ALSO IN TODAY’S FORECAST
Leading Insurgent Commander al-Oqaidi: US & Britain Effectively Back Assad
Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham Captures Thermal Power Plant near Aleppo
Al Qa’eda Leader al-Zawahiri Declares Dissolution of Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham
Friday Protest in Kafranbel Has Message for Mother Agnes
Russia: Syrian Opposition Rejects Talks in Moscow
Syrian Military Launches Attack Near Aleppo Airport
FRIDAY FEATURE
Russia Analysis: Diplomacy, Delay & Disinformation — How Moscow Gained The Upper Hand In Syria
After days of rumors, confirmation finally came on Thursday that insurgents have taken the regime ammunition depot at Mahin in Homs Province.
The coalition of opposition fighters — including men from Homs, Free Syrian Army brigades, and the Islamist faction Jabhat al Nusra — lifted a news blackout during the afternoon. Videos indicated that they had taken most of the buildings and warehouses earlier in the week.
The insurgents will take the prize of large stocks of ammunition and weapons and, if they hold the position, will claim a key location in the regime’s reinforcement of its forces both to the north and south.
Insurgents celebrate:
The news adds to Syria’s “dynamic stalemate”, in which each side is claiming notable victories but neither has a decisive advantage. Last week, the regime celebrated an advance when it took the town of as-Safira, opening a corridor to its besieged areas in Aleppo city and the Kweiras airbase.
On Thursday, the Syrian military confirmed its occupation of another suburb to the south of Damascus, Sbeineh, putting more pressure on insurgent-held areas and further extending a protective belt around Damascus airport.
A reader updates on the situation to the east of the capital:
Not much has happened on the western side of East Ghouta with the battlelines stalled in Jobar, Quaboun, Barzeh.
But Eastern Ghouta is almost completely surrounded. Arba in the east has a massive government presence and often large groups of rebels who try to break through on that route are ambushed there.
Further south, Quaysa, Jarba, Deir Salman mand Ahmedia were taken by the regime army during the summer, essentially cutting the last rebel supply lines.
In the southwest along the airport road to central damascus, the regime has retaken Hatetat al-Turkman and Deir-Salman in the last two months.
So you can say that in general the situation in EG looks pretty bad, though of course the regime is far away from an assault on Douma or completely overrunning the area.
Yarmouk Brigade in Dara’a Province Parades Its Tanks
Leading Insurgent Commander al-Oqaidi: US & Britain Effectively Back Assad
Colonel Abdul Jabbar al-Oqaidi, who resigned from the Aleppo Military Council this week, has accused Britain and the US of effectively backing President Assad.
By working with Syria on the handover of chemical weapons — following the regime’s chemical attacks of August 21 — the West gave Damascus space to step up conventional attacks and “is supporting the criminal Assad regime”, al-Oqaidi told the BBC.
He chided the US Government:
When Mr Obama says chemical weapons are a red line, that gives the green light to conventional weapons.
Ballistic missiles, scuds, air power, rocket launchers, tanks – all these can be used by the regime to kill Syrians. So the Western stance has been very negative towards the Syrian revolution.
Britain had been “very hesitant”, he said:
They have not provided anything. They didn’t stand with the revolution at all.
If you want to compare the British and French and American position towards Gaddafi and towards Assad, then the difference is enormous.
Al-Oqaidi left the Aleppo Military Council in protest at the fall of the town of as-Safira in Aleppo Province. He blamed officers of the Supreme Military Council, backed by the US and Britain, of enjoying life in foreign hotels while insurgents paid the price in the conflict.
Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham Captures Thermal Power Plant near Aleppo
Insurgents from the Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham have captured a thermal power plant near Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.
Commanders planning the attack:
The battle:
Other footage shows insurgents with power plant workers, claiming to protect them, and weapons and ammunition taken from the site.
The plant has been damaged, with leaking hydrogen tanks making repair dangerous. Power has been switched off.
Aleppo, locked in military stalemate for 15 months, is already suffering protracted power outages.
Al Qa’eda Leader al-Zawahiri Declares Dissolution of Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham
The ideological head of Al Qa’eda, Ayman al-Zawahiri has declared the dissolution of the Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham in an audio message.
The root of the dispute goes back to April, when ISIS sought to take over the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria. Jabhat al-Nusra resisted, saying it represented Syrians in the battle against the Assad regime. ISIS pressed ahead, however, taking men and resources from JAN.
After an appeal by Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Zawahiri recognized its primacy in Syria. This did nothing to stop ISIS’s attempts to expand its authority and control of territory in the north of the country.
Some observers are claiming that the audio statement, presented by Al Jazeera Arabic, merely repeats al-Zawahiri’s declaration in May.
Friday Protest in Kafranbel Has Message for Mother Agnes
Friday’s march in Kafranbel in northwest Syria features a banner for Mother Agnes, the pro-regime nun known for her denunications of the insurgency:
Russia: Syrian Opposition Rejects Talks in Moscow
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Friday that the opposition Syrian National Coalition of Revolutionary and Opposition Forces has refused to join an informal meeting in Moscow with representatives of the Assad regime.
“Regrettably, the national coalition and certain leaders, who reckon this idea to be counterproductive, have refused to attend,” Lukashevich said.
The Russians suggested the meeting between opposition and regime elements after they could not convene long-proposed Geneva “peace” conference on November 23, amid competing pre-conditions from opposition groups and Damascus.
Syrian Military Launches Attack Near Aleppo Airport
Residents and insurgents reports that the Syrian military, with tanks and artillery, have launched “the heaviest barrage in more than a year” on opposition-held areas around Aleppo’s International airport.
President Assad’s forces, stationed at the airport, may be trying to take the insurgents’ “Brigade 80” position. The site, seized by the opposition in February, had previously been a regime air defence base protecting the international airport and Nairab airbase.
If successful, the offensive would cut the insurgent route between Aleppo city and the town of al-Bab, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Turkish border.
“We did not see it coming. The attack came as a real shock to us,” an insurgent told Al Jazeera. “There is an insane campaign going on. The regime is employing a scorched earth policy.”
