Chronicle of the civil war in Syria 2018

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Outline map of the civil war in Syria
  • Held by government forces
  • Held by the Free Syrian Army , Islamist militias and Turkish units
  • Held by the jihadist Jabhat Fatah ash-shame
  • Held by the " Islamic State "
  • Held by the Syrian Democratic Forces

    • The 2018 Chronicle of the Civil War in Syria captures the events of the civil war in Syria in 2018.

    January

    A hospital in Maarat an-Numan was hit in an air raid on January 3, according to aid organizations . According to helpers, the attack was part of a campaign by the Syrian government that attacked eight hospitals in Idlib province from the air between the end of December 2017 and the beginning of January 2018 .

    According to SOHR observers, 30 people were killed in air raids on the enclosed rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta on January 4th. The town of Misraba was attacked by planes of the Russian Air Force , whereby the attacks caused two buildings to collapse.

    On January 5, the Hmeimim military airfield used by the armed forces of the Russian Federation was attacked, according to Russian sources, by a total of 13 drones attempting to reach the base's premises with small explosive devices as cargo. The air defense had shot down seven of the drones, the others were brought down by electronic warfare . A little later, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused unidentified provocateurs, who, however, were not Turks, of being responsible for the attack. Despite their rather improvised appearance, the drones contained state-of-the-art components and you knew who was responsible.

    On January 7th, fighters loyal to the government and SOHR observers alike announced the capture of the strategically important town of Sinjar ( 35 ° 35'26 ″ N 37 ° 00′18 ″ E ) by Syrian government troops on an important road in the Idlib province . The conquest also clears the way to an important military airport for them.

    On January 8, the Syrian state media and SOHR observers reported that a relief attack by elite Syrian troops in connection with Russian air strikes north of Damascus in Harasta ( 33 ° 32'59 "N 36 ° 22'19" E ) had broken the siege ring around an important base of the Syrian army, in which around 200 Syrian soldiers had been trapped for weeks by Islamist fighters from the Al-Qaeda- affiliated Levant Liberation Committee (LLC). SOHR observers said that by January 5, 77 extremists and nearly 80 civilians had been killed in the operation.

    On January 9, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced plans to advance into Syria on territory held by the SDF near Manbij and the YPG near Afrin . Turkey also accused the Syrian government of meeting moderate rebels in attacks in Idlib and thus violating the de-escalation zone agreement between the states of Russia, Turkey and Iran . The Syrian government is attacking moderate forces and claims to fight Islamists, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu .

    Israeli fighter jets attacked targets near Damascus on January 9, according to Syrian state media. The attackers had approached from Lebanese and Israeli airspace and launched air-to-ground missiles , while more missiles were launched from Israeli-occupied territory in the Golan Heights . Syrian air defense hit a plane and several missiles. Also on January 9, the Syrian army and its allies reached the former but strategically important Abu z-Zuhur military airfield in the east of Idlib province, which was captured by jihadists from the al-Nusra Front in 2015 . The Syrian army had previously launched a large-scale offensive along the direct route from Damascus to Aleppo in the area dominated by the Syrian branch of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda and had already brought several villages under its control in the days before.

    On January 11, several extremist groups, including the Haiʾat Tahrir al-Sham jihadist alliance , announced that a counter-offensive had been launched to stop the Syrian army's offensive in Idlib.

    On January 12, the Syrian military reported that the counter-offensive of the alliance by various rebel groups in the Idlib area had been rejected. All the villages that the alliance, which is said to consist of the groups Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki , the Islamic Turkestan Party and the al-Qaeda-affiliated LLC, had conquered the previous day had been recaptured. Dozens of fighters from these groups were killed in the fighting.

    On January 13, the opposition SOHR reported that troops loyal to the government had captured 26 towns in Idlib province in the past 24 hours. The heads of the Syrian troops that are active in the south of the Aleppo province and those of the units that are advancing on Abu z-Zuhur from the south are only six kilometers apart. The offensive was accompanied by numerous air strikes and the UN estimates that 30,000 people from the region fled to the area on the border with Turkey within a week.

    The Turkish news agency Anadolu reported that the Turkish army is said to have moved a column with military equipment, including tanks , to the Syrian border in the southern Turkish province of Hatay . It is said to be intended to reinforce the Turkish border troops. Other Turkish observers, however, saw the march as the prelude to Turkey's attack on Kurdish YPG groups around the Syrian city of Afrin. A decisive factor for rapid success is whether Russia has allowed Turkey to fly into Syrian airspace and attack the Kurds around Afrin from the air.

    On January 14th, the Turkish army began bombarding villages around Afrin with artillery from Turkey. The Turkish President has announced an offensive for the next few days to drive Kurdish fighters out of Afrin.

    On January 18, the Turkish Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar traveled to Moscow with the head of the secret service, Hakan Fidan . Observers rated the visit as a high-quality exchange in the course of the upcoming offensive.

    On January 20, Turkish warplanes attacked Afrin. A Turkish news agency later announced that 100 targets in the Afrin region had been attacked from the air. 72 fighter planes had safely returned to their bases in Turkey after their deployment. Turkish authorities announced the start of the ground offensive on Afrin . Russian authorities meanwhile announced that they would not interfere in the fighting in Afrin. The Russian military police in the Afrin region were withdrawn and a statement published in which Russia blamed the US for the development. In the course of their Idlib offensive, Syrian troops announced the complete capture of the former military airfield Abu z-Zuhur ( 35 ° 44'3 "N 37 ° 6'10" E ) and a dozen villages in the region. American planes attacked IS targets in the Euphrates region near asch-Schaʿfa ( 34 ° 34'2 "N 40 ° 56'01" E ), with up to 150 IS fighters reportedly killed.

    On January 22, Turkish ground troops and allied rebels penetrated further into Syrian territory and, according to their own account, settled on some heights and in villages on the border. The Kurdish side reported that Turkish artillery fired at targets near Ra Zieles al-ʿAin from Turkish territory . According to Turkish information, Kurdish fighters had fired at Kilis, Turkey, and a refugee camp in Hatay province , which serves as a base for the FSA fighters who are loyal to Turkey . Kurdish fighters counterattacked on the night of January 23, according to SOHR reports, and captured the villages of Shenkal ( 36 ° 48'38 "N 36 ° 44'26" E ) and Adamaly ( 36 ° 46'4 "N 36 ° 39'41 ″ E ) returned by Turkish troops.

