Tag Archives: civil war

Lebanon’s Christian authorities slammed politicians on Sunday for failing to remedy an economic meltdown that has left many poor, piling pressure on the country’s leaders as it spirals deeper into crisis. In a sermon, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, the top Christian cleric, accused politicians of thinking only of their …

A Saudi-led coalition has started a military operation against Yemen’s Houthi movement after it stepped up cross-border missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, Saudi state television reported on Wednesday. In Yemen, Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported air strikes on the capital Sanaa, Marib, al-Jouf, al-Bayda, Hajjah and Saada provinces …

Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and southern separatist forces have agreed on a ceasefire and will begin talks in Saudi Arabia on implementing a peace deal, the Saudi-led coalition said on Monday. The government, based in the southern port of Aden, and the separatists are nominal allies in the Saudi-led coalition, which …

Saudi Arabia has proposed a framework to end the latest standoff in southern Yemen between nominal allies under a Saudi-led coalition, three sources said, as violence escalates with the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in the north of the country. Previous clashes between Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC), …

Turkey and Libya’s internationally recognised government are discussing possible Turkish use of two military bases in the North African country, a Turkish source said on Monday, teeing up a lasting Turkish presence in the south Mediterranean. No final decisions have been made over possible Turkish military use of the Misrata …

Afghanistan’s government and the Islamist Taliban group have agreed that Doha will be the venue for the first meeting in their peace talks, both sides said on Sunday. The talks, known as the intra-Afghan dialogue, will be the first high-level meeting between the two sides after years of fighting. No …

Southern separatists in Yemen seized a consignment of billions of riyals intended for the central bank in Aden on Saturday, in a further attempt to wrench control from the Saudi-backed government since declaring self rule in the south in April. Forces loyal to the Southern Transitional Council (STC), which declared …

Russia and Turkey have postponed ministerial-level talks which were expected to focus on Libya and Syria, where the two countries support opposing sides in long-standing conflicts. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov decided to put off the talks during a phone call on Sunday, the …

A Russian drive to recruit Syrians to fight in Libya for militia leader Khalifa Haftar accelerated in May when hundreds of mercenaries were signed up, five Syrian opposition sources and a regional source familiar with the matter said. Private military contractor Wagner Group is conducting the hiring with Russian army …

Forces loyal to Libya’s internationally recognised government said on Friday they had entered Tarhouna, the last major stronghold of eastern commander Khalifa Haftar near Tripoli, capping the sudden collapse of his 14-month offensive. There was no immediate comment from Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) on whether its forces remained in …

Libya’s internationally recognised government regained control of Tripoli on Thursday, driving eastern forces out of the capital after a year-long battle in which foreign powers poured in arms and fighters. A military source with the eastern forces, whose base is in the eastern city of Benghazi, said they were pulling …

The U.S. military believes a Russian introduction of warplanes into Libya may not tip the balance in its stalemated civil war but could further help Moscow eventually secure a geostrategic stronghold in North Africa, a U.S. general said on Friday. Russian military personnel have delivered 14 MiG 29 and Su-24 …

A Sudanese military officer was killed and several soldiers wounded on Thursday in an attack by Ethiopian militias on the Sudanese side of the border with Ethiopia, the official SUNA news agency said. In the eastern city of al-Qadarif, “Ethiopian militia penetrated through (the border) and attacked agricultural projects and …

Lebanon: whenever you hear this word, it is usually in some American film, most probably linked to a terrorist group, a war, or something similar. Not the land of Cedars – which are almost gone anyways – not the bridge between east and west, not the land of the best …

Saudi Arabian police in Assir, a region close to the Yemeni border, are investigating after a shooting incident in which six citizens died on Tuesday, state-run news agency SPA reported on Wednesday. Three Saudis were also injured and taken to hospital, it said, giving no details on the nature of …

The U.S. military said on Tuesday that Russia has deployed fighter aircraft to Libya to support Russian mercenaries fighting for eastern forces, adding to concerns of a new escalation in the conflict. “Russian military aircraft are likely to provide close air support and offensive fire,” the United States Africa command …

Islamic State said on Monday it was behind a blast in a small town in southern Libya on Saturday, the militant group’s first attack in the country for at least a year. The blast targeted a security point at the entrance to Taraghin, 780 km (590 miles) south of Tripoli, …

U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday discussed turmoil in Libya and Syria, as well as reopening economies around the world amid the global coronavirus pandemic, a White House spokesman said. “President Trump and President Erdogan discussed progress on reopening and boosting global economies in the …

Unconfirmed reports on social media say that the vicinity of the Artillery College in Ramouse, south of Aleppo, was targeted. An explosion has been heard in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, a SANA news agency correspondent said on early Saturday. There has been no confirmed information so far concerning possible …

A regular survey of experts on matters relating to Middle Eastern and North African politics and security (By MICHAEL YOUNG) Assaad al-Achi | Executive director of Baytna Syria, Syrian civil society activist Although leadership tensions, at least public ones, are extremely rare in Syria, they have always existed since Hafez …

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Wednesday that Israel is now concentrating its attacks in Syria on missile-manufacturing sites. Israel has conducted many raids inside Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011. It sees the presence of Hezbollah and its ally Iran there as a strategic …

Turkey accused the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday of bringing chaos to the Middle East through its interventions in Libya and Yemen, allegations which are likely to inflame tensions between the regional rivals. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was responding to criticism of Turkey’s role in the Libyan conflict, where it …

