UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Friday renewed his call for a global ceasefire. He urged all parties to conflict to lay down arms and allow war-torn nations to combat the coronavirus pandemic. “The worst is yet to come,” Guterres said, referring to countries beset with fighting like Syria, Libya and Yemen. “The COVID-19 storm is now coming to all these theaters of conflict.” Guterres said there had […]
Ceasefire
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The UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said on Thursday he was engaged in talks with the country’s warring parties to secure a nationwide ceasefire to help counter the threat of the coronavirus. The envoy’s office said he is discussing “concrete steps” with the warring sides despite a recent escalation in the long conflict. Yemen has so far not recorded any case of COVID-19. However, aid […]
Saudi led coalition forces shot down Houthi drones in Yemen this morning two days after a UN call for a ceasefire due to the coronavirus pandemic was accepted by both parties. Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki Al-Maliki is reported by Reuters as saying that his forces had intercepted and shot down drones launched by Houthi fighters which were heading for civilian targets in the cities of Abha […]
Saudi Arabia and the military coalition it heads in Yemen has agreed to a ceasefire and truce with the Houthi rebel militia, in efforts to form a united front against the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The Saudi decision to halt its military operations in the country and agree to the ceasefire comes shortly after its acceptance by two opposing Yemeni sides – the internationally-recognised government […]
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Wednesday for: “The warring parties in Yemen to immediately cease hostilities and do their best to counter the possible spread of the coronavirus.” Guterres announced in a statement issued by his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric that: “The current fighting in Al-Jawf and Ma’rib threatens to further deepen human suffering.” Guterres also called on the warring parties to work with the UN special envoy […]
The Saudi-led coalition has reportedly agreed to a truce in Yemen – five years to the day of launching an intervention there – as part of a United Nations call for a global armistice among the Covid-19 pandemic. Riyadh’s decision to stand down follows the acceptance of the ceasefire by the pro-Saudi followers of ousted President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and the Houthi rebels that have controlled […]
The United Nations envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, on Tuesday called for a nationwide ceasefire to allow for a better response to the threat of the novel coronavirus. The government in Damascus has so far reported one case of COVID-19 but fears are high that the virus could spread rapidly among the war-battered country’s most vulnerable communities, AFP said. “Syrians are acutely vulnerable to COVID-19. Healthcare […]
Will the deadly coronavirus pandemic be the moment war is temporarily halted on a global scale? Not if the Pentagon has its way. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged the leaders to declare a ‘global ceasefire’ and halt all armed conflicts in order to focus on combating the coronavirus. “It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of […]
The parties to the conflict in Libya have been called upon to declare an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in light of the threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic, Anadolu has reported. The call was made by the Embassies of Algeria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States, along with the Delegation of the European Union and the governments of Tunisia and the […]
Turkey and Russia have agreed on the details of a ceasefire in Syria’s Idlib region after four days of talks in Ankara, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Friday. Joint patrols along a key highway will begin on Sunday as planned, Reuters quoted Akar as saying. Ankara and Moscow, which back opposing sides in Syria’s war, agreed on March 5 to halt hostilities in the country’s […]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke by phone with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj on Thursday, a German government spokesman said in a statement, urging him to move quickly towards signing a ceasefire, Reuters reports. The phone call came days after Khalifa Haftar, military commander of the opposing side in Libya’s civil conflict, visited Merkel for talks in Berlin. “They discussed the current political and military situation,” the statement read. […]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke by phone with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj on Thursday, urging him to move quickly towards signing a ceasefire agreement, a German government spokesman said. The phone call came days after Khalifa Haftar, military commander of the opposing side in Libya’s civil conflict, visited Merkel in Berlin for talks. Merkel and Sarraj “discussed the current political and military situation,” according to […]
