Updates 12-12-2024

# “Real Politik”

– The military activity is transitioning to political activity, as different agreements, political talks and official declarations are becoming the pivotal elements of the future of Siria. Nation-states wave their plans and make their moves, we won’t dive on that.

– Several governments are stating their intentions of opening embassies in Damascus to start relations with the provisional government, signaling their approval of the interim govrment and the power transition in Syria.

– The autonomous administration made an official statement declaring that all official buildings of DAANES will fly the new/old Syrian flag, as a symbol of victory of the revolution and the fall of the regime. This comes as a paradoxical return since it is the flag that YPG was waving in their first congress in 2013.

# Streets politics

– Protests in different cities are becoming key elements to measure force and support base of different factions. They are also being used as war propaganda, and we can see pro-turkish media accounts spreading videos of gatherings in different cities presenting them as protests against SDF, while at the same time don’t talk about the demonstrations in support of SDF and the Self-Administration institutions.

– A man armed with a light machine gun (PKM) opened fire in the streets of Raqqa, injuring some Assayish (Security forces) and also civilians. Allegedly, 43 people injured, not clear if there are any deads. Pro-turkish channels spreading fake information claiming that SDF opened fire against civilians. SDF is denying it sharing videos of what really happened.

# War on Eufrates region

– A ceasefire was brokered to halt hostilities in Manbij, agreeing to 1) SDF (MMC) to withdraw from Manbij safely 2) The tomb of Suleiman Shah to be given to SNA and Turkey 3) Tishreen dam to become a demilitarized zone with officers of the dam controlling it’s administration.

– SNA groups attacked the area of Tishreen dam with heavy forces despite the announcement of ceasefire. After a turkish drone hit the dam few days ago, and heavy clashes could damage the critical infrastructure of the dam unleashing a terrible catastrophe.

# Analysis

The situation is getting very confusing on the ground, with desinformation spreading on social networks and political talks behind closed doors. Verifying information is becoming a critical step to understand what is happening, since turkish propaganda strategy relays on a very strong desinformation apparatus.

This specially affect a lot of Syrian returnees, since many of them had been living in Turkey and being exposed to the turkish narrative of criminalization of SDF. This will feed ethnical tensions between kurds an arabs, risking more conflicts and even violence.

This comes together with the inter-kurdish conflicts we discussed two days ago, and indicates a general plan of turkish state intelligence to divide and isolate the leading forces of the revolution. Other forces like US or HTS will not oppose to such a plan, since a weakened revolutionary force will make it easier to dilute and manipulate the political project of the DAANES. This puts the achievements of the revolution in serious danger, and is more important than ever to expose and denounce such strategies, building a common revolutionary front to face enemy attacks.

Revolutionary greetings!

Updates 11-12-2024

# Ongoing situation

– The interim government of HTS is slowly formalizing their power, making interviews in western suits and staging press conferences declaring “Our goal is to restore security and stability to all Syrian cities and return millions of Syrian refugees”.

– Israel continue their bombing campaign, with more than 400 targets hit. They announced destruction of 80% of military capabilities of Syria. The IDF occupation (“security zone”) is growing every day, expanding alongside the Lebanon border, with tanks now at 20 km from Damascus.

– SOHR reports attacks of violent masked men in Latakia and Damascus outskirts. Videos spread in social networks with masked military teams storming towns, mainly of christian population. Some videos show al-Nusra flags being waved by the attackers.

# Turkey and SNA offensive

– Turkish air force bombs several villages around Kobane city, including Lafarge cement plant and Mishtenur. Some reports indicate that SNA fighters (with turkish air support) are crossing the Qereqozah bridge to start ground attacks on Kobane, but in the last hours very few information is arriving, probably due to internet restrictions.

– Turkey also bombed the Assayish headquarters of the Raqqa, this is the first airstrike in Raqqa city since 2017, when SDF liberated it from ISIS. US coalition forces moved some troops inside the city after the strike.

– Videos of the brutalities of SNA in the territories they occupy from SDF are spreading in social networks. Their channels are going full of videos were they record themselves torturing and killing, with calls to “kill all the kurds” and other anti-kurdish statements.

– Bombings alongsidethe M4 and Til Temir front lines are also increasing every day, with drones, mortars and rockets hitting different points, as close to the city as the village of Til Cuma at just 2 kilometers of Til Temir.

# Other related updates

– Turkey is opening borders to let Syrians return to Syria as “voluntary return”, making them sign a document that don’t allow them to return to Turkey. Several European countries are also discussing about the situation for Syrians to return, with narratives dominated by far-right parties.

