Category Archives: Bashar al-Assad

Syria: Assad shells former opposition stronghold Deraa

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President attempts to crush simmering insurrection with all-day offensive as rebels launch counterattack

Bashar al-Assad has attacked a former opposition stronghold with missiles and artillery shelling in an attempt to crush a simmering insurrection, in an unprecedented development in Syria’s decade-long war.

Deraa al-Balad and its surrounds, a district of Deraa city in the southern province of the same name, was targeted with heavy weaponry in tandem with a ground push on three axes from two Syrian army divisions and allied Iran-backed militias early on Thursday morning, in a large offensive which continued throughout the day.

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Syrian economy lies in ruins and China sniffs opportunity

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Analysis: War may be winding down, but with Assad in charge for seven more seven years the country remains splintered

Standing on a podium on Saturday to take an oath of office, Bashar al-Assad declared himself the only man who could rebuild Syria.

His first foreign guest, China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, seemed to enhance his claim, endorsing the president’s win in a May poll described by Britain and Europe as “neither free nor fair” and laying a marker to help get the job started.

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Syria’s President Assad sworn in for fourth term with 95% of vote

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Inauguration follows election dismissed by US, UK and other countries as ‘neither free nor fair’

President Bashar al-Assad took the oath of office for a fourth term in war-ravaged Syria on Saturday, after officially winning 95% of the vote in an election dismissed abroad.

It was the second presidential poll since the start of a decade-long civil war that has killed almost half a million people and battered the country’s infrastructure.

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‘It will be a catastrophe’: fate of Syria’s last aid channel rests in Russia’s hands

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Possible veto of Bab al-Hawa UN aid crossing could halt the flow of vital food and health supplies to 3.4 million people

Just over half a mile away from the Bab al-Hawa border crossing connecting Syria and Turkey a 6th-century triumphal arch still stands, the remains of a Roman road stretching straight as an arrow on either side. For millennia this part of the world has been a crossroads of trade, culture and history. Today, it’s more important than ever.

Bab al-Hawa is Syria’s last lifeline, through which vital UN aid supplies for 3.4 million people living in the war-torn north-west of the country arrive. But before 10 July, the security council must vote in New York on whether to keep the aid flowing. What might seem like an obvious decision to outsiders is actually far from certain: Russia may use its veto power as a permanent member of the council to close the UN’s last access point, as it has managed to do with the other three aid crossings.

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Six children killed in Syria shelling

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Artillery fired from government-controlled area kills eight civilians and injures others in Idlib province

Artillery fire from government-controlled territory and airstrikes killed at least eight civilians in Syria’s last rebel enclave on Saturday, most of them children, rescue workers and a war monitor said.

The shelling in Ibleen, a village in the southern Idlib province, hit the home of Subhi al-Assi, killing him, his wife and three of his children in their sleep, according to the rescue service known as White Helmets and Idlib’s health directorate. Al-Assi was an administrator in a local health centre.

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Assad forces’ shelling in Syria causes 5,000 civilians to flee

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At least 31 people killed since start of June amid government attacks on Idlib area

About 5,000 civilians in the north-west of Syria have been forced to flee their homes after more government shelling targeting the contested area, a local aid agency said.

At least 31 people have died since the beginning of June, victims of Bashar al-Assad’s forces hitting civilian buildings in southern Idlib province. The buildings included a hospital, displacement camp school, and a White Helmets headquarters. The number of dead includes three children and a civil defence worker who was killed in an attack on the town of Qastoun on Saturday.

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Civil war, ruin, raging poverty… but Assad is guaranteed to win Syria’s fake election

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The sham election this week is designed to give the president a veneer of legitimacy at home and abroad

The last time Syria held presidential elections, in 2014, there was no question over whether President Bashar al-Assad would win – but with opposition forces in control of the country’s cities, as well as the suburbs of Damascus, his future was still far from certain.

Seven years later, after the regime’s Russian and Iranian allies intervened and turned the tide of the war, most of Syria is now back under Assad’s grip. On Wednesday, his citizens will return to the polling booths for a sham democratic display designed to give the president a veneer of legitimacy both at home and abroad.

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Syria sets May date for presidential election opposition says is farce

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The poll on 26 May is all but certain to return Bashar al-Assad for a third term as president

Syria will hold a presidential election on 26 May that is virtually certain to return Bashar al-Assad for a third term, an event Washington and the opposition say is a farce designed to cement his autocratic rule.

Assad’s family and his Baath party have ruled Syria for five decades with the help of the security forces and the army, which are dominated by his Alawite minority. This year is the 10th anniversary of the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters that triggered a civil war that has left much of the country in ruins.

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Denmark strips Syrian refugees of residency permits and says it is safe to go home

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Government denies renewal of temporary residency status from about 189 Syrians

Denmark has become the first European nation to revoke the residency permits of Syrian refugees, insisting that some parts of the war-torn country are safe to return to.

At least 189 Syrians have had applications for renewal of temporary residency status denied since last summer, a move the Danish authorities said was justified because of a report that found the security situation in some parts of Syria had “improved significantly”.

