The fake news is working
Protests in Syria after ‘old’ video shows attack on Alawite shrine
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/25/protests-in-syria-after-old-video-shows-attack-on-alawite-shrine
Thousands of people have protested in several cities across Syria after a video circulates showing an attack on an Alawite shrine in the north, a war monitor and witnesses say.
Syria’s new rulers said the video was “old” and “unknown groups” were behind the attack, saying “republishing” the video served to “stir up strife”, a day after hundreds protested in Damascus against the torching of a Christmas tree.
Syria says 14 policemen killed in ambush by forces loyal to al-Assad
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/26/syrian-security-personnel-killed-in-ambush-by-former-regime-forces
Members of the Syrian police have been killed in an “ambush” by forces loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad in Tartous governorate in the latest security challenge for the new administration that came to power about two weeks ago.
Interior Minister Mohammed Abdul Rahman said on Thursday that “remnants” of the al-Assad government in Tartous had killed 14 police members and wounded 10 others, promising to crack down on “anyone who dares to undermine Syria’s security or endanger the lives of its citizens”.
Security forces launched an operation on Thursday against pro-al-Assad “militias” in Tartous, state news agency SANA reported, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reporting arrests of several people in connection with the deadly ambush.
The operation had already succeeded in “neutralising a certain number” of armed men loyal to toppled President al-Assad, SANA said.
The attack came as protests took place in several cities after a video showing the vandalising of an Alawite shrine in the city of Aleppo circulated online on Wednesday. Police had imposed curfews in Homs, Latakia, Jableh and Tartous until 8am (05:00 GMT). Al Jazeera could not confirm if the curfew has been lifted.
Huge reinforcements brought
Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Damascus, described the situation in Syria as extremely delicate now, with flashpoints over the last 48 hours particularly in the Alawite heartland of Latakia and Tartous, as well as Homs and Aleppo.
Hashem said the new administration has brought huge security reinforcements to try to reduce tension in the areas.
“Yesterday, late at night, there were high-level meetings of the new administration about how to move forward, and one of the options is a crackdown on what they describe to be remnants of the old regime, members of the Fourth Division, [which] was the elite presidential guard loyal to Maher al-Assad, brother of the former president,” he said.
Situation tense in Manbij
Mohamed Vall, reporting from northeast Syria’s Manbij, said clashes were reported around the city 24 hours ago as the Kurdish forces, who have been pushed east of the Euphrates River, are trying to retake it.
“It’s a very tense situation. The picture is not very clear here. People fear things could change in the city at any moment,” he said.
Kurdish fighters backed by the United States have largely been in control of the region for nearly a decade. Now the Syrian National Army, supported by Turkiye, is trying to widen its area of control.
“It’s a matter of national security for Turkiye, as Ankara considers the Kurdish YPG militia – the main component of the United States-allied Syrian Democratic Forces – as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party [PKK],” he said.
The PKK has waged a rebellion against the Turkish state since 1984. On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Kurdish fighters in Syria to either lay down their weapons or “be buried”.
In Quneitra, nobody can celebrate al-Assad’s fall amid Israel’s invasion
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/26/in-quneitra-nobody-can-celebrate-al-assads-fall-amid-israels-invasion
Ibrahim al-Dakheel, 55, watched in despair as an Israeli bulldozer demolished his 40-year-old home, claiming it was necessary to secure borders.
“It was 6:30am when I heard the explosion,” he told Al Jazeera, pointing to the spot where a Syrian military post once stood near his destroyed house.
He and his family live in al-Rafid, a village in the Quneitra governorate. Al-Dakheel used to sit in his front yard, enjoying the lush green fields and a flowing spring nearby. Nothing brought him greater joy, he said. But now, he and his family are seeking refuge at his parents’ house in the village while he continues to watch Israeli forces advance.
“I saw them moving through the village – trucks and tanks arrived at the town hall along with bulldozers,” he said.
On December 8, Israel launched a military campaign targeting sites across Syria and advancing into Quneitra under the pretext of searching for weapons and collaborators with the Lebanese group Hezbollah and Iran.
Israeli forces set up checkpoints, uprooted trees, and destroyed the village’s only military post, which al-Dakheel said was merely a small station housing a few officers. Israeli forces have also fired stun grenades, tear gas and live bullets at demonstrators unhappy at their encroachment into Syria.
The most recent incident came on Wednesday when Israeli forces fired on a protest against their destruction of several structures in two Quneitra villages and injured three people.
Israel’s incursion comes after Syria’s longtime autocratic president, Bashar al-Assad, was toppled by a lightning opposition offensive earlier in December. Days later, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s presence in Syria would be “temporary”, yet he later clarified that Israel would illegally remain on Syrian soil until a new security arrangement is reached with Syria’s new authority.
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