ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

On May 23, the Turkish Army deployed 30 armored vehicles at its observation posts in the town of Murak and the village of Midan Ghazal in the northern and northwestern Hama countryside, according to the Syrian pro-opposition news outlet Enab Baladi. The source said that the units of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) group Faylaq al-Sham escorted the armored vehicles of the Turkish Army to the observation posts. In a related development, the Ministry of Defense of Russia revealed on May 23 that Russian and Iranian forces had established seventeen observation posts from the northern Aleppo countryside to the northwestern Lattakia during the last few months. Green: Iranian Army posts, Red: Russian Army posts, Yellow: Turkish Army posts, By the Ministry of Defense of Russia The Russian MoD also confirmed that the Turkish Army had established twelve observation posts between the Afrin area and the northern Lattakia countryside since late 2017. Russia, Iran and Turkey ag...

On May 23, more than 300 former fighters of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the newly liberated northern Homs countryside surrendered their personal weapons and signed a reconciliation agreement with the Damascus government, according to Syrian state TV. The source said that some of these fighters will join the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) while others will return to civilian life. Meanwhile, the Syrian al-Watan newspaper revealed that the Damascus government had rejected to grant a similar reconciliation agreement to 500 militants in the northern Homs countryside due to several crimes they had committed over the past seven years. These 500 radical militants will be evacuated with their families to the northern city of Jarabulus in the upcoming days, according to al-Watan. Under  the reconciliation agreement which was reached on May 2 , the Damascus government is supposed to pardon the former militants there within six months. The government is also supposed to allow those who can’t...