Taiwan begins 10-day military drills to counter Chinese threats
The drills will later focus on simulated anti-landing exercises, with regular forces from all the services backed up by 22,000 reservists, the ministry said. Exercises will continue around the clock for 10 days under realistic conditions taking into account all possibilities, the ministry said, in a possible attempt to counter criticism that past exercises have veered on the performative.
Troops in the drills will use Abrams M1A2T tanks and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System acquired from the U.S., Taiwan's closest partner and source of defensive arms despite the sides not having diplomatic ties at Beijing's insistence.
The ministry called on the public to show patience with any disruptions to flights or traffic and not to believe false information distributed about the exercises.
China responded to the exercises' announcement in a typically acerbic fashion.
'The Han Guang exercise is nothing but a bluffing and self-deceiving trick by the DPP authorities, attempting to bind the Taiwanese people to the Taiwan independence cart and harm Taiwan for the selfish interests of one party,' Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Jiang Bing said at a news conference on Tuesday. The DPP stands for Taiwan's independence-leading ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
'No matter how they perform or what weapons they use, they cannot resist the PLA's anti-independence sword and the historical trend of the motherland's inevitable reunification,' Jiang said.
China appears also to have taken actions to disrupt preparations for the drills, with the Taiwanese Defense Ministry saying PLA planes and ships on Tuesday 'conducted harassment operations around Taiwan's air and sea domains under the pretext of a so-called 'joint combat readiness patrol.''
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Boston Globe
14 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Syria's leader urges Bedouin tribes to commit to a ceasefire ending clashes with the Druze
In his second televised address since the fighting started, al-Sharaa blamed 'armed groups from Sweida' for reigniting the conflict by 'launching retaliatory attacks against the Bedouins and their families.' He also said Israeli intervention 'pushed the country into a dangerous phase.' Advertisement Israel had launched dozens of airstrikes on convoys of government fighters and even struck the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters in central Damascus, saying it was in support of the Druze, who form a substantial community in Israel and are seen as a loyal minority, often serving in the Israeli military. Reports had surfaced of Syrian government-affiliated fighters executing Druze civilians and looting and burning homes over the four-day violence. The U.S. envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, announced that Israel and Syria had agreed to a ceasefire early Saturday. Al-Sharaa made no direct reference to the agreement in his speech, but said 'American and Arab mediations stepped in' to restore calm. Addressing the Bedouins, al-Sharaa said they 'cannot replace the role of the state in handling the country's affairs and restoring security.' He also said: 'We thank the Bedouins for their heroic stances but demand they fully commit to the ceasefire and comply with the state's orders.' Advertisement Meanwhile, a prominent Druze leader, Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, who opposes the current government and has distanced himself from the two ceasefires announced on Tuesday and Wednesday, said that an agreement brokered under the sponsorship of guarantor states contained several measures aimed at de-escalating tensions in Sweida. They include the deployment of checkpoints outside the province's administrative borders to contain clashes and prevent infiltration, a 48-hour ban on entry by any party into border villages, and safe, guaranteed passage for remaining members of the Bedouin tribes still inside the province. Sharaa reiterated that Sweida 'remains an integral part of the Syrian state, and the Druze constitute a fundamental pillar of the Syrian national fabric,' vowing to protect all minorities in Syria. He also thanked the United States for its 'significant role in affirming its support for Syria during