WASHINGTON: The United States will work with partners and stakeholders in Syria to help seize an opportunity and manage the risk, US President Joe Biden said on Sunday after militants overthrew Syrian President Bashar Assad.
In remarks at the White House, Biden said the United States will support Syria’s neighbors through the period of transition and will assess the words and actions of militant groups.
Biden said the United States does not officially know of Assad’s whereabouts but noted reports that he fled to Moscow. He said Assad “should be held accountable.”
Biden said Syria is in a period of risk and uncertainty and that it is the first time in years that neither Russia nor Iran nor the Hezbollah militant organization held an influential role in Syria.
“For years, the main backers of Assad have been Iran, Hezbollah and Russia. But over the last week, their support collapsed — all three of them — because all three of them are far weaker today than they were when I took office,” said Biden, who became president in 2021.
Biden said US forces on Sunday conducted a dozen precision strikes within Syria targeting camps and operatives of Daesh.
“It’s a moment of historic opportunity for the long suffering people of Syria to build a better future for their proud country. It’s also a moment of risk and uncertainty,” Biden said.
“As we all turn to the question of what comes next, the United States will work with our partners and the stakeholders in Syria to help them seize an opportunity to manage the risk,” Biden added.
US to work with partners in Syria to manage risk after Assad toppled, Biden says
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US to work with partners in Syria to manage risk after Assad toppled, Biden says
- Biden said the US will support Syria’s neighbors through the period of transition and will assess the words and actions of militant groups
Siege on Syria’s Kobani ‘must be lifted immediately’: Turkiye’s pro-Kurdish DEM party
- The situation in Kobani had escalated from a crisis into a “deadly catastrophe,” DEM said
- “Both the military and humanitarian siege on Kobani must be lifted as soon as possible,” said Hatimogullari
ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s pro-Kurdish DEM party on Saturday called for the blockade on the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani in northern Syria to be lifted immediately, warning of a “humanitarian tragedy.”
The situation in Kobani had escalated from a crisis into a “deadly catastrophe,” DEM said after sending a delegation to visit northeastern Syria which over the past week has been targeted by a major Syrian military offensive.
The Kurdish-held city, which is also known as Ain Al-Arab, is surrounded by the Turkish border to its north and government forces on all sides.
It lies around 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the Kurds’ stronghold in Syria’s far northeast.
“Both the military and humanitarian siege on Kobani must be lifted as soon as possible,” said DEM co-chair Tulay Hatimogullari.
Kurdish forces have withdrawn from areas near Kobani over the past week following pressure from the Syrian military as President Ahmed Al-Sharaa seeks to extend his control across the country.
As the military offensive advanced, residents of surrounding villages flooded into Kobani, where they were now stranded, Hatimogullari said.
“Electricity has been cut off, the Internet is cut off, water is cut off. This is a great humanitarian tragedy,” she told a news conference.
“Guarantor countries.. must urgently carry out their responsibilities to lift the siege on northern and eastern Syria,” she said referring to the US and western allies who for years have thrown their support behind the Kurdish-dominated SDF forces which have been forced out of the area.
