NEW: Preparations have begun for the repatriation of some 2,400 former Assad regime fighters who fled to Iraq to Syria via Albukamal.

- Creative Agency

Billions wasted by U.S. Navy: The GAO report highlights systemic issues in the U.S. Navy’s $4 billion modernization of Ticonderoga-class cruisers.

Only three of seven cruisers—USS Gettysburg, USS Chosin, and USS Cape St. George—were completed, failing to achieve the promised five additional years of service life.

Nearly half the funds ($1.84 billion) were wasted on four cruisers retired without re-entering service.

For the cost of these three modernized ships, the Navy could have nearly bought two new destroyers, with the remaining cruisers slated for decommissioning by the late 2020s.

Source: TWZ

NEW: It has been claimed that Syrian opposition forces have been deployed on the Türkiye - Syria border for an operation to target Ain al-Arab.

NEW: Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) neutralized Nesrin Amed (codename for Yayla Kızılkaya), the alleged PKK/PAJK Jazira Regional Commander, in a pinpoint operation in Qamishli, Syria.

Kızılkaya, a key figure in managing the group’s female cadres and Syrian operations, joined the PKK in 1993 and participated in terrorist activities in regions like Qandil, Gare, and Şemdinli.

NEW: 112 members of a family were tortured to death in Assad's detention centres in al-Qadam neighbourhood of Damascus. As the torture and execution records of the Assad regime come to light, the extent of the brutality in Syria becomes clearer.

Source: Qutaiba Yaseen

US Senator Chris Murphy announced his support for the plan to lift sanctions against Syria.

Murphy argued that U.S. sanctions, which were aimed at a government no longer in power, should be suspended to facilitate humanitarian aid and reconstruction.

Additionally, Murphy noted that HTS officials have expressed a commitment to inclusive governance, which will be closely monitored.

Green buses have been prepared to bring back to Syria the soldiers of the toppled Assad regime who fled to Iraq.

Israel’s airstrikes on Syria by Clash Report

Israel conducted 97 airstrikes across Syria between December 1-13, with 60 concentrated on December 8, coinciding with Assad’s departure from the country.

Targets included armored divisions, airbases, intelligence hubs, and ammunition depots.

Port of Latakia in Syria has reopened.

Source: Levant 24

Turkish MoD responds to the U.S. State Department spokesperson’s claim of a "ceasefire agreement between Türkiye and the PKK/YPG/SDF":

“Türkiye does not engage with any terrorist organization. We believe this statement was a slip of the tongue.”

Putin:

We will definitely drive Ukraine out of Kursk region, but I won’t give a specific date, that’s not how it’s done.

Everything will be restored, there can be no doubt.

Putin proposes a “technological duel” to the West:

"Select a target in Kyiv, concentrate all air and missile defenses there, and Russia will strike it with the Oreshnik MRBM.

We are ready for such an experiment.

No one has a chance of shooting down the Oreshnik."

Ukrainian FPV drone uses thermite to destroy Russian dugout near Siversk.

Warm handshake between Iran’s Pezeshkian and Turkish President Erdogan in Cairo after Assad regime’s collapse.

Putin:

I have not yet met with Assad since his arrival in Moscow, but I plan to do so.

Putin:

We have evacuated 4,000 Iranian fighters to Tehran from the Khmeimim base.

Russia was not defeated in Syria. We achieved our goal in Syria, we did not allow the creation of an Islamic caliphate, it was not terrorists who came to power there.

30,000 government troops and pro-Iranian units retreated without a fight.

Putin:

350 militants were able to capture Aleppo.

Putin:

Politics is the art of compromise, Russia is always ready for it.

Putin on Tartus and Khmeimim military bases in Syria:

We suggested that our partners use our air base in Syria for humanitarian purposes, as well as the naval base.

Another batch of North Korean 170mm M1989 Koksan SPGs spotted in Russia.

The first photos of these SPGs in Russia appeared a month ago, with no evidence yet of their use in combat.

Putin:

Western countries communicate with Syrian opposition factions, and if they were terrorists, they would not have done so. This means that they have changed.

Syrian opposition factions that fought government forces witnessed internal changes.