these difficult times,' as well as Arab countries and Turkey, which mediated Wednesday's truce. More than half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981. The U.N. estimates more than 87,000 people have been displaced in Sweida province since July 12 due to heavy shelling, sniper fire and abductions. Entire communities have fled on foot, with many now crammed into overcrowded schools, churches and public buildings under dire conditions, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a report. Infrastructure damage has cut electricity, water and telecommunications in much of the area, it said. The main hospital in Sweida was operating at just 15% capacity due to staff shortages and a lack of fuel. Advertisement The security situation is also endangering humanitarian workers. The White Helmets, also known as the Syrian Civil Defense, reported that one of its emergency team leaders went missing on July 16 while responding to a call for help from a U.N. team, OCHA said. Meanwhile, Jordan, Syria, and the U.S. agreed on a set of practical steps to bolster the ceasefire, including the deployment of Syrian security forces and the release of detainees from all sides, Jordan's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. The announcement came after a meeting between Barrack, Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani and his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi. For his part, Syria's Minister of Information Hamza Al-Mostafa on Saturday said the first phase of the ceasefire, expected to take 48 hours, involves deploying internal security forces to key areas to prevent clashes. He acknowledged ongoing fighting in Sweida and said every ceasefire 'begins fragile.' Subsequent phases will open humanitarian crossings and gradually restore state institutions and security to ensure a return to normalcy, al-Mostafa said in a press conference in Damascus. Al-Mostafa acknowledged that some security personnel committed violations after deploying in Sweida. He rejected reports that the violence in Sweida was 'premeditated operation' by the Syrian government. 'The armed groups present in Sweida insisted on a provocative approach, rejecting any solutions and relying on a closed-off model that disregards Syria's unity,' Al-Mostafa said. He accused Al-Hijri and his supporters of being 'armed with Israeli support' and blamed them for 'steering the situation toward its current state,' despite previous government attempts to reach an agreement. Advertisement Al-Mostafa also denied that Syria and Israel are in direct peace talks. 'All discussions that are happening with Israel are fixated on one issue related to the urgent Israeli withdrawal from the areas that it occupied and advanced in after Dec. 8 and its commitment to the 1974 agreement of disengagement,' he said. But even as officials called for calm, signs of unrest spread to the capital. On Friday, men armed with sticks stormed a peaceful protest outside Syria's parliament in Damascus, beating demonstrators and tearing up a banner that read, 'Syrian blood should not be shed by Syrians,' according to one of the organizers. The protest was held in response to the deadly clashes in Sweida, which journalist and filmmaker Zein Khuzam described as a grim echo of the 2011 Syrian civil war. 'We felt like we needed to do something,' Khuzam told The Associated Press. 'We started receiving help messages from our friends in Sweida, that they are trapped there.' The demonstration began Thursday as a spontaneous act by Khuzam and two others, who stood in front of parliament holding signs, including slogans rejecting Israeli interference. Photos of the protest circulated online, drawing a larger crowd the next day. Khuzam said the group noticed a man acting suspiciously on Friday. After making a phone call, he left, and shortly afterward, the attackers arrived in cars, some with women inside who cheered them on, she said. She added that guards outside the parliament stood by as someone fired shotgun rounds to disperse the crowd. 'People are still carrying the traumas of Assad's actions during such peaceful protests,' she said. 'In that moment, it felt like history was repeating itself. It is very, very sad.' Advertisement ___ Abou AlJoud reported from Beirut. Associated Press journalist Omar Sanadiki in Damascus contributed to this report.
