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Rif Dimashq Offensive (March–August 2013)
The Rif Dimashq offensive (March–August 2013) was a Syrian government forces and allies offensive in the Rif Dimashq Governorate that was launched in late March 2013, as part of the Syrian Civil War. Offensive Push into Eastern Ghouta During late March 2013, government forces opened a new front in the town of Otaiba, in an effort to divert rebel war-efforts and to attack rebel forces in the eastern Ghouta from the rear. On 7 April, government force launched an offensive east of Damascus, with the state news agency SANA claiming the military imposed a siege on the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta area. Rebels stated that intensified Army attacks on the area had been going on since mid-March. A rebel commander confirmed that the northern entrance to Ghouta was under siege and an opposition activist stated that a government tank-led assault on Eastern Ghouta had been launched towards the south from the direction of the Damascus international airport. On 15 April, at least 20 people ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Defense Force (Syria)
The National Defence Forces (NDF) ( ar, قوات الدفاع الوطني ''Quwāt ad-Difāʿ al-Watanī'') is a pro-government militia, that was formed on 1 November 2012 and organized by the Syrian government during the Syrian Civil War as a part-time volunteer reserve component of the Syrian Armed Forces. The NDF is made of units across various Syrian provinces, each of them consists of local volunteers willing to fight against rebels for various reasons. Formation By the beginning of 2013, the Syrian government took steps to formalize and professionalize hundreds of Popular Committee militias under a new group dubbed the National Defence Forces.Will Fulton, Joseph Holliday, and Sam Wyer''Iranian Strategy in Syria'', Institute for the Study of War, May 2013 The goal was to form an effective, locally based, highly motivated force out of pro-government militias. The NDF, in contrast with the Shabiha forces, received salaries and military equipment from the government. Si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ghouta
Ghouta ( ar, غُوطَةُ دِمَشْقَ / ALA-LC: ''Ḡūṭat Dimašq'') is a countryside and suburban area in southwestern Syria that surrounds the city of Damascus along its eastern and southern rim. Name Ghouta is the Arabic term (''ghuta'') for 'garden'. Geography The Ghouta is an oasis formed by the Barada River, as its waters flow east of Mount Qasioun, and its seven tributaries. It surrounds the city of Damascus. To the east and south of the Ghouta lies the Marj plain, which forms a narrow belt of fields, and south of that lies the Hauran plain. The Barada River Valley borders the Ghouta to the northeast. The area north of the Ghouta is less fertile and eventually desolate hill country. To the west of the region is the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. The Ghouta is historically the most celebrated 'green zone' (a verdant, fertile area around an urban center) in the Levant, according to the historian Beshara Doumani. He also notes that its fame in this regard persists, desp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otaybah, Syria
Otaybah ( ar, قرية العتيبة, sometimes spelled Ataybah, Uteibah, Ateibeh, al-Utayba, al-Otaiba or al-Atebeh) is a village in eastern Ghouta, Syria, east of Damascus city center. The village is administratively a part of the Douma District in the Rif Dimashq Governorate. Damascus International Airport Damascus International Airport ( ar, مَطَار دِمَشْق الدَّوْلِيّ, Maṭār Dimašq ad-Duwaliyy) is the international airport of Damascus, the capital of Syria. Inaugurated in the mid-1970s, it also was the country's busie ... is located southwest of Otaybah. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Otaybah had a population of 10,548 people in the 2004 census. References Populated places in Douma District Cities in Syria {{RifDimashqSY-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syrian Government
Government of the Syrian Arab Republic is the union government created by the constitution of Syria where by the president is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Syria has a legislative council with 250 members. The country has been in a civil war since 2011 against various domestic and foreign forces that oppose both the Syrian government and each other, in varying combinations. The seat of the government is located in Damascus, Syria. Administration The executive branch consists of the president, two vice presidents, the prime minister, and the Council of Ministers (cabinet). The constitution requires the president to be a Muslim. , President , Bashar al-Assad , Ba'ath Party , 17 July 2000 , - , Prime Minister , Hussein Arnous , Ba'ath Party , 11 June 2020 Council of Ministers A Council of Ministers, or cabinet, which currently consists of 30 members, perform the day-to-day administrative fu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large national audience. Daily broadsheet editions are printed for D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. The ''Post'' was founded in 1877. In its early years, it went through several owners and struggled both financially and editorially. Financier Eugene Meyer purchased it out of bankruptcy in 1933 and revived its health and reputation, work continued by his successors Katharine and Phil Graham (Meyer's daughter and son-in-law), who bought out several rival publications. The ''Post'' 1971 printing of the Pentagon Papers helped spur opposition to the Vietnam War. Subsequently, in the best-known episode in the newspaper's history, reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein led the American press's investigation into what became known as the Watergate scandal, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Republican Guard (Syria)
