/leftypol/ - Leftist Politically Incorrect

https://x.com/upholdreality/status/1988050017282871790
Colombia President Petro: "A clan of pedophiles wants to destroy our democracy. To keep Epstein's list from coming out, they send warships to kill fishermen and threaten our neighbor with invasion for their oil. They want to turn the region into another Lybia, full of slaves."

BREAKING:

🇺🇸🇮🇱 Epstein advised Israel on how to remove Assad from power in Syria

The newly released Epstein files include multiple email exchanges between Jeffrey Epstein and former Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak — and they paint a far more substantial relationship than previously acknowledged.

Two examples stand out:

1. August 31, 2013 — Syria chemical weapons crisis

Epstein advises Barak on how to frame the U.S. debate over the impending strike on Assad following the Ghouta chemical attack.

He suggests Barak emphasize:
“the gassing of women and children is an expression from the 20th century… women are no longer equivalent to children”
Frame civilian casualties as “civilians vs. combatants only”
Compare the Syria crisis with Egypt, Russia, and Iran
Use the moment to shape U.S./international opinion

This was during a pivotal moment when Obama was weighing military action.

2. October 30, 2014 — A full draft political speech

- Epstein emails Barak what is essentially a complete speech, over 1,000 words, outlining:
- Israel’s strategic posture post–Arab Spring
- “Islamist Winter” framing
- Israel’s need to “respond strongly to any threat to our security”
- Iran, Assad, Hezbollah, Hamas
- U.S.–Israel relations and Barak’s vision for regional order
- Recommendations on how Israel should message the geopolitical environment

This was shortly after the 2014 Gaza war, at a moment when Barak was actively shaping Israeli defense doctrine and public messaging.

https://x.com/Megatron_ron/status/1989044590301573466

Rocket attack in Syria’s capital wounds one person
Explosion in the Mezzeh district of Damascus injures one woman and causes material damage, according to Syrian state media.

A woman has been injured in an explosion in the Mezzeh district of Damascus, according to Syrian state media.

Rockets were fired at a home in Syria’s capital on Friday night, causing the injury as well as material damage, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

The attack in the city’s western Mezzeh 86 neighbourhood was caused by “unknown assailants,” state media said.

A security source told state TV channel al-Ikhbariya that security forces have launched an investigation into the circumstances of the incident and are pursuing those responsible.

SANA reported that the party behind the attack and the exact weapons “remain unknown so far.”

However it added that the rockets were fired from a mobile launcher.

Al Jazeera Arabic’s correspondent in Damascus said that the area targeted was entirely civilian, explaining that the targeted area included buildings and diplomatic headquarters.

The reporter added that the attack comes at a time when the Syrian Interior Ministry is continuing its security campaigns.

An Associated Press journalist at the scene meanwhile said that security forces cordoned off the area and prevented anyone from getting close to the building that was struck.

Explosions aren’t uncommon in the Syrian capital, but have decreased in recent months.

Since the fall of Bashar Assad’s government in December last year by insurgents who took over his seat of power in the capital, there have been several explosions in Damascus.

Israel has also carried out hundreds of airstrikes around the country since the end of the 54-year Assad dynasty, mainly targeting assets of the Syrian army.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11/14/rocket-attack-in-syrias-capital-wounds-one-person

Galloway monologue on Jolani's most recent visit to the US.

MintPress News -
A recent report has revealed that UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's National Security Adviser, Jonathan Powell, established a secret backchannel between British intelligence and a proscribed Syrian terror group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), in 2023.

In 2023, while running his mediation charity, Inter Mediate, Powell was tasked with creating contact between MI6 and HTS.

This information adds to existing controversy around Jonathan Powell's appointment as National Security Adviser. He has previously advocated for Western negotiation with adversaries, including suggesting in 2014 that the West should negotiate with ISIS extremists, which was met with significant criticism. The recent revelation intensifies scrutiny of his position and the government's national security strategy.

https://x.com/s_m_marandi/status/1992607597099389113
Marandi - "This is what the alliance of the US, Netanyahu, Erdogan, and Qatar has done to Syria. Al-Qaeda and ISIS thugs are murdering minorities and looting their shops in Homs today."
[Video]

Five killed in huge ammunition dump blast in Syrian town of Kafr Takharim
A massive explosion has rocked the town of Kafr Takharim in Syria’s Idlib province, killing at least five people

A huge explosion rocked the town of Kafr Takharim in Idlib province in northwestern Syria on Wednesday, killing five people and injuring nine others, The New Arab's affiliate Syria TV reported.

