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Article Body Text<p>Syria’s new authorities said Tuesday that armed groups in the country agreed to dissolve and be integrated into the Defense Ministry.</p> <p>A statement said the decision followed a meeting between leaders of the armed groups and Ahmad al-Sharaa, who led the rebel advance that pushed longtime leader Bashar al-Assad from power.</p> <p>Rebels seized control of Syria’s capital December 8 after a lightning advance that saw them claim several key cities in a matter of days after many years of relative stalemate in the country’s 13-year civil war.</p> <p>Since Assad’s ouster, governments throughout the region have sent envoys to Damascus amid questions about Syria’s political future and concerns about additional instability in the region.</p> <p>One concern is the potential resurgence of the Islamic State group, which seized areas of eastern Syria in 2014 and western Iraq before losing much of that territory.</p> <p>The U.S. military said Monday it carried out an airstrike that killed two Islamic State militants in eastern Syria’s Deir Ezzour province.</p> <p>U.S. Central Command said in a statement that the militants were “moving a truckload of weapons, which were destroyed during the strike.”</p> <p><em>Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.</em></p>
Content TypeText
LanguageEnglish
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
Subtitles / Dubbing AvailableNo
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateDecember 24, 2024 08:19 EST
BylineVOA News
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