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Is Myanmar the new Syria? Rising violence threatens a repeat tragedy

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As ethnic militias back the popular uprising and refugees flee the country, the similarities with Syria are deeply disturbing

In August 2011, Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey’s then foreign minister, made a “mercy dash” to Damascus. He appealed in person to Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, to stop killing his people and talk to his opponents after five months of anti-regime protests.

Davutoglu spoke for Turkey but also, indirectly, for the US and the west. He had conferred with Hillary Clinton, then secretary of state, before making the trip. His message: it’s not too late to call a halt; the alternative is civil war. But Assad turned him down flat.

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Asma al-Assad risks loss of British citizenship as she faces possible terror charges

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It is alleged Bashar al-Assad’s wife’s support of Syrian army implicates her in its crimes

The British wife of Syria’s ruler, Bashar al-Assad, is facing possible terrorism charges and the loss of her British citizenship after the Metropolitan police opened a preliminary investigation into claims she has incited, aided and encouraged war crimes by Syrian government forces.

Asma al-Assad, 45, who was born and educated in London before becoming Syria’s first lady in 2000, is being investigated in response to legal complaints alleging her speeches and public appearances in support of the Syrian army implicate her in its crimes, including the use of chemical weapons.

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Germany convicts former Assad regime agent in historic Syria torture verdict

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Eyad al-Gharib found guilty of aiding and abetting a crime against humanity

A court in Germany has found a former Syrian regime official guilty of being an accomplice to crimes against humanity, in a historic first victory for efforts worldwide to bring legal accountability for atrocities committed in Syria’s long war.

Eyad al-Gharib, a 44-year-old former colonel in the Syrian intelligence service, carried out orders in one of Bashar al-Assad’s notorious prisons.

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Businessmen with ties to Assad linked to Beirut port blast cargo

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Revelations about London company reinforce suspicions that Beirut, and not Mozambique, was intended destination of ammonium nitrate

The company used to ship a huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate to Beirut port, where it caused a devastating explosion last August, has been linked to three influential businessmen with ties to the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, a new investigation has found.

The revelations about Savaro Ltd – a London shelf company that was deregistered at Companies House on Tuesday – have amplified suspicions that Beirut had always been the cargo’s intended destination, and not Mozambique, its official endpoint.

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2021 – the story of a year in 12 leaders

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In 2021, the world will slowly begin to fight back against Covid. But what else will change as the vaccines are administered? Here are the figures who will shape a vital year

Joe Biden United States

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Criminal complaint submitted to German court over sarin gas attacks in Syria

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Three NGOs file evidence to war crimes unit against Assad regime over use of chemical weapons

A group of NGOs has submitted a criminal complaint to the German courts over sarin gas attacks in Syria, a legal milestone which marks the first step on the long road to holding Bashar al-Assad’s regime accountable for its use of chemical weapons.

The Justice Initiative, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression and the Syrian Archive submitted the filing and dossier of evidence to the German federal public prosecutor in Karlsruhe on behalf of victims on Monday.

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Trump threatens to retaliate with ‘1,000 times greater’ force against any Iran attack

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  • US intelligence said to fear attack on US envoy to South Africa
  • Trump claims he had discussed plan to assassinate Syria’s Assad

Donald Trump has warned that the US will retaliate with “1,000 times greater” force against any Iranian attack on its interests.

Related: ‘The US feels very volatile’: former ambassador warns of election violence

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US imposes sanctions on Syrian president’s wife under Caesar Act

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Asma al-Assad among dozens targeted in campaign to deny regime revenue and support

The Syrian first lady, Asma al-Assad, has been named in the first round of new US sanctions that are certain to intensify pressure on the embattled regime and its backers as the country’s crippled economy continues to wither.

The law, known as the Caesar Act, came into effect on Wednesday, placing anyone who does business with 39 named individuals and regime entities in the cross hairs of the US Treasury. The sanctions are the toughest yet imposed on Bashar al-Assad and are set to be the centrepiece of a pressure campaign that also targets his government’s two major backers, Iran and Hezbollah.

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Syrian protesters call for Assad’s downfall as economic crisis deepens

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Marches held on streets of Sweida amid soaring food prices and disillusion with corruption

A town in regime-controlled Syria is set for fresh protests this weekend as a burgeoning economic crisis engulfing even Bashar al-Assad’s most loyal supporters is now posing the biggest challenge to his grip on the country in years.

Food is now more expensive than at any other time during the nine-year conflict, triggering scenes reminiscent of the Arab spring protests of 2011 on the streets of the nominally government-loyal town of Sweida this week.

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US ‘Caesar Act’ sanctions and could devastate Syria’s flatlining economy

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Critics say legislation is being used for US strategy and could cause further problems for country and wider region

Its currency has plunged by 70% since April, more than half its people face food scarcity, and hopes of rebuilding a country shattered by war continue to ebb.

Syria seems barely able to absorb new shocks, but new US sanctions that take effect next week, could devastate what is left of its flatlining economy and amplify the gravest regional decline in decades.

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