U.S. Builds Two Air Bases in Turkish-Controlled Northern Syria
The United States has nearly completed construction of an air base near the Kurdish-controlled oil town of Rmeilan in northern Syria’s Hasaka governorate and will soon start working on a second one southeast of Kobani, Reuters reports.
A military source in the U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) told a Kurdish website that the work is being carried out by American experts and technicians.
However, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command said the U.S. had no intention of taking control of any airfields inside Syria. “Our location and troop strength remains small and in keeping with what has been previously briefed by defense officials,” he said in a statement.
For the past year, the U.S. has been offering backup and support for Kurdish forces in northern Syria, sending dozens of special operations troops to advise the forces on the fight against ISIS and delivering supply munitions.
Peaceful Protesters Take to Streets as Truce Holds
Less than a week into the U.S.-Russia-backed truce, Syrian protesters filled the streets in opposition-held areas for the first time in years, taking advantage of the lull in hostilities to organize nationwide protests against the Syrian government.
For the first time in four years, peaceful protesters returned to the streets of Aleppo, Damascus, Homs and Daraa on Friday, carrying anti-government banners and chanting for the downfall of the Assad regime, the Telegraph reported.
From the early days of the Syrian uprising, demonstrators often used Friday prayers to stage protests. However, by 2013 demonstrations had stopped almost everywhere because of shelling and airstrikes.
The nationwide demonstrations were held under the slogan of “The Revolution Continues,” and protesters carried the green, white and black flag that has come to symbolize the uprising.
An activist in Aleppo told AFP that the truce has given residents the opportunity to remind the world why they took to the streets in the first place, which is for “the downfall of the regime.”
He added that they wanted to show the world that demonstrators in Aleppo and elsewhere are not “armed gangs, but a people demanding freedom.”
Insurgent Shelling Kills 13 Civilians in Aleppo
At least 13 civilians died during shelling by insurgent groups in the government-controlled neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsoud in Aleppo, the Associated Press reported on Sunday.
The state news agency SANA said the attacks were carried out by “terrorists” on a predominantly Kurdish neighborhood, killing 13 civilians and injuring 40 others.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition group that monitors the conflict, said more than 70 rockets and mortar shells were fired at Sheikh Maqsoud, reporting that at least nine civilians were killed, including four children.
The Observatory said the attacks were carried out by the al-Qaida affiliated al-Nusra Front, which was excluded from the U.S.- and Russia-backed cease-fire, along with the so-called Islamic State.
Despite sporadic violations, the truce seems to be holding in most Syrian cities. The monitoring group reported that 135 people were killed during the first week of the cease-fire including 45 rebel fighters and 32 civilians.
On Friday, leaders of Germany, France, and the U.K. held a conference call with Russian president Vladimir Putin in which they agreed to use a “positive dynamic” to restart peace talks, a spokesperson for David Cameron said.
Recommended Reads
- TIME: How Bashar Assad Is Trying to Win the Peace in Syria
- US News: From Calm to Chaos: A Reporter’s Escorted Visit to Syria
- Al Jazeera: Is It the Right Time for Syria Peace Talks?
- The Guardian: Notes on the Syrian Exodus: ‘Epic in Scale, Inconceivable Until You Witness It’
- VICE: The US State Department’s Syria Hotline Staff May Not Speak Arabic – or Answer the Phone
- The Wall Street Journal: Turkey Wages Uphill Battle to Stop Migrant Smugglers on Aegean Sea
Top image: Turkmen villagers wait for the distribution of humanitarian aid by the Russian military and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent in Al-Issawiyah, about 15 kilometers of Turkish border, on Friday, March 4, 2016. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)