Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Iraq

Four killed in Sulaimani drone attack

2025-01-31

[Rudaw] A drone targeted a car on Monday killing four people and injuring another in Sulaimani province’s Hajiawa district, according to local police.

“A drone bombed a Toyota Land Cruiser in Hajiawa, killing four people,” Daru Qadir, spokesperson for the Raparin police, told Rudaw, adding that the victims have yet to be identified.

Hajiawa is affiliated to the Raparin administration.

One person was slightly injured as he was riding his motorcycle past the site targeted by the drone, according to Mustafa Rasoul, director of the Raparin police.

He added that two of the victims who lost their lives were women, while the other two were men.

The victims were from northeast Syria (Rojava), according to information obtained by Rudaw’s Abubakir Ismail. Locals told Rudaw that they witnessed the moment a white drone struck the car.

It is not clear who carried out the attack but Turkey has previously carried out many airstrikes in the area, targeting alleged Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) members.

PKK media blamed Turkey for the attack.

Link

Iraq

Sulaimani counter-terrorism forces arrest several ISIS suspects

2025-01-10

[Rudaw] Sulaimani-based counter-terrorism forces on Wednesday announced the arrest of several Islamic State (ISIS) suspects in the Sharazur district during an intelligence-led operation.

In a statement, the General Directorate of Counter-Terrorism (CTG) said they arrested “a number of” ISIS suspects, hailing from Salahaddin province.

It elaborated that the suspects were involved in “several terrorist acts and human rights violations” and had held various positions within ISIS when the group controlled swathes of Iraqi land during its three-year reign which began in 2014.

The CTG said that the arrests were conducted swiftly, with no reported harm, and the individuals have been transferred to courts for legal proceedings, emphasizing that the directorate “will continue its operations to arrest and destroy all terrorists and sleeping cells of ISIS throughout Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.”

ISIS remains a significant security threat in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, operating through sleeper cells and launching sporadic attacks despite its territorial.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Did Assad Make a Bombshell Deal With Israel to Spare His Life?

2024-12-20

[PJMedia] Deposed Syrian dictator Bashir al-Assad'>Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Bashir <q>Pencilneck</q> al-Assad

Supressor of the Damascenes...
fled to Russia less than two weeks ago, but his escape may have been facilitated by the Israelis in exchange for bombshell information. Literally.

First, though, Assad is enjoying his rest in Moscow, where he and his family have been granted asylum, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. But not all is well for Assad, despite the protection he now enjoys and the wealth he absconded with.

Hudson Institute's Michael Doran just revealed the terms of Assad's asylum:

Bashar is strictly prohibited from engaging in political activity or leaving Moscow without prior approval from Russian authorities.

Asma al-Assad filed for divorce through a Russian court and requested permission to leave Moscow for London; her request is still under review.

Bashar is barred from accessing or managing his movable and immovable assets until a decision is made by the relevant authorities. His assets in Russia include 270 kilograms of gold, $2 billion, and 18 apartments in the "City of Capitals" complex located in Moscow's prestigious skyscraper district.

Maher al-Assad has not yet been granted asylum; his request remains under review. He and his family are currently under house arrest.

That third point has got to stick in Assad's throat. He stole that money fair and square, but now Vladimir Putin will take his cut — presumably significant. I'm rather amused that Asma has filed for divorce now that Bashar has lost power. I'm not sure even DOCTOR Jill Biden is so audaciously crass, but I suppose we'll learn for certain next year after Joe hits the bricks.

You might have noticed over the last week or two that the Israeli Air Force has done an almost miraculous job of eliminating much of what's left of Assad's Syrian Arab Army. Syria's air defenses, ammo depots, illicit chemical weapons facilities... they all went boom. Estimates are that the IAF destroyed something like 85% of the SAA's combat power in a matter of days before it could fall into the hands of ISIS or HTS.

I always knew that Mossad had great intel on Syria, but that good, really? And if Israeli intelligence is that good, why didn't the IAF shoot the hated Assad out of the sky as he tried to escape?

