Syria

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Iraq’s prime minister held talks Sunday with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus during the first trip of its kind to the war-torn country since the 12-year conflict began.

The two leaders told reporters that they discussed fighting drugs, the return of Syrian refugees and the imperative of lifting Western sanctions imposed in Syria. They also talked about Israel’s strikes on the war-torn country and water shortages in the Euphrates River that cuts through both countries because of projects in Turkey.

13 July 2023; MEMO: The United States has sent military and logistic reinforcements to its bases in Syria's north-eastern Al-Hasakah province.

Local sources said two convoys of military vehicles entered Al-Hasakah on Tuesday, after crossing into Syria through Al-Waleed border terminal with Iraq.

08 July 2023; MEMO: The Syrian pound has recorded a historic collapse against the US dollar, as its exchange rate reached 10,000 Syrian pounds for $1. This is the lowest level ever reached by the value of the Syrian pound.

Economic website Syrian Pound Today reported that the exchange rate in Damascus reached 9,750 pounds per dollar.

24 June 2023; MEMO: A drone attack targeted Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad's ancestral town of Qardaha on Friday with two projectiles, killing one person and lightly injuring another, Syrian state news agency, Sana, reported.

The strike came a day after Sana reported a drone attack on Salhab, another government-held town in north-west Syria near rebel territory, that killed a woman and a child.

22 June 2023; MEMO: At least 50 Syrian Druze were wounded, four left in a critical condition, as they protested against Israeli plans to be built a wind farm in the occupied Golan Heights, news agencies reported.

Thousands of Syrians protested for the second day yesterday against the establishment of a new wind farm near the town of Majdal Shams.

20 June 2023; MEMO: After Operation Peace Spring organised in October 2019, tens of thousands of Syrian migrants living in Turkiye returned to the northern districts of Tal Abyad and Ras Al-Ayn, Anadolu Agency reports.

The local councils in Tal Abyad and Ras Al-Ayn, which were cleared of terrorism, provided employment for approximately 10,000 people in various areas, including health and education.

14 June 2023; MEMO: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) estimates that about 90 per cent of Syrians live below the poverty line, Anadolu Agency reports.

"Nearly 90 per cent of Syrians live below the poverty line, with more than 15 million needing humanitarian assistance, a trend that has been sustained over the past years," the ICRC said in a statement.

"The risk of collapse of Syria's critical infrastructure is a pressing concern," it added.

DAMASCUS, Jun 12 (NNN-SANA) – Russian Ambassador to Syria, Alexander Efimov, said yesterday that, the U.S. sanctions on Syria are posing a major obstacle in the war-torn country’s reconstruction.

In remarks to the local online al-Watan newspaper, Efimov hailed the recent restoration of relations between Syria and other Arab countries, mainly Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, but said, the economic cooperation is stranded by the persistent U.S. sanctions.

12 June 2023; MEMO: The United States has sent military reinforcements to its bases in Syria's northeastern Al-Hasakah province, Anadolu news agency reported citing local sources yesterday.

A military convoy of 40 vehicles arrived in the province after crossing into Syria through Al-Waleed border terminal with Iraq on Sunday, the sources said.

DAMASCUS, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian Interior Ministry announced Sunday that a criminal ring that trafficked poverty-stricken women had been dismantled in the countryside of the capital Damascus.

In a statement, the ministry said its Criminal Security Branch, after investigation and monitoring, busted a large human trafficking network and arrested all its members, adding they would soon be tried in court.