File photo
The Assad regime and Iran-backed terror groups are attempting to propagate the Shia faith in Sunni-majority Syria, local sources told Anadolu Agency.
In Syria’s eastern oil-rich Deir ez-Zor province, the regime and Iran-backed groups are forcing people to recite a Shia-style call to prayer in the Mayadin and Abu Kamal districts near the Iraqi border, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to security concerns.
At least 20 imams who refused to recite the Shia call to prayer were dismissed, the sources said, while a number of others were detained.
Unlike the Sunni call to prayer, Shias add the refrain, “I bear witness that Ali is the guardian of Allah”.
Located near the Iraqi border, Deir ez-Zor is home to Syria’s largest oilfields. Eleven of the country’s largest oilfields are located east of the Euphrates River, which snakes through Deir ez-Zor province.
Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terror group has moved its drug cultivation and trafficking operation to Syria’s Manbij under U.S. protection, following the disruption of its illicit drug activities in northwestern Afrin after Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch cleared the area of PKK presence.The drug trade supplies PKK terrorists with $1.5 billion, making up its most important source of income, as the terror group is said to control 80 percent of Europe’s drug trafficking.Special protection for factoriesThe drugs are being cultivated and processed in fields and factories in PKK-controlled regions south of Manbij. The factories are said to enjoy a high level of protection from the terror group as the Manbij-cultivated drugs are smuggled worldwide through the southeastern route. An upcoming operation by Turkey in Manbij is expected to take out these factories as the PKK will be deprived of yet another drug smuggling route. Report lifts veil on Manbij drug tradeAs the U.S. continues to conduct joint patrols with the PKK, the terror group carries on committing crimes against humanity as it takes part in global drug smuggling activities. A special team that has been working for months on a report is set to shed light on the Manbij drug trade after closely monitoring terrorists involved in the city’s drug hierarchy. The report, which is set to be shared with intelligence services, will include the names and aliases of PKK terrorists involved in the drug trade, in addition to coordinators and photos of factories and drug shipments. It is expected to deal a great blow to the Manbij drug operations.Turkey’s mini drone neutralizes 18 PKK terroristsRussia, Turkey, Iran to hold Syria talks Nov. 28-29Cannabis was planted in PYD-occupied areas that included thousands of acres of land that provided the bulk of agriculture in pre-war in Syria.The PKK/YPG controls an area of about 53,000 square kilometers with a percentage of 28.6 of Syrian territory.Turkey’s Olive Branch deals blow to PKK’s drug activities in AfrinAfter seizing close to 120 hectares of arable lands between 2012- 2017, the PKK turned Afrin into the Middle East’s biggest drug cultivation and trading region, according to a previous report by Yeni Şafak daily.A report for earlier this year shed light on drug cultivation in PKK-occupied Raqqa. “After Operation Olive Branch, a number of drug traffickers fled to Tal Abyad and Hasakah, but the majority resettled in Raqqa. Dozens of businesses in the city’s industrial zone were turned into drug factories. Raqqa became the new center of drug cultivation and trafficking to Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Iran, Turkey, and Gulf and European countries,” according to eyewitness accounts.The Turkish military cleared a 2,500 square-mile (4,000 square-kilometer) area from Daesh and YPG/PKK terrorists as part of the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations in Syria.The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. The PKK has been conducting armed violence in the southeastern part of Turkey since 1984. More than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the three-decade long conflict.
US-backed PKK moves drug cultivation industry to Syria’s Manbij
The next round of Syria peace talks in the Astana format will take place in the Kazakh capital on Nov. 28-29, Kazakhstan's foreign minister announced on Monday.Speaking to reporters, Kayrat Abdrahmanov said the guarantor countries Turkey, Russia, and Iran have agreed on the date of the 11th meeting on Syria in the Astana format.Rouhani says Iran to continue oil exports and resist US economic warIran remains hopeful that Europe can salvage nuclear dealAbdrahmanov said the meeting is planned to be attended by the guarantor countries, the Bashar al-Assad regime, and Syrian military opposition.He added that the UN and Jordan were also invited to the meeting as observers.The first meeting in the Astana format for reaching a cease-fire in Syria was held in January 2017.Nine meetings were held in Astana, while the 10th meeting was held in Sochi, Russia this July.FSA ready to fight PKK/YPG alongside Turkey in east of EuphratesRussian ambassador to Finland summoned over GPS disruptionFour PKK/KCK suspects arrested across Turkey
Eleventh Astana talks for Syria to be held on Nov. 28-29
Russia, Turkey, and Iran will hold the next round of talks on Syria on Nov. 28-29 in Kazakhstan, Kazakh foreign minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said on Monday.Delegations of the Damascus government and the Syrian opposition are also set to attend, Abdrakhmanov told reporters. Turkish DefMin tells top US general to cut ties with YPG terror groupFSA ready to fight PKK/YPG alongside Turkey in east of EuphratesMother, child killed in Syrian regime attacks in Idlib
Russia, Turkey, Iran to hold Syria talks Nov. 28-29