RAMADI, Iraq: A suicide bombing and shelling in Iraq’s Anbar province killed six people as security forces on Friday pressed an assault against militants for territory the government lost weeks ago.
The unrest in Anbar coupled with violence elsewhere in Iraq, which has already killed more than 600 people this month, has fuelled fears the country is slipping back into all-out sectarian war with little appetite for compromise among political leaders ahead of a general election scheduled for April.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon and other diplomats have urged Baghdad to pursue political reconciliation, but Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has ruled out dialogue with militants and the authorities have instead trumpeted operations by the police and army.
Iraqi officials say clashes with militants and a suicide attack have killed five people, including three anti-Al-Qaeda fighters, in the embattled western Anbar province.
Hospital officials say a battle between security forces and Al-Qaeda fighters early on Friday in the city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, killed two civilians who were caught in the crossfire.
Police officials say a suicide bomber detonated his explosives among a gathering of an anti-Al-Qaeda militia late Thursday in the Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi, killing three militiamen and wounding four.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.
Since December, Iraqi security forces and allied tribesmen have been trying to recapture territories overran by Al-Qaeda in Anbar, including Fallujah and parts of Ramadi. On Friday, thousands of security personnel from elite forces pressed an assault on Albubali, a rural area where security officials say a large number of anti-government fighters are holed up.
The area, comprised of farmland and villages, lies between Ramadi and Fallujah, the two cities in the western desert province of Anbar at the center of the crisis.
Security forces are also seeking to recover the bodies of eight of their own who have been killed in militant attacks.
The air support which initially accompanied the operation has been withdrawn for fear that the militants have anti-aircraft weapons, two policemen told AFP.
They said that security forces, backed by tanks, had so far recovered the bodies of six gunmen killed in the offensive, but progress was limited by snipers.
A large swathe of Ramadi and all of Fallujah, both former insurgent bastions, fell out of government control late last month, marking the first time anti-government fighters have exercised such open control in major cities since the height of the insurgency that followed the US-led invasion of 2003.
Iraq Army presses Anbar assault as unrest kills 6
Iraq Army presses Anbar assault as unrest kills 6
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.