Activists shared videos on the X showing a massive smoke cloud rising from Kafr Takharim with initial reports of tens injuries.

Syria TV said the explosion that was due to an ammunition depot exploding, after initial reports speculated that it could have been the result of an airstrike by the US-led international coalition against the Islamic State group.

Many olive trees in the surrounding area were also destroyed, according to Syria TV, and the casualties included workers working in olive tree fields.

Arms and ammunition depot explosions are common in Syria, which has been the scene of brutal conflict for 14 years and where weapons are often not properly secured, while bombs have also detonated as they are stripped down for scrap metal.

Last July, an arms depot belonging to the Turkistan Islamic Party - an armed group made up of Uyghurs who fled to Syria from China - exploded in the town of Maaret Misrin killing 12 people and injuring over 100.

There was widespread outrage in Syria after this incident. Syrian emergency response minister Raed al-Saleh at the time stressed "the need to unite the efforts of ministries, institutions and local bodies to limit the risks of unexploded ordnance and war remnants".

https://www.newarab.com/news/five-killed-huge-blast-syrian-town-kafr-takharim

A Case for Baʿathist Syria as the Most Successful Socialist State in History

To argue that Baʿathist Syria represented the most successful form of socialism, one can claim that Syria achieved something rare among socialist-oriented states: durable national cohesion, economic stability under siege, social development gains, and an independent geopolitical posture without collapsing into internal famine, economic implosion, or wholesale dependency on a superpower.

This argument can be framed in several pillars:

1. Long-Term Stability and Sovereignty

Where many socialist projects collapsed (e.g., USSR, Yugoslavia, most Arab socialist regimes), Syria’s Baʿathist state:

Survived from 1963 onward, maintaining state continuity for decades.

Withstood intense regional pressures: war with Israel, isolation by the West, sanctions, and the Iran–Iraq War spillover.

Never became a satellite of either Cold War bloc.
It partnered with the USSR yet maintained strategic autonomy, foreign policy independence, and nonalignment.

Case point:
Syria accomplished what many socialist states could not: durable sovereignty under conditions designed to break it.

2. A Mixed Socialist Economy That Actually Worked

Many socialist economies failed due to over-centralization. Syria developed a hybrid model:

State-owned commanding heights (oil, utilities, heavy industry, banks).

Private market activity allowed in agriculture, retail, construction, and small commerce.

Guaranteed public-sector jobs created a middle class with stable income and low unemployment.

Food self-sufficiency was largely achieved, uncommon in the Arab world.

Syria avoided the disastrous supply shortages that marked many socialist economies.

The result:
A system where the state controlled enough to prevent inequality from exploding, yet not so much that innovation or small enterprise died.

3. Exceptional Social Development Indicators for the Region

Baʿathist Syria invested heavily in:

Universal education (one of the highest literacy rates in the Arab world pre-2011).

Free healthcare with wide rural penetration.

Women's education and workforce participation increasing significantly under Baʿathist rule.

Massive expansion of infrastructure: electrification, water systems, roads, and rural schools.

From the 1970s to early 2000s, Syria achieved:

Life expectancy higher than many wealthier regional states.

Infant mortality reduced dramatically.

Near-universal basic education.

All achieved while under sanctions and without oil wealth comparable to Gulf states.

4. A Strong Secular State in a Sectarian Region

The Baʿathist model created:

A multiethnic, multi-sect state where sectarian identity was suppressed in favor of national identity.

Protection for minorities (Christians, Druze, Alawites, Ismailis, Armenians).

Strict secularism that prevented the rise of sectarian militias common elsewhere.

This stands out because many neighboring states fractured along sectarian lines.
Syria, by contrast, maintained a cohesive national identity for decades.

5. Resistance Economy Under Siege

From 1979 onward, Syria lived under layers of sanctions and economic warfare.

Yet it remained functional:

No large-scale famine or humanitarian collapse occurred prior to 2011.

The state provided subsidized food, fuel, transportation, and education.