Well, according to Open Source Intel, "Middle Eastern media is buzzing with reports citing Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper that a 'reliable source' revealed Bashar al-Assad provided Israel with a detailed list of weapons depots, missile systems, and warplanes as a guarantee that Israel would not target him during his exit from Syria."

"Israel's subsequent precision strikes on Syrian targets lend credibility to these claims, suggesting the information was genuine and not fabricated."

If true, Israel was able to destroy the military of one of its most implacable enemies, and all it cost was allowing the delivery of that enemy into the tender mercies of Vladimir Putin.

Such a bargain!

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime has disrupted the Middle East’s largest drug network, exposing Syria’s role in industrial-scale Captagon production

2024-12-19

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime has disrupted the Middle East’s largest drug network, exposing Syria’s role in industrial-scale Captagon production, a stimulant fueling a $10 billion global trade.

Assad’s regime relied on Captagon to sustain power, with the Fourth Armored… pic.twitter.com/y5oUkUnqrS
— Clash Report (@clashreport) December 18, 2024

… with the Fourth Armored Division, led by Maher al-Assad, managing production and distribution.

The New Lines Institute estimated regime earnings at $2.5 billion annually.

Hezbollah, Assad’s key ally, played a major role in facilitating Captagon trafficking, especially in southern Syria.

Source: WSJ

Link

Iraq

Iraq denies hosting Maher al-Assad: Ministry

2024-12-18

[Rudaw] Iraq’s interior ministry on Monday denied that Maher al-Assad, the brother of ousted Syrian President Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
, is in the country.

The latest report we have, from four days ago, quotes Rami Abdurrhaman, who does the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, as claiming Mr. al Assad had arrived in Russia.

"The news on social media about the presence of Maher al-Assad, the brother of former Syrian President Bashir al-Assad, inside Iraqi territory is false," Miqdad Miri, the spokesperson for the Iraqi interior ministry told state media.

Several outlets on Monday reported that Maher al-Assad fled Syria and now resides in Iraq, particularly in the Kurdistan Region’s Sulaimani province, claiming that he is hosted by Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani.

Kurdistan Region authorities have not commented on the matter.

On Saturday, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which govern northeast Syria (Rojava), denied rumors of allowing Maher al-Assad’s passage through its territory into Iraq. The SDF called the claim "completely false and comes in the context of incitement against our forces and people in northern and eastern Syria."

The SDF enjoys good relations with the PUK.

The Assad family fled Syria after a lightning rebel offensive spearheaded by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else

Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else

...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
(HTS) brought down the Syrian regime, ending over 50 years of Baathist rule.

Following the fall of Damascus, Russian forces evacuated Assad, and his family from Syria and granted them asylum in Moscow.

In his first message after the collapse of the regime, Assad said on Monday that his departure from the country was not planned and that Russia had arranged his evacuation to Moscow, from a military base in Latakia, where he was overseeing the operations.

Assad said in his message that the country has fallen "in the hands of terrorists."

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Bashar al-Assad’s inner circle: Who are they and where are they now?

2024-12-14

[IsraelTimes] Some Syrian regime officials believed to have entered Lebanon with fake identification; ousted president and brother most likely in Russia

After bully boyz toppled Syrian President Bashir al-Assad this month, many bigwigs and members of his dreaded intelligence and security services appear to have melted away. Activists say some of them have managed to flee the country while others went to hide in their hometowns.

For more than five decades, the Assad family has ruled Syria with an iron grip, locking up those who dared question their power in the country’s notorious prisons, where rights groups say inmates were regularly tortured or killed.

The leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
murderous Moslem group — which led anti-government fighters who forced Assad from power — has vowed to bring those who carried out such abuses to justice.

"We will go after them in our country," said HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was previously known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani. He added that the group will also ask foreign countries to hand over any suspects.

But finding those responsible for abuses could prove difficult.

Some 8,000 Syrian citizens have entered Leb
Leb

...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
through the Masnaa border crossing in recent days, according to two Lebanese security officials and a judicial official, and about 5,000 have left the neighboring country through Beirut’s international airport. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Most of those are presumed to be regular people, and Lebanon’s Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said earlier this week that no Syrian official entered Lebanon through a legal border crossing.

