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Armenian Holocaust Memorial in Deir ez-Zor liberated by Syrian Army

November 6, 2017 By administrator

The Armenian Genocide memorial in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate has been liberated by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) after being occupied by Islamic State forces for several years, Al-Masdar News reports.

Prior to its liberation, the memorial had been badly damaged by various groups, including the Islamic State, the source says.

While no immediate plans have been announced by the Syrian government to fix the memorial, its restoration will likely happen during the reconstruction of Deir ez-Zor.

Pictures of the memorial released by the Syrian army reveal the extent of damage that the conflict has caused over the years.

The memorial complex served as church, museum, monument, archive centre and exhibition. It was under the direct administration of the Armenian Prelacy, Diocese of Aleppo. Every year, on 24 April, tens of thousands of Armenian pilgrims from all over the world visited the Der Zor complex to commemorate the genocide victims, with the presence of their religious leaders.

On September 21, 2014, the memorial complex was blown up, reportedly by IS members.

Related links:

Al-Masdar News. In pictures: Armenian Holocaust Memorial liberated by Syrian Army

Filed Under: Genocide, News Tagged With: Armenian Holocaust, deir ez-zor, Memorial, Syria

Russia threatens to attack U.S.-backed forces in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor

September 21, 2017 By administrator

The Russian Ministry of Defense has issued a formal warning to the U.S. military regarding the behavior of their forces in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Al-Masdar News reports.

“Russia unequivocally told the commanders of U.S. forces in Al Udeid Airbase (Qatar) that it will not tolerate any shelling from the areas where the SDF are stationed,” the Spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Major General Igor Konashenkov, stated this morning, adding that the attacks put at risk Russian military advisers embedded with Syrian government troops.

“Fire from positions in regions [controlled by the SDF] will be suppressed by all means necessary,” he stressed.

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have shelled the Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) positions in Deir ez-Zor at least two times this week; this has prompted the Russian Ministry of Defense’s to issue a stern warning to Washington.

Photo. AFP
Related links:

Al-Masdar News. Russia threatens to attack US-backed forces in Deir Ezzor

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: deir ez-zor, Russia, Syria's, US

Residents of Syria’s Deir ez-Zor fear IS massacre

February 27, 2017 By administrator

Smoke rises in the distance after fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces fired a mortar from the village of Sabah al-Khayr on the northern outskirts of Deir Ez-Zor, Syria, Feb. 21, 2017. (photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP/Getty Images)

By Nour Samaha,

In the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, the days are heavy and the nights are long. The sounds of explosions resonate and the streets are deserted as residents seek refuge in their homes. Too tired, poor, scared and hungry to venture outside, they struggle to survive from one day to the next amid the crippling siege as well as the ongoing Islamic State onslaught.

“All of us have this feeling that you might leave your home and not return,” Zein, a resident of Deir ez-Zor’s al-Qusoor neighborhood, told Al-Monitor over the phone. “All the people are traumatized. There is no way to cope, as people become accustomed to a situation that then just gets worse.”

He continued, “There is no feeling of security whatsoever, and mortar rounds are hitting the city daily. No part of the city is safe.”

The residents of Deir ez-Zor, which has been under a partial siege since October 2013 and a full one since the end of 2014, have watched helplessly as fuel, water, electricity and now communication with the outside world have slowly disappeared. Today, local mafias rule the streets, basic food products have reached exorbitant prices and the very real threat of an IS-perpetrated massacre looms as the government and its allies scramble to prevent the advance of IS fighters into the city.

Located on the Euphrates River between Raqqa and Mosul — the two IS strongholds — the residents of Deir ez-Zor have been facing a strong offensive by the group since Jan. 14. After launching something of a surprise attack on the city, catching the government’s forces and allies on the ground off guard, IS managed to quickly separate the air base from the rest of the city, effectively cutting off the last remaining aid supply line to approximately 100,000 civilians still stuck inside the city.

The offensive had been somewhat expected. Since it laid siege to the entire city at the end of 2014, IS has been eyeing a full takeover of Deir ez-Zor to consolidate its gains and control over northern Syria and western Iraq. In the past year, the group has been testing the defense lines of Deir ez-Zor — conducting at least three “reconnaissance under fire” missions, one of them on the main civilian hospital — as veteran IS fighters from Mosul flood the countryside around the city.

“Deir ez-Zor is located deep inside IS-held territory, close to Iraq, and it is the administrative center of eastern Syria’s oil-rich eastern desert,” explained Aron Lund, a fellow at the Century Foundation who writes on Syria. He told Al-Monitor, “Taking it would hand IS control over another provincial capital, like Raqqa, and neighborhoods and institutions that could extend its power over additional tens of thousands of civilians.”

