The Jordanian army killed three drug smugglers at the Syrian border, seizing 233,000 captagon pills and hashish during the operation. At the same time, it was reported that rising meat prices in Deir-ez-Zor lead residents to turn to fishing along the Euphrates River, with locals facing security and access challenges imposed by the Syrian Democratic Forces. In parallel, still in northeastern Syria, a school-turned-shelter in Tel Hifyan leaves around 1,000 children deprived of education due to the influx of internally displaced persons from the Sere Kaniye region. Meanwhile, Turkish President Erdoğan, during the GCC summit in Qatar, warns of the potential spill of Israel’s attacks into Syria, emphasizing the need for action against Israeli atrocities and criticizing Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Jordan army says it killed three drug smugglers at Syria border
According to Reuters, the Jordanian army said on Tuesday it killed three drug dealers during an operation that foiled the smuggling of large quantities of drugs across the border from Syria.
About 233,000 captagon pills – a mix of amphetamines – and quantities of hashish were found during the bust, it said. The army said it had monitored a group of smugglers who had sought to cross the border and applied strict rules of engagement to shoot at first sight.
Fishing, a “dangerous” profession provides Deir-ez-Zor with meat alternatives
Enab Baladi has reported that soaring prices of meat and chicken in Deir Ezzor have forced some residents to turn to the fish market in the area concentrated along the Euphrates River.
With the popularity of buying fish, many locals have turned to fishing and trading in fish. However, they still face difficulties, both security-related and in terms of access to the riverbed, as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) does not allow civilians to approach it. Omar al-Abdullah, a young man from the city of Deir-ez-Zor in eastern Syria, works as a fisherman. He told Enab Baladi that fish may not be cheap, but it represents an economical source of food for the people of Deir-ez-Zor on the banks of the Euphrates River.
School-turned-shelters in NE Syria impact children’s education
The Kurdish agency North Press said that around 1,000 children in the village of Tel Hifyan (al-Asfouriyah) are deprived of attending the village school, which has been transformed into a shelter housing IDPs from the city of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) and its surrounding areas, in northeastern Syria.
These IDPs were displaced after Turkish forces and their affiliated factions of the Syrian National Army (SNA) occupied the Sere Kaniye region in October 2019 after a military operation dubbed ‘Olive Branch’. The operation, which also targeted the Tel Abyad region, caused the displacement of approximately 300,000 original inhabitants.
Erdoğan calls for action before Israel’s attacks spill into Syria
According to the Turkish newspaper the Daily Sabah, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended, during the second day of his visit to Qatar, the 44th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit that brought together major Muslim countries in the region. The summit naturally focused on the Palestine-Israel conflict and what the Muslim, Arab world and international community in general could do to halt Israel’s atrocities. Erdoğan reiterated his warning on the risk of the conflict spreading to the wider region and denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he had earlier branded as a “butcher.”