Washington’s special envoy for Syria has signaled that the US is exploring NATO involvement in Idlib, and said that any violations of the truce in the Syrian province could be punished with sanctions, according to reports. James Jeffrey arrived in Brussels on Tuesday to meet with NATO allies and discuss “ways to support Turkey’s security concerns,” the State Department said in a statement. In a conference […]
Libya’s eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar has told France’s president he will sign a ceasefire and stick to it if militias backed by the internationally recognized government respect it, Reuters reported, citing a French presidency official. “Marshal Haftar assured [us] that he was committed to signing the ceasefire but this commitment would cease if the militias do not respect it,” the official said late on Monday […]
Khalifa Haftar, Libya’s eastern military commander, has told France’s president he will sign a ceasefire and stick to it if militias backed by the internationally recognised government respect it, a French presidency official said on Monday. “Marshal Haftar assured (us) that he was committed to signing the ceasefire but this commitment would cease if the militias do not respect it,” the official said after Haftar met […]
Turkey is ready to “use force against those who violate the ceasefire” that came into force last week in north-west Syria, according to Turkish security source today. The Turkish news outlet Yeni Safak cited the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying: “The ceasefire aims to halt regime attacks that endanger the safety of Turkey and the region, and pose the risk of causing an even […]
Authored by Jason Ditz via AntiWar.com, The ceasefire in Syria’s Idlib Province took effect on Friday, and has been holding so far. With every other nation on board, the US blocked a joint UN statement backing the ceasefire, saying it was “premature” to do so. The ceasefire came into effect at midnight on Friday, via the AP. The ceasefire was brokered by Turkey and Russia, and that’s […]
Days before he flew to Moscow to strike a ceasefire deal with Russia to halt fighting in Syria’s Idlib, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan warned Syrian government forces to pull back or they would not have a “head left on their shoulders”, Reuters reports. After six hours of talks with Vladimir Putin, a sombre Erdogan announced an accord which cements territorial gains by Russian-backed Syrian forces over Turkish-backed rebels. Returning […]
The UN World Food Program on Friday welcomed Turkey and Russia’s agreement on a cease-fire in Syria’s Idlib province, Anadolu Agency reports. “A relative calm is being reported there this morning after weeks of intense fighting which has created a humanitarian crisis with up to one million people displaced,” WFP spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs told journalists at the UN in Geneva. Ankara and Moscow agreed to a cease-fire effective […]
US opposition reportedly blocked the UN Security Council from backing the agreement between Russia and Turkey for a ceasefire in Syria’s Idlib province. US diplomats earlier sought to back Turkey’s incursion in the area. Also on rt.com Idlib ceasefire: Putin & Erdogan reach deal on Syria de-escalation after marathon Moscow talks DETAILS TO FOLLOW Source
Mideast Discourse — Turkey increased its military invasion of Syria last month to prevent the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) from liberating Idlib province from the occupation of terrorists, who are supported by Turkey and had been supported by the US before 2017 when President Trump cut off their funding through the CIA. The invasion of thousands of troops has been disastrous for Turkey since 58 soldiers were killed, including […]
Syrian regime forces violated the ceasefire only half an hour after it came into effect, Qatari news outlet Al Jazeera, local sources and Syrian journalists reported. “Assad forces continue bombardments in the south of Idlib and west of Aleppo after the cease-fire deal,” Al Jazeera reported in a tweet. In the first moments of the ceasefire, the Assad regime forces violate the Russian-Turkish agreement by bombing […]
SARAQIB (Sputnik) – After six-hour talks in Moscow on Thursday, Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed on a ceasefire in Idlib that went into effect at midnight. The current situation in the northwestern Syrian city of Saraqib, located in the heart of embattled Idlib Province, is relatively calm, as the warring sides seem to be observing a new ceasefire brokered by the Russian and […]
Russia and Turkey have announced a major ‘de-escalation’ and ceasefire agreement in Idlib, which — we should note, is very likely to unravel and fail similar to the recent much-hyped US-Taliban ceasefire in Afghanistan which began falling apart a mere 24-hours after it was signed. But Thursday’s talks between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin were intense, lasting six hours, during which they hashed out […]