Submitted by Olivia Kroth…
While Syrian Government forces with Russian help were able to regain most of Syria’s territory from the grip of terrorists and US military invaders, there still remain a few pockets in foreign hands, where the fighting is fierce. Terrorists are being captured on an almost daily basis by the Syrian Government forces. The infamous White Helmets have been weakened in Syria, as a corruption scandal is rocking this shady western NGO. Their false flag lies tried to discredit the Syrian Government in the western mainstream press. Sergey Naryshkin, Head of the Russian Foreign Secret Service (GRU), accused the White Helmets of funding terrorism in Syria. One of the White Helmet founders, a former British secret service agent, died in Istanbul. He fell from a roof or a balcony. The White Helmet organization has been found out to be deeply corrupt, with money destined for Syria ending in the pockets of a few bosses. Meanwhile, Syrian tribes are protesting against US and Turkish occupation, the Syrian Army has blocked US convoys on transit routes and sent them back to the place they came from. Syrian patriotic partisans seem to have formed resistance groups, which could be responsible for certain road accidents, in which US soldiers have died. The Syrian community in Russia is worried about the homeland, has promised to help and is hoping for peace to be achieved soon.
The Russian news agency TASS reported that three militants of the Maghawir al-Thawra group were detained by the Syrian military in the outskirts of Tadmor, near Palmyra. The terorists had been trained to spy by US instructors, according to one of the neutralized extremists, Abdallah al-Mishuat.
“We were trained how to use all types of weapons by US instructors,” the militant said. “All weapons were made in the USA. I saw US instructors, they attended trainings. They watched from a distance, checked and assessed the training. The exercises were difficult, they took two or three hours, not less.”
The three captured militants were part of an armed group heading to Raqqa province from Al-Tanf, where US military has illegally incrusted itself. Their mission was to collect data on Russian, Syrian and Iranian military facilities. The group of militants stepped on a mined field, some of them were killed and three others were captured. The Syrian Government forces seized weapons, ammunition and drugs from them (TASS, 14.07.2020).
The Syrian state news agency SANA reported that more ammunition and arms, destined for terrorist activities, were confiscated in Syria: “The competent authorities in Homs seized a large amount of weapons and ammunition, which were prepared for smuggling to terrorist groups in Idleb, northern countryside. The seized weapons included large quantities of medium and light ammunition, machine guns, RPGs, medium machine guns, and propellant charges” (SANA, 22.07.2020).
More US-trained terrorists were nabbed in Syria as well, according to SANA: “The Syrian authorities arrested two terrorists riding a motorcycle, south of the al-Qaryateen village, as they tried to infiltrate the Syrian Badiya desert, east of the Homs countryside, from the al-Tanf area, where illegitimate US invaders have installed their camp.
The two captured terrorists, Mohammad al-Doukhoul and Abdullah Hoyan Shalash, said that they joined the so-called Revolutionary Commando led by Mohammad al-Tal’a, who works under the command of US occupation in al-Tanf. They were provided with maps to infiltrate the Syrian Arab Army points, in exchange for money. They wanted to take photos of the Syrian Arab Army points and economic facilities to cooperate with Isis terrorists, aiming to plant IEDs inside oil fields and to attack military points” (SANA, 29.07.2020).
The infamous White Helmets are cooperating with terrorists in the Syrian Arab Republic. Iran’s news agency PRESS TV reported that “members of the so-called civil defence group White Helmets continue to collude with foreign-sponsored terrorists operating in Syria. They are involved in acts of looting and robbery under the guise of humanitarian activities” (PRESS TV IRAN, 24.07.2020).
Earlier this year, Sergey Naryshkin, Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (GRU), said that western intelligence services are sponsoring the White Helmets, offering them support to propagate fake news in a bid to incriminate Syrian Government forces as a pretext for possible acts of aggression against Syrian Army troops.
“White Helmets is an organization financed by intelligence services overseas. It is fulfilling their objective within the framework of a propaganda campaign against the Syrian people and the Syrian Arab Republic,” Sergey Naryshkin explained.
Sergey Yevgenevich Naryshkin (Сергей Евгеньевич Нарышкин), was born in Leningrad, on the 27th of October 1954. He was trained as a Komsomol cadre at school No.101 of the First General Directorate of the KGB (today Foreign Intelligence Academy). From 1988 to 1991, he worked as a member of the economic council of the USSR Embassy in Belgium.
Sergey Naryshkin returned to Saint Petersburg in 1992, where he was employed at the Town Hall, headed by Anatoly Sobchak. In 1995, he headed the foreign investment department of the Saint Petersburg Construction Bank. His national political career began in February 2004, when he started to rise through the ranks of the Russian Government Administration. He was Chairman of the Russian State Duma, from December 2011 to September 2016. In October 2016, President Vladimir Putin appointed him Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation (GRU).
Western secret services are trying hard to stir the flame of terrorism by financing the White Helmets in Syria. The Dutch are mixed up in it, too. According to the Iranian news agency PRESS TV, the founders of a western-backed so-called aid group for Syria embezzled 50.000 dollars: A Dutch accountant discovered that the Dutch foundation behind setting up this controversial Syrian aid group, backed by the West, misappropriated more than $50.000, which had been earmarked for the outfit.
