Syria Moves to Retake Golan Heights
BEIRUT/OCCUPIED GOLAN HEIGHTS (Dispatches) – Foreign-backed terrorists started evacuating the area near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Friday under a surrender deal that will restore President Bashar al-Assad's control of the strategic territories.
With a government offensive closing in, terrorists in Qunaitra province have agreed to either accept the return of state rule, or leave to Idlib province in the north, echoing terms imposed on defeated militants elsewhere in Syria.
A convoy of about 20 buses carrying civilians and terrorists left one area of Qunaitra, said the witness. "They have started to move," said Rami Abdulrahman, director of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Tens of thousands of people have been sheltering at the area since the government offensive began one month ago.
The offensive has restored Syrian government control over a swathe of the southwest, strategically vital territory at the borders with Jordan and Occupied Palestine.
It has been one of the swiftest military campaigns of the seven-year-long war. The United States, which once armed the southern terrorists, told them not to expect its intervention as the offensive got underway. Many surrendered quickly.
While swathes of Syria remain outside the government control, the army advances over the past two years have brought it ever closer to snuffing out the armed sedition that grew out of the region in 2011.
It leaves terrorists with one last big foothold - a chunk of territory in the northwest at the border with Turkey stretching from Idlib province to the city of Jarablus northeast of Aleppo. The deployment of the Turkish military in that area will complicate further gains for the Syrian army.
Large areas of the northeast and east also remain outside the government control. These areas are held by Kurdish militants, supported by 2,000 U.S. troops on the ground.
The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, appealed to all sides in Syria to provide safe passage for 140,000 civilians displaced by fighting in the southwest so that they can receive aid and shelter.
Evacuation of White Helmets
U.S. officials said the United States was finalizing plans to evacuate several hundred members of White Helmets and their families from southwest Syria as government forces close in on the area.
The self-described volunteer rescue group has been repeatedly accused by Damascus and Moscow of being the "media arm" for Takfiri groups, and charged with staging false flag chemical attacks in a bid to prompt a Western military intervention in Syria.
Two officials familiar with the plans said Thursday that the U.S., Britain and Canada were spearheading the evacuation that would transport members of the White Helmets group to transit camps in neighboring countries.
From there, they will be sent to third countries, including Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and possibly Canada, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The officials, and a member of the White Helmets who is due to be evacuated from Quneitra province, said the operation appears to be imminent as the Syrian army continues to gain ground in its latest offensive.
The officials said planning for the evacuation has been underway for some time but accelerated after last week’s NATO summit in Brussels.
"These are hard hours and minutes,” the White Helmets operative in Quneitra told Associated Press. "This is the worst day of my life. I hope they rescue us before it is too late.”
The group has continued to receive U.S. support even as President Donald Trump allegedly presses ahead with his plans to withdraw all American forces from Syria.
In June, the State Department freed up $6.6 million out of some $200 million in frozen funding for Syria plans to keep the White Helmets operating through the end of this year.
In April, the U.S., France and Britain launched missile strikes against multiple targets around Syria, justifying them using "video evidence” of an alleged chemical attack in Douma provided by the White Helmets. Subsequent investigations have shown that the video was a fake.
With a government offensive closing in, terrorists in Qunaitra province have agreed to either accept the return of state rule, or leave to Idlib province in the north, echoing terms imposed on defeated militants elsewhere in Syria.
A convoy of about 20 buses carrying civilians and terrorists left one area of Qunaitra, said the witness. "They have started to move," said Rami Abdulrahman, director of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Tens of thousands of people have been sheltering at the area since the government offensive began one month ago.
The offensive has restored Syrian government control over a swathe of the southwest, strategically vital territory at the borders with Jordan and Occupied Palestine.
It has been one of the swiftest military campaigns of the seven-year-long war. The United States, which once armed the southern terrorists, told them not to expect its intervention as the offensive got underway. Many surrendered quickly.
While swathes of Syria remain outside the government control, the army advances over the past two years have brought it ever closer to snuffing out the armed sedition that grew out of the region in 2011.
It leaves terrorists with one last big foothold - a chunk of territory in the northwest at the border with Turkey stretching from Idlib province to the city of Jarablus northeast of Aleppo. The deployment of the Turkish military in that area will complicate further gains for the Syrian army.
Large areas of the northeast and east also remain outside the government control. These areas are held by Kurdish militants, supported by 2,000 U.S. troops on the ground.
The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, appealed to all sides in Syria to provide safe passage for 140,000 civilians displaced by fighting in the southwest so that they can receive aid and shelter.
Evacuation of White Helmets
U.S. officials said the United States was finalizing plans to evacuate several hundred members of White Helmets and their families from southwest Syria as government forces close in on the area.
The self-described volunteer rescue group has been repeatedly accused by Damascus and Moscow of being the "media arm" for Takfiri groups, and charged with staging false flag chemical attacks in a bid to prompt a Western military intervention in Syria.
Two officials familiar with the plans said Thursday that the U.S., Britain and Canada were spearheading the evacuation that would transport members of the White Helmets group to transit camps in neighboring countries.
From there, they will be sent to third countries, including Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and possibly Canada, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The officials, and a member of the White Helmets who is due to be evacuated from Quneitra province, said the operation appears to be imminent as the Syrian army continues to gain ground in its latest offensive.
The officials said planning for the evacuation has been underway for some time but accelerated after last week’s NATO summit in Brussels.
"These are hard hours and minutes,” the White Helmets operative in Quneitra told Associated Press. "This is the worst day of my life. I hope they rescue us before it is too late.”
The group has continued to receive U.S. support even as President Donald Trump allegedly presses ahead with his plans to withdraw all American forces from Syria.
In June, the State Department freed up $6.6 million out of some $200 million in frozen funding for Syria plans to keep the White Helmets operating through the end of this year.
In April, the U.S., France and Britain launched missile strikes against multiple targets around Syria, justifying them using "video evidence” of an alleged chemical attack in Douma provided by the White Helmets. Subsequent investigations have shown that the video was a fake.