    On January 25, the Kurdish administration of Afrin officially called Syrian President Assad for support in the face of the Turkish invasion. Syria should perform its sovereign tasks and protect the borders against the Turkish attackers.

    On the morning of January 27, shortly after a local ceasefire was due to take effect, insurgents again attacked the important army base in Harasta. According to activists, they sent an assassin with a car bomb who was supposed to detonate the bomb at the base. Although the bomb exploded, the parties involved made different statements about whether it had previously reached its destination.

    On January 29, the Syrian media reported that a Turkish military convoy was the target of Syrian artillery when the association with Turkish reconnaissance troops on the way to al-Eis ( 35 ° 59'39 "N 36 ° 59'53" E ) the village of Qammari wanted to cross south of Aleppo. The shells struck in front of the convoy in the area of ​​the village. According to SOHR observers, the association was on the move to scout out positions for a Turkish military presence in the area of ​​the HTS fighters in the Idlib province. According to SOHR, a Turkish vehicle in the convoy was destroyed a little later by a direct hit near al-Atareb ( 36 ° 08'12 "N 36 ° 49'46" E ) and the driver was killed.

    On January 30, the peace conference prepared by Russia, Turkey and Iran began in Sochi, Russia . 1500 delegates came, only a few from the opposition. According to a report in the New York Times, the participating opposition groups belong to an opposition movement from Damascus that was “tolerated” by President Assad.

    February

    On February 1, according to Syrian opposition media, Israeli fighter planes attacked targets of the jihadist group Army of Chālid ibn al-Walid near Daraa . Syrian troops and allied militias continued their offensive on Idlib Province from south Aleppo and worked their way up to 20 km from the Saraqib transport hub . Targets near Hama and Idlib were attacked from the air, killing 28 civilians, according to SOHR. The Syrian government announced that seven civilians in Damascus were killed by rebel fire. According to a medical organization, five rockets hit a hospital in Kafr Zita ( 36 ° 22'25 ″ N 36 ° 36′06 ″ E ), which lies under a 20-meter-thick layer of rock, in an air attack . It was unclear whether Syrian or Russian warplanes had flown the attack.

    On February 2, the US Department of Defense announced an investigation into whether Syrian troops had again used the chemical warfare agents chlorine gas and sarin as weapons in their new offensive .

    On February 3, a Russian Su-25 ground attack aircraft crashed near Saraqib. The pilot Roman Nikolajewitsch Filipow was initially able to save himself, but was then killed on the ground. Insurgents said the pilot resisted arrest and opened fire with his pistol before he was killed. According to Russian sources, the plane was shot down. SOHR observers reported that the aircraft had been hit by a shoulder-mounted anti-aircraft missile .

    Russian agencies announced on the same day that Russian planes had launched another air strike on the area, in which more than 30 enemy fighters had been killed with precision weapons.

    From February 4th to 5th there were air strikes on Kafr Nubl, Maasran, Saraqib, Maarat al-Numan and the city of Idlib.

    On February 5th, as on January 29th, a Turkish military convoy moved through the rebel area of ​​Idlib province to set up an observation post in the agreed de-escalation zone. According to SOHR, the goal should again be a position near the village of al-Eis.

    On February 6th, after weeks of fighting, forces loyal to the government started the heaviest shelling to date on enclosed districts of the capital. 80 people are said to have been killed by air strikes and artillery fire. Further attacks were carried out in Idlib province.

    On February 7, Israeli fighter planes again attacked a target near Damascus, according to the Syrian government. The attack is said to have targeted the research center in Jamraja.

    On the same day, Syrian troops and their allies in eastern Syria are said to have attacked positions of the US-backed Kurdish militia SDF and fired artillery and tank cannons at the Kurdish fighters southeast of Deir ez-Zor . A US-led airstrike then hit a Syrian association of tanks, rocket launchers and around 500 fighters, killing around 100 fighters according to US estimates. According to statements in the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets, the association consisted of Syrian volunteers and Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group , who owned the Kurdish Conoco gas field on the eastern bank of the Euphrates (also known as Tabiyeh) for commercial reasons Wanted to bring control. SOHR activists gave the location of the attack on the Syrian artillery units as the village of Khusham ( 35 ° 18'03 "N 40 ° 17'31" E ), which is on the east bank of the Euphrates. The losses of the Syrians would have been 20 fighters and various guns and vehicles. Both the SDF and the US military said they had spoken independently with Russian liaison officers until shortly before the Syrian attack in order to prevent the Syrian attack, but the Russian side had denied that there would be an attack . After the US military had smashed the unit from the air, the same Russian officer in Deir ez-Zor, with whom the SDF had previously spoken, requested a ceasefire to rescue the dead and wounded. An official Russian statement later stated that the Syrian task force wanted to pursue IS fighters.

    According to SOHR observers, on February 9 the troops loyal to the government succeeded in completely taking control of the remaining rebel enclave south of Aleppo, which was taken over by IS a few weeks ago. According to the SOHR activists, the Syrian side had reached an agreement with the IS fighters and allowed them to escape through a corridor to Idlib province. The online newspaper al-Masdar News , which is close to the Syrian government, reported, however, that the IS terrorists had violently breached the siege ring around the enclave, then fought their way through a strip of terrain of 30 km held by Syrian troops, then the front line between them Syrian troops and HTS jihadists broke through in Idlib and captured several villages by the HTS.

    On February 10, according to Israeli sources, an Israeli Air Force F-16 fighter aircraft was destroyed after it was hit by a Syrian S-200 anti-aircraft missile, according to Israeli sources . According to Israeli information, the machine was dispatched to attack an Iranian drone control station in Syria, from which a "Saeqeh" drone had previously been steered to Israel. The wreckage of the F-16 crashed in Israel in the Jezreel plain , the pilots survived. According to Israeli information, the Iranian control station in Syria was hit several times during the operation. SOHR activists pinpointed the target of the Israeli attacks on bases in Homs Governorate used by Russians and Iranians. The Israeli Air Force subsequently announced it had launched another attack on 12 targets in Syria, including three anti-aircraft positions. Russia and Iran denied having participated in the downing of the Israeli plane. Saleh al-Hamwi, the co-founder of the al-Nusra Front, welcomed the Israeli air strikes on Syrian facilities after the Russian state broadcaster RT . He also asked Israel to continue with the attacks and warned against Iran's intervention in Syria.

