Syria: Assad Attacks Former Opposition Stronghold with Missiles and Artillery

A woman walks past a campaign billboard depicting Syrian president Bashar al-Assad before the election, which the local population of Deraa al-Balad declared fraudulent. Photograph: Louai Beshara/AFP/Getty Images
THE GUARDIAN: President attempts to crush simmering insurrection with unprecedented offensive against Deraa al-Balad

Bashar al-Assad has attacked a former opposition stronghold with missiles and artillery shelling in an attempt to crush a simmering insurrection, in an unprecedented development in Syria’s decade-long war.

Deraa al-Balad and its surrounds, a district of Deraa city in the southern province of the same name, was targeted with heavy weaponry in tandem with a ground push on three axes from two Syrian army divisions and allied Iran-backed militias early on Thursday morning, in a large offensive which continued throughout the day.

In response to the shelling, rebel gunmen launched counterattacks across the Deraa countryside, killing at least eight pro-regime fighters and capturing dozens of combatants at several military positions and checkpoints, local sources said. » | Bethan McKernan and Hussein Akoush | Thursday, July 29, 2021

Bashar Al-Assad’s Political Advisor Slams US, Israel & Turkey: All of Syria Will Be Liberated!

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to the political advisor to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad Bouthaina Shaaban, she discusses the Presidential Elections being held in Syria for the first time since 2014, accusations by NATO countries that the elections are a farce and the presence of international observers from Russia, China, India, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and other nations to observe the elections, the occupation of Syria by Israel, the US and Turkey and President Assad’s pledge to liberate every inch of Syria, the redefining of the international order away from Western countries, reconstruction efforts in Syria after the 10-year long war, regular Israeli airstrikes on Damascus and Israel’s occupation of Palestine and recent aerial bombardment campaign against Gaza, the West’s hypocrisy on human rights, attempts to improve relations with Saudi Arabia, why there is no room for negotiations with Erdogan’s Turkey unless he withdraws from Syria and much more!

‘Mob Boss’ Assad’s Dynasty Tightens Grip over Husk of Syria

THE GUARDIAN: Country’s emergence as a mafia state leaves today’s election result in little doubt

Tyrant, war criminal, mob boss or, to his loyalists, their shrewd saviour: views about Bashar al-Assad rarely fall in between. As the Syrian leader faces a presidential poll on Wednesday – the result a foregone conclusion – a truer test of the authority he wields across a broken country has taken shape away from the political banners and faux campaigning.

In battered towns and villages, ravaged by a decade of savagery, the now veteran president has been clawing back losses, consolidating himself as the only figure who could plot a course from the ruins of the region’s most devastating modern conflict. Slowly, over the past year, Assad and his extended family have been shoring up their influence. Seldom seen during much of the crisis, he has become a fixture in what remains of Syria’s industrial heartland, visiting factories, pressing employees on their hardships, and hosting delegations with an ease few observed at the height of the fighting.

Syria’s allies Russia and Iran may have done the heavy lifting to save the regime from defeat on the battlefields but a more traditional structure, the house of Assad, has been just as integral in holding the country together from within. The husk of Syria is, in many ways, more under the Assad family’s control than at the war’s outset. Power structures established over four decades have anchored dynasty and dictatorship. » | Martin Chulov, Middle East correspondent | Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Syrian Protesters Call for Assad's Downfall as Economic Crisis Deepens

THE GUARDIAN: Marches held on streets of Sweida amid soaring food prices and disillusion with corruption

A town in regime-controlled Syria is set for fresh protests this weekend as a burgeoning economic crisis engulfing even Bashar al-Assad’s most loyal supporters is now posing the biggest challenge to his grip on the country in years.

Food is now more expensive than at any other time during the nine-year conflict, triggering scenes reminiscent of the Arab spring protests of 2011 on the streets of the nominally government-loyal town of Sweida this week.

“We don’t want to live, we want to die in dignity,” and “He who starves his people is a traitor,” protesters chanted as they marched for consecutive days in the southern city, calling for the president’s downfall. Another march is scheduled for Saturday. » | Bethan McKernan, Middle East correspondent | Friday, June 12, 2020

Syrian Cartoonist Najah Albukai Bears Witness to the Horrors of Al-Assad's Prisons

Has Assad Won the Syrian War? – BBC Newsnight

The British government has decided to stop giving some aid to rebel-held areas in Syria.

