Kurdish Militia Willing to Hand over Oil Facilities to Damascus Forces

Rasa - Kurdish militias have agreed to deliver control of oil facilities in Hasaka province to the Damascus government as part of an overall agreement to surrender their regions to the army, a media outlet reported on Sunday.

News ID: 438596

Date: 10 July 2018 - 18:31

RNA - Kurdish militias have agreed to deliver control of oil facilities in Hasaka province to the Damascus government as part of an overall agreement to surrender their regions to the army, a media outlet reported on Sunday.

Hasaka

The Arabic-language al-Watan daily quoted some opposition sources as disclosing that several government delegations have had meetings with commanders of the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) that control the Eastern bank of the Euphrates River, adding that some Syrian military officers, and governor generals of Raqqa and Hasaka provinces had attended the meetings.

In the meantime, some Kurdish-affiliated sources disclosed that a new agreement has been endorsed by the YPG and the Syrian government based on which the Kurds will hand over oil facilities to Damascus to the sole exporter of Syria's crude oil.

The daily further said that a team of repair and maintenance experts have left Damascus for the town of Tabaqa in Western Raqqa and entered regions that are under the control of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to have meeting with the managing committee of Tabaqa Dam presided by Mohammad Oso.

In the meantime, local sources reported that the Kurdish units have taken photos of their commander Abdullah Ocalan and the group's flags down from Qanat al-Sowis street in Hasaka city.

Also on Sunday, Joudi Hasaka, one of the most notorious commanders of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), was gunned down by unidentified raiders in Western Hasaka.

Unknown assailant opened fire at SDF field Commander Joudi Hasaka near al-Tahouneh region in Jabal Abdul Aziz in Western Hasaka, killing the commander and two of his aides.

In the meantime, tens of people gathered in al-Nashwa neighborhood's square in Hasaka and protested against the Kurdish militias, hoisting the Syrian government flags.

Local sources said that the Kurdish militias were sent to the scene of popular uprising and fired teargas and live bullets to disperse the protestors.

A fresh wave of tensions between the Kurdish fighters and civilians has erupted in Hasaka province.

Dara'a

Sources said that a few families have begun journey back after ceasefire deal reached between the militants and Russian negotiators in Eastern Dara'a.

Hours after a ceasefire deal ended more than two weeks of fierce fighting in Southern Syria, the first of the thousands of families who sought shelter along the border with Jordan have started heading back to the areas they fled from, Al Jazeera reported.

"Displaced Syrians along the Jordanian borders have begun returning to their homes," Ouda Shudaifat, a colonel in the Jordanian military, told the news agency.

He did not give the exact figure of people moving back to Syria's Southwestern province of Deraa, while sources at the border said they were a few.

Sources inside Syria said families began their journey overnight following Friday's truce agreement between rebels and negotiators from Russia, a major ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

According to the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, 60,000 of the more than 320,000 people who escaped the intense battles since the launch of the push of June 19 are stationed along the border with Jordan. The rest are at the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Also in the past 24 hours, a majority of militant commanders endorsed the reconciliation plan in the Southern province of Dara'a, the Russian Defense Ministry said, adding that the peace plan will probably be put into action in five regions in Western Dara'a.

The ministry said that most terrorist commanders have joined peace agreement with the Syrian army only a few hours after the start the reconciliation plan in Dara'a.

It further said that a major number of terrorist commanders have decided to end battle and join the peace process with the army following talks with government troops.

In the meantime, the terrorist groups in the townships of Jidrou region in Western Dara'a, including Ankhal, Nawa, Jasem, Nemr and al-Harrah formed a joint delegation to enter talks with the Russian-Syrian delegation.

Terrorists formed a joint delegation after militants in Eastern Dara'a laid down arms and signed the peace agreement with the army.

Field sources said that terrorists in Western Dara'a have been given only a 48-hour-long ultimatum to decide about peace talks.

Also on Sunday, the Syrian army dispatched more soldiers and military hardware to battlefields in and around the city of Dara'a, preparing for a major assault to drive terrorists out of the Southern city.

The army forwarded a large number of forces and equipment to Dara'a city after its advances in Eastern Dara'a and liberation of Nasib border-crossing.

Field sources reported that the army is preparing for an imminent operation to liberate Dara'a city.

The sources further said that only a few villages in Eastern Dara'a are still under terrorists' control and the region has militarily fallen into the army that controls almost 95 percent of Eastern Dara'a.

A few groups of ISIL and the Al-Nusra front (Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at or the Levant Liberation Board) are still operating in Southern and Western Dara'a and some other terrorist groups are active in the Northern part of the province.

Also in the past 24 hours, more than ten terrorist groups embarked on forming a new coalition to face the Syrian Army troops in its Western Dara'a operation as militants suffered heavy defeats in army operations in Eastern Dara'a.