    On the same day, a TAI T-129 attack helicopter belonging to the Turkish army was shot down by the SDF over Syria. The two pilots did not survive this. The incident was confirmed by Erdogan.

    The Pentagon announced on February 10 with a MQ-9 -Drohne a 72 T- having destroyed -Panzer the Syrian army in al-Tabiyeh. It was not disclosed which weapon the MQ-9 (either a JDAM or a Hellfire ) had fired. All three crew members were killed. The vehicle with its combat group had approached SDF positions in the vicinity of Deir ez-Zor, with indirect fire from mortars and light weapons in the direction of the SDF positions. The Americans said they used the emergency phone to inform the Russian authorities and then attacked the tank. The commander of the US Central Command CENTCOM, Jeffrey Harrigian described the shelling of the advancing tank as self-defense .

    On February 15, SOHR activists reported that 15 Russian mercenaries and 7 other people were killed in an explosion in an ammunition dump belonging to their unit near Deir ez-Zor. Also on February 15, government troops let a United Nations aid convoy pass into the besieged Eastern Ghouta. The nine trucks transported food that is supposed to supply 7200 people for a month. The request of the United Nations for a cease-fire and the evacuation of the seriously wounded and seriously ill was rejected.

    On February 19th, SOHR activists reported that 100 people were killed and 470 wounded in attacks on the Eastern Ghouta enclave. A BBC analysis found that the attacks were apparently concentrated on grocery stores and bakeries, and four hospitals were hit on the 19th. The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov classified the reporting on the situation in the enclave of Eastern Ghouta as "exaggerated".

    On February 22nd, the air raids on Eastern Ghouta continued. A local doctor said 10 to 20 attacks per minute. UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres called on the UN Security Council to act to clarify the situation in Eastern Ghouta. The representative of Russia requested a special meeting for February 23. Shiite militias loyal to the government were also sent to the Afrin region to work with the Kurds to stop the Turkish advance. The fighters were dispatched from Nubl and az-Zahra and, according to their own statements, included in the defense of Rajo and Jinderes ( 36 ° 23'36 "N 36 ° 41'17" E ).

    On February 24, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2401 on Eastern Ghouta, calling for an immediate ceasefire for 30 days. The attacks continued, however, according to observers, and on February 26, Russian President Putin ordered a ceasefire for his armed forces in the area from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. During this time, residents should have the opportunity to escape the city via a corridor.

    On February 27, the Russian government complained that the fighters in Eastern Ghouta were apparently not adhering to the ceasefire and that they were bombarding the “humanitarian corridors” designated by Russia. Representatives of the Jaish al-Islam group denied the Russian information that the corridor was not being shot and civilians were not being forced to stay in the enclosed area. The head of the World Food Program in Syria said that a five-hour ceasefire would be useless for a complex operation such as supplying the civilian population across a front line. The fighting flared up across the country in the last two months around Idlib, in Ghouta and on the Jordanian border.

    The Syrian government forces continued to advance against illegal armed formations in the Eastern Ghouta region on February 28. In doing so, after fierce fighting against jihadists of the radical Salafist group Jaish al-Islam, they brought the towns of Hawsh al-Dawahirah and al-Shifouniyah under their control. The Tiger forces , a special unit of the Syrian army for offensive operations , are said to have played a major role in the attack .

    March

    On March 2, after two weeks of sustained air strikes and a ground offensive, Syrian troops announced that they had gained ground in Eastern Ghouta. Accordingly, they were able to gain land in Harasta in the west of the enclosed area, which was fought over since November 14, 2017 and bring the villages of Hawsh Zreika and Hawsh al-Dawahra in the east of Eastern Ghouta under their control.

    On March 3, the Syrian armed forces in the Eastern Ghouta region regained full control over the base of Battalion 274, which had been occupied for years by the radical Islamist group Jaish al-Islam.

    On the night of March 4, the Syrian army, led by the Tiger forces, reached the towns of Beit Sawa and Mesraba, which were occupied by the Jihadist group Jaish al-Islam. In addition, the Syrian units fought for fire control over the Shifouniyah-Duma road, one of the most important supply lines for the Islamists in the region.

    April

    On April 29, SDF units reported that they had been attacked by Syrian forces near the village of Janin. Syrian state media announced the occupation of several settlements east of the Euphrates near the Iraqi border that had previously been held by the SDF. A few hours later the SDF announced that they had recaptured all the settlements. A news agency reported the US Air Force had supported the SDF with attacks. On the same day, the Syrian state media reported the recapture of the al-Jourah district in Damascus from IS. The Islamists had previously brought the district under their control when the mass of Syrian troops in the north-east of the city had advanced against Eastern Ghouta.

    There were several rocket attacks in Syria on the night of April 30th. Buildings on the Nairab military airfield ( 36 ° 10'52 "N 37 ° 13'29" E ) near Aleppo were therefore hit. The attacks on a second facility ( 35 ° 02'54 "N 36 ° 46'33" E ), which is considered the base of the Syrian 47 Brigade but is used by Iranian troops, south of Hama , apparently triggered a major explosion whose vibration in seismic measurements by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center reached 2.6 on the Richter scale . Analysts rated these vibrations not as the result of the explosion of a weapon used, but as an explosion of the attacked target. Accordingly, the explosion of rocket warheads stored in buildings on the base was suspected. The New York Times cited a representative from the Iran-Syrian Alliance on the ground, who said that 200 surface-to-surface missiles were destroyed in the attack. The casualties on the base were given by observers as 16 to 38 victims.

    The head of SOHR speculated that an Israeli attack had hit the bases. The Syrian state news agency SANA reported that enemy missile targets were being launched at Aleppo and Hama, but did not identify the attackers. The Syrian government-affiliated Tischrin website, on the other hand, initially attributed the attack to the USA and Great Britain.

    May

    On May 8, Syrian state media reported that Israeli fighter jets had carried out an air strike on a base south of Damascus. Two of the approaching missiles were shot down. According to SOHR, nine Iranian fighters were killed in the attack, which is said to have targeted an arsenal in the al-Kiswah region.

