Syria in Last 24 Hours:

Ankara Attempting to Annex Occupied Lands in Northern Syria

Rasa - Local sources reported on Monday that Ankara has embarked on issuing mandatory Turkish identity cards for Syrian residents in the occupied Afrin region in Northwestern Aleppo as Turkey announced earlier that it will continue military presence in Northern Syria.

News ID: 438513

Date: 03 July 2018 - 20:59

RNA - Local sources reported on Monday that Ankara has embarked on issuing mandatory Turkish identity cards for Syrian residents in the occupied Afrin region in Northwestern Aleppo as Turkey announced earlier that it will continue military presence in Northern Syria.

Idlib

The sources said that the Ankara-backed forces were making industrious efforts to issue Turkish identity cards for the residents of the occupied town of Afrin.

The sources further said that residents of Afrin were referred as refugees in these identity cards, adding that the residents of Afrin were not allowed to use their Syrian identity cards for now.

The sources went on to say that the Ankara forces embarked on erecting checkpoint at the entrances of Afrin to register identity details of Arabs and Kurds to issue new Turkish identity cards for them.

The Ankara forces threatened to burn the houses of all those who refuse to cooperate with them in this new ID plan.

In the meantime, Spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry Hami Aksoy claimed that the Turkish forces would continue their presence in Afrin on a temporary basis.

Dara'a

The Syrian Army resumed its massive assault in the Southern province of Dara'a and managed to take control over more points on Monday after a Syrian-Russian reconciliation offer to the terrorists failed to end up in success.

The army men engaged in a tough battle with terrorists West of Dara'a city and managed to impose control over several neighborhoods.

In the meantime, the army's artillery and missile units pounded the positions and movements of the terrorists in the small towns of Seida and al-Tayebeh in Eastern Dara'a, inflicting major losses on the militants.

Heavy fighting was reported between the army soldiers and terrorists in al-Tayebeh, a local source reported.

The source further said that other units of the army stormed terrorists' bases after the latter refused to join the peace agreement with the army in Tafas settlement and decided to join ISIL terrorists.

In the meantime, the Arabic-language website of Sputnik quoted Ali Maqsoud, a Syrian military expert, as reporting that the army seized back the Old Customs and Tal Sakar regions between Jabib and Um Walad settlements in the Southern countryside of Dara'a city, and deployed forces only 1,200 meters away from the main border-crossing with Jordan.

Sputnik further said that other units of the army managed to take control of the strategic Tal al-Zamitiyeh and al-Jamileh regions West of the town of Ibta North of Dara'a city and a key military road, adding that terrorists in the towns of al-Tayibah, Sour, Seida and Um Mayadhin as well as Nasib township laid down arms and surrendered.

Maqsoud further said that 99 percent of the people in Southern Syria supported the army and called for expulsion of the terrorists from their region, adding that the terrorists' military power has drastically decreased after the US forces left the militants alone in the war against the Syrian government forces.

Meanwhile, the Arabic Sputnik quoted Syrian military expert Colonel Ali Maqsoud as saying that the army plans to launch a major attack in Western and Southwestern Dara'a after government forces managed to liberate over 1,800 sq-km of land in Dara'a province in recent days.

The Eastern borders of Bravo Line that is a buffer region between the Syrian army and Israeli forces are in Western Dara'a.

The report went on to say that the army is planning to free Hawz Yarmouk, Hith, Tasil, Azwan, Nafe'eh, al-Shajara, al-Harra regions and the strategic town of Kafr Shams that links Southern Quneitra to Northwestern Dara'a in its upcoming operation.

Sputnik further said that 99 percent of the people in Dara'a, Sweida and Golan are calling for the expulsion of the terrorists from their regions, and quoted local sources as reporting that residents of the town of Nawa and Kafr Shams are expecting the army's arrival and exit of militants any time soon.

Also on Monday, commanders of the terrorist groups left the new round of reconciliation talks with the Russian-Syrian delegation and kept gunmen on alert.

In the meantime, the army men, backed up by artillery units, stormed terrorists' positions in the town of Tafas in Western Dara'a and captured several strategic regions.

Also, other artillery and missile units opened heavy fire at terrorists' movements and positions near the Old Customs area and the town of al-Na'eimeh and its nearby regions, inflicting major losses on the terrorists.

The army was tightening siege on the terrorists from the direction of al-Tabelin road East of Tafas, and from Tal al-Saman in the North.

Local sources, meantime, reported that the army cut off the main supply line of the terrorists connecting Western and Eastern Dara'a.

Well-informed sources said on Monday that a Russian delegation, representing the Damascus government, entered Dara'a city to start a fresh round of reconciliation talks with militant commanders.

Sources in the provincial capital informed that the militants may hand over their regions between the towns of al-Tayibeh and Busra al-Sham near the border with Jordan to the Syrian army without a fight.

"And then, Nasib, Seida and the entire regions near the International Highway between the Nasib border-crossing and Khirbet al-Qazaleh will later join the peace plan," they added.

The talks are underway amid the army's rapid advances against the terrorists in Dara'a and towards border with Jordan in the South.

The last round of Russian-Syrian delegation talks with the militants failed to end up in success on Saturday.

The AMN reported on Monday that Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi will be traveling to Moscow on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Southwest Syria, a media outlet reported.

Safadi will be traveling to Moscow to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov about the current situation in Southwest Syria.

“I look forward to a frank discussion to discuss how to arrive at a ceasefire as soon as possible,” Safadi said.

Raqqa

Several members of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces were killed or wounded after unidentified assailants opened fire at an SDF base in Eastern Raqqa on Monday.