– Rojava Information Center is also working on daily updates, with verified information and reports from different areas of NES. Read their report of 10-12-24 here: https://rojavainformationcenter.org/2024/12/update-escalation-in-nes/

# Analysis

HTS is now busy making itself more presentable to western audiences, hoping to gain official legitimacy throw capturing the Syrian state structure. Western powers are going along with that, and no one is putting much attention to the small scale attacks that their rogue islamist groups are doing. The DAANES is holding talks with them, accepting them as provisional government for now, hoping to halt Turkish offensive and work towards a federal Syria that respects regional autonomy.

Turkey is moving further in their attacks, striking as far as Raqqa, making a bold statement that they are ready to defy US red lines in order to achieve their aims. The SNA soldiers are recording and spreading videos of the horrendous crimes they are committing as part of their psychological warfare, evoking the behavior of ISIS. This is not a coincidence, several ISIS fighters have been reported to be now holding command positions inside different factions of SNA.

Israel is moving further into Syria, defying even the UN that called to not push forward. With Russia and Iran losing all their influence on Syria, Israel and Turkey (strategic NATO allies, Turkey being formal member of the military alliance) are taking advantage of the situation to advance their imperialist agendas, indirectly supporting each other in their occupations.

DAANES is struggling to sustain the developments of past years, with Turkey attacks on Eufrates region and inter-tribal tensions in Deir-Ezzor, where some tribes pleading alliances with HTS while others reaffirm their support to SDF. This is nothing new, is the continuation of the tribal conflicts that had been ongoing in the region for some time.

One important topic to put attention is the situation of women. Women played very important roles all along Syria since the first uprisings of 2011, but in HTS protests and events, the absence of women is very noticeable, specially when compared with the role of women in DAANES. Rojava is a women revolution, and this is becoming even more obvious now, when all other forces are overwhelmingly male.

Enough for today, keep struggling and support the revolution!

Revolutionary greetings! 🖤

Updates 10-12-2024

# Eufrates region: Manbij and Kobane

– An alleged agreement of Turkey and US for SDF to withdraw from Manbij has been reported, referring to past agreements of YPG not to be allowed west of Euphrates. SDF continue fighting in Tabqa region, south of Manbij.

– As SNA takes control of Manbij region, videos of their atrocities spread over social networks, including brutal executions in the middle of the streets, even a raid and assassination of injured people in a hospital. A video of a checkpoint with SNA fighters wearing ISIS patches has even been screened on several television channels, and ISIS patches are seen in many videos circulating.

– Drones and artillery fire had been hitting Kobane canton, including Kobane city and Mishtenur (Strategical military point next to the city). Several civilians had been killed in those strikes. Also in Ain Issa, east of Kobane, several civilians had been killed in drone strikes

– SNA tried to cross the Qereqozah bridge between Manbij and Kobane. SDF repelled the attacks, killing dozens of SNA fighters and capturing some armored vehicles that SNA fighters left behind in their retreats.

# Syria aftermath

– Mohammed al-Bashir is now leading the transitional government of Syria in Damasc.

– UN envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen arrives to Damasc, calling for a process of unification of different factions, emphasizing that HTS is the dominant faction but is not the only one. UN also asks Israel for restrain in their security zones.

– Israel targeted more than 300 locations an military points, claiming it as the biggest air operation they ever launched, announcing they destroy all air defense capabilities of Syria. Israel “security zone” is also expanding, evacuating some villages in south-west Syria and deploying tanks at less than 30 km of Damascus.

# Political developments on NES

– DAANES is calling for a general ceasefire for all Syria to open space for dialog and a transition to a new democratic Syria. Solidarity committees are organizing demonstrations and protests in many different cities. The kurdish women’s movement is calling for a general day of mobilization for December 14.

– Allegedly, the ministry of defense of KRG received a request to deploy 5000 “peshmerga Roj” to support SNA factions. Allegedly, 200 peshmerga Roj equipped with heavy weapons are already being deployed in areas under SNA control. This comes as a political move from Turkey to spark intra-kurdish conflicts, exploiting the contradictions between ENKS (Syrian branch of KDP, Barzani-led political party in Basur, Iraq) and PYD (Major kurdish political party of the DAANES).

– More than a handred thousand refugees displaced from Aleppo and Shehba region are arriving to different areas in NES, mostly in Tabqa and Raqqa. Heyva Sor and DAANES local councils in different regions are doing everything in their hands to assist them, providing food, housing, blankets and medical assistance.