    According to Israeli reports, on May 10, shortly after midnight, Iranian troops fired around 20 projectiles at Israeli positions on the Golan Heights. In a notice, Israeli officials put responsibility for the incident on Iranian General Qasem Soleimani . However, the short-range missiles missed their targets and no one was injured. Subsequently, on the morning of May 10, Israeli officials announced a widespread attack on dozen targets inside Syria on Twitter. Syrian state media reported Israeli air strikes on weapons and ammunition stores, as well as on air defense positions. Iranian authorities denied that their country had fired rockets at Israeli positions and spoke of an Israeli lie to justify their attack. More than 50 targets were hit in the operation, which the Israelis dubbed “House of Cards”, according to their information in Syria.

    On May 20, the media reported that the fighters of the “ Islamic State ” who were occupying the area of ​​the Yarmuk Palestinian camp in Damascus had been defeated. Syrian state media said the fighters surrendered and were captured. SOHR activists, however, reported that the fighters had reached a ceasefire agreement with the government and that some would be given safe conduct.

    On May 23, Russian authorities said on May 27, four Russian military observers were killed in a terrorist attack on Syrian positions near Deir ez-Zor. Two died in the attack, and two others later died of their injuries. Three more survived wounded. Members of "mobile" terrorist groups were responsible for the night attack, 43 of whom were killed. SOHR activists, on the other hand, reported nine Russians killed and 35 Syrian government soldiers killed. The attackers were IS fighters.

    June

    On June 7th, 38 people were killed in an air strike on the village of Sardana in Idlib province, according to SOHR activists. Russian fighter planes would have flown the attack.

    On June 8th, SOHR observers reported the airstrike with the highest number of casualties so far this year. In the Idlib province, fighter planes attacked the village of Sardana ( 36 ° 02'43 "N 36 ° 45'10" E ) with eight individual attacks on the night of June 7th and killing 44 people. The activists suspect that the attack was flown by Russian planes. They would have carried out a "double strike" in which a second bomber attacks the same target again some time after the first attack when the rescue work has started.

    On June 14th, representatives from Turkey and the USA announced that they had agreed on the future of the northern Syrian city of Manbidsch at a meeting in Stuttgart . The details of the agreement were not initially published.

    On June 19, government troops, allied Iranian militias and Russian fighter planes launched an offensive on the rebel areas in Darʿā governorate .

    According to Syrian media, Israeli rockets struck near Damascus airport on the night of June 25-26. SOHR activists said a Hezbollah militia weapons depot had been hit.

    According to SOHR activists and local doctors, air forces bombed three medical stations in Saida, Jeeza and Musayfra in the Darʿā governorate on the border with Jordan on the night of June 26-27. Although numerous people fled towards Jordan before the offensive in the region, Jordan continues to keep the border closed. The fighter planes belonged to Russia. SOHR activists killed 22 people.

    Israeli government officials were also unwilling to allow refugees from Syria access to Israeli territory despite the ongoing attack by the government-related troops from the rebellious areas in southern Syria on the border with Israel and Jordan. Medical help and care will be provided at the border, but people will not be allowed into the country.

    July

    On July 11, the defenders of the city of Darʿā had holed up in a neighborhood and were reportedly already negotiating their task. According to SOHR observers, there were air strikes against members of the IS-allied Khalid Ibn al-Walid army in the Yarmuk basin.

    On July 12, the last defenders in the city of Darʿā finally gave up and the Syrian army marched in. This brought about 80% of the province back under government control, while the rebels were pushed back to the border with the Israeli occupied Golan Heights.

    On the evening of July 13, US forces killed around 30 people, including several IS fighters, who had gathered in an old ice cream factory in the village of al-Sousa near the Iraqi border, according to the Syrian state news agency.

    On July 17, the Syrian army intensified the shelling on the region around the town of Quneitra , which was still under the control of the insurgents , and refugees tried to escape to Israel-controlled territory at the nearby border, but were turned away at the border. About the future of the inhabitants of the villages of Fuah ( 35 ° 58'58 "N 36 ° 42'17" E ) and Kafraja ( 35 ° 59'23 "N 36 ° 40'39" E ) in the Idlib governorate, which have been enclosed by insurgents since 2015 An agreement was reached according to which the remaining 7,000 residents and fighters will be evacuated by bus to areas under the control of the Syrian government. Iranian negotiators are said to have reached the agreement with representatives of the rebel group HTS , according to Syrian media . In return, around 1,500 government prisoners are to be released. A previous attempt to evacuate the villages failed in April 2017 after a suicide bomber allegedly attacked an evacuation convoy with a car bomb and killed 120 people.

    On July 22nd, Israeli army circles announced that a large number of Syrians had been rescued from the combat area in southern Syria. They were brought to Jordan by the Israelis, from where they are to be distributed to Great Britain, Canada and Germany. The US and several European countries have asked Israel to evacuate, and according to the Israeli statement, the people belong to a humanitarian organization or are family members. It is said to be members of the civil protection group "White Helmets" . According to official Jordanian information, 422 people were received, although the admission of 800 had originally been requested. The people were threatened and trapped by approaching Syrian government troops, the head of the White Helmets said in an interview.

    On July 24, Israeli authorities announced that a Syrian fighter plane had been shot down over the Golan Heights. The Sukhoi military aircraft penetrated 2 km into the airspace of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights before it was shot down with two Patriot missiles . The wreck crashed in an area that is still held by IS according to press reports. Syrian media confirmed the shooting down of a Su-22 , but said it took place over Syrian territory while the plane was attacking ISIS targets in the Yarmuk Basin. At least one of the two pilots was killed.

    On July 25, IS fighters raided al-Suwaida ( 32 ° 42'42 "N 36 ° 33'59" E ) and attacked targets in the area. According to SOHR observers, 89 civilians, 94 members of government forces and 34 IS fighters were killed. The attackers also included suicide bombers, one of whom, according to a Syrian news agency, detonated his explosive belt in a busy market.

    August

    On August 4, the Syrian rocket scientist Aziz Isbar was killed in a car bomb explosion in Masyaf . According to sources in the New York Times, the attack is attributable to the Israeli secret service.

    On the evening of August 17, according to SOHR, seven fighters of the terrorist group were killed in an attack by the IS jihadist militia on the Omar oil fields in the province of Deir ez-Zor.