Los Angeles Times
14 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
What the violence in Syria means for domestic and regional politics
BEIRUT — An eruption of violence in Syria this week entangled government forces, Bedouin tribes, the Druze religious minority and neighboring Israel, and highlighted just how combustible the country remains seven months after its longtime authoritarian leader was toppled. The Druze and other minorities increasingly mistrust Syria's central government. It is run by a man once affiliated with Al Qaeda, though he has pledged to protect Syria's diverse ethnic and religious groups since helping to oust longtime President Bashar Assad after a nearly 14-year civil war. The sectarian turbulence within Syria threatens to shake up postwar alliances and exacerbate regional tensions, experts say. It could also potentially draw the country closer to Turkey and away from Israel, with whom it has been quietly engaging since Assad's fall, with encouragement from the Trump administration. Deadly clashes broke out last Sunday in the southern province of Sweida between Druze militias and local Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes. Government forces intervened, ostensibly to restore order, but ended up trying to wrest control of Sweida from the Druze factions that control it. Hundreds were killed in the fighting, and some government fighters allegedly executed Druze civilians and burned and looted their houses. Driven by concerns about security and domestic politics, Israel intervened on behalf of the Druze, who are seen as a loyal minority within Israel and often serve in its military. Israeli warplanes bombarded the Syrian Defense Ministry's headquarters in central Damascus and struck near the presidential palace. It was an apparent warning to the country's interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, who led Islamist rebels that overthrew Assad but has since espoused coexistence and sought improved ties with the West. The Israeli army also struck government forces in Sweida. By Wednesday, a truce had been mediated that allowed Druze factions and clerics to maintain security in Sweida as government forces pulled out — although fighting persisted between Druze and Bedouin forces. Early Saturday, the U.S. envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, announced a separate ceasefire had been brokered between Israel and Syria. This past week's clashes aren't the first instance of sectarian violence in Syria since the fall of Assad. A few months after Assad fled and after a transition that initially was mostly peaceful, government forces and pro-Assad armed groups clashed on Syria's coast. That spurred sectarian attacks that killed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority to which Assad belongs. Those killings left other minority groups, including the Druze in the south and the Kurds in the northeast, wary that the country's new leaders would protect them. Violence is only part of the problem. Syria's minority groups have been given what many see as only token representation in the interim government, according to Bassam Alahmad, executive director of Syrians for Truth and Justice, a civil society organization. 'It's a transitional period. We should have a dialogue, and they [the minorities] should feel that they're a real part of the state,' Alahmad said. Instead, with the incursion into Sweida, the new authorities have sent a message that they would use military force to 'control every part of Syria,' he said. 'Bashar Assad tried this way,' and it failed, he added. On the other hand, supporters of the new government fear that its decision to back down in Sweida could signal to other minorities that it's OK to demand their own autonomous regions, which would fragment and weaken the country. If Damascus cedes security control of Sweida to the Druze, 'of course everyone else is going to demand the same thing,' said Abdel Hakim al-Masri, a former official in the Turkish-backed regional government in Syria's northwest before Assad's fall. 'This is what we are afraid of,' he said. Before the latest flare-up between Israel and Syria, and despite a long history of suspicion between the two countries, the Trump administration had been pushing their leaders toward normalizing relations — meaning that Syria would formally recognize Israel and establish diplomatic relations, or at least enter into some limited agreement on security matters. Syrian officials have acknowledged holding indirect talks with Israel, but defusing decades of tension was never going to be easy. After Assad's fall, Israeli forces seized control of a United Nations-patrolled buffer zone in Syria and carried out airstrikes on military sites in what Israeli officials said was a move to create a demilitarized zone south of Damascus. Dareen Khalifa, a senior advisor at the International Crisis Group, said she believes Israel could have gotten the same result through negotiations. But now it's unlikely Syria will be willing to continue down the path of reconciliation with Israel, at least in the short term, she said. 'I don't know how the Israelis could expect to drop bombs on Damascus and still have some kind of normal dialogue with the Syrians,' said Colin Clarke, a senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, a New York-based organization that focuses on global security challenges. 'Just like [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, Al-Sharaa's got a domestic constituency that he's got to answer to.' Yet even after the events of this past week, the Trump administration still seems to have hope of keeping the talks alive. U.S. officials are 'engaging diplomatically with Israel and Syria at the highest levels, both to address the present crisis and reach a lasting agreement between two sovereign states,' says Dorothy Shea, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Shea said during a U.N. Security Council emergency meeting on Thursday that 'the United States did not support recent Israeli strikes.' During Syria's civil war, the U.S. was allied with Kurdish forces in the country's northeast in their fight against the Islamic State militant group. But since Assad's fall, Washington has begun gradually pulling its forces out of Syria and has encouraged the Kurds to integrate their forces with those of the new authorities in Damascus. To that end, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces agreed in March to a landmark deal that would merge it with the national army. But implementation has stalled. A major sticking point has been whether the group would remain a cohesive unit within the new army or be dissolved. Khalifa said the conflict in Sweida is 'definitely going to complicate' those talks. Not only are the Kurds mistrustful of government forces after their attacks on Alawite and Druze minorities, but now they also view them as weak. 'Let's be frank, the government came out of this looking defeated,' Khalifa said. It's possible that the Kurds, like the Druze, might look to Israel for support, but Turkey is unlikely to stand by idly if they do, Khalifa said. The Turkish government considers the Syrian Democratic Forces a terrorist organization because of its association with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has waged a long-running insurgency in Turkey. For that reason, it has long wanted to curtail the group's influence just across its border. Israel's latest military foray in Syria could give leaders in Damascus an incentive to draw closer to Ankara, according to Clarke. That could include pursuing a defense pact with Turkey that has been discussed but not implemented. Turkish Defense Ministry officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity according to procedures, said that if requested, Ankara is ready to assist Syria in strengthening its defense capabilities. Sewell writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Farnoush Amiri in New York contributed to this report.