Yemeni authorities declared Aden, interim seat of the Saudi-backed government, an “infested” city on Monday after the number of coronavirus cases there jumped and clashes erupted elsewhere in the south between separatists and government forces. A five-year war has shattered Yemen’s health system, pushed millions to the brink of famine …

The Saudi-led Arab coalition announced that the terrorist Iran-backed Houthi militias fired on Tuesday morning two ballistic missiles from Yemen’s Sanaa province. Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki said Tuesday the Houthis launched the missiles from residential areas. One rocket crashed 121 kilometers away, in the Amran province, and the second, …

At least 40 civilians were killed, including 11 children, when a bomb detonated on an oil tanker in the northern Syrian town of Afrin on Tuesday, the Turkish Defence Ministry said, blaming the attack on the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia. In a statement on Twitter, the ministry said the blast …

Israeli air strikes near the Syrian capital early Monday killed three civilians, state media said. “Three civilians were martyred and four others wounded, including a child, because shrapnel from Israeli missiles fell on houses” in the suburbs of Damascus, the official SANA news agency reported. Syrian air defences had downed …

Yemen reported its first case of the novel coronavirus on Friday as aid groups try to prepare for an outbreak in a country where war has shattered the health system and spread hunger and disease. The news came after a nationwide ceasefire prompted by the virus pandemic began on Thursday. …

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Wednesday it was halting military operations nationwide in support of U.N. efforts to end a five-year war that has killed over 100,000 people and spread hunger and disease. The move aims to facilitate talks sponsored by U.N. special envoy Martin Griffiths …

Ballistic missiles were intercepted on Saturday in the sky above Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh and the southern city of Jazan, state media reported, citing its own sources and the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen. Residents in Riyadh reported multiple blasts around 2320 (2020 GMT), followed by emergency vehicle sirens in …

Khalifa Haftar, Libya’s eastern military commander, told France’s president that he would sign a ceasefire and keep to it if militias backed by the internationally-recognized government respected it, a French presidency source said on Monday. “Marshal Haftar assured (us) that he was committed to signing the ceasefire but this commitment …

By Seyed Hossein Mousavian   Once the situation is de-escalated, there could be a chance for a breakthrough in relations, especially after upcoming presidential elections Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, containment has been the default Iran policy of every US administration. Presidents, both Democrat and Republican, have pursued an ill-advised …

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said it had foiled an attack on an oil tanker off Yemen’s coast on the Arabian Sea, the Saudi state news agency SPA reported on Wednesday. The tanker was sailing 90 nautical miles south of Yemen’s Nishtun port toward the Gulf of Aden when …

An Israeli drone struck a car in a Syrian village in the Golan Heights, killing a civilian, Syrian state news agency SANA reported on Thursday. An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment on the reported incident, which SANA said took place in the village of Hadr. The village is located …

Six Yemeni soldiers were killed when a convoy carrying the country’s defense minister was hit by a landmine explosion on Wednesday, but the minister was unharmed, government sources said. Muhammad Ali Maqdashi, defense minister for the internationally recognized government of Yemen, was visiting a frontline area of Sirwah. It is …

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement said on Wednesday it targeted facilities belonging to Saudi Aramco in Jizan on the Red Sea in response to “escalating air strikes” but there was no immediate confirmation from Saudi Arabian authorities. State oil giant Aramco declined to comment on the report. Houthi military spokesman Yahya …

I’ve written previously about Ammar Al-Masry’s novels Shadows of Atlantis and Throne of Atlantis, so it only seems fair to write about the third and supposedly final instalment in the New World series, Heart of Atlantis (2019). I’d finished reading the novel the previous year but held out on writing …

Turkey’s bill allowing troop deployment in Libya marks a dangerous escalation in the North African country’s civil war and severely threatens stability in the region, a joint statement by Greece, Israel and Cyprus said late on Thursday. “This decision constitutes a gross violation of the UNSC resolution…imposing an arms embargo …

Iraq’s prime minister condemned on Friday the U.S. killing of Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and said it would “light the fuse” of war. The United States killed Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force and architect of Iran’s spreading military influence …

Dr. Haytham Mouzahem, head of Beirut Centre for Middle East Studies talks to International Affairs Review on the current situation in Syria and the Turkish military operations and the implications for the region.   Please walk us through what is happening right now in north east Syria. Turkey has been invading areas …

America’s On-Off relationship with Turkey once again took a 180 degree turn as President Trump moved several dozen US Special Forces from the Turkish-Kurdish controlled Syrian border so Turkish military forces could enter Syria in what Turkey calls “Operation Peace Spring.” The Kurds, key US allies in defeating ISIS in …

Saudi Arabia’s deputy defense minister said on Thursday he discussed regional security and military cooperation with senior U.S. government officials at a time of heightened tension with Iran following last month’s attacks on Saudi oil facilities. Saudi Arabia and the United States blamed common foe Tehran for the Sept. 14 …

U.S. President Donald Trump has approved sending American troops to bolster Saudi Arabia’s air defenses after Saturday’s attacks on the kingdom’s oil facilities, which Washington has blamed on Iran, the Pentagon said on Friday. The Pentagon said the deployment would involve a moderate number of troops and would be primarily …

The United States, Britain and France may be complicit in war crimes in Yemen by arming and providing intelligence and logistics support to a Saudi-led coalition that starves civilians as a war tactic, the United Nations said on Tuesday. U.N. investigators compiled a secret list of possible international war crimes …

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement launched drone attacks on the airport of Abha in southwest Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni border, the Houthis’ al-Masirah TV said on Twitter on Tuesday. There was no mention of the attack in Saudi Arabia’s official media and Saudi officials could not immediately be reached for …