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad | Full Interview with Russian NTV

Exclusive Interview with Syria's President Bashar Assad

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad Interview With Russia Today

Will Strikes Deter Assad from Using Chemical Weapons? | Inside Story

The US, the UK and France launch air strikes on Syria, targeting suspected chemical weapons sites. In what is the biggest military action against President Bashar.

Al Assad since the start of Syria's war 7 years ago, the US, UK and France have bombed multiple government facilities. The air strikes targeted a research centre outside the capital Damascus and two suspected chemical weapons storage sites near the city of Homs. The action was in response to an alleged chemical attack by Syria on civilians in the town of Douma last week.

The Syrian government claims to have shot down many of the more than a hundred missiles launched – and in Damascus people celebrated on the streets, honking their car horns in a show of defiance. Russia says the strikes are an act of aggression and warns of consequences. But what does this mean for the war in Syria? And will the strikes stop chemical attacks against civilians?

Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault | Guests: Alexey Khlebnikov, Middle East specialist at Russian International Affairs Council

Tucker: Would War against Assad Make US Safer?

Apr. 09, 2018 - 7:18 - Syria is a complicated situation. With Assad gone, who would run it?

Bashar al-Assad and the Syria Conflict | DW Documentary

US War Veteran: I Stand behind Assad 100%

American war veteran Angelo John Gage speaks out against President Trump's attempts to further destabilize Syria, expressing his strong opposition to launch another counter-productive and illegal war based on lies and media propaganda.

Paris macht Assad für Giftgasangriff verantwortlich

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Der Chemiewaffeneinsatz in Khan Sheikoun trägt „die Signatur des Regimes“, ist sich Frankreichs Außenminister sicher. Als Beleg führt Jean-Marc Ayrault Proben im Besitz des eigenen Geheimdienstes an.

Frankreich hat nach eigenen Angaben Beweise dafür, dass die der syrischen Regierung für den Giftgasangriff in Khan Sheikoun verantwortlich ist, bei dem am 4. April rund 80 Menschen getötet wurden. Proben vom Angriffsort und von den Opfern hätten nachgewiesen, dass das Nervengas Sarin eingesetzt worden sei, sagte Außenminister Jean-Marc Ayrault am Mittwoch in Paris. „Wir wissen aus sicherer Quelle, dass das Herstellungsverfahren des Sarins (...) typisch für die Methode ist, die in den syrischen Labors entwickelt wurde.“ Die Methode trage „die Signatur des Regimes“, so Ayrault weiter, „und das erlaubt es uns, seine Verantwortung für diese Attacke festzustellen“. Laut Angaben der Nachrichtenagentur AFP stammen die Proben vom französischen Geheimdienst. » | Quelle: dpa | Mittwoch, 26. April 2017

President Assad Latest Interview | April 21, 2017

Chemical ‘Attack’ Was False Flag to Justify Strike on Airbase – President Assad

Syrian President Bashar Assad warned that what he called “false flag” incidents and provocations, similar to the one he said took place in the town of Khan Shaykhun, are likely to occur in future to give the US a pretext for an attack.

Comic Book World? Boris Johnson Lumps Russia In as Part of 'Super-villain League’

The UK’s Foreign Minister has said Russia is in a league of super villains along with the Syrian President who is being blamed for an alleged chemical attack on his own people. The remark comes as Boris Johnson failed to convince G7 members to put more sanctions on Russia for its support of Damascus.

Exclusive: British Journalist Destroys MSM Lies On Syria

Exclusive interview with British Journalist Tom Duggan in Damascus at the French Hospital tells us about the chemical attacks accusations. Interview conducted by Syrian artist and political activist Hanin Elias

Ann Coulter Doesn't Believe Assad Used Chemical Weapons | April 12, 2017

Ann Coulter interview on The Joyce Kaufman Show

President Bashar Al-Assad Gives First Interview Since Syria Airstrikes | MSNBC

Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad gives his first interview since the suspected chemical attack and the U.S. airstrikes on the Shayrat airbase. NBC's Chris Jansing and Richard Engel report.