Baladi - Newspapers
ussian military police have begun patrolling the demilitarised zone between Israel and Syria in the Golan Heights, highlighting Moscow's increasing clout as a Middle Eastern power broker following its intervention in the civil war there.
“The Russian military police are pioneers in renewing patrols of the Golan Heights,” Lt Gen Sergei Kuralenko told journalists at a damaged United Nations observer post.
“There is almost no danger besides from mines. The whole demilitarised zone is under control now.”
Following the start of the Syrian conflict, militants drove out the UN peacemakers that had served in the area since 1974.
The pockmarked guardhouses and discarded ammo and rocket-propelled grenade launcher boxes testified to the fierce fighting between Bashar Assad's regime and the Nusra Front before government forces pushed the al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group from the post and the wider area last month.
Russian military police have four bases in the area and will establish more on Bravo Line, the side of the zone held by Syria.
Vladimir Putin began backing his ally Assad with bombing runs in 2015, but the Russian role has expanded to include military advisers, police, private military contractors and, according to some reports, ground forces.
As it helped turned the conflict in Assad's favour, Russia has positioned itself as a major voice in determining the post-war order, holding negotiations with rebels and serving as an intermediary with other governments in the region.
Source: The Telegraph