The Syrian Republican Guard ( ar, الْحَرَسُ الْجُمْهُورِيُّ, ''al-Ḥaras al-Jumhūriyy''), also known as the Presidential Guard, is an elite 25,000 man mechanized division, although it may actually approach corps size with around 60,000 guardsman. Its main purpose is to protect the capital, Damascus, from any foreign or domestic threats. The Guard was the only Syrian military unit allowed within the capital city before the civil war. History The Guard was formed in 1976 after the after the Syrian occupation of Lebanon to protect the increasingly unpopular president. Major-General Adnan Makhlouf commanded the Guard from 1976 until 1997. The Republican Guard is used mostly to protect top Syrian government officials from any external threats and to serve as a counter-weight to the other powerful Syrian Army formations near the capital, the 4th Mechanized Division, the 3rd Armoured Division, and the 14th Special Forces (Airborne) Division. Many members of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
4th Armoured Division (Syria)
The 4th Armoured Division ( ar, الفرقة الرابعة, al-Firqa ar-Rābiʿah) is an elite formation of the Syrian Army whose primary purpose is to defend the Syrian government from internal and external threats. History The division has its roots in the Defense Companies commanded by Rifaat al-Assad, younger brother of President Hafez al-Assad. After Rifaat was banished from Syria in 1984, the Defense Companies were reorganised into the 569th Armoured Division, and later into the 4th Armoured Division. The Division is regarded by some as the best trained and best equipped of the Syrian Army. The 4th Armoured Division, the Republican Guard, and Syria's secret police form the heart of the country's security forces. As a result, the Division is drawn mostly from members of the same Alawite group as the Assad family. About 80 percent of the division's soldiers and officers are Alawites and nearly 90 percent of them are career soldiers, in contrast to the conscripts who comprise ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
3rd Armoured Division (Syria)
The 3rd Armoured Division ( ar, االفرقة الثالثة المدرعة) is a formation of the Syrian Army responsible for securing the northern approach to Damascus. The division is based in a military complex near QutayfahJoseph HallidayThe Syrian Army: Doctrinal Order of Battle Institute for the Study of War, February 2013, p.9 and has traditionally been seen as one of the Assad Government's most reliable conventional Divisions. Structure The division is part of the Syrian Army's 3rd Corps, and is composed of 47th Armoured Brigade, the 65th Armoured Brigade, the 81st Armoured Brigade, the 21st Mechanized Brigade, and an unknown Artillery Regiment. As of 2011 the division was under the command of Maj. Gen. Naim Jasem Suleiman. The 65th Brigade was under the command of Brig. Gen. Jihad Mohamed Sultan. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Issam Zahreddine
Issam Jad'aan Zahreddine ( ar, عِصَام جَدْعَان زَهْر الدِّين, ʿIṣām Jadʿān Zahr ad-Dīn, 9 September 1961 – 18 October 2017), also transliterated as Issam Zaher Eldin or Issam Zaher al-Deen, was a major general of the Syrian Republican Guard who played a major role in the Syrian Civil War, leading Syrian government forces on several fronts. His most prominent role was the leadership of the surrounded Syrian forces during the over three-year long Siege of Deir ez-Zor. On 18 October 2017, Zahreddine was killed by a land mine explosion during operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on Saqr island in Deir ez-Zor. Background Zahreddine was born in the small rural village of Tarba in the As-Suwayda Governorate in 1961. A member of the Druze religious community, he was commissioned as an officer in the Airborne (Special Forces) Armoured units in 1982. Before that he served in the Baath Party's People's Militia (Popular Militia) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bashar Al-Assad
Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the Secretary-General of the Central Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, which espouses the ideologies of neo-Ba'athism and Assadism. His father and predecessor was General Hafez al-Assad, whose presidency between 1971 to 2000 marked the transfiguration of Syria from a republican state into a dynastic military dictatorship tightly controlled by Alawite-dominated armed forces and ''Mukhabarat'' (secret services) loyal to the Assad family. Born and raised in Damascus, Bashar al-Assad graduated from the medical school of Damascus University in 1988 and began to work as a doctor in the Syrian Army. Four years later, he attended postgraduate studies at the Western Eye Hospital in London, specialising in ophthalmology. In 1994, afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abu Mohammad Al-Julani
Ahmed Hussein al-Shar’a ( ar, أحمد حسين الشرع, ʾAḥmad Ḥusayn aš-Šarʿ), known by the ''nom de guerre'' Abu Mohammad al-Julani ( ar, أبو محمد الجولاني, ʾAbū Muḥammad al-Jawlānī), is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian militant group Tahrir al-Sham; he was also the emir of its predecessor organization al-Nusra Front, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda. The US State Department listed Al-Julani as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" in May 2013, and four years later announced a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture. As of February 2021, the bounty remains in force. The nisba "Al-Julani" in his ''nom de guerre'' is a reference to Syria's Golan Heights, partially occupied and annexed by Israel during the war in 1967. Al-Julani released an audio statement on 28 September 2014, in which he stated he would fight the "United States and its allies" and urged his fighters not to accept help from the West in their battle agains ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
