 MILLION People Could Now Flee Syria.

The United Nations (UN) warned up to 1.5 million people would leave Syria as the jihadist offensive was gaining momentum. Rebels led by Saudi-born jihadist Abu Mohammad al-Julani and his Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group—formerly a branch of al-Qaeda—displaced 280,000 people in its initial phase, according to World Food Programme Director for Emergency Coordination Samer AbdelJaber.

“If the fighting continues at this pace, we anticipate up to 1.5 million people needing urgent support,” AbdelJaber said on Friday. “The situation in Syria was not easy before this escalation, so we’re looking at a crisis on top of crisis. And that’s why we’re really emphasizing the urgent need for funding,” he added.

Since then, President Bashar al-Assad’s government, backed by Russia and Iran, has folded rapidly, with HTS now in complete control of the territory formerly under Assad’s sway. This apparently swift end to the fighting could limit the number of Syrians who emigrate to escape the privations of war—but many may still flee, fearing reprisals under the new regime.

The Assad clan hailed from the Alawite sect of Shia Islam, regarded as heretics by the predominantly Sunni Muslim rebels. Syrian Christians and Druze may also fear the accession of a de facto al-Qaeda government, considering their mistreatment by al-Julani’s former comrades in the Islamic State group during earlier stages of the war.

Around one million Syrians migrated to Europe amid the 2015-16 migrant crisis, with chain migration swelling this number to 4.5 million over the following years.

Image by Joachim Seidler.

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The United Nations (UN) warned up to 1.5 million people would leave Syria as the jihadist offensive was gaining momentum. Rebels led by Saudi-born jihadist Abu Mohammad al-Julani and his Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group—formerly a branch of al-Qaeda—displaced 280,000 people in its initial phase, according to World Food Programme Director for Emergency Coordination Samer AbdelJaber. show more
December 9, 2024
Jack Montgomery
World

Netanyahu Claims Credit for Fall of Assad.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has taken credit for the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria from a speech delivered from the Golan Heights—where Israeli forces have seized territory formerly occupied by the Syrian Arab Army. “This collapse is the direct result of our forceful action,” Netanyahu declared.

Calling the takeover of Damascus by Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a rebrand of former al-Qaeda branch al-Nusra, an “historic day for the Middle East,” Netanyahu said: “The collapse of the Assad regime, the tyranny in Damascus, offers great opportunity but also is fraught with significant dangers… [It] means that we have to take action against possible threats.”

Chief among these is the Separation of Forces Agreement from 1974 between Israel and Syria, he said, which “collapsed” when Assad’s army “abandoned its positions.”

“We gave the Israeli army the order to take over these positions to ensure that no hostile force embeds itself right next to the border of Israel. This is a temporary defensive position until a suitable arrangement is found,” he claimed.

“If we can establish neighborly relations and peaceful relations with the new forces emerging in Syria, that’s our desire. But if we do not, we will do whatever it takes to defend the State of Israel and the border of Israel,” he added.

Israeli forces have launched a series of strikes described as “very intensive” by Israeli press sources since Assad’s ouster, devastating the country’s air defenses and supposed “strategic weapons sites.”

HTS’s Turkey-backed leaders, who are mainly Sunni Muslims, have pledged they will not persecute minorities following their takeover. However, members of the Alawite minority, which Assad hailed from, as well as Christians, Druze, and others, may attempt to flee to Europe to avoid reprisals in the coming weeks and months.

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Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has taken credit for the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria from a speech delivered from the Golan Heights—where Israeli forces have seized territory formerly occupied by the Syrian Arab Army. "This collapse is the direct result of our forceful action," Netanyahu declared. show more

Editor’s Notes

Behind-the-scenes political intrigue exclusively for Pulse+ subscribers.

RAHEEM J. KASSAM Editor-in-Chief
I’m not sure I’d be celebrating all that heartily just yet, but remember, for Netanyahu, the past year has been a non-stop sprint to outflank and overpower those who have presented existential threats to his nation and people
for exclusive members-only insights
I’m not sure I’d be celebrating all that heartily just yet, but remember, for Netanyahu, the past year has been a non-stop sprint to outflank and overpower those who have presented existential threats to his nation and people show more
for exclusive members-only insights
zelensky
December 2, 2024
Christopher Tomlinson
War
World

Ukraine Helped Train Rebranded al-Qaeda in Syria.

Ukrainian media sources report that the U.S.-funded Ukrainian military and security apparatus trained the Islamist rebels currently advancing in Syria. Turkey-backed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly the al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra, is leading the offensive against the forces of Russia-backed President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, seizing swathes of territory.

According to Ukrainian media, the rebels received operational training from the Khimik group of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR), mainly relating to drone use.

Al-Nusra Front counts the first leader of the Islamic State terrorist group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as one of its founders. Footage on social media allegedly shows HTS fighters wearing Islamic State flag patches.

Both al-Nusra and Islamic State have infamously oppressed and murdered Christians in Syria and Iraq, including cases of kidnapping and torture. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), HTS killed hundreds of civilians from 2012 to 2021.