    Russian fighter jets flew in southern Idlib province for the second consecutive day on August 19. The trenches dug near Sukeek and al-Tamanah by the illegal armed jihadist groups Haiʾat Tahrir al-Sham and Jaish al-Izza were hit. The Syrian Air Force flew air strikes in the north of Hama Province, targeting al-Lataminah, Aleywi, Zakat, and Kafr Zita.

    According to the Syrian news agency SANA, the Syrian army continued its advance against the terrorist militia IS in the Suweida province in southern Syria on August 24th. Among other things, several jihadists were killed and injured, fortified positions and two technical fighting vehicles of the terror group equipped with heavy machine guns were destroyed.

    According to reports by al-Masdar News, Russia has now pulled together 17 warships in the Mediterranean off the Syrian coast. The last time the frigates Admiral Grigorowitsch and Admiral Essen sailed through the Bosporus was on August 25th , shortly before the frigate Pylki , the landing ship Nikolai Filchenkow and the corvette Wyschni Wolotschok had crossed the strait. On August 29, there was a Russian warning that one should not stand in the way of an anti-terrorist mission. The United Nations warned of a humanitarian catastrophe should the offensive against Idlib be launched. Almost three million people are said to be in the area.

    On August 30, fighters from the National Liberation Front (NLF) blew up two bridges over the Orontes River on the border between the provinces of Idlib and Hama in order to delay a feared offensive by the Syrian army.

    September

    In the early morning of September 2, according to the Times of Israel , several explosions should have occurred on the premises of the Syrian military airfield Mazzeh ( 35 ° 59'23 "N 36 ° 40'39" E ) in the west of Damascus. A Lebanese news site that is close to the Syrian government and a representative of the Syrian government reportedly reported an Israeli attack with cruise missiles, while the Syrian state news agency SANA reported a short circuit that triggered a fire in an ammunition depot.

    On September 3, the Kurdish People's Defense Units attacked a vehicle belonging to the Liwa al-Shamal militia collaborating with the Turkish army in the Afrin region , killing four fighters.

    On September 3 and 4, there were attacks on suspected Iranian troops and facilities in Syria attributed to Israel. According to the Times of Israel, one of the targets attacked on September 4 was an alleged base of Iranian troops ( 35 ° 02'36 "N 36 ° 19'19" E ) in the mountains south of Masyaf , which was attacked in daylight although it is within range of the Russian S-400 air defense in the region. According to the media, two warehouse buildings in the complex were said to have been destroyed.

    On September 4, Russian fighter planes reportedly attacked targets in the vicinity of Jisr el-Shughur in Idlib province and north of the city of Hama . Media close to the Syrian government said there were 50 Russian air strikes. According to information in Russian state media, two Su-34s destroyed a production facility for attack drones of the terrorist militia al-Nusra Front on September 4, in which explosives were also stored. It was also stated that a Su-35S fighter aircraft had destroyed a jihadist warehouse for Manpads . The attack took place a few hours after a rebel attack in Latakia Governorate , in which three Syrian government fighters were killed by rocket fire near the Jabal Turkmen mountain ( 35 ° 46'53 "N 35 ° 58'57" E ).

    The al-Masdar News reported that on September 6th, Russian fighter planes had again launched attacks on targets of the “jihadist formations” in the Jisr el-Shughur district (Idlib province) near the Turkish border. Primarily areas with a large presence of fighters from the terrorist organization Islamic Turkestan Party are said to have been hit.

    On September 7th, Russian fighter planes are said to have attacked targets of the Islamist groups HTS and Ahrar al-Sham in Idlib, according to SOHR . The target was fortifications of the militia in southwest Idlib. On the evening of September 7th, the al-Masdar News wrote that “jihadist associations” in the north of the Hama province had launched several rockets on the Christian-majority city of Mhardeh, which is under government control . At least nine civilians were killed and 20 others injured. The Syrian army responded to this attack by bombarding the Islamist positions with artillery and rocket volleys. The attacked targets are said to have included Kafr Zita, Zakat, Alayweh and al-Lataminah. According to the Syrian news agency SANA, the rocket launchers used for the attack on Mhardeh are said to have been destroyed in the subsequent artillery strikes of the Syrian army on al-Lataminah. The agency also reported on the planned staging of a poison gas attack in three locations in the rebel area by the aid organization of the White Helmets and an armed group. The aim of the action is to provoke Western intervention.

    The al-Masdar News reported that fighters from the Kurdish People's Defense Units carried out an attack on a fighter from the Hamza Brigade in the Afrin region occupied by Turkey and its allied rebel organizations .

    On September 9, al-Masdar News reported heavy air strikes on al-Lataminah, which is supposed to be the core area of ​​the Jaish al-Izza militia, in the north of the Hama province . Five attack helicopters of the Syrian Air Force and four Russian fighter planes were involved, the latter are said to have also used bunker-breaking bombs to destroy the underground hiding places of the jihadist groups.

    According to SOHR observers , an area at Damascus airport was apparently the target of an air strike on the night of September 15-16 . Cruise missiles launched by the Israeli Air Force hit a warehouse on the edge of the site where weapons were stored. The Syrian state news agency SANA reported on an Israeli attack in which Syrian air defense destroyed several approaching missiles.

    On September 17, Russian authorities reported the loss of an Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft on its way back to the Hmeimim military airfield . The machine disappeared from the radar screen over the Mediterranean at 8 p.m. Russian officials have suggested both that Israeli F-16 fighter jets, which flew from the area to attack Syria, or the French frigate Auvergne , which launched a missile, were linked to the loss, but without either state to blame directly. At the time, Syrian authorities reported an attack with cruise missiles on the coastal city of Latakia and the use of its air defenses. A little later, the Russian Defense Ministry announced an official Russian version according to which the Israelis flew their attack while the Russian plane was on its way back to base. A Syrian S-200 anti-aircraft missile would then have hit the Il-20. 15 Russian military personnel were killed. The Israeli Defense Ministry admitted the attack, in which they fought against Iranian forces' production facilities for precision weapons that were supposed to be leaked to Hezbollah. The loss of the Russian aircraft was regretted, but responsibility was attributed to the Syrian authorities, as they had made no effort to identify the targets under fire from their air defense. At the time of the shooting down, the Israeli planes were already back in Israeli airspace.