In an apparent effort to prevent members of Assad’s government from escaping, the security officials said a Lebanese officer who was in charge of Masnaa was ordered to go on vacation because of his links to Assad’s brother.

But Rami Abdurrhaman, who heads the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says several senior officers have nonetheless made it to neighboring Lebanon using travel documents with fake names.

Here’s a look at al-Assad and some of the officials in his inner circle.

Bashir al-Assad
The Western-educated ophthalmologist initially raised hopes that he would be unlike his strongman father, Hafez, when he took power in 2000, including freeing political prisoners and allowing for a more open discourse.

But when protests of his rule erupted in March 2011, Assad turned to brutal tactics to crush dissent. As the uprising became an outright civil war, he unleashed his military to blast opposition-held cities, with support from allies Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
and Russia.

He has fled to Moscow, according to Russian state media.

Maher al-Assad
The younger brother of the ousted president was the commander of the 4th Armored Division, which Syrian opposition activists have accused of killings, torture, extortion and drug trafficking, in addition to running its own detention centers. He is under US and European sanctions. He disappeared over the weekend, and Abdurrhaman said he made it to Russia.

Last year, French authorities issued an international arrest warrant for Maher Assad, along with his brother and two army generals, for alleged complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity, including in a 2013 chemical attack on rebel-held Damascus suburbs.

Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk
Mamlouk was a security adviser to Assad and former head of the intelligence services. He is wanted in Lebanon for two explosions in the northern city of Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
in 2012 that killed and maimed dozens.

Mamlouk is also wanted in La Belle France after a court convicted him and others in absentia of complicity in war crimes and sentenced them to life in prison. The trial focused on the officials’ role in the 2013 arrest in Damascus of a Franco-Syrian man and his son and their subsequent torture and killing.

Abdurrahman said Mamlouk fled to Lebanon, and it is not clear if he is still in the country under the protection of Hezbollah.

Brig. Gen. Suheil al-Hassan
Al-Hassan was the commander of the 25th Special Missions Forces Division and later became the head of the Syrian Special Forces, which were key to many of the government’s battlefield victories in the long-running civil war, including in Aleppo and the eastern suburbs of Damascus that long-held off Assad’s troops.

Al-Hassan is known to have close ties to Russia and was praised by Russian President Vladimir Putin
...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances...
during one of his visits to Syria. al-Hassan’s whereabouts are not known.

Maj. Gen. Hussam Luka
Luka, head of the General Security Directorate intelligence service, is not well known among the wider public but has played a major role in the crackdown against the opposition, mainly in the central city of Homs which was dubbed the "capital of the Syrian revolt."

Luka has been sanctioned by the US and Britannia for his role in the crackdown. It is not clear where he is.

Maj. Gen. Qahtan Khalil
Khalil, whose whereabouts are also unknown, was head of the Air Force intelligence service and is widely known as the "Butcher of Daraya" for allegedly leading a 2012 attack on a Damascus suburb of the same name that killed hundreds of people.

Other Officials
Retired Maj. Gen. Jamil Hassan, former head of the Air Force Intelligence Service, is also suspected of bearing responsibility for the attack in Daraya. Hassan was among those convicted in La Belle France this year along with Mamlouk.

Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Ali Abbas and Maj. Gen. Bassam Merhej al-Hassan, head of Bashir al-Assad’s office and the man in charge of his security, are accused of human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
violations.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hezbollah said to have helped Assad officials flee to Lebanon, sparking furor in Beirut

2024-12-14

[IsraelTimes] Newspaper opposed to terror group bemoans cost to Lebanon, risk of Israeli strikes; analyst says Israel apparently refrained from shooting down 4,000 evacuating Iranian troops

An anti-Hezbollah Lebanese newspaper reported that the terror group helped hundreds of Syrian intelligence officers flee to Leb
Leb

WATCH⚡️

The dramatic escape of Ali Mamlouk, head of Syria’s secret service and security advisor to President Assad. Just a rubber boat, a suitcase, and a getaway…

Via @inside_IL_intel pic.twitter.com/7bQdbnrj5T
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) December 12, 2024

Also said to be in Beirut — reportedly at the five-star Phonecia Hotel — was Ghada Adib Mhanna, Assad’s aunt by marriage and mother of his close ally, telecom magnate Rami Makhlouf; and — in the Movenpick, another luxury hotel — Firas Issa Shaleesh, nephew of Dhu al-Himma Shalish, Assad’s late cousin and presidential security chief who had been implicated in massacres carried out under Assad’s father and predecessor, Hafez.

