Syrian warplanes pounded a rebel-held town near the Lebanese border yesterday, activists said, in an apparent attempt to dislodge opposition fighters from the area and consolidate control over the border region.
Yabroud is the last rebel stronghold in Syria’s mountainous Qalamoun region. Backed by Lebanon’s Hezbollah fighters, the Syrian army has been on a crushing offensive there since early December last year.
Yesterday’s assault on Yabroud comes a day after a tense session between government officials and opposition leaders at peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland. There were no immediate plans for a meeting between the delegations yesterday after government representatives and opposition leaders traded bitter accusations over the talks’ failure to take off a day earlier.
Photo: Reuters
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported heavy fighting in Yabroud between troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebels trying to overthrow him. The observatory said warplanes have carried out 10 airstrikes.
Yabroud has been controlled by the opposition for much of Syria’s nearly three-year conflict. Lebanese Sunni Muslims have moved through the town to join Syrian rebels in battles against al-Assad’s forces, bringing in weapons and supplies for opposition fighters from Arsal, a town on Lebanese side of the border.
Hezbollah fighters have been key to the Syrian army’s success in the border region. In June last year, the Iran-backed group helped al-Assad’s forces regain control of the town of al-Qusayr. Its fall tipped the balance of power in the Syrian conflict in al-Assad’s favor.
Meanwhile, more civilians were expected to leave the embattled city of Homs before an extended ceasefire expired at midnight, the Syrian Red Crescent said in a statement.
The statement said Red Crescent staff entered the city earlier yesterday to deliver 190 food parcels and 190 bags of flour.
In Switzerland, Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Gennady Gatilov arrived in Geneva and met with UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi, who was pessimistic over any progress at the talks.
On Tuesday, Brahimi said that “we are not making much progress.”
A three-way meeting between Brahimi, Gatilov and US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman is scheduled to be held in Geneva today to discuss the deadlock.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
BACK TO WORK? Prosecutors said they are considering filing an appeal, while the Hsinchu City Government said it has applied for Ann Kao’s reinstatement as mayor The High Court yesterday found suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) not guilty of embezzling assistant fees, reducing her sentence to six months in prison commutable to a fine from seven years and four months. The verdict acquitted Kao of the corruption charge, but found her guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery. The High Prosecutors’ Office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to file an appeal. The Taipei District Court in July last year sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, along with a four-year deprivation of civil rights, for contravening the Anti-Corruption
RSS