Tommaso Nigra, Reporter
Damascus battle leaves 5 million without water
Now that government forces – led by Russian-backed President Bashar al-Assad – have retaken Aleppo from the rebels, the main battlefield of the Syrian civil war has moved to the area around the capital Damascus.
The two fronts are contending for the city, and the fight has greatly intensified in the Wadi Barada valley, nine miles northwest of the capital. Control of this area is crucial since most of Damascus’s water supply comes from there.
In the last few weeks, most of the depuration systems in the valley have been damaged, leaving more than 5 million people without water. President Assad accused the rebels of committing crimes against humanity by intentionally interrupting the water supply to Damascus. The rebel forces blamed the incessant airstrikes driven forward by the government’s air force for the damages inflicted on the water-supply facilities.
Aside from that, Assad appears to have bombed the valley even during the recently agreed ceasefire. For this reason, the rebel groups’ leaders have refused to participate in any peace talks until the cessation of the airstrikes.
Once again, the principal victims of the controversial conflict are the Syrian civilians, who are also suffering from a lack of electricity and gas in the middle of a cold winter.
“What was clear to me was that… we have a humanitarian crisis,” said social studies teacher Aaron Marsh. “I would like to see the United States–and first of all the United Nations — create a safe zone in Damascus…[and] if necessary to airdrop in supplies. I don’t see why that is impossible with Syria.”
The year 2017 could mark the end of the civil war with Assad’s final victory, but it’s hard to believe that achieving peace in such a violent and unscrupulous way could finally stabilize the situation. Even if the government ended up crushing the rebellion, which began six years ago, it would still have to defeat ISIS, the other force involved in the conflict which controls about one-third of the Syrian territory.
North Korea missile testing heralds increased tensions
In a New Year’s message, the North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un declared his intention to test a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) as part of a massive nuclear program set up by North Korea in the last couple years.
This clear provocative message to the U.S. is raising more concerns than usual because of how dangerous the weapon is. Although ICBM missiles aren’t usually able to cover the 5,500-mile distance between the Asian country and the American continent, North Korea has made some of them powerful enough to travel for more than 6,000 miles.
President Donald Trump replied on Twitter that the test “won’t happen!,” while Defence Secretary Ash Carter said they will be ready to shut it down as soon as it constitutes a serious treat.
However, Jong-un’s goal seems designed primarily to increase North Korea’s political influence on the international community. It’s definitely not the first time that Jong-un has threatened the U.S., putting diplomatic relations between the two countries at risk. The new year heralds increasing tensions between the two superpowers.
It’s difficult to understand the seriousness of these declarations, and it has left many confused.
“It is definitely scary,” said senior Isaac Hughes. “While half of me is thinking, ‘Whatever, they are probably lying. We cannot trust them,’ half of me is also kind of thinking, ‘This might be one of the bigger issues of the coming years.’”
American-backed attacks result in more civilian casualties
Mosul, the ISIS stronghold in Iraq, is about to fall under the offensive launched by the U.S.-backed Iraqi army. The Islamic State is facing one of the biggest defeats of the last couple years, which may be the reason why attacks on civilians are intensifying in other parts of Iraq.
On Sunday, Jan. 8, the jihadists targeted a marketplace in the capital Baghdad with a suicide bombing, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 50. In the first week of 2017, ISIS attacks caused more than 80 deaths in Iraq. As clearly declared in the claim of the last attack, the principal target of the Sunni-oriented Islamic State are the Shiite districts and gatherings.
More than the century-old religious conflict between the two biggest Islamic sects, though, is the reason for this incessant violence against Iraqi population – 6,780 deaths in 2016. ISIS is suffering setbacks in both Iraq and Syria and is trying to use terroristic attacks as a way to fight back and keep up the pressure on its opponents.