Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — President Bashar Assad has lost a close relative as well as a leading commander in the war against Sunni rebels in Syria. Opposition sources said Hilal Assad was killed by a sniper in the northern city town of Kassab near Latakia. The sources said the 46-year-old Hilal was a first […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Sunni rebels have captured a Syrian military intelligence facility near the Golan Heights. The Free Syrian Army said it captured the military intelligence facility in the Hauran Plain in southern Syria. FSA said the compound, located eight kilometers from the Israeli frontier, fell in a five-day siege that ended on […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Sunni rebels have asserted that the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah was organizing another major military expedition in Syria. The Free Syrian Army said Hizbullah was training thousands of fighters to quell the two-year revolt against the regime of President Bashar Assad. FSA said Hizbullah intends to deploy another 5,000 troops to the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Syrian rebels have claimed the assassination of Hizbullah’s deputy chief. The Free Syrian Army said it bombed a convoy in southwestern Syria that included Hizbullah deputy secretary-general Naim Kassem. In a statement on Feb. 27, FSA said the convoy also contained cars with senior Syrian Army officers. “It has been […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Sunni rebels have been targeting fighters from the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah in the civil war in Syria. Sunni rebels said at least 12 Hizbullah fighters were killed near the Syrian city of Homs in mid-February. The rebels said the clashes took place between Hizbullah units loyal to the regime of President […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Tis’ the season in the General Assembly for some serious if generally overlooked work and reports. An Assembly committee has soundly condemned the continuing human and political rights abuses in three global transgressors; Syria, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the quaintly titled Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, aka […]
Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — Iran has been developing a militia loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad. Officials said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was providing training and weapons to an unidentified militia meant to fight the Sunni revolt in urban areas. They said the militia would be similar to IRGC’s Basij, which quelled unrest […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Syria’s Kurdish community, more than 15 months into the Sunni revolt, has refused to join the campaign to oust President Bashar Assad. Western diplomatic sources said the Kurdish community of more than two million have chosen to stay on the sidelines in the revolt against Assad. The sources said that […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — An Alawite militia sponsored by the regime of President Bashar Assad has been given a free hand in efforts to quell the Sunni revolt in Syria. Opposition sources and Western diplomats asserted that the Assad regime has removed all restrictions on the Shabiha militia in central and eastern Syria. The […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — For the first time, Sunni rebels are conducting operations in the heart of the Alawite stronghold in Syria. Opposition sources said Sunni rebels have deployed in Syria’s Latakia province, regarded as the coastal enclave of the ruling Alawite community. The sources said rebel militias were operating from several Sunni towns […]