Khaled Qaddour, a Syrian businessman under US sanctions for his ties to Maher al-Assad, the dictator’s brother, was also reportedly staying at the Movenpick Hotel.

According to Nidaa al-Watan, both luxury hotels were being patrolled by Lebanese state security.

The newspaper editorialized that Lebanon, which Hafez and Basher al-Assad’s forces occupied for some three decades until 2005, would end up "bearing the cost of facilitating the hiding of those wanted by the Lebanese state."

They could all join dear Bashar al Assad and the fam in Moscow. He reportedly made off with a good chunk of the treasury…

"Also, the presence of Assad’s lackeys in the suburbs and Beirut exposes the capital to the risk of Israeli strikes," the newspaper said.

A similar warning was voiced by Lebanon’s Progressive Socialist Party, which is led by the Jumblat family, a prominent Druze clan that is generally aligned with Hezbollah. Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Tuesday that he was working with the judiciary and the General Security Directorate to address the issue in a manner that would "serve Lebanon’s interests and maintain relations with the Syrian people."

Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
said this week that it had evacuated some 4,000 of its own troops from Syria following Assad’s ouster.

Channel 12 Arab affairs analyst Ehud Yaari, who on Thursday cited the Assad officials’ reported escape to Lebanon, noted that Israel had apparently refrained from shooting down the Iranian air convoy.

As long as they’re off the playing board, who cares what they do?

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syrian rebels find heaps of illicit stimulant trafficked by Assad regime

2024-12-14

More captagon!

[IsraelTimes] Islamist-led fighters vow to destroy the vast quantities of captagon, the lucrative trade in which helped keep the now-deposed strongman in power amid Syria’s civil war

The dramatic collapse of Bashir al-Assad’s Syrian regime has thrown light into the dark corners of his rule, including the industrial-scale export of the banned drug captagon.

Victorious Islamist-led fighters have seized military bases and distribution hubs for the amphetamine-type stimulant, which has flooded the black market across the Middle East.

Led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
(HTS) group, the rebels say they found a vast haul of drugs and vowed to destroy them.

On Wednesday, HTS fighters allowed AFP journalists into a warehouse at a quarry on the outskirts of Damascus, where captagon pills were concealed inside electrical components for export.

"After we entered and did a sweep, and we found that this is a factory for Maher al-Assad and his partner Amer Khiti," said black-masked fighter Abu Malek al-Shami.

HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES
Maher al-Assad was a military commander and the deposed strongman’s brother, now presumed on the run. He is widely accused of being the power behind the lucrative captagon trade.

Syrian politician Khiti was placed under sanction in 2023 by the British government, which said he "controls multiple businesses in Syria which facilitate the production and smuggling of drugs."

In a cavernous garage beneath the warehouse and loading bays, thousands of dusty beige captagon pills were packed into the copper coils of brand new household voltage stabilizers.

"We found a large number of devices that were stuffed with packages of captagon pills meant to be smuggled out of the country. It’s a huge quantity. It’s impossible to tell," Shami said.

Above, in the warehouse, crates of cardboard boxes stood ready to allow the traffickers to disguise their cargo as pallet-loads of standard goods, alongside sacks and sacks of caustic soda.

Caustic soda, or sodium hydroxide, is a key ingredient in the production of methamphetamine, another stimulant.

Assad fell at the weekend to a lightning HTS offensive, but the revenue from selling captagon propped up Assad’s government throughout Syria’s 13 years of civil war.

Captagon turned Syria into the world’s largest narco state. It became by far Syria’s biggest export, dwarfing all its legal exports put together, according to estimates drawn from official data by AFP during a 2022 investigation.

