Free Republic

Two associates of Rudy Giuliani made their initial appearance before a federal judge on Thursday, less than 24 hours after they were arrested on campaign finance violations while trying to board an international flight with one-way tickets at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington D.C. Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman appeared in federal court in Alexandria, Va. to face a four-count indictment alleging that they, along with two other co-defendants, conspired to violate a ban on foreign donations and contributions in connection with federal and state elections. The two men remained mostly silent during their appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge...

Thousands of Islamic State fighters have surrendered after almost a week of fighting at a prison in Syria. The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces announced Wednesday that they had re-taken control of the al-Sina’a prison in the northeastern Syrian town of Hasakah. .. The attack on al-Sina’a prison in Hasakah began with a series of car bombings at the prison complex, triggering a riot after some detainees overpowered guards. The prison is one of several across northeastern Syria, where thousands of captured ISIS fighters have been held since 2019, when coalition-led Kurdish forces captured the last major territory held by the...

Riyad Dirar, the co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces SDF, stressed that they are among those who are inviting but not invited to the Third Cairo Conference, because they are from the preparatory committee of it. He stressed Egypt's important role in the political solution in Syria and that it supports their position in facing "Turkish aggression" in the region. Dirar said in a statement to North-Press, that the Syrian Democratic Council is included in the preparatory committee for "Cairo 3" conference, and they are seeking to develop the road map...

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored today the entry of a convoy of logistical and military assistance to the International Coalition, from Simalka border crossing with Iraq, the convoy consists of more than 60 trucks and carriers and they carry armored vehicles, 4×4 vehicles, tanks, and electricity generators, and the convoy headed towards al-Hasakah and Deir Ezzor where the oil wells are, in support of the Syria Democratic Forces there. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored on the 4th of January 2019 that the SOHR sources confirmed seeing a new batch of trucks belonging to the international coalition...

President Trump has played this out perfectly. By isolating Turkish President Recep Erdogan, and effectively leaving him naked to an alliance of his enemies, Erdogan is now urgently asking for the U.S. to mediate peace negotiations with Kurdish forces. This request happens immediately after President Trump signed an executive order [See Here] triggering the sanction authority of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Erdogan called the White House requesting an urgent phone call with President Trump. After President Trump talked to Kurdish General Mazloum Kobani Abdi, the commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, President Trump then discussed the options available to...

BEIRUT/QAMISHLI, Syria, (Reuters) - The Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have been holding negotiations at a Russian airbase in Syria, a Syrian Kurdish politician told Reuters on Sunday, expressing hope for a deal that would halt a Turkish attack. Ahmed Suleiman, a senior member of the Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party in Syria, said the talks were being held at Russia's Hmeimim airbase in Latakia. He did not say if he or his party - which is independent from the SDF - had a role in the negotiations. Asked about Suleiman's comments, the head of the SDF media...

Turkish forces began crossing the Syrian border on Wednesday, launching an operation in Kurdish-dominated areas of the country's north, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced... Airstrikes have reportedly hit in or near Kobane... to the west of where U.S. troops are located. The official adds that they believe the offensive will both spread and intensify overnight into Thursday, likely encompassing the entire border. Trump said that Turkey has promised to protect civilians and religious minorities, but his statement did not specifically mention the Kurds. And he said Turkey has also promised to hold the line on ISIS. "Turkey is now responsible...

A joint American soldiers and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) armored convoy came under attack by a suicide bomber this evening in east Syria. According to reports, a joint US-led coalition and SDF convoy was struck by a SVBIED attack on Hasakeh-Deir al-Zour highway just south of the city of Shaddadi in east Syria. ISIS claimed the responsibility for the suicide attack saying they managed to kill and injure 8 US coalition fighters including American soldiers, also they added that the attack destroyed a vehicle and damaged couple others. No comment yet from the US-led coalition regarding the attack. More details...

AL-OMAR OIL FIELD, Syria — After a bloody and protracted five-year war, the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the US-led coalition are on the verge of declaring victory against the Islamic State after the fall of its last crumbs of territory in Baghuz. With Islamic State cells continuing to operate to deadly effect in Syria and neighboring Iraq, it's too early to say "mission accomplished," cautioned Mazlum Kobane, the commander in chief of the SDF, in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor March 10 at a heavily guarded complex near al-Omar oil field in eastern Syria. The charismatic 50-year-old Syrian Kurd, whom coalition officials address...