“According to the Dutch daily De Volkskrant, the Dutch whistleblower found out that the leaders of Mayday Rescue, a Dutch body behind the so-called White Helmets organization in Syria, used money intended for a rescue operation for their own bonuses instead. Still controversially, James Le Mesurier, a former UK intelligence officer, specifically of the MI6 foreign intelligence service, who founded the White Helmets, died in an apparent suicide attempt days after this discovery.”
“The money meant for the White Helmets is provided by the USA, which last year sent them $4.5 million. The $50.000-plus had been handed over to James Le Mesurier for the Operation Flying Carpet, which helped the White Helmets being smuggled from Syria to Israel and then flown to Western destinations, in 2018. This operation came, as the Syrian Government and its ally Russia had found the White Helmets culpable of involvement in false-flag chemical operations in the Syrian Arab Republic and were closing in on the group.”
“The Dutch accountant, though, discovered that the largest part of the sum was misappropriated by Mayday Rescue at the time and as a result, fewer White Helmets could be smuggled out of Syria than had been hoped. The money went instead to James Le Mesurier and his wife, Emma Winberg, as well as to fellow director Rupert Davis” (PRESS TV, 18.07.2020).
It might be a good idea for UK intelligence officers not to meddle in Syria. Falling from a roof or a balcony is a painful death. On the 11th of November 2019, James Le Mesurier was found dead in a street of Istanbul at 4:30 in the morning. He was found with fractures to his head and legs. He died, when he was 48 years and six months old. Thus, his meddling attempt in Syria was rather short-lived. His attempt at fraud and embezzlement of money was also not successful, in the long run.
On the 14th of November 2019, James Le Mesurier’s body was repatriated to London, while the Turkish investigation continued. A month later, the Turkish authorities confirmed that the injuries he sustained were consistent with a fall from the roof or the balcony. On the 2nd of March 2020, Turkish prosecutors closed their investigation, with the death ruled as a suicide. His widow, Emma Winberg, was released from her restriction on leaving Turkey.
Meanwhile, Russian and Syrian Government forces are working together to repel US-instigated terrorist attacks in the Syrian Arab Republic. The Iranian news agency PRESS TV reported that Russia’s air defences repelled a drone attack on their airbase in Hmeimim, Governorate of Latakia:
“Rear Admiral Alexander Shcherbitsky, Head of the Russian Defence Ministry’s centre for Syrian reconciliation, announced that unmanned aerial vehicles attempting to attack the Syrian base, hosting Russian forces, were shot down by air defence systems. Two drones were destroyed at a distance of five km from the Russian airbase. Armed groups in the Idlib de-escalation zone regularly make attempts of attacking the Hmeimim airbase using drones” (PRESS TV, 12.07.2020).
Over the past year, Russian military and the Syrian Government forces have thwarted several drone and mortar attacks, launched by militants on the airbase. They were able to destroy dozens of drones and multiple-launch rocket system shells. Russia has been helping Syrian forces in the ongoing battles. Russia’s military assistance began in September 2015 at the official request of the Syrian Government and has proved effective.
PRESS TV furthermore reported that Syrian Government forces were able to block US convoys in Hasakah and forced them to return:
“Syrian Government forces blocked three US military convoys, as they tried to pass through the country’s northeastern province of Hasakah, amid lingering public resentment over the deployment of US troops in the region. The US convoys had to turn around and head back in the directions they came from, after Syrian Army troops intercepted them in the villages of al-Sibat, Tal Shamiran and Mansaf Tahtani.“
“The presence of US forces in eastern Syria has particularly irked the civilians. Local residents have on several occasions stopped US military convoys entering the region. Syria, which has not authorized the presence of the US military in its territory, says Washington is plundering the country’s oil” (PRESS TV, 12.07.2020).
In Syria, active and passive resistance against foreign occupation is strong. Civilians regularly stage demonstations against US and Turkish occupation: “Syrian tribes’ dignitaries in Qamishli affirmed their support for the Syrian Arab Army against terrorism and the US, Turkish occupation, calling on all tribes and citizens in Syria to resist. The tribes stressed that they are standing by the Syrian Government and Army firmly, rejecting the US blockade and terrorist acts against Syrian citizens”.
“They said that the US blockade will not affect their adherence to their own national principles and Syrian sovereignty over the entire territory under the national Syrian flag. The dignitaries called on Syria’s tribes to resist the occupation and liberate the holy Syrian territories from US and Turkish occupation. They also warned the groups not to engage in any US project” (SANA, 06.07.2020).
Qamishli is a city in northeastern Syria on the border to Turkey with approximately 184.231 inhabitants. Qamishli lies 680 km northeast of Damascus. The city is the administrative capital of the Qamishli district in the Governorate of Hasakah. A significant part of the city’s inhabitants are Christians belonging to the Syrian Orthodox Church. The city dates back to the 1920s, when Assyrians, escaping the Assyrian genocide carried out by the Ottoman Empire, fled from southern Turkey and built a small town in this place.