    After Russia announced its intention to supply Syria with S-300 anti-aircraft systems, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the press on September 26 that he had obtained certain guarantees from US President Donald Trump regarding the freedom of action of Israel in Syria.

    October

    The Iranian Revolutionary Guards fired on 1 October 2018 provides a base near Kermanshah in retaliation for the terrorist attack on the military parade in Iran's Ahvaz on 22 September 2018 a total of six short-range missiles of the type Qiam and Zolfaghar on positions of the terrorist militia IS near the Syrian Hadschin at the border to Iraq.

    On October 6th, fighting broke out between the two terrorist militias Haiʾat Tahrir asch-Scham and Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki in western Aleppo province . In the attack by the HTS fighters on positions of the jihadist group Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki in Mirznaz, more than ten jihadists are said to have been killed and an armored vehicle captured.

    On October 10, the Liberation Front (NLF) reported the withdrawal of the last heavy weapons in Idlib from the border to the area held by Syrian government troops, as provided for in the agreement previously concluded between Russia and Turkey. A demilitarized zone 15 kilometers wide is to be created.

    On October 15, after three years, Syria and Jordan opened the Nasib border crossing ( 32 ° 31'43 ″ N 36 ° 12′03 ″ E ). The transition between the Syrian-controlled part of Quneitra province and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights has also been reopened for traffic by UNDOF troops.

    At a summit meeting on October 27, 2018 in Istanbul between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan , Russian President Vladimir Putin , French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel , the participants called for the ceasefire in the Syrian rebel area in the Idlib governorate to be to enable the creation of a demilitarized zone in the event of a permanent ceasefire. In addition, the summit participants demand the formation of a constitutional committee based in Geneva (Switzerland) in order to advance a political solution in Syria. Also participated in the summit and the UN - envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura , in part.

    In heavy fighting between the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia and fighters from the US- backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Syrian governorate of Deir ez-Zor on October 27, 2018, at least 40 SDF fighters - according to other sources, 68 fighters - were killed and abducted several.

    On October 28, 2018, near the Turkish-occupied Syrian border town of Jarabulus and the city of Ain al-Arab (Kobane), the Turkish armed forces attacked positions of the US-backed Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG), which belong to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) belong.

    The SDF announced on October 31st that it would suspend its operations against the IS terrorist militia for the time being due to the Turkish attacks on the region around the city of Kobane.

    November

    The Syrian news agency SANA reported on November 1 that an IS ammunition dump with 450,000 cartridges of the 7.62 × 51 mm NATO caliber from US production was found in the city of al-Mayadin in the province of Deir ez-Zor .

    The news agency SANA reported on November 3 of an aid convoy of the Red Crescent and the UN from Damascus to the refugee camp al-Rukban in the region around al-Tanf in eastern Syria, which is occupied by US troops and armed militias . 78 trucks loaded with 450 tons of relief supplies such as food, sacks of flour and children's clothing reached the camp. The convoy was escorted by units of the Russian military police and Russian helicopters at the request of the United Nations Senior Security Advisor in Syria, Robert Marinovic. It is the first aid delivery in nine months, before the US-led coalition had blocked any aid deliveries to the area on the border with Iraq and Jordan.

    On November 4, 20 SDF fighters were wounded in a suicide attack by IS with a car bomb on an SDF checkpoint in northeast Syria. According to SOHR, there were also 12 deaths among SDF fighters, which their spokesman denied. The IS attackers had come from Hajin . According to US estimates, there are still around 2,000 IS fighters in the area.

    On November 7th, coalition forces reported that an attack by IS fighters on the gas and oil field Tanak ( 34 ° 54'23 "N 40 ° 50'02" E ) held by SDF fighters had been repulsed with the help of the US Air Force . 20 IS fighters were killed.

    On November 17, according to SOHR activists, 43 people were killed in an attack by the US Air Force on the village of Abu-al-Hassan, which is in the IS retreat area.

    In response to Turkey's attacks on the YPG from the end of October, after which the SDF temporarily suspended its operations against ISIS, the USA announced the creation of observation posts on the Turkish-Syrian border.

    Raed Fares, famous activist of the democratic uprising, founder of Radio Fresh and critic of both the government and extremists, was killed along with photographer Hamud Juneid on November 23, 2018, according to friends suspected by extremists.

    On November 25, Russian fighter planes fought rebel positions from which artillery ammunition with chlorine gas had been fired on Aleppo the day before.

    According to SOHR, Israeli fighter planes attacked several targets in Syria on the night of November 29th to 30th, including two Hezbollah depots and a Syrian army facility near Harfa ( 33 ° 16'0 "N 35 ° 54'45 ″ E ).

    December

    On December 2, US forces launched air strikes on targets in Syria, in which, according to US reports, IS leader Abu al Umarayn was killed.

    On December 9, after three years of closed borders (until October 2018), a first UN aid convoy of 370 trucks crossed the Jordanian border into Syria.

    On December 12, Turkey announced its intention to invade the areas held by the SDF east of the Euphrates , at the expense of US losses .

    On December 14th, SDF fighters reported the capture of Hajin , the last major town in Syria that was still under the control of the IS terrorist group. The remaining IS fighters would have left the place on the morning of the 14th after intense fighting and attacks by the US Air Force and given up the place.

    On December 18, Staffan de Mistura and the foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey announced in Geneva that a committee to draft a new constitution would start work in early January 2019. Its establishment dates back to the Sochi meeting in January of that year. 50 delegates each from the government, the opposition and independents nominated by the United Nations are to be represented in it. The involvement of the Kurds, who through the People's Defense Units (YPG) represent a significant power factor in the north and east of the country, remained unresolved.

    On December 19, US President Donald Trump announced the victory over the terrorist group IS via the short message service Twitter . The fight against IS was the only reason for him to be active with US troops in Syria at all. US officials then confirmed the planned withdrawal of all around 2,000 US soldiers from Syria. The news came as a surprise after US diplomat Brett McGurk had declared a week earlier that no one had declared the mission in Syria ended.

    On December 21, the Turkish President promised to wait until after the withdrawal of US troops from the area with a possible military offensive against the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (DFNS).