Militant-affiliated websites revealed that eleven terrorist groups that suffered heavy defeats in the army operation in Eastern Dara'a have formed a new coalition named the Southern Army to confront the Syrian soldiers' upcoming operation in Western Dara'a.

The terrorist groups of Jeish al-Ababil, Alawiyah Qasioun, Alawiyah Jidrou Houran, Jiesh al-Thowrah Fi Jidrou, Watesamou Operation Room, Harrah Military Council, Soyouf al-Haq Operation Room, Liwa Ahrar al-Qita, al-Nasr al-Mobin Operation Room have thus far joined the Southern Army Coalition.

In the meantime, the Southern Army announced in a statement that the coalition is preparing to face the army in Western Dara'a.

The terrorist groups embarked on setting up the new coalition after a number of militant groups gave up battle after government troops scored great victories in Eastern Dara'a.

Meanwhile, some sources said that talks are underway between the army and Western Dara'a militants to hand over their arms and joined the peace agreement in the region.

Also on Sunday, the Syrian army troops carried out mop-up operations in the newly-freed Nasib border-crossing, discovering a large volume of arms and ammunition and several NATO armored vehicles.

The army men found several warehouses of arms and ammunition, several tanks, a number of military vehicles, a field hospital with a large volume of medicines and a prison for jailing kidnapped people.

The army men found a large volume of weapons and munitions abandoned by terrorists before they flee the battlefield in Nasib.

A field source said that an OT-64S armored vehicle of the NATO was among the military hardware the army found in Southern Dara'a, adding that the terrorists had recently received the equipment to slow down the army's advances.

Hama

About 20 percent of refugees have returned from temporary housing to their homes in the province of Hama after the liberation of the region from militants, Hama Governor Mohammad Abdullah Hazzouri told reporters.

"Across the province of Hama about 20 percent of residents have returned to their homes from temporary accommodation facilities. We can assist many of them ourselves. But there are settlements where the scope of destruction is really large and we will need the government's support," the governor said, Sputnik reported.

Thus, in Mardes, one of the province's cities, the rehabilitation of infrastructure is well under way, with local people returning to their homes.

As soon as Mardes was liberated from militants, local authorities have rebuilt the city's school and a medical center, which was opened a week ago and has already received hundreds of patients.

Deir Ezzur

At least eighteen militias of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), including a commander, were killed in a bomb blast at the group's base in the Eastern province of Deir Ezzur on Sunday.

A bomb-laden vehicle went off near an SDF base in the center of al-Basireh township in Deir Ezzur province, killing at least 18 US-backed militias, including a commander.

Field sources said that the ISIL terrorists were possibly behind the blast.

Aleppo

A number of Turkish troops and their allied militants were killed or wounded in the Kurdish militias' attacks and also in an unknown drone attack in Afrin region in Northwestern Aleppo, a media outlet reported on Sunday.

The Kurdish-language Hawar news reported that the Kurdish militias targeted a convoy of the Turkish troops in the village of Kafr Jenah in Shera region, killing two Turkish soldiers identified as Mohammad Kara and Urhan Damir.

In the meantime, Hawar news said that three Ankara-backed militants were killed in a heavy fighting between the Kurdish militias and Turkey-backed Ahrar al-Sharqiyah in the village of Shadiyeh in Rajou region.

Hawar news further said that a base of Ankara-backed Firqa al-Hamzah in the village of Satiya in Jandaris region came under attack by an unidentified drone.

Also on Sunday, a sum of 55 Arab and Kurdish tribes in Aleppo province renewed their allegiance to the Syrian Army troops to force foreign occupiers to exit the region as the US and Turkish troops continue military presence in the Northern and Northeastern parts of the war-hit country, a media outlet reported.

The Syrian state news agency, SANA, reported that a sum of 55 Arab and Kurdish tribes of Aleppo province, in a meeting on Saturday, underscored their support for the army to expel foreign forces that are in Syria without Damascus' permit.

The elites of the tribes stressed Syria's integrity and people's unity, adding that the tribes stay shoulder to shoulder with the army to expel Turkish, American and French forces from their country.

In the meantime, the Kurdish tribes in Aleppo and its outskirts provided support for the army and condemned any meddling in Syria's internal affairs and disintegration of the war-hit country.

Idlib

According to Fars News Agancy, tens of Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at terrorists were killed in a fresh round of clashes with rival groups and also in assassination operations in Idlib province, local sources said on Sunday.

The sources said that the ISIL attacked one of the positions of Tahrir al-Sham East of the town of Saraqib in Idlib province, killing all the 12 militants in the position, including three Uzbek, Chechen and Turk fighters.

In the meantime, a number of Tahrir terrorists were killed in a roadside bomb blast near the town of al-Dana in Northern Idlib.

Also, a Turkish member of Tahrir was gunned down by unknown attackers in farms West of Idlib city.

Meanwhile, a bomb blast near al-Abrar mosque in Idlib city killed and wounded number of Tahrir terrorists.

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