One of the most important founders of the early development projects in the city was Masoud Asfar, an Assyrian who had survived the Turkish massacres as a young child. Masoud Asfar, along with his stepbrother, whose last name was Najjar, established the Asfar & Najjar Corporation, a company that produced wheat in Qamishli. From the 1920s to the 1940s, the Asfar & Najjar Corporation funded hospitals, schools and churches throughout the city.
In fact, the Governorate of Qamishli is full of protesters against US and Turkish occupation. “Locals in the village of Farfara, Qamishli countryside, staged a stand in protest against US and Turkish occupation of Syrian territories and in condemnation of the unilateral coercive economic measures imposed on Syria. The protesters burned the US flag in denunciation of the so-called Caesar Act, which targets the Syrian citizen’s livelihood. They expressed their rejection of US occupation and its criminal practices against the Syrian people. They also voiced strong support for the Syrian Arab Army until achieving victory, eliminating all terrorist hotbeds and expelling the illegitimate foreign forces from the Syrian lands” (SANA, 18.07.2020).
Another protest was staged in the village of Tartab. “The locals in the village of Tartab, Qamishli countryside, demonstrated against US occupation, demanding withdrawal of US occupation forces stealing Syrian oil and other resources of the country. The protesting participants raised banners with slogans, calling to stop the theft of Syrian oil by US occupation forces. They stressed the need for popular support and the unification of all efforts in order to resist and drive the US invaders out of Syrian territory. They affirmed their rejection of the so-called Caesar Act” (SANA, 06.07.2020).
A third village protesting in this northeastern Syrian Governorate on the border to Turkey is al-Watutiya. The Syrian state news media showed a series of photos, how villagers organized the stand: “National stand in al-Watutiya, Qamishli countryside, demanding the US and Turkish occupation to leave the country” (SANA, 24.07.2020).
Questions arise, whether these protests are leading to active resistance against foreign occupation as well. Typical resistance sabotage acts are placing car bombs, manipulating vehicles, damaging roads to cause traffic accidents, etc. When we read news about such accidents we might wonder, whether some sort of sabotage was involved.
“A US American soldier was killed, when a vehicle of the US occupation overturned in the area of Tal Tamir, northwest of Hasaka. Local sources said that the accident took place, when a military convoy of the US occupation was passing through. The US soldier died due to his vehicle flipping, while conducting a military patrol. The locals in villages and towns of the Hasaka Governorate, supported by personnel of the Syrian Arab Army, intercept many convoys of the US occupation forces” (SANA, 22.07.2020).
With protest stands, sabotage acts and other types of resistance the Syrian citizens are helping their Government Forces to fight against foreign occupation and terrorism. Syria’s Defence Minister praised his country as a role model: “Chief of the General Staff of the Syrian Army and Armed Forces, Defence Minister General Ali Abdullah Ayoub, affirmed that terrorism is being defeated by virtue of the legendary steadfastness of Syria’s people, army and leadership. He pointed out that Syria is a role model to the world for confronting terrorism.”
“On the 75th anniversary of the Syrian Arab Army, General Ayoub congratulated its personnel and the Syrian people on this occasion. He said that the Syrian Arab Army will remain steadfast until achieving victory. There is no other option, as President Bashar al-Assad said more than once. General Ayoub stressed that Syria’s war against terrorism continues, until it will be uprooted completely. He affirmed that the enemies of Syria will not be able to use policies of blockade and starvation. General Ayoub said that Syria does not stand alone in confronting this war against terrorism, as there are true friends and allies who share Syria’s conviction in achieving victory” (SANA, 01.08.2020).
Meanwhile, the Syrian community living in the Russian Federation is giving its homeland all the moral and psychological help possible. “Members of the Syrian community in Russia reaffirmed their support for their motherland facing the attacks, which target it. During their meeting with Riad Haddad, the Syrian Ambassador in Russia, in the Syrian Embassy on occasion of Eid al-Adha, members of the community said that they intend to exert all efforts to preserve Syrian independence and sovereignty.”
“Ambassador Haddad affirmed that the unilateral coercive economic measures imposed by the US on Syria and the so-called Caesar Act are merely the continuation of the war against Syria, after the US failed to achieve its goals. He indicated that the enemies of Syria are attempting to impose political and economic sanctions, they continue to support terrorist organizations, with the Coronavirus pandemic making the situation more complicated. Ambassador Haddad stressed that Syria’s people, armed forces, and leadership are determined to achieve victory against all enemies” (SANA, 31.07.2020).
Syria’s struggle for freedom, peace and sovereignty seems to be never ending: Syria fought for indepence from French occupation and exploitation in the 20th century, the country is fighting for independence from US occupation and exploitation now, in the first quarter of the 21st centry. A passage in the text of the Syrian Baath Party’s anthem expresses this struggle very well:
“… We are farmers and workers, and youngsters without softness.
We are fighting soldiers, we are the voice of the hardworking.
From the depths of the world we came, from the core of the struggle,
With sacrifices. We never were greedy but the most generous …”
May this fighting, generous, hardworking nation soon find peace.
Olivia Kroth: The journalist and author of four books lives in Russia.
Her blog: https://olivia2010kroth.wordpress.com