– SDF calls for US to fulfill their promises and intervene to prevent further attacks on Kobane.

# Analysis

The withdraw of SDF from Manbij is a painful concession. Many comrades lost their lives in the liberation of Manbij from the hands of ISIS, including the brave arab commander of YPG Abu Leila, also 8 internationalist fighters. As Erdogan stated many times, their next target is now Kobane, the proud city that became the turning point on the war against ISIS through and historic resistance. Kobane was also a key element for the internationalization of the Rojava revolution and the Kurdish question, becoming a symbol of resistance known to the whole world.

The dimension of Israel attack all over Syria is not just a deterrence action against the possibility of a hostile Syria, it is also a show of force a military capabilities to neighboring countries. It is also the perfect scenario for IDF to test their response capacity and air force at such a big scale, without fear of any repercussions since there is no one in Syria able to answer to such brutal attacks.

Turkey’s propaganda campaigns, with miss information and fabricated videos, aims to weaken SDF and destabilize the DAANES. Now they also try to spark intra-kurdish conflict, harvesting the investments they made for decades in the Barzani-led KRG, using all tools at their hands in this war. Even HTS is calling attention to that, publishing a press statement denouncing SNA’s fabrication of fake videos. But exposing their dirty methods is not enough to stop them, we need to take action in all fronts possible to put an end to their atrocities.

Syria is moving from the joy and celebrations after the fall of the regime, to the darkest hours it lived since the worst times of the war. Israel and Turkey are committing massacres and abusing their power to impose their agendas, taking advantage of the situation to feed their greed and expansionist ambitions. The revolution is under existential threat, and it is our duty, as internationalists and as revolutionaries, to make sure they can’t break this revolution. The world is descending into really dark paths, with war and oppression gaining ground all around. But there is also hope and revolutionary opportunities in those situations. It is partly in our hands to decide where we go from this point.

Revolutionary greetings!

# Last minute updates

– Heavy clashes ongoing between SDF and SNA on Qereqozaq bridge connecting Manbij and Kobane right now. Threats of attacks on Kobane tonight.

– SDF left Deir Ezzor city allowing operations room of HTS to take control of the city. It also include the border crossing of Albukamal and the al-taym oil field in the Deir Ezzor desert. At the same time SDF announced their readiness to dialog with the provisional government.

– It is confirmed that the bombings that took place in Qamishlo yesterday was not conducted by Israel air force but by Turkey air force.

Updates 09-12-2024

#Aftermath of the regime collapse

– The provinces of Latakia and Tartus are now also in full control of opposition forces, no regime loyalist area remains.

– Syrians in Libanon are going to the border crossing hoping to go back to their homes. Syrians in Turkey also going in mass, turkish state opening also the Yayladagi border crossing in Hatay.

– The Syrian opposition assigns Mohamed Al-Bashir, the Prime Minister of the Syria Salvation Government (SSG) [HTS political front], to form a transitional government. All position of this transition government are occupied by SSG members, apparently excluding the Syrian Interim Government (SIG)[SNA political front, Turkish aligned]. This might bring new contradictions between HTS and SNA/Turkey.

# Israel attacks

– Israel continues the bombing of strategical targets like armories, air defense systems and chemical factories of SAA in Homs, Hama, Tartus, Latakia and specially Damascus. They anounced on army radio more than 200 targets hits in Syria.

– There are several dead reported from some of those airstrikes, specially in southern Syria. Allegedly several members of the Makhlouf family (family of Hafez al-Assad wife, who are very very rich) were killed in airstrikes, also a local sheik of Sweida.

– IDF also started a ground offensive advancing from the Golan hights, allegedly to establish a “security corridor” or buffer zone, parachuting troops beyond the already occupied area.

# NES (Rojava and beyond)

– The fight in Manbij continued with heavy clashes during the night, with SDF recovering several positions after ambushing and pushing away SNA pockets. SDF and MMC anounced 4 shehids that had been buried today. Videos on social networks show dozens of bodies of SNA fighters spread on Manbij streets.

– Turkish drone strike the village on al-Mistriah, west of Ayn Issa, killing 15 civilians including 6 children, another one hit the area of Zirgan, in Til Temir / Dirbesiye front lines. Drone strikes had been ongoing in different regions under control of SDF, mostly against military targets.