According to pro-government sources in Beirut, the Syrian government and its allies have not been in agreement over what to do with Deir ez-Zor. The Syrian government, Iran and Hezbollah wanted to focus first on recapturing Aleppo, pointing out that other battles should be prioritized to secure the government’s control over Syrian territory, while others, such as the Russians, wanted to continue northward to Deir ez-Zor after the liberation of Palmyra in March 2016, keen to show the world they are serious about their fight against IS.

“[President Bashar] Assad and Iran seem to have been consistently more interested in the heavily populated core territories of western Syria and in breaking the foreign-backed segments of the rebellion, which they see as a greater strategic threat,” said Lund. “Objectively speaking, they are right, but things may look differently if you’re in Moscow and they must certainly look very different if you have the misfortune of being trapped inside Deir ez-Zor.”

In 2014, Deir ez-Zor had a population of about 300,000 people. Since then it has dwindled to about a third of that size after many residents fled, either by paying enormous fees to get airlifted out by the Syrian army — from $500 to over $1,000 per spot on the helicopters — or risking their lives by traveling over land through the IS-controlled territories surrounding Deir ez-Zor.

If stopped, they would be subjected to intensive “atonement” training, in which they would be forced to learn IS-approved Islamic values and ways of life. If they failed the exams at the end or tried to flee, or if IS discovered they were in any way involved with the government (including school teachers in government schools), they would be punished, imprisoned or even killed, according to sources from Deir ez-Zor.

For those who have stayed behind, life has become unbearable. The ongoing siege has enabled local gangs to take advantage of the situation and wreak havoc on the lives of civilians.

“There is looting and mugging after sunset, and since there is no electricity, most of the streets have no lights of any kind,” said Zein. “Some of those who joined the NDF [National Defense Forces] are known criminals and have been using their guns to loot and mug people and no one is doing anything about it.”

The lack of fuel has meant residents are resorting to burning everything from furniture to doors and windows, and a civilian vehicle is now a rare sight on the streets.

The lack of food has forced the residents to alter their diets. “Red meats are rare and very expensive, where you would pay around 10,000 Syrian pounds per kilo [around $46],” said Ahmad, another resident still inside Deir ez-Zor. “People now buy them in 50- or 100-gram portions.”

Today a kilogram of sugar goes for 3,500 pounds (around $16), but most people buy 15 grams of an artificial sweetener at 1,000 pounds ($5) instead, while a kilogram of tea sells for 10,000 pounds (around $46). Eggs and a wide range of fruits and vegetables can no longer be found.

“Water is pumped once a week, on Saturdays, but the flow of water is very weak so it only reaches ground-floor flats,” Ahmad continued in his telephone interview. “Landlines do not work, whether to call other governorates or to make local calls. Only mobile phones work, but the coverage is weak and when something happens, everyone is trying to get through so the network dies altogether.”

Asked about medicine, he said, “There is no protection against diseases since we don’t have antibiotics as well as other types of medicine.”

Meanwhile, the electricity situation is so dire that stores are now offering to charge people’s phones on diesel-fueled generators for a small fee.

Making it more difficult for the Syrian government and its allies to push IS away from the front lines and change the balance of the battle, the group has been conducting its offensive through the use of small brigades, thus limiting the impact of government/Russian/US airstrikes on their positions. Today, despite government reinforcements, they are still struggling to push IS back and regain control over areas that are a mere few hundred square meters.

The future of Deir ez-Zor remains incredibly bleak. IS continues to attack on a daily basis, and as it loses ground in Mosul, it is more determined than ever to gain ground in Deir ez-Zor, which could spell disaster for the civilians who have remained in the area.

“If Deir ez-Zor fell, I would assume it would be followed by the sort of brutality we’ve seen when IS took other cities,” said Lund. “They have had a bad couple of years and would want to maximize the propaganda value.

“They could find plenty of enemies there to torture, humiliate or murder on camera in some spectacular fashion, as they have done elsewhere.”

Nour Samaha, is a freelance journalist based in Beirut. She has been covering the region, with a specific focus on Lebanon, Syria and Israel/Palestine, since 2006. She predominantly writes on political, security and humanitarian issues. On Twitter: @nour_samaha

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: deir ez-zor, Massacre, Syria

Syrian Army Plans to Launch Offensive on Deir Ez-Zor, Raqqa

April 29, 2016 By administrator

1038446765The Syrian armed forces plan to retake the city of Raqqa from Daesh, and Russian aviation is expected to support the operation, according to Russia’s UN Office envoy.

GENEVA (Sputnik) – The Syrian army is planning to launch an offensive on Deir Ez-Zor and Raqqa with the support of the Russian air group deployed in Syria, Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Office and Other International Organizations in Geneva Alexei Borodavkin said.

