AMMAN: At least 30 people died in airstrikes on the opposition-held Syrian city of Idlib on Tuesday, in some of the heaviest raids there in months, witnesses and rescue workers said.
Around eight attacks by what witnesses believed to be Russian jets wounded scores of people and leveled several multi-story buildings in residential areas of the northwestern city, they added.
Russia’s Defense Ministry later said media reports that its planes had bombed Idlib were not true, Interfax news agency reported.
Two rescue workers said the death toll was at least 30. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 26 people were killed and casualties were expected to rise as rescue workers searched for bodies under the rubble.
Video footage by activists on social media showed civilians, including young children, being treated in the main city hospital where the injured had been rushed for treatment.
“We are still pulling bodies from the rubble,” said Issam Al-Idlibi, a volunteer civil defense worker.
The extent of the damage and the debris bore the hallmarks of a Russian attack, two witnesses said.
Russian planes have targeted a number of towns and villages in the area since entering the Syrian conflict in September 2015 to back ally President Bashar Assad.
But activists and residents also said there had been a reduction of Russian strikes in Idlib province since a Turkish-Russian brokered a cessation of hostilities late December.
Planes from the US-led coalition have also launched a number of attacks in the rural province, a major stronghold of radicals, many of them formerly affiliated to Al-Qaeda.
Idlib’s population has been swollen by thousands of Syrian fighters and their families evacuated from villages and towns around Damascus and Aleppo city, which was retaken by the government in recent months.
Separately, at least four people were killed in airstrikes by unknown jets in the town of Arbin in opposition-held Eastern Ghouta, northeast of the capital. The regime army and pro-regime militias have been seeking in recent days to gain new ground there.
Meanwhile, Assad said US President Donald Trump prioritizing the fight against Daesh was promising although it was too early to expect any practical steps, state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday.
The Kremlin said Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed setting up “genuine coordination” in the fight against Daesh and “other terrorist groups” in Syria during a phone call last month.
Assad was quoted by SANA as telling a group of Belgian reporters that Trump’s position was promising. “I believe this is promising but we have to wait and it’s too early to expect anything practical,” he said.
Assad was also quoted as saying that US-Russian cooperation in stepping up the fight against the militants would have positive repercussions.
Trump has previously indicated he might cut US support for Syrian opposition fighters that have been fighting Assad, and that he could cooperate with Russia in the fight against Daesh in Syria.
Trump has made defeating Daesh a core goal of his presidency and signed an executive order asking the Pentagon, the joint chiefs of staff and other agencies to submit a preliminary plan on how to proceed within 30 days.
Assad also said that the European Union should have no role in the reconstruction of Syria unless it changes its policy toward the Mideast country.
Assad said EU countries back opposition fighters who inflicted destruction on Syria and “they cannot destroy and build at the same time.”
UN official Abdullah Al Dardari said in Beirut last month that reconstruction will cost around $350 billion.
30 die as ‘Russian jets hit Idlib’
30 die as ‘Russian jets hit Idlib’
Washington presses Syria to shift from Chinese telecom systems
- Syria is exploring the possibility of procuring Chinese technology
- It was unclear whether the United States pledged financial or logistical support to Syria to do so
DAMASCUS: The United States has warned Syria against relying on Chinese technology in its telecommunications sector, arguing it conflicts with US interests and threatens US national security, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
The message was conveyed during an unreported meeting between a US State Department team and Syrian Communications Minister Abdulsalam Haykal in San Francisco on Tuesday. Washington has been coordinating closely with Damascus since 2024, when Syria’s now President Ahmed Al-Sharaa ousted longtime leader Bashar Assad, who had a strategic partnership with China.
Syria is exploring the possibility of procuring Chinese technology to support its telecommunications towers and the infrastructure of local Internet service providers, according to a Syrian businessman involved in the procurement talks.
“The US side asked for clarity on the ministry’s plans regarding Chinese telecom equipment,” said another source briefed on the talks.
But Syrian officials said infrastructure development projects were time-critical and that Damascus was seeking greater vendor diversity, the source added.
SYRIAN OFFICIALS CITE US EXPORT CONTROLS AS TELECOMS BARRIER
Syria is open to partnering with US firms but the matter was urgent and export controls and “over-compliance” remained an issue, according to person familiar with the meeting in San Francisco.
A US diplomat familiar with the discussions told Reuters that the US State Department “clearly urged Syrians to use American technology or technology from allied countries in the telecoms sector.”
It was unclear whether the United States pledged financial or logistical support to Syria to do so.
Responding to Reuters questions, a US State Department spokesperson said: “We urge countries to prioritize national security and privacy over lower-priced equipment and services in all critical infrastructure procurement. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
The spokesperson added that Chinese intelligence and security services “can legally compel Chinese citizens and companies to share sensitive data or grant unauthorized access to their customers’ systems” and promises by Chinese companies to protect customers’ privacy were “entirely inconsistent with China’s own laws and well-established practices.”
China has repeatedly rejected allegations of it using technology for spying purposes.
The Syrian Ministry of telecommunications told Reuters any decisions related to equipment and infrastructure are made “in accordance with national technical and security standards, ensuring data protection and service continuity.”
The ministry said it is also prioritizing the diversification of partnerships and technology sources to serve the national interest.
Syria’s telecom infrastructure has relied heavily on Chinese technology due to US sanctions imposed on successive Assad governments over the civil war that grew from a crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011.
Huawei technology accounts for more than 50 percent of the infrastructure of Syriatel and MTN, the country’s only telecom operators, according to a senior source at one of the companies and documents reviewed by Reuters. Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Syria is seeking to develop its private telecommunications sector, devastated by 14 years of war, by attracting foreign investment.
In early February, Saudi Arabia’s largest telecom operator, STC, announced it would invest $800 million to “strengthen telecommunications infrastructure and connect Syria regionally and internationally through a fiber-optic network extending over 4,500 kilometers.”
The ministry of telecommunications says that US restrictions “hinder the availability of many American technologies and services in the Syrian market,” emphasizing that it welcomes expanding cooperation with US companies when these restrictions are lifted.
Syria has inadequate telecommunications infrastructure, with network coverage weak outside city centers and connection speeds in many areas barely exceeding a few kilobits per second.