Experts — like the author of a July report from the Carnegie Middle East Center — also believe that Assad used the threat of drug-fueled unrest to put pressure on Arab governments.

Captagon fuelled an epidemic of drug abuse in wealthy Gulf states, even as Assad sought ways to end his diplomatic isolation among his peers, wrote Carnegie scholar Hesham Alghannam.

’HUGE AMOUNT, BROTHER’
Assad, he wrote, "leveraged captagon trafficking as a means of exerting pressure on the Gulf states, notably Saudi Arabia

...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat Frational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
, to reintegrate Syria into the Arab world," which it did in 2023 when it rejoined the Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
bloc.

The caustic soda at the warehouse, in the Damascus suburbs, was supplied from Saudi Arabia, according to labelling on the sacks.

The warehouse haul was massive, but smaller and still impressive stashes of captagon have also turned up in military facilities associated with units under Maher Assad’s command.

Journalists from AFP this week found a bonfire of captagon pills on the grounds of the Mazzeh air base, now in the hands of HTS fighters who descended on the capital Damascus from the north.

Behind the smoldering heap, in a ransacked air force building, more captagon lay alongside other illicit exports, including off-brand Viagra impotence remedies and poorly-forged $100 bills.

"As we entered the area we found a huge quantity of captagon. So we destroyed it and burned it. It’s a huge amount, brother," said an HTS fighter using the nom de guerre "Khattab."

"We destroyed and burned it because it’s harmful to people. It harms nature and people and humans."

Khattab also stressed that HTS, which has formed a transitional government to replace the collapsed administration, does not want to harm its neighbors by exporting the drug — a trade worth billions of dollars.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Situation in Syria. 09.12.2024

2024-12-10

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin;
[ColonelCassad] 1. The militants who seized power have begun to form a transitional government. It will be something in the spirit of the NTC in Libya.

The Taliban insist theirs is merely a transitional government, too, awaiting the as-yet unscheduled national election for the final shape to emerge.
2. Some representatives of the old government are assisting in the transfer of power.

3. Israel continues to occupy territories in southwestern Syria, taking advantage of the total power vacuum.
Continues? It’s like what, Day 2?
4. Pro-Turkish militants are storming Manbij. The Kurds from the SDF are resisting and the militants were unable to immediately take Manbij.

5. The Russian Armed Forces are leaving their bases in Rojava. After the collapse of the Assad government, staying in Rojava has become meaningless.

6. Regarding the bases in Latakia - negotiations are currently underway on the possibility of preserving them. There is no decision on withdrawal yet.

7. Russia and Iran are already in contact with the militants who seized power. The "green" flag has already been raised at the Syrian embassy in Moscow.

8. Assad with his family in Moscow. Putin has granted them political asylum. According to some reports, our forces also helped evacuate Suheil.

Hamas politburo member Suheil al-Hindi?

9. Maher al-Assad

…Bashir’s younger brother, the major general commanding the Syrian Army's elite 4th Armored Division …

left for Iraq along with some of his soldiers. A large number of soldiers and equipment were abandoned in Eastern Syria.

10. The West is already preparing to legalize HTS and Julani, presenting them as "progressive rebels", although in fact they are "Al-Qaeda".

Precisely.

11. ISIS is now actively recruiting personnel, taking advantage of the fact that militants have been released from prison and a power vacuum has formed. ISIS will get stronger.

Goody.

12. Hamas congratulated the militants on seizing power in Syria. This should not be surprising, Hamas was on the side of the militants until 2016.

13. Lebanon and Iraq continue to strengthen the border, expecting an increase in the flow of refugees and possible attacks from militants.

14. Robberies and looting continue throughout the country. There are also reprisals against security forces who served Assad.

15. The US and Israel continue to bomb warehouses and positions of the former Syrian army, trying to destroy some of the SAA military equipment.

Can’t leave it for the new guys, after all. And at the moment the new guys are too busy to do anything about it.

16. The economic situation in the country is deteriorating sharply. The local currency has collapsed, problems with fuel and lubricants are growing (which existed before).

