Clashes broke out Aug. 12 between Syrian regime forces and militia of the Kurdish-led Rojava autonomous administration near the Euphrates River in eastern Deir ez-Zor governorate. The clashes centered around the towns of Shuheil and Bukrus, southeast of Deir ez-Zor city. The fighting began after regime forces west of the Euphrates launched surface-to-surface attacks on Kurdish-held towns across the river. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the principal Kurdish-led military formation, said in a statement that an operation against regime positions was carried out "in retaliation for the blood of the martyrs" killed "by artillery shelling from the Syrian regime and National Defense Force mercenaries." The NDF is a pro-regime militia. The violence has displaced dozens of families along the conflict line. (ANF, AA, AP)

Ukrainian special forces under command of Kyiv's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) carried out an operation against Russian forces in Syria, according to a video released by the agency. First reported by the Kyiv Post July 31, the raid by the "Khimik" elite unit is said to have targeted Kuweires airbase outside Aleppo, which is used by both Russian and Assad regime forces. Drone strikes followed by a ground attack are said to have destroyed a Russian "electronic warfare complex" at the base,  along with other "military objects." The report said the operation was conducted in cooperation with Syrian "insurgents," although it didn't make clear which faction. The strike was reportedly carried out the day after a meeting in the Kremlin between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad on July 24. In May 2023, HUR chief Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov promised to "destroy Russian war criminals anywhere in the world they may be."

Amnesty International responded to the enactment of Amnesty Law No. 10 of 2024 in the Autonomous Administration of North & East Syria (AANES) in a press release July 23. The rights group commended the new law, which calls for a review of convictions under the regional administration's expansive counter-terrorism laws. Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International's deputy regional director for the Middle East, said: "The general amnesty law could reduce the sentences of Syrians convicted after unfair trials in the People's Defence Courts, or, in some cases, offer them the chance to be free and resume their lives. Detainees were denied access to a lawyer and in many cases were subjected to torture or other ill-treatment to extract forced confessions."

News of Syria's war often makes it seem like the conflict is in the past. Take the announcement this week that US officials in Los Angeles had recently arrested Samir Ousman al-Sheikh, a Syrian military official who ran Adra prison outside Damascus, infamous for torture, and later served as governor of Deir ez-Zor province, where he oversaw a violent crackdown on protesters after the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad broke out in 2011. Al-Sheikh was arrested for immigration violations, and has not been charged with war crimes.

Egyptian security forces have detained 119 people, including at least one child, since the start of the month for participating in anti-government protests, Amnesty International reported July 18. In recent weeks, frustrations over price hikes and power cuts have spurred demonstrations and calls for revolution against the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The arrests have spanned six governorates, with some prominent activists being detained in raids on their homes. Several detainees are in the hands of the elite Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP), where they are being investigated on dubious charges that include "joining a terrorist group, publishing false news, and misuse of social media."

Nine people were killed, including three attackers, and 30 more wounded as gunmen opened fire on worshippers outside a Shi'ite mosque in Wadi al-Kabir district of Muscat, the capital of usually peaceful Oman. The assailants reportedly shouted as they fired, "You non-believers, this is your end!" Four Pakistani nationals and a police officer were among those killed. The Islamic State group (ISIS) claimed responsibility the July 16 attack, which occurred during the Shi'ite holy month of Ashura. ISIS released a video showing three men holding rifles and their black flag, boasting of "the targeting of the Rafida," a pejorative term for Shi'ites. (The National, BBC News, France24, AFP, JP, MEMRI)

Amnesty International called Juy 5 for Houthi authorities in Yemen to immediately release detained staff from the UN and civil society organizations. Amnesty's call comes one month after the workers' arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances following raids on homes and offices.

According to Amnesty, Houthi authorities have detained 13 UN staff and at least 14 staff from Yemeni and international aid organizations. Between May 31 and June 9, Houthi authorities conducted a series of nighttime raids on the detainees' homes and the offices of UN agencies and other local and international organizations in the cities of Sana'a, Hodiedah and Hajjah.

Benjamin Netanyahu's gaffe on French TV, displaying a map of the "Arab World" that showed the occupied (and illegally annexed) Western Sahara as a separate entity from Morocco, sparked a quick and obsequious apology from the Israeli Foreign Ministry. But the snafu sheds light on the mutual hypocrisy at work here. There is an obvious hypocrisy to Moroccan protests that demand self-determination for the Palestinians but not the Sahrawi, the indigenous Arab inhabitants of Western Sahara. The hypocrisy of Israel is also obvious: Israeli commentators and hasbara agents are the first to play the "whataboutery" game—relativizing the plight of the Palestinians by pointing to that of Kurds, Berbers, Nubians, Massalit and other stateless peoples oppressed under Arab regimes. But, as we now see, they are just as quick to completely betray them when those regimes recognize Israel and betray the Palestinians. Yet another example of how a global divide-and-rule racket is the essence of the state system. Bill Weinberg breaks it down in Episode 229 of the CounterVortex podcast.