Syrian Revolution News & Discussions

[BLACKEAGLE]

ISIS seizes key Syrian town in Homs

Syrians walk in destroyed alley damaged from Syrian army forces shelling, at Bab Sbaa neighborhood in Homs province, central Syria. (File photo: AP)

AFP, Beirut
Thursday, 6 August 2015

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants seized control of a key town in the central Syrian province of Homs overnight after heavy clashes with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, a monitor said on Thursday.

The violent group started the attack on Wednesday morning when three suicide bombers targeted pro-regime checkpoints at entrances to the city, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“ISIS seized Al-Qaryatain town in the southeastern countryside of Homs after violent clashes with pro-regime forces and loyalist fighters,” Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

A total of 37 regime soldiers and loyalist fighters were killed, while 23 ISIS militants also died, Abdel Rahman said.

He said the town held strategic importance because of its location along a road linking the ancient city of Palmyra, which has been held by ISIS militants since May, with Qalamun region in Damascus province.

“The control of Al-Qaryatain allows ISIS to link the areas under its control in the eastern countryside of Homs with the areas under its control in the eastern countryside of Qalamun, and allows it to transfer fighters and supplies between the two regions,” Abdel Rahman said.

The ongoing clashes between government troops and the militant group are one of many fronts in Syria’s complex war, which has left more than 230,000 people dead since it began in March 2011.

Last Update: Thursday, 6 August 2015 KSA 06:53 - GMT 03:53
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/08/06/ISIS-seizes-key-Syrian-town-in-Homs-.html

 

[ke gordon]

It is really dreadful. It is a crisis of epidemic proportions. Neighboring countries can only absorb so many refugees and what will happen to the rest? The whole Middle East is such a minefield that is hard to know what to do, in the face of such a humanitarian and economic catastrophe

 

[UAE]

Syria PM is visiting Oman I heard? How true is this and what will the outcome be? Any guesses?

@Scorpion @BLACKEAGLE @Sinan @T-123456 @Gasoline @Bubblegum Crisis @Falcon29

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Syria PM is visiting Oman I heard? How true is this and what will the outcome be? Any guesses?

@Scorpion @BLACKEAGLE @Sinan @T-123456 @Gasoline @Bubblegum Crisis @Falcon29

I'm sensing that Assad is planning to negotiate as Russia has given up on him and even Iran proposed an initiative of free election under international supervision.

 

[Redheart]

US says Assad is ‘root of all evil’ after first drone strikes launch from Turkey — RT News

The US has launched its first drone strikes on northern Syria from a Turkish airbase, the Pentagon reports. Earlier this week, the White House authorized airstrikes to protect “moderate” rebels in Syria, and included strikes against government forces

Meanwhile on Thursday, the US State Department has pinned the blame for the chaos and the rise of jihadists in Syria on President Bashar Assad.

“The Assad regime frankly is the root of all evil here … and has been instrumental in creating the kind of lawless area to the north where ISIL has been able to get purchase and extend its roots.”

A spokesman for the Pentagon said on Wednesday that an unmanned drone was launched on Monday from Incirlik Air Base and that preparations were underway for strikes inside Syria by manned US warplanes, Reuters reported.

The American armed drone hit a number of targets near Raqqa, Islamic State’s (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) stronghold in Syria, the Hurriyet Daily reported. Washington had previously only used the Incirlik airbase, which is near the southern city of Adana, for reconnaissance missions using drones.

"As part of our agreement with the US, we have made progress regarding the opening up of our bases, particularly Incirlik," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu earlier told state broadcaster TRT, as cited by Reuters.

Turkey had been against the US and NATO using airbases in the country to conduct airstrikes against Islamic State. However, Ankara made a sudden U-turn. In return for Washington’s use of Incirlik, Ankara has asked the US to establish a no-fly zone over Syria and a “security zone” along the Turkish border, according to Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc who outlined the deal in July.

The attack by an Islamic State suicide bomber in July, which killed 32 people and injured more than 100, was the main reason for Ankara’s U-turn. It was the first time that IS had conducted an attack on Turkish soil. The group struck a cultural center in the mainly Kurdish border town of Suruc.

Turkish military has begun to deploy armed vehicles and tanks on the high hills in the southeastern province of Sirnak near the Syrian border, the Hurriyet daily reported on Thursday.

Earlier, it was revealed that the US would attack forces loyal to President Bashar Assad, should they target the 'moderate' rebel groups, while NATO and its allies would also provide more support for those opposing the Syrian government.