Los Angeles Times
15 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Syria's leader urges Bedouin tribes to commit to a ceasefire ending clashes with the Druze
BEIRUT — Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa urged Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes Saturday to 'fully commit' to a ceasefire aimed at ending clashes with Druze-linked militias that left hundreds dead and threatened to unravel the country's postwar transition. Government forces that were initially sent to restore order but essentially sided with the Bedouins against the Druze were redeployed to halt renewed fighting that erupted late Thursday in the southern province of Sweida. The violence has also drawn airstrikes against Syrian forces by neighboring Israel before a truce was reached. In his second televised address since the fighting started, Al-Sharaa blamed 'armed groups from Sweida' for reigniting the conflict by 'launching retaliatory attacks against the Bedouins and their families.' He also said Israeli intervention 'pushed the country into a dangerous phase.' Israel had launched dozens of airstrikes on convoys of government fighters and even struck the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters in central Damascus, saying the attacks were in support of the Druze, who form a substantial community in Israel and are seen as a loyal minority, often serving in the Israeli military. Reports had surfaced of Syrian government-affiliated fighters executing Druze civilians and looting and burning homes over the four days of violence. The U.S. envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, announced that Israel and Syria had agreed to a ceasefire early Saturday. Al-Sharaa made no direct reference to the agreement in his speech, but said 'American and Arab mediations stepped in' to restore calm. Addressing the Bedouins, Al-Sharaa said they 'cannot replace the role of the state in handling the country's affairs and restoring security,' adding, 'We thank the Bedouins for their heroic stances but demand they fully commit to the ceasefire and comply with the state's orders.' Meanwhile, a prominent Druze leader, Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, who opposes the current government and has distanced himself from the two ceasefires announced Tuesday and Wednesday, said that an agreement brokered under the sponsorship of guarantor states contained several measures aimed at de-escalating tensions in Sweida. They include the deployment of checkpoints outside the province's administrative borders to contain clashes and prevent infiltration, a 48-hour ban on entry by any party into border villages, and safe, guaranteed passage for remaining members of the Bedouin tribes still in the province. Al-Sharaa reiterated that Sweida 'remains an integral part of the Syrian state, and the Druze constitute a fundamental pillar of the Syrian national fabric,' vowing to protect all minorities in Syria. He also thanked the United States for its 'significant role in affirming its support for Syria during these difficult times,' as well as Arab countries and Turkey, which mediated Wednesday's truce. More than half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981. The United Nations estimates that more than 87,000 people have been displaced in Sweida province since July 12 due to heavy shelling, sniper fire and abductions. Entire communities have fled on foot, with many now crammed into overcrowded schools, churches and public buildings under dire conditions, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a report. Infrastructure damage has cut electricity, water and telecommunications in much of the area, it said. The main hospital in Sweida was operating at just 15% capacity due to staff shortages and a lack of fuel. The security situation is also endangering humanitarian workers. The White Helmets, also known as the Syrian Civil Defense, reported that one of their emergency team leaders went missing Wednesday while responding to a call for help from a U.N. team, OCHA said. Aljoud writes for the Associated Press.
