Konflikten i Syrien

Up to 150 Russian troops have arrived at the northern Kurdish city of Afrin as the Turkish military declared full-scale military campaign against the Kurdish bastion.

The arrival of reinforcements was coincided with a visit paid by a number of Russian officers to the “Graveyard of Martyrs” which commemorates the Kurdish fighters killed during battles against the Turkish-backed rebels in northern Aleppo.

This comes as Turkey declared a new offensive against the Kurdish forces in northern Syria in order to connect its proxies in Aleppo and Idlib provinces.

Clashes renewed in Quneitra province near the occupied Golan Heights as Israeli Air Force continues to attack the Syrian Army’s positions in the area.

Jihadi groups, led by al-Qaeda-affiliate Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, conduct non-stop attacks against the government forces in al-Ba’ath City but are still incapable of achieving substantial and game-changing gains on the grounds.

The jihadi offensive was accompanied by several airstrikes conducted by Israeli jet fighters and helicopters that struck Army positions, inflicting heavy losses both in personnel and military equipment.

BEIRUT, LEBANON (4:17 P.M.) – A ceasefire has been implemented in the last 14 hours that applies to all of southern Syria including the provinces of Daraa, Quneitra and As-Suwydah. The ceasefire apparently went into effect at 12:00 A.M. last night and its preliminary period of observation is expected to last until 12:00 A.M. on July 6.

The ceasefire comes in support of an ongoing diplomatic mission initiated by the Syrian government – and arbitrated by Russia – with local councils in rebel-held territory to limit violence throughout southern Syria and create the stable conditions required for ultimate reconciliation. Whether the recent Syria peace talks between Russia, Iran and Turkey have anything to do with this latest development is unknown.

Although welcoming the reprieve that the ceasefire will bring for its forces and to civilians who live in or near the various combat zones throughout southern Syria, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has stated that it will not tolerate breaches in the the agreement, vowing to immediately respond to hostile action committed by rebel factions during the observation period.

Tillerson Ready to Let Russia Decide Assad’s Fate

In talks with the U.N. chief, Tillerson indicates Russia should be in the driver’s seat when it comes to the future of Syria.
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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres during a private State Department meeting last week that the fate of Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad now lies in the hands of Russia, and that the Trump administration’s priority is limited to defeating the Islamic State, according to three diplomatic sources familiar with the exchange.

The remarks offer the latest stop on a bumpy U.S. policy ride that has left international observers with a case of diplomatic whiplash as they try to figure out whether the Trump administration will insist that Assad step down from power. Nearly three months ago, Tillerson had insisted that Assad would have to leave office because of his alleged use of chemical weapons.

Tillerson’s assurances to Guterres signaled the Trump administration’s increasing willingness to let Russia take the driver’s seat in Syria, throwing geopolitics to the wayside to focus on defeating ISIS.

He also signaled that U.S. military action against Assad’s forces in recent months is intended to achieve only limited tactical goals–deterring future chemical weapons attacks and protecting U.S. backed-forces fighting the Islamic State in Syria–not weakening the Assad government or strengthening the opposition’s negotiating leverage.
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The decision to cede ground to Russia on the question of Assad’s future comes on the eve of President Donald Trump’s first face-to-face meeting next week with President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany. It also comes at a time when the Trump administration is seeking to repair relations with the Kremlin despite a series of scandals that have plagued the White House since Trump’s election.
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But Tillerson made clear to Guterres that the U.S. was once again shifting gears. “What happens to Assad is Russia’s issue, not the U.S. government’s,” one source said Tillerson told the U.N. chief in last week’s meeting. Tillerson’s message, the official added, was that “the U.S. government will respond to the terrorist threat,” but that it is largely agnostic about “whether Assad goes or stays.”

Tillerson’s retreat suggests the State Department is willing to skirt the ethical morass of what to do about the Assad regime as it navigates the dense thicket of conflicting alliances fighting in Syria.

“The reason the United States is involved in Syria is to take out ISIS,” State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters Wednesday. “That’s why we care and that’s why we are there.”