Public-sector employment cushioned families from global market shocks.

Syria developed domestic industries to avoid dependency.

The “resistance economy” showcased resilience unmatched by many other socialist or anti-imperialist states, which often collapsed under similar pressure.

6. The Most Enduring Arab Socialist Ideology

While other Arab socialist regimes fell—Nasser’s Egypt, Qaddafi’s Jamahiriya, Saddam’s Iraq—Syria’s Baʿathist government:

Survived coups, wars, sanctions, and internal conflict.

Maintained its ideological framework even as others abandoned socialism for neoliberalism.

Showed longevity and institutional cohesion unmatched in the region.

From an ideological standpoint, Baʿathist Syria was the last surviving coherent Arab socialist state.

Conclusion: A “Success Story” Defined by Durability, Stability, and Social Gains

The argument is essentially that:

Unlike the USSR, it didn’t collapse.

Unlike Cuba, it maintained a more diversified and less fragile economy.

Unlike China or Vietnam, it didn’t shift into full-blown capitalism.

Unlike other Arab socialist states, it didn’t implode into sectarian fragmentation until external pressures sparked the 2011 conflict.

And compared to all socialist experiments, it balanced state socialism with limited markets, national sovereignty with international alliances, secularism with pluralism, and social welfare with stability.

Thus, the claim would be:

Baʿathist Syria succeeded because it built a socialist-oriented state that was durable, sovereign, socially developmental, economically resilient, and uniquely stable under extraordinary external pressures — more so than any comparable socialist project in the 20th or 21st centuries.

>>492476
Is this LLM generated?

German–Syrian activist urges Berlin to keep asylum as Syria’s new rulers face abuse claims
——
Chancellor Friedrich Merz says Syrians no longer need asylum after Assad’s fall, but Tareq Alaow of Pro Asyl warns Syria is still unsafe.

He says hopes after Assad’s ouster collapsed once Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly Mohammad al-Julani, took power, accusing the new authorities of targeting minorities, LGBTQ+ people, and women. UN figures report about 1,400 civilians killed in March clashes with Alawite communities, alongside torture and sectarian killings. Similar abuses were later documented against Druze areas.

Sharaa, once under a $10 million US bounty, is now internationally recognized. Tareq says world powers are “legitimizing jihadists,” warning this could spark a new refugee wave.

He insists deportations “won’t work,” saying Syrians flee violence, not Europe’s policies. Real returns require safety and accountability, conditions he says do not exist in a country awash with weapons and renewed persecution.

https://x.com/TheCradleMedia/status/1996530992299823197

https://x.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/1998165702315032806
STREET CLASHES IN LEBANON

Unrest unfolds in Lebanon as supporters of the Syrian government hold demonstrations marking one year since Assad's fall, blocking roads and clashing with residents, prompting Lebanese Army deployment, while counter-rallies by Hezbollah and Amal are held in Beirut's southern suburbs.

>>492554
hehe

>>492613
yikes

YPG Rojava Kurdish LGBT gay queer trans refugee

MintPress News: "Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that Israel will not withdraw from the Syrian territories it recently seized following the fall of Assad in December 2024, and intends to maintain control over them.

Speaking at a conference for Israeli diplomats on Sunday, December 7, 2025, Netanyahu said that Israel's forces would remain in the areas they have occupied in southern Syria, including the strategic Mount Hermon and the UN-patrolled buffer zone adjacent to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights."

From Ibrahim Majed, via Twitter: A convoy of Syrian government (HTS) forces passed directly in front of an Israeli patrol as it was setting up a checkpoint on the Khan Arnabeh–al-Koum road in the Quneitra countryside, southern Syria.

Ironically, the convoy itself was part of a self-styled “celebration of liberation”, fighters parading to mark what they claim is Syria’s return to freedom and sovereignty.
Yet even in their moment of triumph, they found themselves slowing down to pass an Israeli checkpoint on Syrian territory.

For a group that claims to have “liberated” the country, the image is hard to ignore: armed men asserting their authority while quietly yielding to an Israeli checkpoint on Syrian soil.
It’s a scene that says more than any political statement.
Israel today operates in southern Syria with a level of comfort and freedom unmatched at any point in the conflict.