    On December 23, according to SOHR information and reports from the Turkish media, military units of Turkey and the Syrian rebels they controlled were concentrated on the border to Manbij , which was still held by the SDF and the retreating US troops . According to media reports, Turkish special forces have already been sent to Syria. According to SOHR, Russia meanwhile offered to station troops from the Syrian government on the border with Turkey.

    On December 25, according to Kurdish statements, Russian troops reached the city of Arima ( 36 ° 28'16 ″ N 37 ° 43′16 ″ E ) west of Manbij. A spokesman for a Syrian militia said reinforcements of Syrian government troops had been sent to Arima as part of an expected Turkish offensive. France announced that it would continue its operations against IS in Syria until the organization was defeated, the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that it would not let this stop you in the fight against the YPG.

    Also on December 25, around 10 p.m. local time, Israeli fighter planes attacked several targets in Syria with cruise missiles, according to US and SOHR reports. It is said that weapons caches southwest of Damascus were hit. According to US sources, several representatives of the Lebanese Hezbollah were also killed. According to the state news agency SANA , the air defense of the Syrian armed forces shot down several "enemy targets" west of the capital Damascus. There were several major detonations near the capital and near the air force base in Mezzeh. An Israeli official later admitted to a press agency that various attacks on the 25th targeted storage and logistics facilities in three locations in Syria used by Iranian troops to transport weapons to Hezbollah. Russian authorities had previously been informed of the attack.

    On December 28, Syrian government troops responded to a request for protection from the Syrian Kurds and sent reinforcements to Manbij, which was previously controlled by Kurds and US troops .

    On December 31, Iraqi air forces reportedly attacked a meeting of IS fighters near Deir ez-Zor .