“Now we are training and equipping the moderate [Syrian] opposition together with the United States, and we will also start our fight against Daesh [Islamic State] very effectively soon,” Foreign Minister Cavusoglu told reporters in Kulua Lumpur on Wednesday, at the start of a meeting with John Kerry.

Syrian political analyst, Taleb Ibrahim told RT that he has suspicions about the decision by Ankara and Washington to support those fighting against the Syrian government.

“The United States is not serious in fighting ISIS. I am very suspicious about American acts and American behavior in both Syria and Iraq. I am also suspicious about the Turkish role, which is up until now, has not been clear,” he said.

Is the US program legal?

Since the US-backed rebel groups in Syria are operating in the “lawless area” of the country, they are under pressure from “a lot of different forces,” US State Department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner told RT’s Gayane Chichakyan, while trying to explain the legal basis for the change in US policy.

“I frankly don’t know what the legal authority is,” Toner said, adding that the situation in Syria remains “complex and fluid.”

He clarified that Washington did not authorize itself to “go after Assad government forces,” insisting that such bombings would take place only in the “hypothetical” case that the US-backed militants came under fire from Syrian forces.

His comments were condemned by Phyllis Bennis, from the Institute for Policy Studies, who was deeply skeptical of the US motives for widening their attack in Syria. She said Washington is heading down “a very slippery slope and they are halfway down that slope,” while the US was using these so-called ‘lawless areas’ as a smokescreen.

“There is no real legal basis for this. You know the UN charter, which is the document of international law that determines when is a law legal or when it is illegal, has a very narrow definition of when a war is legal. There are only two things that really make it legal. Either it is authorized by the UN Security Council – or if a country has been directly attacked, you have a qualified right to use self-defense, only until, the Security Council can meet to decide what to do,” she said.

Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said the efforts to fight Islamic State militants on Syrian territory should be coordinated with Damascus.

The Syrian government criticized Washington's distinction between 'moderate' and 'extremist' rebel forces in Syria. According to the US, IS are extremists and need to be bombed, while moderate rebels should be trained and supported to overthrow the Syrian government.

"For us in Syria there is no moderate opposition and immoderate opposition. Whoever carries weapons against the state is a terrorist," the Syrian minister said during a visit to Iran, which is Syria’s ally.

Drone civilian death toll

While the US hopes the air campaign will help to make the Turkish border harder to cross and stem the flow of militants wanting to join up with the terrorist organization, the new drone missions are an escalation in the US’s unmanned aircraft program.

However, a report in 2014 by former US senior officials said the practice of using drones to strike targets is not as effective as Washington would hope.

The study, issued in June 2014, called on the Obama administration to come up with a cost-benefit analysis of drone strikes, while it also urged more transparency on the targeted killings.

Britain’s Reprieve human-rights group calculated that it takes about 28 innocent lives to take out a single terrorist leader, often with multiple drone strikes.

The statistics are striking. In the last 10 years, attempts to kill 41 terrorist leaders resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1,147 people, the vast majority of them civilians and families.

The drone program began under President George W. Bush, but experienced rapid growth under the Obama administration. In Pakistan alone, 396 strikes have been conducted since 2002. In Yemen, where counterterror operations have also grown over the years, 126 have been conducted in the same time period.

According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, 423-962 civilians have been killed in Pakistan as a result of drone strikes between 2004 and 2015. Last year, the outlet found that domestic buildings were the most common target. In Yemen, some 65-96 civilians have been killed.

 

[T-123456]

Syria PM is visiting Oman I heard? How true is this and what will the outcome be? Any guesses?

@Scorpion @BLACKEAGLE @Sinan @T-123456 @Gasoline @Bubblegum Crisis @Falcon29

Could be that Iran sold Syria out for the nuclear deal and Russia for the South-Stream deal and thats why the only option remains for Syria is to seek ''help'' from the GCC via Oman.
Just a guess.

 

[Bubblegum Crisis]

Could be that Iran sold Syria out for the nuclear deal and Russia for the South-Stream deal and thats why the only option remains for Syria is to seek ''help'' from the GCC via Oman.
Just a guess.

I do not think so. It's much more deep.

See link :

Syrian Revolution News & Discussions | Page 14 | World Defense


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[BLACKEAGLE]

U.N. seeks accountability on Syria gas attacks

Chlorine's use as a weapon is prohibited under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria joined in 2013. (File photo: Reuters)

By Reuters | United Nations
Friday, 7 August 2015

The U.N. Security Council unanimously passed a U.S.-drafted resolution on Friday laying the groundwork for an inquiry that would assign blame for chemical weapons attacks in Syria's civil war.