In this new landscape, Abu Mohammad al-Joulani increasingly resembles a modern-day Eli Cohen, only this time, the project didn’t end in failure.
It ended with him being presented as Syria’s new president.

https://x.com/ibrahimtmajed/status/1998403926027067834

Shells hit near Damascus airport with no reported damage
——
Shells of unknown origin landed near Damascus’s Mezzeh military airport on Tuesday, according to state-run Al-Ekhbariya TV. SANA later confirmed that three shells hit the airport area but caused no injuries or property damage.

Four missile launchers were discovered, SANA said, though it did not specify who was behind the attack or where the launchers were located.

Yesterday, SANA reported hearing an explosion around Damascus, noting that the incident was being examined.

https://x.com/TheCradleMedia/status/1998690852835602883

https://x.com/ME_Observer_/status/2001633831552716882
Syria:
Militants raise ISIS flags on the Aleppo-Damascus international highway in southern Idlib countryside.

Masked militants raise ISIS flags and set up mobile checkpoints on the Aleppo-Damascus international highway at several locations in southern Idlib countryside.

Trump says US launched large-scale attacks on ISIL in Syria
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says attacks are ‘a declaration of vengeance’, and ‘lots’ of fighters have been killed.

The United States military is “striking very seriously against ISIS [ISIL] strongholds in Syria”, President Donald Trump said, a week after two US soldiers and an interpreter were killed in Syria’s Palmyra city.

“Because of ISIS’s vicious killing of brave American Patriots in Syria… I am hereby announcing that the United States is inflicting very serious retaliation, just as I promised, on the murderous terrorists responsible,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday.

Details on the number of people injured or killed in the barrage of strikes were not immediately available.

Trump said that Syria’s government, which was formed after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in late 2024, was “fully in support” of the US military operation.

Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also repeated its commitment to combating ISIL and said it “invites the United States and member states of the international coalition to support these efforts”.

“The Syrian Arab Republic reiterates its steadfast commitment to fighting ISIS and ensuring that it has no safe havens on Syrian territory, and will continue to intensify military operations against it wherever it poses a threat,” the ministry said in the statement shared on X early on Saturday.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said earlier that US forces had targeted “ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites”, adding that the attack was named Operation Hawkeye Strike.

“This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” Hegseth said in a post on social media. “Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue.”

A US official described it as “a large-scale” strike that hit 70 targets in areas across central Syria that had IS infrastructure and weapons. Another US official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations, told The Associated Press news agency more strikes should be expected.

Two US officials, also speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Reuters news agency that the air strikes were against dozens of ISIL targets across central Syria.

…

The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM), which is responsible for operations in the Middle East, said it deployed “fighter jets, attack helicopters, and artillery” to launch “more than 100 precision munitions targeting known ISIS infrastructure and weapons sites”. But it did not provide further details on the locations or casualties.

CENTCOM said that “the Jordanian Armed Forces also supported with fighter aircraft”.

Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan, reporting earlier from Washington, DC, said the Syrian government appeared to have “signed off” on the US operation.

…

Three Americans – two US National Guard members and a civilian interpreter – were killed last weekend in the central Syrian town of Palmyra by an attacker who targeted a convoy of US and Syrian forces before being shot dead, according to the US military.

Three US soldiers were also wounded in the attack. The US blamed that attack on ISIL and promised to retaliate.

About 1,000 US troops are stationed in Syria.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/20/trump-says-us-launched-large-scale-attacks-on-isil-in-syria

>>492832
Haven't heard about "ISIL" in a while. I thought they'd given up on all these other phony English acronyms at the end of the Obama administration.

https://x.com/TheCradleMedia/status/2002369080011919869
yria's self-appointed President Ahmad al-Sharaa, on his new official X account, released a video yesterday:

"Great Syrian people, peace be upon you and God’s mercy and blessings.

From Mount Qasioun, I congratulate you on the lifting of sanctions on Syria. Today marks the first day of a Syria free from sanctions, thanks to God and to your patience and sacrifices over 14 years.

Deep gratitude to all who endured hardship, displacement, and loss, and to the martyrs whose sacrifices led us to this moment. This victory is crowned by the complete removal of restrictions on Syria.

