1. A few days before the inauguration of the new German government and the election of Angela Merkel as chancellor of Germany for a fourth time (March 14, 2018), the interior minister in the upcoming government, Horst Zehofer, head of the Bavarian Social Party, announced a plan of action on asylum files with strict deportation procedures. [Source: Alsouria Net]
2. A military source in Al-Kadam neighborhood in southern Damascus Saturday confirmed the approval of the Syrian Free Army factions and Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (Nusra) to get out of the district toward Idleb. This move came after regime forces threatened that the groups will meet the same fate as the Eastern Ghouta unless they go to Idleb. [Source: Al-Ittihad Press]
3. The Syrian Network for Human Rights has documented 156 attacks on vital centers in Syria last February, 89 of them in the Eastern Ghouta, which has been subjected to more than two weeks of continuous shelling by the regime's forces. In a report published Saturday, the network reported that the regime's forces accounted for 69 percent of the attacks on vital centers in Syria last month, 84 percent of which were in the Eastern Ghouta. Russia was responsible for 27 percent of that, mostly in the Idleb governorate. The attacks targeted 42 medical centers, 33 religious centers, 29 infrastructure facilities, and a refugee camp. [The Syrian Network for Human Rights]
4. Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal Mikdad warned that well-known parties are leveling accusations against Syria regarding the use of chemical weapons as a result of the victories achieved by the Syrian army in the fight against terrorism. In a press conference held on Saturday, Mikdad said that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons continues to ignore the information provided by Syria on the use of chemical weapons by terrorists in several incidents, which is cause for suspicion and wonder, affirming that Syria has implemented United Nations Security Council Resolution 2118 on the dismantling Syria’s chemical program, despite the very difficult and complex circumstances. [Source: SANA]
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