The resolution asks U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon and the head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to make recommendations within 20 days for the establishment of an investigative body, "to identify to the greatest extent feasible individuals, entities, groups, or governments" involved in any chemical attacks in Syria.

The adoption of the resolution came after the U.S. struck a deal with Russia, a strong backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, on a formal request to the U.N. to assemble a team of investigators to lay blame for toxic gas attacks in Syria.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power said it was vital that those responsible for chemical attacks be held accountable.

"Pointing the finger matters," Power told the council after the vote.

Attributing responsibility for poison gas attacks in Syria's four-year conflict could pave the way for action by the 15-member Security Council. The body has already threatened consequences for such attacks, which could include sanctions.

'Modest step'
Power told reporters that Friday's vote was a "modest step" toward ending the impunity Syria's war criminals have enjoyed.

But she acknowledged that accountability for crimes in Syria appeared a long way off after Russia and China vetoed a Western proposal last year to refer the Syrian conflict to the International Criminal Court.

The council is expected to authorize the investigative team for one year once it receives Ban's recommendations.

Government and opposition forces have denied using chemical weapons. Western powers say the Syrian government has been responsible for chemical attacks, including chlorine attacks.
The Syrian government and Russia have accused rebel forces of using poison gas.

Sarin gas attacks
Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari told the council that his country has been the victim of chemical attacks by Islamic State militants and the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front.

Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 in a bid to avoid U.S. military strikes threatened over a sarin gas attack that killed hundreds of civilians. The OPCW has since found chlorine has been "systematically and repeatedly" used as a weapon, though it is not mandated to lay blame.

Chlorine's use as a weapon is prohibited under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria joined in 2013. If inhaled, chlorine gas turns to hydrochloric acid in the lungs and can kill by burning lungs and drowning victims in the resulting body fluids.


Power told reporters that Friday's vote was a "modest step" toward ending the impunity Syria's war criminals have enjoyed. (Reuters)

Last Update: Saturday, 8 August 2015 KSA 23:13 - GMT 20:13
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/08/08/U-N-seeks-accountability-on-Syria-gas-attacks.html

 

[Falcon29]

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/08/07/U-S-trained-Syrian-rebels-refuse-to-fight-al-Qaeda.html

...........

I figured this would be the case. At first it was to combat ISIS, instead of combating ISIS, the people heading this group ordered them to target Nusra Front and possibly later Ahrar Al Sham. In order to weaken the rebels and get them to fight each other and avoid the regime.

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

ISIS battles Syria rebels for key supply lifeline

In this picture released Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015 by the Rased News Network a Facebook page affiliated with ISIS militants, an ISIS militant sits on a tank they captured from Syrian government forces, in the town of Qaryatain southwest of Palmyra, central Syria. (File photo: AP)

By AFP | Beirut
Sunday, 9 August 2015

Militants from ISIS battled rebel forces, including Islamists, on Sunday for a series of key villages in northern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The four villages in the northern province of Aleppo lie along the rebels' supply line from Turkey, which is a major backer of Syria's opposition.

"ISIS is trying to seize control of these villages from rebels to cut their supply route between Aleppo city and its outskirts, and the town of Azaz," a rebel bastion near the border, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

He said two ISIS suicide bombers, one using a suicide belt and one in a bomb-laden car, began the assault on the villages on Saturday night.

The ensuing clashes, which lasted throughout the night, left at least 10 ISIS militants and 18 rebel fighters dead, Abdel Rahman added.

The extremist group has swept through territory in Iraq and Syria in an effort to build a cross-border "caliphate," and sees both the regime of Bashar al-Assad and rival rebel factions as its enemies.

On Sunday, Syria's official news agency SANA reported a new death toll for deadly rebel rocket fire on the Syrian capital Damascus the previous day.

"The number of victims in the rocket fire Saturday on Damascus by terrorist organizations has risen to 11 dead, including three children, and 46 wounded including some in critical condition," the agency reported.

The agency said 10 of the dead were killed in the central al-Thawra neighborhood, and that the rocket was launched from the rebel-controlled Jobar district.

The Britain-based Observatory, which uses a broad network of sources in Syria to gather information, confirmed the new toll.

And on Saturday, more than 1,000 people took to the streets in the coastal city of Latakia, heartland of the Assad regime, to protest the killing of a Syrian air force official.