I extend sincere thanks to President Donald Trump, members of the US Congress, and to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Prince Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, and all Arab, Islamic, and European countries that supported the Syrian people.

Great Syrian people, today is your day. The time of pain has ended, and the time of rebuilding has begun. Together, we will build Syria."

>>492833
All that was old is new again.
All that was fake is gay again.

>>492841
>I extend sincere thanks to President Donald Trump, members of the US Congress, and to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Called it, he looks like a grifter.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry under Jolani has published a map of Syria which is missing the parts occupied by Israel and Turkiye.

>>492847
Cucklani

>>492847
Does it include the areas occupied by the United States?

>>492849
Not sure.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/22/clashes-between-syrian-army-kurdish-led-sdf-break-out-in-aleppo

Clashes between Kurds and Syrian Army in Aleppo.
Aren't you glad the Syrian Civil War is over and the country is finally in stable hands?

BreakThrough News | Syria After Assad: Minorities Massacred as Israel Occupies the South w/ Elijah Magnier
A new, pro-Western regime led by former ISIS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa is now in power in Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Meanwhile, Israel conducts raids at will, occupies parts of the south, and pro-government forces conduct massacres against the Alawite population. And the country, now weakened and fragmented, has become a battleground for influence between Turkey and Israel.

Veteran war correspondent and geopolitical analyst Elijah Magnier joins Rania Khalek and Zoe Alexandra to break down what the events of the past year mean for the region, Palestine and the Axis of Resistance, and the people of Syria.

https://x.com/ShaykhSulaiman/status/2004525682412658693
JUST IN: EXPLOSION AT IMAM ALI MOSQUE, HOMS, SYRIA

>>492931
per AJ:

At least eight people ‍have been killed and more than 18 injured when an explosion ⁠struck an Alawite mosque ​in Syria’s Homs province, according to local officials.

The attack targeted the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi al-Dahab neighbourhood of Homs during Friday prayers, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

Footage verified by Al Jazeera showed people fleeing the mosque in panic, placing some victims on stretchers and carrying others, wrapped in cloaks, to ambulances.

The blast appeared to have taken place in the corner of the mosque’s main prayer hall, leaving a small crater in the wall and scorching the surrounding area, with prayer carpets ripped and strewn with debris, and books and fragments scattered across the floor.

Local officials told the Reuters news agency the blast ‌may have been ‌caused by ⁠a suicide bomber or explosives placed there.

…

A group that calls itself Saraya Ansar al-Sunna has claimed responsibility for the attack, warning that its attacks will “continue and escalate”.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/26/explosion-at-mosque-in-syrias-homs-kills-three-report

"Saraya Ansar al-Sunna" was founded on February 1st of this year.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saraya_Ansar_al-Sunnah
"a Sunni Islamist militant organization operating in Syria and Lebanon, described as anti-Shia, anti-Alawite, anti-Druze, and anti-Christian. Its stated goal is to establish an Islamic State in Syria that excludes Alawites, Druze, Christians, and Shia."

Wow, they sure hate a lot of Abrahamic religious groups. Did they leave any big ones out?

https://x.com/TheCradleMedia/status/2005244245225935139
VIDEO | Massive Alawite protests in the cities of Tartous, Jableh, Latakia, Salhab, Masyaf, Draykish, Safita, Qardaha, the Alawite neighborhoods of Homs, and surrounding areas, calling for federalism.

https://x.com/HadiNasrallah/status/2005737674272116799
Syrian regime terrorists are attacking Alawite neighborhoods, destroying property and terrorizing civilians. They filmed themselves beating an Alawite child who was trying to get bread for his family, forcing him to “accept Islam” and renounce Alawites
(video)

>>493020
>>493022
People act like Hamas do things like this, but then it's the US-backed forces that are in actuality doing things like this

>>493026
Speaking, of: >>492932

Suicide bomber kills at least one police officer in Syria’s Aleppo
Officials say a ‘terrorist’ detonated suicide belt as officers protecting New Year’s Eve festivities tried to detain him.

A suicide bomber targeted a group of Syrian police officers in the city of Aleppo killing one member of the security forces and wounding two others, the official news agency SANA reported.

Syria’s Interior Ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba told Al-Ikhbariah TV that the original target of the attack on Wednesday was likely a church gathering in the city’s Bab al-Faraj neighbourhood.

