PHOTO: Haruna Yukawa in Syria last year, before his abduction by the Islamic State

LATEST: Another Snub for Russia “Peace” Talks — Regime Sending Lower-Level Team, 48 Hours Late

The Islamic State has apparently claimed the execution of another foreign hostage, Haruna Yukawa, in a three-minute video released on Saturday.

Yukawa is the sixth foreign hostage whose killing has been featured in videos since August. The Islamic State has also executed hundreds of civilians, tribal members, regime troops, and insurgents in its advance through northern and eastern Syria.

Although the video was not distributed through the Islamic State’s official channels, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the “credibility” was “high”:

Considering the unbearable pain and sorrow that his family must be feeling, I am speechless.

Such act of terrorism is outrageous and impermissible, it causes me nothing but strong indignation. I condemn it strongly and resolutely.

The videos of the five British and American aid workers beheaded since August had been “live” outdoors, with a English-language statement from their executioner in a British accent. However, in Saturday’s footage, the execution was not shown — instead, there is a still image freelance Japanese journalist Kenji Goto Jogo holding up a photograph of Goto’s body.

Yukawa went to Syria in 2014 after his wife’s death, bankruptcy, and a breakdown and was abducted in August. Goto was seized by the jihadists last autumn.

On Tuesday the Islamic State had given the Japanese Government a 72-hour deadline to pay a $200 million ransom for the two men. Yesterday, audio from Goto passed on a jihadist demand for his exchange for an Iraqi woman jailed in Jordan for her part in a 2005 bombing:

They no longer want money. So, you don’t need to worry about funding terrorists. They are just demanding the release of their imprisoned sister Sajida al-Rishawi. It is simple. You give them Sajida and I will be released.

Japan’s Foreign Ministry said the Prime Minister had spoken to Jordan’s King Abdullah. Abe confirmed, “We are consulting closely with Jordan from the viewpoint that human life is the top priority.”

Another Snub for Russia “Peace” Talks: Regime Sending Lower-Level Team, 48 Hours Late

In another sign of the fading of Russia’s high-profile initiative for political talks, the Assad regime has said that its Ambassador to the UN — rather than the Foreign Minister — will head its delegation, which will not arrive until 48 hours after the start of the discussions.

Pro-regime Al-Watan said the 7-member delegation, which will include Ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari and Foreign Ministry advisor Ahmed Arnus, will only join talks after two days of preliminary discussions among opposition participants.

Al-Watan also said the gathering will only be “a consultative meeting to prepare the ground for a dialogue which will be held later in Moscow or Damascus”.

The main domestic opposition groups and the foreign-based Syrian National Coalition have announced that they will not attend the talks. Leading opposition figures, such as former Coalition head Moaz al-Khatib, also declined and said they saw no hope in the negotiations; although another former Coalition leader, Ahmed Jarba, and four current Coalition members are attending in personal capacities.

Worried that the talks might be a non-started, Russian officials — including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov — have warned that those who do not attend will not have any role in Syria’s political future.

State Media Says 2 Killed, 20+ Wounded in Damascus — But By Insurgents or Regime?

State news agency SANA is now reporting two civilians killed and more than 20 injured by “rockets and mortars” in Damascus on Sunday, as insurgents began their promised attacks on military installations (see below).

SANA claims insurgents are responsible; however, their report inadvertently raises the possibility that the casualties came as “the army respond[ed] by striking the sources of the attacks”.

The insurgency, which has warned civilians to stay away from military installations and to observe a curfew, has used only rockets in its assault today — it is the regime which has used mortars in reply.

Insurgents Claim Capture of Key Brigade Base South of Damascus

Insurgents are claiming a significant victory with the capture of the Brigade 82 base, south of Damascus.

Both the Free Syrian Army and the Southern Front have said that the base has been taken after months of attacks.

The base is located near the main highway from Damascus to Daraa and the Jordanian border. Insurgents hold the nearby town of Sheikh Maskin, repelling regime counter-attacks last autumn.

With the victory, insurgents can threaten the regime’s supply routes between Damascus and southern Syria and pose a threat to the Syrian military’s defense ring around the south of the capital.

Claimed footage of insurgents in the base, with a captured Syrian T-55 tank:

The claimed fall of the base comes only days after the Free Syrian Army and other insurgents announced a renewed offensive in Daraa Province.

Insurgents Begin Attacks on Military Positions in Damascus

Insurgents have begun their promised attacks on military positions in Damascus.

The leading insurgent faction Jaish al-Islam said on Friday that it would use rockets, mortars, and artillery shells on checkpoints and military installations on Sunday. It warned civilians to avoid the positions.

A few dozen rockets, fired from the capital’s suburbs, have been fired so far. Sources report that regime artillery on Mount Qasioun has responded, with fears that civilians both in and near Damascus will be attacked in an attempt to blame insurgents.

State news agency SANA said numerous areas had been hit and 13 civilians injured, “with the army responding by striking the sources of the attacks”.

Kurdish Commander: Islamic State Cleared from Kobane Except for 4 Streets

A Kurdish commander says that, after its four-month offensive, the Islamic State now holds only four streets in the Kurdish center of Kobane, near the Turkish border.

At one point, the jihadists occupied more than 40% of the city, but local Kurdish forces — supported by Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga and US-led airstrikes — have been steadily pushing back the Islamic State, taking territory in and near Kobane. Last week, the Kurds reclaimed the strategic Mistenur Hill outside the city.

Mazlum Kobanê said the Islamic State’s hold of the eastern part of Kobane was now restricted to a corner. The jihadists are also holed up in a hospital in western Kobane, which has been attacked by the Free Syrian Army as well as the Kurdish troops.

The Kurdish commander said his forces reclaimed a school and a street with a main mosque on Friday.

The Free Syrian Army’s Dawn of Freedom Brigade walking through areas recaptured near Kobane:

Videos: Regime Claims Killing of 25 Jabhat al-Nusra Fighters on Damascus-Sweida Highway

The Assad regime is claiming the killing of at least 25 Jabhat al-Nusra fighters, and the capture of others, on the highway between Damascus and Sweida in southwestern Syria:

Insurgents Claim Capture of Key Hill North of Aleppo, Push Back Regime Attempt to Cut Off Opposition

Insurgents claim they have secured al-Breij hill north of Aleppo, pushing back months-long regime attempts to cut off a main supply route to the opposition-held area of Syria’s largest city:

The hill is between Handarat, on the highway leading to Aleppo and attacked by the regime since last autumn, and the Sheikh Najjar industrial area (see map).

Spike in Civilian Deaths From Regime Bombing Continues; 63 Killed on Saturday

The Local Coordinating Committees report confirmation of another 63 deaths on Saturday, including 20 in Daraa Province, 17 in Damascus and its suburbs, 12 in Idlib Province, and 10 in Aleppo Province.

Most of the casualties were killed by regime bombing, as the Syrian military tries to hold back insurgents in the northwest and to break resistance near Damascus with airstrikes.

Civilian deaths had decreased this winter, compared to the toll for most of the 46-month conflict; however, they have risen again in the last week because of the aerial attacks. Among the dead were at least 75 people from an attack on a sheep market in northeast Syria and 53 on Friday in the Damascus suburb of Hamouriyah.