Syrian warplanes yesterday hammered opposition-held neighborhoods of Damascus after government forces pushed back a surprise assault that saw rebels try to fight their way into the city center.
Rebels and allied jihadists, led by former al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, launched an attack early on Sunday on government positions in east Damascus, initially scoring key gains.
However, forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad drove them back by nightfall and began a fierce bombing campaign yesterday morning.
Photo: AFP
“There have been intense air strikes since dawn on opposition-held positions in Jobar from which the offensive was launched,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “The government and allied forces have retaken the initiative and are striking the groups that launched yesterday’s assault.”
He said it was unclear whether regime forces or their Russian allies were carrying out yesterday’s raids on Jobar.
Jobar — which has been a battleground for more than two years — is divided between rebels and allied miliants on one side, and government forces on the other.
On Sunday, opposition fighters seized several buildings in Jobar before advancing into nearby Abbasid Square area — the first time in two years that the opposition had advanced so close to the capital’s center.
The clashes left dead at least 26 government soldiers and 21 rebels and militants, Abdel Rahman said, but he did not have a toll for yesterday morning’s airstrikes.
Sniper fire and airstrikes were heard across the city on Sunday as civilians cowered inside their homes and schools announced they would close because of the violence.
However, by yesterday the front line had been pushed back and correspondents said activity in the typically bustling Abbasid Square was returning to normal levels.
Airplanes could still be heard circling above, but many of the roads that had been sealed off by army troops the previous day were reopened, correspondents said.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of