“We were able to thwart this attack, although unfortunately the martyrdom of one of our colleagues is a great loss,” al-Baba said.

The Aleppo governorate administration said the assailant blew himself up after officers approached to detain him.

“The relevant authorities are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the incident and have imposed a security perimeter around the site,” it said.

Azzam al-Gharib, the governor of the province, said security forces observed the “terrorist agent” and tried to arrest him while securing New Year’s Eve celebrations in the city.

“One of the security officers managed to physically restrain him. At that point the terrorist detonated his explosive belt,” al-Gharib said in a statement.

The wounded officers are receiving treatment at a hospital, he added, without providing details about their condition.

No group has claimed responsibility for the suicide blast in Aleppo so far.

The incident, hours before the New Year arrived, follows the bombing of an Alawite mosque in Homs that killed at least eight people on Friday.

…

On Sunday, deadly clashes erupted between Alawite demonstrators and counter-protesters that erupted across several coastal regions. Al-Assad – who fled to Russia after the armed opposition took over the capital Damascus in a lightening offensive – is a member of Syria’s Alawite minority community.

Separately, earlier this month, US forces carried out strikes across central Syria against what they said were ISIL (ISIS) remnants after a gunman from the group killed two American soldiers and an accompanying civilian translator.

Sporadic clashes have also been breaking out between government forces and the Kurdish-dominated Syria Democratic Forces who control the much of the northeast of the country.

In southern Syria, Israel has been expanding its occupation beyond the Golan Heights, regularly setting up checkpoints in Syrian towns, carrying out raids, and abducting and disappearing Syrian citizens without provocation.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/31/suicide-bomber-kills-at-least-one-police-officer-in-syrias-aleppo

https://pmli.it/articoli/2015/20151015_scuderiletussupporttheislamicstate.html
PMLI - Scuderi: Let us support the Islamic State against the imperialist holy alliance

>>493094
Incredible that they felt the need to publish it in English

>>493094
What is this weird gibberish?

>>493094
Well, that was a bit ironic in retrospect, huh?!

He got one thing right here, which is that Italy shouldn't have participated in the war. The takfiris are agents of imperialism, but any military involvement taken by the existing Italian state would necessarily be part of a broader imperialist terror strategy anyway. Both support for takfiris and western war "against" them are fronts for imperialism.

There are apparently rumors that Jolani might have been shot in the presidential palace a couple days ago.
Seriously unlikely… like, I highly doubt that anything about this is true, Kevork Almassian just mentioned the rumor, and he's not sure about it either.

>>493321
If he actually is dead, we might have a situation like Pakistan on Syrias hands.

>>493322
What does that mean?

>>493322
Kevork says the most likely outcome would be jihadi infighting chaos (which Israel would take advantage of) - which seems likely, but Pakistan also possible.

Fighting between Syrian army, Kurdish-led SDF intensifies as thousands flee Aleppo
Intense fighting between the Syrian Army and Kurdish-led forces in the city of Aleppo has forced tens of thousands of people to leave their homes.
Two Kurdish neighbourhoods are at the heart of the conflict.
The escalation comes after the Syrian government held talks in Damascus with an SDF delegation, about integrating fighters into the national army.

Syria imposes curfew in Aleppo districts as army, SDF clashes intensify
Authorities says curfew will be in place ‘until further notice’ amid clashes between Syrian army and Kurdish-led forces.

Authorities in Syria have imposed a curfew in several neighbourhoods of Aleppo city, as clashes intensified between the country’s military and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The Aleppo Internal Security Command said in a statement on Thursday that a curfew was imposed “until further notice” in the neighbourhoods of Ashrafieh, Sheikh Maqsoud, Bani Zeid, al-Siryan, al-Hullok and al-Midan.

…

More than 100,000 civilians have fled their homes in Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud since fighting broke out between the Syrian military and the SDF earlier this week, the director of the media department in Aleppo told Al Jazeera.

Rana Issa, 43, whose family fled the Ashrafieh neighbourhood under sniper fire on Thursday, told the AFP news agency that “many people want to leave” but are afraid of being shot.

“We’ve gone through very difficult times,” Issa said. “My children were terrified.”