In general, after dividing up the corpse of the killed SAR, we can expect the start of a war for these remains with a very likely dismemberment of a united Syria.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Regime has lost contact with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s brother Maher after the Israeli Air Force struck his villa near Damascus

2024-09-30

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

BREAKING:

The regime has lost contact with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s brother Maher after the Israeli Air Force struck his villa near Damascus today.

A meeting with Iranian leaders was taking place in the villa. Maher is the commander of the Syrian Army’s 4th Division. pic.twitter.com/jzOpcgSXZx
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) September 29, 2024

Oh, dat's so sad! Another roomful of Medes, Persians, and Amalekites gone kaboom!

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

US sanctions Syrian and Hezbollah suspects over Captagon trade

2023-03-29

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

US sanctions Syrian and Hezbollah suspects over Captagon trade #Lebanon https://t.co/BoeVdbDjY2
— Naharnet (@Naharnet) March 28, 2023

The U.S. Treasury in coordination with the UK on Tuesday slapped Captagon-related sanctions on Syrian and Lebanese nationals suspected of ties to Damascus and Hezbollah.

In a statement, the Treasury said it designated "key individuals supporting the regime of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs...
and the production or export of Captagon, a dangerous amphetamine."

"The trade in Captagon is estimated to have become a billion-dollar illicit enterprise. These designations, some of which are being implemented pursuant to the Caesar Syrian Civilian Protection Act of 2019 ("Caesar Act"), also highlight the important role of Lebanese narcos -- some of whom maintain ties to Hezbollah -- in facilitating the export of Captagon. This action also underscores the al-Assad family dominance of illicit Captagon trafficking and its funding for the oppressive Syrian regime," the statement added.

"Syria has become a global leader in the production of highly addictive Captagon, much of which is trafficked through Leb
Leb

...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
," said Andrea M. Gacki, the director of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

"With our allies, we will hold accountable those who support Bashir al-Assad’s regime with illicit drug revenue and other financial means that enable the regime’s continued repression of the Syrian people," Gacki added.

The Treasury identified those sanctioned as the Syrian nationals Khalid Qaddour, Samer Kamal al-Assad, Wassim Badi al-Assad and Imad Abu Zureik, and Lebanese citizens Hassan Muhammad Daqqou and Noah Zaiter.

Below is information about each of the six individuals as published by the Treasury:

"Khalid Qaddour (Qaddour) is a Syrian businessman and close associate of Maher al-Assad, who was designated under E.O. 13572 in 2011 in connection with his role in the Government of Syria’s (GoS) ongoing human rights
...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you...
abuses against the Syrian people. Maher al-Assad is the head of the notorious U.S.-designated Fourth Division of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA). He is also the brother of Syrian President al-Assad, who was designated in 2011 pursuant to E.O. 13573 for his leading role in the escalation of violence by the GoS against its population. Maher al-Assad and the Fourth Division are known to run many illicit revenue-generation schemes, which range from smuggling cigarettes and mobile phones to facilitating the production and trafficking of Captagon. It is reportedly Qaddour who is responsible for managing revenues generated by these activities. The Syrian regime and its allies have increasingly embraced the production and trafficking of Captagon to generate hard currency, estimated by some to be in the billions of dollars.

Qaddour is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13572 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Maher al-Assad. Qaddour is also being designated pursuant the Caesar Act for being a foreign person that knowingly provides significant financial, material, or technological support to, or knowingly engages in a significant transaction with, Maher al-Assad.

Samer Kamal al-Assad (Samer) is a cousin of President al-Assad and oversees key Captagon production facilities in regime-controlled Latakia, Syria, in coordination with the Fourth Division and certain associates of Hizballah. In 2020, 84 million Captagon pills produced at a factory owned by Samer in Lattakia, Syria, worth an estimated $1.2 billion were seized at the Italian port of Salerno. Samer reportedly also owns a factory producing Captagon in the Qalamoun region near the Syria-Lebanon border.

Samer is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13582 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, the GoS. Samer is also being designated pursuant the Caesar Act for being a foreign person that knowingly provides significant financial, material, or technological support to, or knowingly engages in a significant transaction with, the GoS.