    Individual evidence

    1. ↑ 70,000 Syrians flee as regime forces advance on last rebel-held province. The Guardian January 9, 2018.
    2. ^ Samuel Osborne: Syrian civil war: Russian jets suspected of killing at least 30 people after bombing residential buildings near Damascus. The Independent of January 4, 2018.
    3. ↑ Ralf Sanchez: Russia uses missiles and cyber warfare to fight off 'swarm of drones' attacking military bases in Syria. Telegraph dated January 9, 2017.
    4. ↑ Putin slams drone attack on Russian base in Syria as provocation. TASS dated January 11, 2018.
    5. ↑ Syria's army captured the strategically important city of Sinjar from rebels. The January 7, 2018 standard.
    6. ↑ a b Syrian army breaks rebels' siege on key military base east of Damascus. Xinhua.net January 8, 2018.
    7. ↑ Syrian army frees 200 soldiers. Handelsblatt.com from January 8, 2018.
    8. ↑ Turkey announces military operation in Syrian-Kurdish regions. Zeit.de from January 9, 2018.
    9. ↑ Reuters: Turkey Says Syrian Strikes in Idlib Undermine Political Process. New York Times January 9, 2018.
    10. ↑ Samuel Osboren: Israel attacks Syria with jets and ground-to-ground missiles, claims Syrian army. The Independent of January 9, 2018.
    11. ↑ The wave of refugees in north-west Syria is increasing. Westfalenpost from January 10, 2018.
    12. ↑ Syrian rebels launched an offensive in Idlib. The January 11, 2018 standard.
    13. ↑ Syrian forces retake all towns lost to Turkey-backed rebels in Idlib. Xinhuanet.com as of January 13, 2017.
    14. ↑ The regime forces restore control of 26 towns and villages within 24 hours of advancement and expand their areas of control in the southern countryside of Aleppo to 60 villages at least within 4 consecutive days. syriahr.com from January 13, 2018.
    15. ↑ Kareem Shaheen: Assad crackdown on Idlib could trigger a refugee 'catastrophe'. The Guardian January 13, 2018.
    16. ↑ Turkey moves military technology to the Syrian border. Sputnik News from January 14, 2018.
    17. ↑ Selin Girit: Syria crisis: Why Turkey is poised to attack Kurdish enclave Afrin. BBC January 17, 2018.
    18. ↑ Turkey attacks Kurds in Syria. Tagesspiegel.de from January 14, 2018.
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    20. ^ Syria: Turkey ground operation in Afrin begins 'de facto'. BBC January 20, 2018.
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    22. ↑ US-led coalition strikes kill 150 Islamic State militants in Syria. The Guardian January 24, 2018.
    23. ^ Inga Rogg: Turkey expands offensive in Syria. Neue Zürcher Zeitung from January 22, 2018.
    24. ^ Kurdish forces in Syria launch powerful counterattack to set up extended battle against Turkey. The Independent of January 23, 2018.
    25. ↑ Daniel Steinforth: Kurds ask Asad for assistance against Turkey. Neue Zürcher Zeitung from January 26, 2018.
    26. ^ Rebels dare fresh attack on key military base in Damascus' Eastern Ghouta. xinhuanet.com as of January 28, 2018.
    27. ^ Syrian Army artillery fires at approaching Turkish military convoy in southwest Aleppo. almasdarnews of January 30, 2018.
    28. ↑ Shelling by regime's loyal gunmen targets the route of the Turkish column headed to take position in the southern countryside of Aleppo. SOHR of January 29, 2018.
    29. ↑ In the first targeting of its kind, a bombing target a vehicle of the Turkish convoy stationed in the western countryside of Aleppo awaiting to move to areas adjacent to the regime-held areas south of the province. SOHR of January 30, 2018.
    30. ^ Anne Barnard: As Rebels Boycott, Russia Holds a Syria Peace Conference. New York Times January 30, 2018.
    31. ^ Judah Ari Gross: Reports: Israel bombed Islamic State positions in southern Syria. Times of Israel, February 1, 2018.
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    33. ^ Angus McDowall: Syrian Army Air Attacks Kill 28 in Northwest: Monitor. New York Times / Reuters February 1, 2018.
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    38. ↑ Russia goes on the offensive after shooting down an aircraft. FAZ from February 5, 2018.
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    42. ↑ Missy Ryan and Karen DeYoung: Pro-government forces attack US, Kurdish troops in eastern Syria. Washington Post February 8, 2018.
    43. ↑ Russian private army suffers heavy losses in Syria. Wiener Zeitung from February 14, 2018.
    44. ^ After the regime forces began to shell their controlled areas ... SDF and the International Coalition target positions of the regime forces by air and land and kill tens of their members and allies. SOHR of February 8, 2018.
    45. ↑ In Syria, Russian bad faith turns fatal. Washington Post February 9, 2018.
    46. ^ The regime forces take the control of a circle of 80 villages and ISIS expands in Idlib countryside after reaching it through a corridor granted to the organization by the regime. SOHR of February 9, 2018.
    47. ↑ Graphic: Scores of ISIS militants slaughtered by Syrian Army during desperate break-out offensive in Hama. almasdarnews.com
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    49. ↑ Israeli fighter jet crashed after being deployed in Syria. Welt.de from February 10, 2018.
    50. ^ Israeli fighter jet shot down by Syrian anti-aircraft fire, military says. The Telegraph of February 10, 2018.
    51. ↑ Isabel Kershner: Israel Attacks Targets in Syria After Iranian Drone Enters Israeli Airspace and Jet Crashes. New York Times February 10, 2018.
    52. ^ After the attack on Syria: Former al-Qaeda leader praises Israel's air force .
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    54. ^ Turkish T129 attack helicopter shot down in Afrin. www.aviationanalysis.net, February 10, 2018, accessed on February 10, 2018 .
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    63. ↑ Putin orders daily breaks from fighting in Eastern Ghuta. The time online from February 26, 2018.
    64. ↑ Russia accuses Syrian rebels of breaking the ceasefire. The February 27, 2018 standard.
    65. ↑ Jakob Kern and the starvation of the children in Syria. Echoes of Time , March 1, 2018.
    66. ↑ Jihadists collapse in Qaeda-held Harasta as Syrian Army secures new areas. almasdarnews.com
    67. ↑ Syrian Army releases first photos from captured East Ghouta town. almasdarnews.com
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    70. ↑ Syrian Army captures infamous Jaysh Al-Islam base in East Ghouta. almasdarnews.com
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    73. ↑ Suleiman Al-Khalidi: US-backed forces say they regain villages seized by Syrian army. Reuters April 29, 2018.
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    75. ↑ Ben Hubbard: Missile Attack in Syria Reportedly Kills at Least 16, Raising Regional Tensions. New York Times April 30, 2018.
    76. ↑ Monitor: 26 pro-regime fighters, mostly Iranians, killed in blast on Syria base. The Times of Israel, April 30, 2018.
    77. ^ Judah Ari Gross: Syria accuses Israel of striking military site south of Damascus. The Times of Israel, May 8, 2018.
    78. ↑ Oliver Holms: Israel retaliates after Iran 'fires 20 rockets' at army in occupied Golan Heights. The Guardian of May 10, 2018.
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    82. ^ Syria was: Russians killed in militant raid in Deir al-Zour. BBC May 27, 2018.
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    86. ^ US and Turkey reach agreement over Syria's Manbij. alaraby.co.uk June 14, 2018.
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    90. ↑ At least 22 civilians killed in air strikes in Daraa. Zeit.de from June 28, 2018.
    91. ↑ Julio Segador: Israel leaves borders closed. Deutschlandfunk from June 30, 2018.
    92. ↑ Syria's army intensifies offensive against rebels in the southwest. standard.at of July 11, 2018.
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    96. ^ Deal underway 'for evacuation of two Shiite-majority Idlib towns: rebel source. syriadirect.org from July 17, 2018.
    97. ^ Patrick Wintour: Israel evacuates hundreds of White Helmets in face of Syria advance. The Guardian July 22, 2018.
    98. ^ Judah Ari Gross: IDF shoots down Syrian fighter jet that entered Israeli airspace. The Times of Israel, July 24, 2018.
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    102. ↑ Russian Air Force hammers southern Idlib for 2nd straight day. almasdarnews.com
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    139. ↑ ISIS attack kills 12 US-backed fighters in eastern Syria. alarabiya.net from November 4, 2018.
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    141. ^ Sarah El Deeb: Syria civil war: US-led air strikes kill at least 40 people in Islamic State-held area, state media reports. The Independent of November 18, 2018.
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    143. ↑ Prominent Syrian activist killed. NZZ of November 24, 2018, p. 2.
    144. ↑ Russian warplanes strike rebels after alleged gas attack. AP dated November 25, 2018.
    145. ↑ Ulrich Schmid: Israel is attacking Syria again. NZZ of November 30, 2018.
    146. ↑ Ryan Browne: US-led coalition announces senior ISIS leader killed in Syria strike. CNN December 3, 2018.
    147. ↑ The UN migration summit could turn into a debacle. SRF Nachrichten of December 10, 2018.
    148. ^ Kurdish fighters in Syria. Turkey wants to attack again . taz.de . December 13, 2018. Accessed December 14, 2018.
    149. ↑ Martin Chulov: Isis withdraws from last urban stronghold in Syria. The Guardian December 14, 2018.
    150. ↑ Positive signal after eight years of war. ORF from December 18, 2018.
    151. ↑ US to pull out troops from Syria as Trump says IS “defeated”. timesofisrael.com from December 19, 2018.
    152. ^ Turkish military offensive: President Erdoğan wants to "cleanse" northern Syria of IS and YPG . Time online. December 21, 2018. Accessed December 21, 2018.
    153. ↑ Turkey masses troops near Kurdish-held town in northern Syria. The Guardian December 23, 2018.
    154. ↑ Russia offers to deploy border guards of the regime on the borderline between the two rivers and a delegation of SDF arrives in Moscow to discuss it and discuss the future of east Euphrates . In: SOHR , December 23, 2018. 
    155. ↑ a b Not France, not Damascus, no one will stop Turkey eliminating terror: FM. Kurdish news agency from December 25, 2018.
    156. ↑ Syrian army reinforced close to front with Turkish-backed forces. In: Reuters . December 25, 2018, accessed December 25, 2018 .
    157. ↑ US official says top Hezbollah brass hit in alleged Israeli strikes in Syria. Times of Israel, December 26, 2018.
    158. ↑ Syrian air defense fires at "enemy targets". In: Abendblatt.de . December 25, 2018, accessed December 25, 2018 .
    159. ↑ Photos said to show Iranian warehouse flattened by Israeli strike in Syria. Times of Israel, December 27, 2018.
    160. ↑ Syrian Kurds ask Assad for assistance against Turkey. Welt.de from December 28, 2018.
    161. ↑ Iraq attacks ISIS targets in Syria. Wiener Zeitung from January 1, 2019.