U.S.-backed forces launched an attack on Friday to evict Islamic State from its last territorial bastion... The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) removed the last batch of non-combatants and then moved in at 6 p.m. (1600 GMT), said Mustafa Bali, head of the SDF media office. “Nothing remains in Baghouz except for terrorists. The battle ... will not end until the elimination of Daesh and the liberation of the village,” “We expect a fierce and heavy battle,” he said, adding that initial fighting involved heavy weapons. Several hundred people trickled out of the tiny cluster of hamlets and farmland. The...

Watch: ISIS fighters surrender to US-backed forces in Syria. Will CNN show this? https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1101553143849107457 and https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1101553528894570500  

Mutlu Civiroglu @mutludc 19m19 minutes agohttps://twitter.com/mutludc/status/1101522664869515264 Flash/ Reliable sources report the start of SDF operation to clear Baghouz, last pocket under ISIS control #TwitterKurds @realdonaldtrump Mahmoud Bali‏ @bali_mahmoud 10m10 minutes agohttps://twitter.com/bali_mahmoud/status/1101524609495678976After evacuation of thousands of civilians and our comrades who held hostage in #Baghouz, operation to clear the last remaining pocket of ISIS has just started at 18:00 this evening. @mustefabali

Nearly 5,000 people, including almost 500 Islamic State fighters, have since Monday left the jihadist group's last bastion in eastern Syria, where IS continues to lose ground, a Britain-based monitor said... Islamic State is now confined to just 10 square kilometres (four square miles) in Deir Ezzor.

A US-backed roup says that it has captured an Irish citizen fighting for Islamic State in Syria. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said that it had arrested five militants who had been fighting for the Islamic State. It reported that one of these was a 45-year-old man originally from Dublin, Ireland. Two of the other men are from the US, while the other two are from Pakistan. In a statement, the SDF — which mainly fights against Islamic State and other extremist groups in Syria — said that it was carrying out Operation Jazeera Storm, which has the aim of...

The Syrian regime said Wednesday hundreds of Kurdish fighters had withdrawn from Manbij near the border with Turkey... "The information (we have) indicates that nearly 400 Kurdish fighters have left Manbij so far." The People's Protection Units (YPG), the main Kurdish militia in Syria, last week invited regime forces to deploy to the key city following a shock announcement that American troops would leave the country.

US forces are reportedly evacuating their military base near al-Hasakah; The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) still press their operation against ISIS in the Hajin pocket.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A delegation of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has arrived in Moscow to discuss a possible plan to stop a Turkish attack as well as the future of the east of the Euphrates, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Sunday. The SOHR cited sources which said the SDF delegation and Russian authorities were expected to meet in Moscow “in the coming hours” to discuss the future of east Euphrates. According to the monitor, the Russians offered to deploy border guards from the Syrian army in the border area from the east of Euphrates...

The General and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joseph Dunford, said that Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), consisting of all components of the Syrian people, are "the only ones capable of defeating the largest terrorist organization in the Middle East." He said they had a long way to stay in Syria, and we have no specific time how long we will stay in Syria. 09 Dec 2018, Sun - 10:42 NEWS DESKThe Washington Post conducted a lengthy interview with General and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph Dunford on several issues including US military excellence and fierce competition with...

Fighters from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have broken into Hajin, an eastern holdout of ISIS on the Iraqi border, a commander told Agence France Presse... "Heavy clashes are ongoing inside the town of Hajin, after our forces advanced inside and started to control some of its neighborhoods," Redur Khalil told AFP... In almost three months of battle, more than 820 extremists and more than 480 US-backed fighters have been killed.

ERBIL — US Special Representative for Syria Engagement James Jeffrey urged other countries to share a larger burden in facilitating the conditions for peace in Syria, while floating the idea of the United Nations enforcing a no-fly zone for parts of Syria. "Remember we were present not in northern Iraq but over northern Iraq in Operation Northern Watch for 13 years. That can be a UN force," he said on Tuesday, referring to the joint US-UK-Turkey no-fly zone in the late 1990s that protected Kurdish areas from the air force of Saddam Hussein. Jeffrey briefed reporters in Washington, D.C., after...