Two SDF militias were killed and several more were wounded in the attack on their checkpoint in Karama township in Eastern Raqqa.

The SDF has put all its gunmen on alert and declared curfew after the attack.

In the meantime, the SDF broke into the villages of Ratla, Kasrah Faraj and Kasrah Joma'ah in the Southern countryside of Raqqa city and arrested tens of residents.

Infighting among members of the SDF and also between the US-backed militias and civilians has recently increased in Northeastern Syria.

Hasaka

An Arab media outlet reported on Monday that Kurdish militia groups were showing strong signs in their talks with Damascus authorities of their desire to give up their quest for autonomy and surrender the Kurdish-ruled territories to the Central government in return for insignificant demands.

The Arabic-language al-Watan daily reported that several meetings have been held between senior officials of Damascus government and the Kurdish militias in the town of Qamishli in Northern Syria and also in Damascus.

"Under an agreement held by the two sides, the Kurdish groups have agreed to take a number of actions that also include collecting the entire images of Abdullah Ocalan, one of the founding members of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party, as well as the Kurdish militias' official signs and flags from all their terroritories," the report continued.

It went on to say that retreat of all Kurdish militias to Hasaka province and erecting joint checkpoints to be run by the Kurds and the government forces across Hasaka province are also among other terms of the agreement.

Other sources said that the agreement endorsed by the Kurds and the army entails several more paragraphs that include the presence of the Kurdish militias among the ranks of the Syrian army, surrender of Tal Kojar and Simalka border-crossing with Iraq and al-Darbasiyeh and Ra'as al-Ein border-crossing with Turkey to the Damascus army and delivering control over oil and gas fields to the Syrian Oil Ministry.

The sources further said that, in return, the Kurds have asked for the start of Kurdish-language courses in the educational program in Kurdish regions and appointment of a Kurdish official to a high post in the Syrian oil ministry.

Al-Watan went on to say that the Kurdish units have already embarked on collecting PYD flags and the photos of its leader from streets in Qamishli and Hasaka city.

In the meantime, other Syrian media outlets said that the Syrian Democratic forces' decision to hand over Raqqa city to the army will be the first confidence-building measure between the two sides.

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad had earlier warned that the Kurdish militias would face the tough option if they prove to be unwilling to resolve their differences with Damascus through talks.

In a relevant development but in Aleppo province in March, the Kurdish combatants were to hand over the villages of Kimar, al-Ziyarah, Borj al-Qas, Bashmara, Basoufan, Deir al-Jamal, Tal Raf'at, Kafr Naya, Ming airport and the village of Ming in Northern Aleppo to the Syrian Army troops after an agreement with Damascus government.

Other sources said that the Kurdish-held villages were handed over to the army.

Afrin

A coordinator of the Turkish mission in Afrin said on Monday that the Turkish military commenced the transition of order control functions in the Northern Syrian town of Afrin to the local police backed by Ankara.

"As of now, 2,000 local police officers are working in Afrin and 2,000 more are undergoing the training. So, the process of the transition of these functions to the local police has already begun. Within a week the military will begin the transition of order control in Afrin to the local police," the coordinator told Sputnik.

On January 20, Turkey and the Free Syrian Army militants launched Operation Olive Branch in Afrin.

The goal of the operation was to clear Turkey's Syrian border of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which Turkey believes to be linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Both YPG and PKK are considered terrorist organizations by Ankara. In late March, Ankara announced that the district was under complete Turkish control.

Damascus

A media outlet reported on Monday that the first group of Syrian refugees returned from Lebanon to the suburbs of Syrian capital of Damascus.

Within a month, the second group of 173 refugees will get back from Lebanon and then one more group of over thousand people will return their homeland, Sputnik reported.

Since the beginning of the Syrian military conflict in 2011, millions of Syrians have fled the country to other states, including neighboring Lebanon.

The situation around Syrian refugees in Lebanon has recently escalated in a wake of the authorities' claims that the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR had been discouraging those displaced by the Syrian war from returning to their home country.

Aleppo

The Syrian Army repelled terrorists' heavy offensive in the Northern countryside of Aleppo city on Monday, inflicting major losses on the militants.

The army soldiers engaged in fierce clashes with the terrorists that tried to prevail over the government forces' positions in Jam'iyat al-Zahra district North-West of Aleppo city and managed to ward off the militants' heavy attack.

In the meantime, the terrorists opened heavy fire at residential areas in Anadan, Bayanoun, Jam'iyat al-Zahra districts and regions and the small towns of Nubl and al-Zahra.

The army's artillery and missile units pounded terrorists' movements and positions near Anadan, Bayanoun and Nasibeen, inflicting major losses on the terrorists.

Also, local sources reported that other artillery and missile units shelled heavily terrorists' positions and movements in Khan Touman and Jam'iyat al-Mohandeseen in the Southwestern countryside of Aleppo city, killing and wounding several militants and destroying their equipment.

According to Fars News Agancy, a large number of Ankara-backed militants from Uzbekistan, Chechnya and China's Turkistan are fighting in Northern Aleppo.

Manbij

Two more US army convoys arrived in the town of Manbij in Northeastern Syria on Monday.

Two convoys of the US army, including 12 military vehicles, arrived in the outskirts of the town of Manbij and deployed in the two villages of al-Sa'eidah and Awn al-Dadat West and North of the town, respectively.

The US convoys went through the regions ruled by the Syrian Democratic Forces on the Eastern bank of the Euphrates River and in Raqqa and arrived in Manbij on Monday.

Some sources said that the convoys were dispatched to Manbij in line with an American-Turkish agreement over the key town in Northeastern Aleppo.

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