Wassim Badi al-Assad (Wassim), another cousin of President al-Assad, has supported the SAA in various roles, to include leading the Ba’ath Brigades militia, a paramilitary unit under the Syrian Arab Army’s command. He has publicly called for the formation of sectarian militias to support the regime. Wassim has been a key figure in the regional drug trafficking network, partnering with high-level suppliers to smuggle contraband, Captagon, and other drugs throughout the region, with tacit support of the Syrian regime.

Wassim is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13582 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Syrian Arab Army.

Imad Abu Zureik (Zureik), a former Free Syrian Army
... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund...
commander who now leads a Syrian Military Intelligence (SMI)-affiliated militia, has played an important role enabling drug production and smuggling in southern Syria. With the approval of the U.S.-designated SMI, Zureik leads a militia group controlling the crucial Nassib border crossing between Syria and Jordan. Zureik uses his power over the area to sell contraband, operate protection rackets, and smuggle drugs in Jordan, while also recruiting directly for the SMI.

Zureik is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13572 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the SMI.

Hassan Muhammad Daqqou (Daqqou) is a Lebanese-Syrian dual national dubbed by media as "The King of Captagon." Daqqou has been linked to drug trafficking operations carried out by the SAA’s Fourth Division, directed by Maher al-Assad, and with cover reportedly provided by Hizballah. He was arrested in Lebanon in 2021 on drug trafficking charges associated with a massive shipment of Captagon interdicted in Malaysia on its way to Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
, though Hizballah affiliates have reportedly facilitated Daqqou’s ability to continue to run his businesses while he was in prison. Daqqou developed a reputation as a source for Captagon and controller of smuggling across the Syria-Lebanon border under the protection of Hizballah associates.

Daqqou is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Hizballah.

Hassan Daqqou Trading and al-Israa Establishment for Import and Export are two companies specializing in general trade and import-export operations that are registered under Daqqou’s name in the Beka’a Valley region of Lebanon. Hassan Daqqou Trading and al-Israa Establishment for Import and Export are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by, directly or indirectly, Daqqou.

Noah Zaitar (Zaitar) is a Lebanese national with close ties to both the SAA’s Fourth Division and certain members of Hizballah. Zaitar is a known arms dealer and drug smuggler and is currently wanted by the Lebanese authorities for drug trafficking. Zaitar reportedly conducts his illicit activities under the protection of the Fourth Division.

Zaitar is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Hizballah."

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syrian "Tiger Forces" - Intro & History of Implementation

2022-12-15

[GreyDynamics] 1. Intro:

The 25th Special Mission Forces Division, more commonly known by its previous name “Tiger Forces,” is a special forces unit in the Syrian Arab Army (SAA). In Arabic, the unit goes by the Quwwat al-Nimr. They serve as the shock troops of the Syrian regime, being present in almost every major offensive the SAA has launched in the decade-long civil war. The Tiger Forces are a “hot commodity for any government offensive” because of their high levels of training and flexibility. (Source)

They are commanded by Suheil al-Hassan: one of the most talented generals in the SAA, who has seen many successes against rebel forces throughout his career. He is reported as vastly preferring the Russians and principal backer over Iranians. The Tiger Forces and their commander have a rivalry with the more pro-Iranian traditional elite unit, the republican guard, which is commanded by Maher al-Assad, the president’s brother. (Source) With fighting resuming in part of Syria and the apparent deployment of some members of the Tiger Forces to Ukraine, they will increasingly play a role in Syria’s future.

Sections relating history, personnel, equipment, and key actions can be read at the link.

6. Summary

It is clear that the Tiger Forces under Suheil al-Hassan have played an instrumental role in the Syrian conflict. Being present at every major offensive regime forces have launched and had a large personnel count due to the old militia style organisation under the AFI. Furthermore, with the increasing number of Syrian fighters being located in Ukraine, it seems the Tiger Forces remain a fertile recruiting ground for the Wagner group. Indeed Suheil al-Hassan is a figure to watch in the future as he is a certified Alawite hero in the eyes of the government forces. In a regime which relies on a cult of personality around its president Bashar al-Assad, such fame and legend as “The Tiger” possesses can quickly become a curse.

Link

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