The Ukrainian military, alongside Turkey, supports the HTS campaign, which is primarily directed at the forces of President Assad and his Russian, Iranian, and Hezbollah allies.

Russia, meanwhile, began a counterattack over the weekend, using airpower to bomb HTS and other rebel positions. The Syrian army claims to have regained some lost ground.

After the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine in 2022, Islamic State radicals called on supporters to take advantage of the war and carry out attacks on Russia.

Islamist terrorists have also used Ukraine as a means to access Europe and plot terror attacks by claiming to be Ukrainian refugees, according to Germany’s spy agency.

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Ukrainian media sources report that the U.S.-funded Ukrainian military and security apparatus trained the Islamist rebels currently advancing in Syria. Turkey-backed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly the al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra, is leading the offensive against the forces of Russia-backed President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, seizing swathes of territory. show more
November 30, 2024
War
World

It’s All Kicking Off in Syria Again.

Rebels in Syria—many with ties to terrorist and Islamic extremist groups, including al-Qaeda—have breached parts of Aleppo, the country’s second-largest city, leading to clashes with government forces. The confrontation was sparked by two car bombs detonated by the insurgents on Friday. The attacks and fight over the city mark renewed hostilities in the now over-decade-old Syrian civil war.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a prominent monitoring group, reported intense skirmishes between the insurgents and Assad government soldiers. Conflict intensified following a surprise offensive by the rebels on Wednesday. During this attack, they captured several towns and villages as they progressed toward Aleppo.

This rebel offensive is notable as it marks the first time since 2016 that opposition fighters have surrounded the city. That year, a Syrian military effort backed by Russia and Iran pushed insurgents out of Aleppo’s eastern neighborhoods. A subsequent ceasefire four years ago yielded a relatively peaceful period.

Local accounts describe Aleppo residents evacuating areas along the city’s western periphery due to missile fire and gunfights. An insurgent commander has utilized social media to implore civilians in Aleppo to cooperate with the rebels. The attacking forces are led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly al-Nusra, a Sunni Islamist group and that was Syria’s official al-Qaeda affiliate before rebranding.

Syrian state media reported that projectiles fired by insurgents hit university student accommodations in central Aleppo. This attack resulted in four fatalities, including two students. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also indicated that at least 121 individuals have died since HTS, designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, initiated the current offensive.

Image by KevForkan.

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Rebels in Syria—many with ties to terrorist and Islamic extremist groups, including al-Qaeda—have breached parts of Aleppo, the country's second-largest city, leading to clashes with government forces. The confrontation was sparked by two car bombs detonated by the insurgents on Friday. The attacks and fight over the city mark renewed hostilities in the now over-decade-old Syrian civil war. show more
October 17, 2024
Christopher Tomlinson
Immigration
World

Europe May Normalize Relations With Syria’s Assad to Begin Deportations.

Several European states are reportedly considering normalizing their relations with Syria‘s President Bashar al-Assad to facilitate deportations to his country. Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is calling on the European Union (EU) to reconsider its relationship with the Assad government as the bloc looks to increase deportations of illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers. Western governments have been seeking to oust the Russia-backed leader since 2011, with moves to potentially normalize ties serving as a tacit acknowledgment that regime change efforts have failed.

“It is necessary to review the European Union Strategy for Syria and to work with all actors, to create the conditions for Syrian refugees to return to their homeland in a voluntary, safe, and sustainable way,” Meloni said.

The EU has not had formal relations with Assad’s Syria since 2011. Still, Meloni is reportedly looking to push the issue with other EU leaders on Thursday during a meeting in Brussels.

Over the last several months, partly due to a surge in the popularity of populist parties in elections in France, Germany, and Austria, EU governments have begun to take a much more pro-borders stance.

Germany, with its leftist coalition government, has enacted border checks at all of its land frontiers. At the same time, Poland wants to deny the right of asylum to migrants crossing into the country illegally via Belarus.

The move to normalize relations with President Assad also comes as he has seen leaders in the Middle East begin to restore their own ties with the Syrian leader.

Last year, Assad attended a meeting with Arab leaders for the first time in over ten years, being hugged by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Saudi Arabia had previously backed some of the Syrian insurrectionists fighting to overthrow Assad’s government.

Syrian migrants in Europe have been behind many high-profile crimes, including a mass stabbing at a diversity festival in Solingen, Germany, earlier this year that left three people dead.

Germany has the largest proportion of Syrian migrants in Europe—at least 972,000—and most are on welfare.

Image via Wikimedia Commons.

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Several European states are reportedly considering normalizing their relations with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to facilitate deportations to his country. Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is calling on the European Union (EU) to reconsider its relationship with the Assad government as the bloc looks to increase deportations of illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers. Western governments have been seeking to oust the Russia-backed leader since 2011, with moves to potentially normalize ties serving as a tacit acknowledgment that regime change efforts have failed. show more