Top Chinese Military Official Visits Damascus, Expresses Support for Government

China expressed support for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government in a meeting in Damascus earlier this week, the Associated Press reported.

The head of China’s Office for International Military Cooperation, Rear Adm. Guan Youfei, met with the Syrian defense minister Fahd Jassem al-Freij on Sunday. The Chinese official later met with a Russian general involved in coordinating Moscow’s military intervention in Syria on behalf of Assad’s government.

The meeting was a sign that China is open to intensifying its military partnerships in Syria, official Chinese media reported on Thursday. The Chinese Defense Ministry reportedly said it “is willing to strengthen cooperation with its Syrian counterparts.”

Unlike Russia, China has not directly contributed military forces to the conflict in Syria. However, the country’s military advisers are training soldiers in Syria, using weapons bought from China, according to China-based newspaper the Global Times.

Chinese policy stands against direct intervention in external civil conflicts. Early on in Syria’s conflict, China allied itself with Russia and vetoed United Nations Security Council motions that called for Assad to find a solution to the war.

Use of Air Base in Iran Does Not Violate U.N. Resolution, Russia Says

Russia denied that its use of an Iranian air base to strike targets in Syria was a violation of a United Nations resolution, Al Jazeera reported.

U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231 prohibits the supply of fighter jets to Iran without UNSC approval. Russia has not supplied, sold or transferred fighter jets to Tehran, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

“These jets are being used by Russian air forces with Iranian consent within an anti-terrorist operation in Syria on the request of the legal Syrian government,” Lavrov said.

On Tuesday, Russia used an air base near the Iranian city of Hamadan for the first time to strike targets in Syria. Shortly after the launch, U.S. State Department spokesperson Mark Toner pointed out that this may have been a violation of U.N. resolution 2231.

Toner also said that Russia’s airstrikes “predominantly target moderate Syrian opposition forces,” despite Moscow’s claim that it is hitting so-called Islamic State group militants. Moscow’s Defense Ministry said that Russian military planes that took off from Hamadan on Wednesday hit two ISIS command points and training camps.

Russia is a key ally of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and directly intervened in the conflict on his behalf in September 2015.

New Report Says Nearly 18,000 Detainees Killed in Syrian Government Prisons

Close to 18,000 people have died from torture and disease in Syria’s prisons over the past five years, according to a new report from Amnesty International.

The international nonprofit organization said the systematic rape, abuse and torture of detainees in prisons run by the Syrian government could constitute crimes against humanity.

Amnesty spoke with 65 survivors, who detailed ritual beatings, use of electric cables and sexual assault of detainees. The report estimated that at least 17,723 people have died in Syrian government prisons from the beginning of the conflict in March 2011 until December 2015.

“For decades, Syrian government forces have used torture as a means to crush their opponents,” Philip Luther, Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa director, said in a statement. “Today, it is being carried out as part of a systematic and widespread attack directed against anyone suspected of opposing the government in the civilian population and amounts to crimes against humanity.”

Recommended Reads

• The Associated Press: Because of Syrian War, Lebanon’s Tobacco Industry is Booming
• The New York Times: Does the U.S. Ignore Its Civilian Casualties in Iraq and Syria?
• The Guardian: ‘The Worst Place on Earth’: Inside Assad’s Brutal Saydnaya Prison
• Al Jazeera: Syria’s White Helmets Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
• Politico: U.N. Probe Could Pose New Syria Dilemma for Obama