Colonel Hassan al-Sheikh was shot dead earlier this week by Sleiman al-Assad, a cousin of President Assad, after a dispute at a checkpoint, the Observatory said.

Saturday's demonstrators said they would continue protests until Sleiman al-Assad is executed.

Last Update: Sunday, 9 August 2015 KSA 14:40 - GMT 11:40
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/08/09/ISIS-battles-Syria-rebels-for-key-supply-lifeline.html

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

ISIS kills 37 rival insurgents in Syria’s Aleppo province

In this Friday, Sept 7, 2012 file photo, free Syrian Army fighters run after attacking a Syrian Army tank during fighting in the Izaa district in Aleppo, Syria. (AP)

By Reuters | Beirut
Sunday, 9 August 2015

ISIS fighters killed at least 37 rival insurgents in an overnight attack in Syria’s Aleppo province and 20 fighters remain missing, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday.

Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Observatory, said that late on Saturday a suicide bomber from the hardline group blew himself up in a military post held by a group of rival insurgents in the Umm Housh village in northern Aleppo countryside.

ISIS fighters then seized the village after heavy clashes with rival groups.

“The main goal for taking the village is to tighten the noose around Marea which is considered a reservoir for groups that are against ISIS,” Abdulrahman said.

Jihadi groups and Islamist and mainstream groups have been engaged in internecine fighting for more than two years, complicating the four-year conflict in Syria.

Last Update: Sunday, 9 August 2015 KSA 20:23 - GMT 17:23
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/08/09/ISIS-kills-37-rival-insurgents-in-Syria-s-Aleppo-province.html

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Protests in Syria after Assad’s cousin accused in road rage killing
france&[HASHTAG]#x20[/HASHTAG];24&[HASHTAG]#x20[/HASHTAG];-&[HASHTAG]#x20[/HASHTAG];Protests&[HASHTAG]#x20[/HASHTAG];in&[HASHTAG]#x20[/HASHTAG];Syria&[HASHTAG]#x20[/HASHTAG];after&[HASHTAG]#x20[/HASHTAG];Assad&[HASHTAG]#x2019[/HASHTAG];s&[HASHTAG]#x20[/HASHTAG];cousin&[HASHTAG]#x20[/HASHTAG];accused&[HASHTAG]#x20[/HASHTAG];in&[HASHTAG]#x20[/HASHTAG];road&[HASHTAG]#x20[/HASHTAG];rage&[HASHTAG]#x20[/HASHTAG];killing&[HASHTAG]#x20[/HASHTAG];-&[HASHTAG]#x20[/HASHTAG];France&[HASHTAG]#x20[/HASHTAG];24

 

[Lieutenant]

Daesh has made it difficulte for the FSA to end the misery of the Syiran people.

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Insurgents edge closer to Assad stronghold

A damaged picture of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is seen near Zeyzoun thermal station in al-Ghab plain in the Hama countryside July 29, 2015. (Reuters)

By Reuters | Beirut
Sunday, 9 August 2015

Insurgents have regained control of several villages in northwest Syria from government forces and have advanced beyond them, edging closer to a coastal stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad, a monitoring group and other sources said on Sunday.

The insurgents launched a counter-offensive after government forces, backed by allied militant groups, last week recaptured the villages on the Sahl al-Ghab plain, which lies close to the city of Hama and is crucial to the defence of coastal mountains that are the heartland of Assad’s minority Alawite sect.

The insurgents’ ‘Army of Fatah’ alliance includes al-Qaeda’s Syrian wing, the Nusra Front, the Islamist Ahrar al-Sham group and other factions.

On Sunday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Islamist fighters’ counter-offensive had forced the Syrian army to withdraw from such villages as Mansoura, Zeyara and Tal Waset towards bases northwest of Hama city.

Seven government warplanes and helicopters carried out 80 strikes on the villages located on the plain, the Observatory added.

A source close to the Syrian government confirmed the rebel advances in the area.

The insurgents have made gains in several parts of Syria in recent months, including capturing most of Idlib province to the northeast of the Sahl al-Ghab plain.

Last month Assad alluded to military setbacks when he said the army had been forced to give up some areas in order to hold onto more important ones.

A quarter of a million people have died and more than 10 million driven from their homes in Syria’s four-year civil war that has left large swathes of the country in the hands of Islamic State militants.

Last Update: Sunday, 9 August 2015 KSA 21:16 - GMT 18:16
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/08/09/Insurgents-recapture-villages-on-Syrian-plain-vital-to-Assad.html