– Together with drone strikes and artillery fire, SNA is also making some moves from the occupied region of Serekaniye-Gires Spi. They made an offensive on Sewami, 25 km west of Til Temir, that was repealed by SDF. An ANKA drone was shot down by SDF in Til Temir area.

– Unrest in Deir Ezzor citty, with protests and looting in some areas. Turkish aligned media spreads videos of protests calling for withdraw of SDF and demands for FSA to come. SDF aligned media shared interviews with tribal leaders calling for peace and standing with SDF.

– Recently “abandoned” positions of SAA in Qamsishlo and Haseke had also been heavily bombed by Israel, including the Qamishlo airport and other air defense systems locations. At least on person was injured in the airstrikes.

# Analysis

There are too many things ongoing in Syria, the developments are extraordinarily fast – and probably confusing for those not familiar with the situation. Every part of the conflict is racing to position themselves and get advantage from the political transition that will follow in Syria.

Regarding the situation in NES, the resistance in Manbij is critical. A collapse of the SDF in Manbij would had been follow by further attack of SNA, but the military proficiency displayed has been the best deterrence for further movements of SNA. It showed that SDF is not the SAA, and that blietzkrieg tactics of russhing with armored vehicles under artillery fire cover can send regime soldiers running away, but SDF is ready to hold positions and fight back.

For Turkey, Manbij is also very important, and it will be a decisive battle for the future of the SDF and the DAANES. This battle is proving that a well trained and prepared force, even if lightly equipped, can inflict massive losses to a much more numerous and well equipped force, even when they have total air supremacy. Every day that SDF holds any ground in Manbij is one more day that Turkey is being defeated, making SNA looking weaker. HTS took several big cities in days, SNA can’t take one middle sized city even when having full support of turkish airforce. But of course, as we said at the beginning, SDF is not SAA.

The attacks of Israel can also open new cans of worms, igniting old hates and legitimizing more extreme and fundamentalist positions inside HTS, overwhelming the moderate face that they had been working to present.

Many more things could be say, but this is already getting long so we stop here for today.

Revolutionary greetings!

Updates 07-12-2024

Once agains, so many things happen today. We will just share some important things.

# Collapse of the Syrian Regime

– SAA soldiers are defecting from all fronts. In some regions they simply run away, in some other they hold negotiations with other military forces before abandoning their positions. More than 1500 SAA soldiers crossed into Iraq throw Albukamal crossing.

– In western Syria, as SAA withdraw from their positions those are rapidly filled by HTS and different rebel groups in the north, by the south military operation room from Sweida-Daraa-Quneitra local forces, working more or less affiliated under the banner of FSA.

– Government forces evacuating official buildings of Damascus as rebel forces start to enter the city in the southern neighborhoods. Forces that started the offensive from Al-Tanf are entering from the north, with other groups claiming affiliation to FSA joining.

– Intelligence sources report contradictory information about the presence (or not) of Bashar al Assad in Damascus.

# SDF expansion of territories to protect the region

– In estern Syria, SDF is taking control of some positions alongside Eufrates river, but also local groups claiming affiliation to FSA are taking control of some positions. ISIS also took control of at least 1 position. In Til Temir area, maybe also in other areas, some SAA soldiers hold their military position after defecting and joining the ranks of SDF.

– SDF also takes control of the pockets that SAA controlled in Qamishlo and Hasaka, including airports and military bases, after negotiations. SAA no longer have authority, but some basic functions of the state like post office and administration still functioning.

– After the batallion of al-Tanf reached Palmyra and continued their advance to Damascus, people went to the streets. Some raised flags of SDF calling for joining the self-admnistration.

– In a press statement Mazlum Abdi (general command of SDF) declares a general amnesty urging everyone to cooperate as SDF works to protect the region.

# Manbij front

– SNA groups continue their attacks on Manbij, more aggressively than before. SDF made a statement anouncing they repelled all the attacks, SNA claimed they had taken some positions around Al-Arimah. SNA attacks count with air support from Turkish armed UAVs that are bombing the area.

– Tabqa Military Council repelled some attacks in the area they newly captured after the withdraw of the SAA.
# Other

– HTS groups take control of Homs as SAA and Irani froces withdraw. They opened Homs central prison releasing its detainees.

– Turkey deploys armored vehicles in Aleppo. Since the beginning of the operation Turkish state spokemans had been claiming that Aleppo belongs to Turkey

– There are a lot of “High rank” political talks with delegates of different countries, with a special conference in Doha with foreign ministers of Russia, Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar an a UN special envoy starting today.

Revolutionary greetings!