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.
As the sun sets on another scorching Yangon day, the hot and bothered descend on the Myanmar city’s parks, the coolest place to spend an evening during yet another power blackout. A wave of exceptionally hot weather has blasted Southeast Asia this week, sending the mercury to 45°C and prompting thousands of schools to suspend in-person classes. Even before the chaos and conflict unleashed by the military’s 2021 coup, Myanmar’s creaky and outdated electricity grid struggled to keep fans whirling and air conditioners humming during the hot season. Now, infrastructure attacks and dwindling offshore gas reserves mean those who cannot afford expensive diesel
Does Argentine President Javier Milei communicate with a ghost dog whose death he refuses to accept? Forced to respond to questions about his mental health, the president’s office has lashed out at “disrespectful” speculation. Twice this week, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni was asked about Milei’s English Mastiff, Conan, said to have died seven years ago. Milei, 53, had Conan cloned, and today is believed to own four copies he refers to as “four-legged children.” Or is it five? In an interview with CNN this month, Milei referred to his five dogs, whose faces and names he had engraved on the presidential baton. Conan,
French singer Kendji Girac, who was seriously injured by a gunshot this week, wanted to “fake” his suicide to scare his partner who was threatening to leave him, prosecutors said on Thursday. The 27-year-old former winner of France’s version of The Voice was found wounded after police were called to a traveler camp in Biscarrosse on France’s southwestern coast. Girac told first responders he had accidentally shot himself while tinkering with a Colt .45 automatic pistol he had bought at a junk shop, a source said. On Thursday, regional prosecutor Olivier Janson said, citing the singer, that he wanted to “fake” his suicide
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed his pledge to replace India’s religion-based marriage and inheritance laws with a uniform civil code if he returns to office for a third term, a move that some minority groups have opposed. In an interview with the Times of India listing his agenda, Modi said his government would push for making the code a reality. “It is clear that separate laws for communities are detrimental to the health of society,” he said in the interview published yesterday. “We cannot be a nation where one community is progressing with the support of the Constitution while the other