Syria news/Archive/2019-09

30 Sep. The Al Qa'im border crossing between Syria and Iraq near Al Bukamal is reopened (video).

At a prison riot in al-Hol camp, one ISIS woman is killed, 7 injured and 50 arrested.

27 Sep. According to the Russian defense ministry, 118 unmanned aerial vehicles have been shot down at Khmeimin airbase during the last two years, most of them coming out of the Idlib pocket around Khan Sheikhoun. The latest such attack happened on September 3, shortly after that region was taken over by the SAA.

23 Sep. At a meeting of intelligence agencies of Central Asian states in Kazan, the FSB warns the others that US intelligence is transferring ISIS fighters to Afghanistan with the intention to use them to destabilize the region.

20 Sep. MintPress publishes an investigation into the latest smear campaign against a group of journalists "challenging Syria groupthink", i.e. reporting from the ground.

16 Sep. Erdogan, Rouhani and Putin meet in Ankara to discuss under the Astana process and release a joint statement.

15 Sep. USS Ramage docks in Lebanon (either amid regional tensions or as a goodwill visit).

13 Sep. Lavrov: "The war in Syria has really come to an end. The country is gradually returning to a normal, peaceful life. Some hotspots of tensions remain in the territories that are not controlled by the Syrian government, such as Idlib and the eastern bank of the Euphrates."

The re-opening of the al-Qa'im border crossing between Syria and Iraq near al Bukamal, planned for today, has been delayed for the second time.

11 Sep. Bashar al-Assad turns 54 years old.

6 Sep. According to Middle East Eye in an "exclusive" based on "two sources", the famous Iranian tanker that was seized by the UK in Gibraltar has anchored and unloads at "a Syrian port".

Later John Bolton tweets a satellite picture allegedly showing the tanker two miles offshore of Tartous (a version is also posted on Cassad).

5 Sep. The Russian and Syrian joint coordination headquarters make another statement on problems hindering the restoration of peaceful life in Syria.