BEIRUT // The Syrian army and its allies on Monday cut off the last major supply route between the northern ISIL-held town of Al Bab and the extremist group’s strongholds to the east.
The militants are now effectively surrounded by Syrian pro-government forces and by Turkish troops and allied rebel groups, as Damascus and Ankara race to capture the largest ISIL stronghold in Aleppo province.
The latest setback for ISIL came as a new UN report said the group had suffered from a sharp drop in revenue and in its ability to attract new recruits.
Syrian troops and fighters from the Lebanese group Hizbollah seized the main road linking Al Bab to ISIL-held territory in Raqqa and Deir Ezzor provinces in an advance backed by Russian artillery, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“Al Bab is now completely besieged by the regime from the south, and the Turkish forces and rebels from the east, north and west,” said the Britain-based monitoring group, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria.
However, the Syrian army’s advance risks triggering a confrontation with the Turkish military and its allies – rebel groups fighting under the Free Syria Army banner – which have been waging their own campaign to take the town.
The Syrian army has moved to within 5 kilometres of Al Bab in less than three weeks as Damascus seeks to stop Turkey form penetrating deeper into a strategic area of northern Syria. Ankara’s forces have been advancing on Al Bab, about 25km from the Syria-Turkey border since December.
Northern Syria is one of the most complicated battlefields of the multi-sided Syrian war, with ISIL now being fought there by the Syrian army, Turkey and its rebel allies, and an alliance of US-backed Syrian militias.
Turkey launched its campaign in Syria in August to secure its frontier from ISIL and halt the advance of the powerful Kurdish YPG militia. In recent months Turkey has also joined forces with regime ally Russia to try to end to Syria’s six-year conflict.
The two countries carried out their first joint bombing raids around Al Bab in January after brokering a ceasefire agreement between rebels and regime forces. Along with Iran, they organised a summit in Kazakhstan last month in a bid to reinforce that truce ahead of full-fledged peace talks under the United Nations in Geneva.
Experts from Russia, Turkey, Iran and the UN met again in the Kazakh capital on Monday to discuss the ceasefire, with the Kazakh foreign ministry saying representatives from Jordan were also expected to take part.
The ceasefire with rebels has allowed the Syrian regime to target ISIL, with president Bashar Al Assad’s forces engaging the extremists in the central province of Homs at the weekend, the Observatory said.
It said troops had also captured the Hayyan oilfield west of Palmyra, the historical city that ISIL recaptured in December, and fought back against ISIL around Al Seen military airport north-east of Damascus.
ISIL is facing simultaneous offensives against it self-proclaimed Islamic “caliphate” in Syria and Iraq.
A UN report released on Monday said the extremists were “militarily on the defensive in several regions, notably in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and the Syrian Arab Republic”.
ISIL finances are on a decline, according to the report sent to the Security Council last week, forcing the militant group to operate on a “crisis budget”.
Illicit oil sales, mainly from oilfields in Deir Ezzor, dropped from as much as US$500 million (Dh1.8 billion) in 2015 to $260m last year.
The flow of foreign fighters to Iraq and Syria has slowed considerably, because of security measures taken by governments and also the “diminished attractiveness” of the group, the report said.
“The ability of ISIL to attract new recruits has diminished, and fighters are increasingly leaving the battlefield,” the report said.
* Agence France-Presse and Reuters
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE BIO
Family: I have three siblings, one older brother (age 25) and two younger sisters, 20 and 13
Favourite book: Asking for my favourite book has to be one of the hardest questions. However a current favourite would be Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier
Favourite place to travel to: Any walkable city. I also love nature and wildlife
What do you love eating or cooking: I’m constantly in the kitchen. Ever since I changed the way I eat I enjoy choosing and creating what goes into my body. However, nothing can top home cooked food from my parents.
Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 2
Rashford 28', Martial 72'
Watford 1
Doucoure 90'
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
RESULTS
5pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (Turf) 2,200m
Winner: M'A Yaromoon, Jesus Rosales (jockey), Khalifa Al Neydai (trainer)
5.30pm: Khor Al Baghal – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: No Riesgo Al Maury, Antonio Fresu, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
6pm: Khor Faridah – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: JAP Almahfuz, Royston Ffrench, Irfan Ellahi
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Mahmouda, Pat Cosgrave, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: AS Jezan, George Buckell, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
7.30pm: Khor Laffam – Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m
Winner: Dolman, Antonio Fresu, Bhupath Seemar
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