“In line with UNSC [UN Security Council] Resolution 2254, the ceasefire regime in Syria does not apply to Daesh, al-Nusra Front and other terrorist groups…As a result of operations by the Syrian armed forces with [the] support of Russian combat aircraft [the Syrian] city of Palmyra has been liberated, and now further offensive operations are being planned in the direction of Deir Ez-Zor and Raqqa,” Borodavkin told reporters in Geneva.

Syria Ceasefire Mostly Holding but Some Forces Attempt to Disrupt It

“There are forces that are deliberately provoking the failure of the cessation of hostilities. We are constantly talking about the need to block the Turkish-Syrian border through which terrorist group fighters flow and weapons, military equipment and ammunition are smuggled. It is necessary to firmly curb this flow in order to strengthen the ceasefire regime,” Borodavkin stressed.

According to the Russian envoy, the United States and Russia are making joint efforts to put an end to the Syrian conflict.

“We are well aware that there are opponents of the cessation of hostilities and they will do everything they can to disrupt this regime, which is what is happening now,” Borodavkin said, adding nonetheless that “in general, the regime is being adhered to.”

A US-Russia-brokered ceasefire came into force across Syria on February 27. Syria has been mired in civil war since March 2011, with government forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad fighting numerous opposition factions and extremist groups. The truce does not apply to terrorist groups such as Daesh and al-Nusra Front.

More Militant Groups Cut Ties With al-Nusra Front, Join Ceasefire

“The groups that want to join the cessation of hostilities must sign relevant documents, report their exact location and disengage from Nusra Front units because, at present, they are, unfortunately, heavily mixed on the battlefield,” Borodavkin told reporters.

According to Borodavkin, “certain progress” has been observed in the US work with illegal armed groups in Syria.

“Contacts and cooperation between Russian and US militaries have recently intensified. Phone conferences between Hmeymim [Russian air base in Syria], Amman, Moscow and Washington are regularly held. Our militaries are meeting at the negotiating table with maps and necessary intelligence data that help to prevent violations of the cessation of hostilities and strengthen it. I think that in the near future many issues will be resolved within this US-Russian military cooperation,” Borodavkin told journalists.

No Evidence Jaish al-Islam, Ahrar ash-Sham Join Truce

“We heard statements from these groups that they have allegedly joined the cessation of hostilities [in Syria] but we have no official confirmation [of these statements],” Borodavkin told journalists.

The envoy recalled that the leadership of Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar ash-Sham had repeatedly stated they were fighting “shoulder to shoulder” with al-Nusra Front militants and called on the jihadists to unite in their fight against government forces.

“If Ahrar ash-Sham and Jaish al-Islam are serious about finding a political solution to the conflict in Syria, they have to radically change their positions,” Borodavkin emphasized.

On Tuesday, Russia requested to add the two groups operating in Syria to the UN sanctions list that already contains Daesh. The Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee (HNC) of the Syrian opposition includes representatives of both Ahrar ash-Sham and Jaish al-Islam.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Army, deir ez-zor, launch, offensive, raqqa, Syrian

Armenian church in Deir ez-Zor among 19 greatest monuments lost in conflict

March 8, 2015 By administrator

Armenian church in Deir ez-Zor among 19

Armenian church in Deir ez-Zor among 19

The Armenian church in Deir ez-Zor that was destroyed by the Islamic state has been included in CNN-formed list of 19 greatest monuments lost in conflict.

The Armenian complex that includes a church and a museum was a memorial site to 1.5 million killed between 1915 and 1923. Deir ez-Zor became a destination for pilgrims from around the world, the article says.

The list also includes the ancient city of Palmyra, Nimrud in Iraq, Citadel of Aleppo, Great Mosque of Samarra, the Great Mosque of Aleppo and other sites.

The Armenian Church in Deir Zor was built in 1989-1990, and consecrated a year later. A genocide memorial and a museum housing remains of the victims of the genocide was subsequently constructed in the church compound.

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide Tagged With: Armenian, deir ez-zor, destroyed, monument, Syria

US Embassy condemns destruction of Armenian Church in Syria

September 24, 2014 By administrator

Smoke rises from Bab Sabaa neighbourhood of Homs March 19, 2012. Picture taken March 19, 2012. REUTERS/Shaam News Network/HandoutYEREVAN. – The US Embassy in Armenia has issued a statement on the blowing up of the Holy Martyrs Armenian Church in Deir ez-Zor, Syria

“U.S. Embassy Yerevan joins the government and people of Armenia in strongly condemning the destruction of the Armenian Church in Deir Ez-zor, Syria.

“This senseless act of destruction demonstrates yet again the utter disregard the terrorist organization ISIL has for the rich religious and cultural heritage of the Middle East.

“As Secretary Kerry has stated, ISIL has systematically committed abuses of human rights and international law and presents a global terrorist threat. Faced with this threat, the United States urges the international community to strengthen our united effort to degrade and destroy ISIL,” the statement reads.

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide Tagged With: deir ez-zor, Holy Martyrs Armenian Church

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