The clashes come as talks on how to implement a March 2025 agreement to integrate the SDF, which has controlled large swaths of territory in Syria’s north and northeast, into the country’s state institutions faltered.

At least 22 people have been killed and 173 others wounded in Aleppo this week, as the Syrian military accused the SDF of targeting civilian areas with artillery and mortar shells.

The Kurdish-led group has denied the allegations, saying this week’s casualties were caused by “indiscriminate” artillery and missile shelling by factions aligned with the government in Damascus.

Late on Thursday, the Syrian Ministry of Interior said government forces had begun deploying in the Ashrafieh area “following the withdrawal of armed groups affiliated with the SDF”.

Reporting from an Aleppo hospital on Thursday evening, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar said the sound of heavy shelling could be heard from the facility as medical workers struggled to treat wounded patients.

“The situation is escalating further and further,” said Serdar, adding that Aleppo is experiencing the “fiercest” fighting since the removal of longtime Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

“We’re hearing artillery shelling, one after another,” he said.

read more:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/8/syria-imposes-curfew-in-aleppo-districts-as-army-sdf-clashes-intensify

Live updates:
Kurdish SDF fighters pull out of Aleppo after deadly battles
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2026/1/11/syria-live-sdf-fighters-pull-out-of-aleppo-after-deadly-battles

Video description by Daniel Mayakovski:
See how "democracy" arrived in Syria, Al Qaeda/ISIS terrorists from al-Jolani, supported by the USA, UK, and Europe, are throwing Kurdish women from the floors of the buildings they bomb in Aleppo.

The same ones who say they want to "bring freedom to women" in Iran are the ones who support these Salafist criminals in Syria who have been relentlessly massacring ethnic and religious minorities since December 2024.

SDF says fighters remain besieged in Deir Hafer, Maskana
The SDF has issued a statement saying groups of its fighters “remain” besieged in Deir Hafer and Maskana “as a result of the Damascus government’s treachery and violation of the internationally sponsored agreement”.

The Kurdish-led group alleged that its fighters were attacked by tanks in violation of the agreement which had stipulated a 48-hour period for withdrawal and called for guarantees of safe passage.

There was no immediate comment by the Syrian government.

https://aje.news/kf2uzy?update=4246731

Syrian army says troops advancing towards Tabqa military airport
The Syrian army says its soldiers are now advancing towards the Tabqa military airport from several directions to establish control and “expel the PKK terrorist militias and remnants of the defunct regime”, according to state media.

The army command called on to residents to stay away from the area.

“We urge our civilian population to stay away from this site, which is being used by the PKK terrorist militias and remnants of the former regime, allies of the SDF, as a launching point for their terrorist operations against Syrians and their army,” it added.

https://aje.news/kf2uzy?update=4246687

SDF says its fighters engaged in ‘intense clashes’ south of Tabqa
The SDF has accused Syrian government-linked factions of breaching a signed agreement by attacking its fighters south of Tabqa, a city in Syria’s Raqqa governorate.

“Our forces are currently engaged in intense clashes with factions affiliated with the Damascus government, following their breach of the signed agreement,” the SDF Media Center said in a statement said, adding that the area was outside the scope of the deal.

https://aje.news/kf2uzy?update=4247008

Syrian army announces capture of two oilfields near Tabqa
Syrian Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa, citing the Army Operations Command, has announced that troops have seized control of the Safyan oil field, the Rasafa junction, and the Thawra oil field near the city of Tabqa.

The Syrian army has also confirmed the development to Al Jazeera.

Kurdish forces still control some of Syria’s largest oil fields in the Deir Az Zor province, however, Syria’s government has said that those fields must be managed by the authorities.

https://aje.news/kf2uzy?update=4246585

Syrian army claims to have gained full control of Maskana
The Syrian Arab Army Operations Authority has announced that it has taken full control of Maskana, and forces have begun heading towards the town of Dibsi Afnan, according to SANA state news agency.

The authority noted that “hundreds” of SDF members had surrendered to the army.

“The army has taken control of 34 villages and towns in the eastern Aleppo countryside, while securing the exit of more than 200 SDF members with their weapons,” the authority said.

It also called on residents not to enter areas in the eastern Aleppo countryside until the army has finished securing them and removing mines and war remnants.

https://aje.news/kf2uzy?update=4247022