Syria Accuses France, Germany of Sending Forces to Syria

The Syrian regime on Wednesday accused France and Germany of having special forces on the ground in northern parts of the country.

Germany’s defense ministry immediately denied the claims. The accusation was the first of its kind made about Germany; however, prior to Wednesday’s claim, France and the United States have both admitted to having special forces operating in Syria.

“There are no German special forces in Syria. The accusation is false,” a ministry spokesman said, according to Reuters.

Claims that French special forces were building a base near the Kurdish-controlled city of Kobani in northern Syria were first reported by the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, earlier on Wednesday.

The monitoring organization also reported that German and American advisers were in the same area, assisting the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S.-backed coalition of Kurdish and Syrian rebel forces, in their fight against the Islamic State group.

The government’s echo of this accusation was first reported by SANA, Syria’s state-run news outlet, which said the Damascus government believed France and Germany had sent special forces to Kobani and Manbij, the site of some of the most intense SDF advances against ISIS militants.

SANA quoted the foreign ministry’s description of the alleged presence of Western forces in Syria as an “explicit and unjustified aggression toward (Syria’s) sovereignty and independence.”

At Least 70 Fighters From Both Sides Killed in Aleppo Clashes

Fighting on the ground in Aleppo intensified on Wednesday, as clashes broke out between armed rebel factions, extremist groups and forces loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

Fighting over the past 24 hours left at least 70 fighters dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Clashes began on Tuesday when forces aligned with the Syrian government, with the support of Russian airstrikes, launched an operation to retake the southwestern Aleppo villages of Zaytan and Khalasa, according to Agence France-Presse. Government forces had lost control of the towns to rebel factions, including certain groups aligned with al Qaida-affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, just hours before the operation began.

Fighting intensified on Wednesday morning when Jabhat al-Nusra launched a counterattack to regain control of Khalasa village, Observatory director Rami Abdulrahman told AFP.

“Khalasa is on a high hill overlooking large parts of the south of Aleppo province,” he said.

The elevated village connects the southern areas of Aleppo to the government-controlled towns in the province’s western section. It is also strategically set on the government’s main supply routes to southern Aleppo and the road to Nayrab airport in the southeast, Abdulrahman added.

In addition to the ground clashes, heavy Syrian and Russian airstrikes pounded the area, including a key rebel supply route, for several hours overnight.

Donors Delay Delivering on Pledges to Refugees: UNHCR

More than four months ago some of the world’s wealthiest states vowed to increase support for countries bearing the heaviest burden in the Syrian refugee crisis, but so far it has been an empty promise.

“I think there’s a collective failure that will have to addressed,” Amin Awad, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) director for the Middle East and North Africa, told Agence France-Presse. “I think the front-line states are disappointed and they feel they’re left alone.”

In February, several countries pledged $11 billion to help Syria’s neighbouring states, including Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, cope with the influx of refugees fleeing the war-torn country. But only $2.5 million has been delivered and put to use, Awad told AFP, after a meeting with U.S. officials in Washington.

“If you look at the Middle East population compared [to] the world’s 7 billion people, it is about 5–7 percent,” he said. “And yet they’ve produced 35–40 percent of these cases. It’s a region that has seen a lot.”

Recommended Reads

• BBC News: Making a Living on Syria’s Refugee Trail
• Asia Times: Russian-Iranian Alliance in Syria at Crossroads
• Vox: Why Average People Decide to Become Terrorists
• Al Jazeera: Syria’s Civil War: On Syria’s Forgotten Detainees
• Vice News: A Syrian Journalist Survived Not One, But Two Islamic State Assassination Attempts