Parts of Syria in Darkness After Rebel Assault. Syrians across the country were struck by widespread blackouts on Wednesday, after rebels hit a vital government-run Damascus gas pipeline in an artillery strike. The attack delivered a temporary – but strong – blow to the government’s infrastructure.
“A terrorist attack on a gas pipeline that feeds a power station in the south has led to a power outage in the provinces, and work to repair it is in progress,” said Electricity Minister Imad Khamis, as quoted by the BBC and Syrian state news agency. He predicts it would take up to 48 hours to fix.
Putting Out the Syrian Fire. Rami G. Khouri has a strong opinion piece in today’s International New York Times, outlining why the conflict will only end once global powers come to an agreement.
“The war’s proxy status also holds the key to its resolution,” he writes. “The fighting will only cease when the United States, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia feel the negative consequences of the war and conclude that it is in their best interests to end it.”
He goes on to describe how Syria’s war is now a cauldron of regional interests, a battlefield of Arab and Muslim rivalries.
“Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and other conservative Arab monarchies support the rebels because they feel that toppling Mr. Assad would weaken Hezbollah and Iran, and reduce Shiite and Iranian influence in the region. Sunni Salafis in Lebanon and Kuwait are likewise providing support to the opposition. And Pan-Islamic Salafist militant movements, like the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, exploit the chaos in order to establish ‘pure’ Islamic communities or states.”
Syria’s Alawites Cling to Assad. TIME’s Beirut bureau chief Aryn Baker chronicles the hatred being flung at Syria’s Alawites – the religious sect of Bashar al-Assad – and how the community, centered in the coastal province of Latakia, is responding.
Alawites, who make up roughly 12% of Syria’s population, hold outsized influence and positions of power in Assad’s regime. As the conflict has dragged on, they have largely remained loyal to the Assad camp, seeing the revolution as a Sunni-dominated threat to their very survival. Those who speak out against the regime can be treated as outcasts, or even killed.
Baker tells the story of one Alawite fighter, Abu Khader, who encapsulates the sectarian divide. “As Alawites, we are forced to fight, because the opposition is all Sunni, and they want to kill us all,” he says. That may be just perception or a reality – the two now fusing in the heat of Syria’s war.
Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team:
Foregin Policy: Kerry and Top Officials Split Over Syria Policy
Guardian: Syria Releases 61 Female Detainees in Three-Way Prisoner Exchange
Reuters: NATO, Russia Could Play Role in Eliminating Syrian Chemical Arms
Reuters: Syrian Army Siege East of Capital Tightens as Food, Supplies Dwindle
Guardian: Syria Deadline for Chemical Weapons Destruction Will be Met, Says OPCW
Al Jazeera: Tending to Syria’s Wounded in Turkey
CBS: Syria’s Youngest Refugees
RT: Moscow Slams ‘Friends of Syria’ for Undermining Geneva Peace Talks
Washington Post: Political Science Says Syria’s Civil War Will Probably Last Another Decade
Al Arabiya: Geneva II: A Swiss Cheese Conference for Syria