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UN Security Council Condemns Chlorine Gas Attacks

The Assad regime has offered an interesting tribute to UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, who has reversed the UN’s position and said that the President is essential to a political solution — they have trashed his predecessor, Lakhdar Brahimi (pictured), who pursued a resolution from September 2012 to May 2014.

Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi told State TV on Friday that Brahimi, a former Algerian Foreign Minister, was “deceptive and a liar who helped escalate the crisis and is complicit in shedding Syrian blood”.

Al-Zoubi said the regime was aware all along that Brahimi “implemented the instructions of his masters in the U.S. and the Arab Gulf”.

Brahimi resigned soon after the collapse of his effort following brief meetings between the regime and the Syrian opposition in Geneva in early 2014. The two sides could not even agree an agenda.

The Information Minister said that Brahimi bears primary responsibility for the failure of his mission.

He then turned on Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, who recently met Brahimi. Prince Saud “speaks after the U.S. inspires or signals or even prods him”, adding “to the shameful and disgraceful things he already said in the past”, according to al-Zoubi.

After the current envoy de Mistura withdrew the long-standing UN proposal for a transitional governing body with President Assad giving up power, Damascus backed a proposal for a six-week “freeze” in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

However, the opposition has said the plan must apply to other areas of Syria, including those held by rebels. The regime has rejected any extension beyond Aleppo, divided since July 2012.

Regime Airstrike Kills Islamic State Commander, Fighters in Central Syria

The Islamic State said on Saturday that a Syrian airstrike killed one of its commanders in central Syria.

Pro-jihadist accounts announced the death of Deeb Hedijan al-Otaibi, also known as Abi Ammar al-Jazrawi. Claims are circulating that more than two dozen fighters also died in the attack near the town of Hamadi Omar, about 50 km (31 miles) southwest of the city of Hama.

Syrian State media said that al-Otaibi was a Syrian provincial governor in the Islamic State and that a convoy of dozens of military vehicles was destroyed.

Reports: Renewed Regime Airstrikes on Douma Near Damascus, Killing Several People

Reports indicate that the Syrian regime has resumed deadly bombing of rebel-held Douma, northeast of Damascus, killing several people.

An estimated 250 people were killed and hundreds wounded by the regime’s aerial assault in early February. The rebel faction Jaish al-Islam, based in Douma, retaliated with rockets against military positions in Damascus, and the airstrikes abated until today.

Claimed footage of victims has been posted.

Rebels Try to Take Strategic Hill North of Aleppo, Putting Pressure on Aleppo Central Prison and Handarat Town

Rebels say they have taken control of a strategic hill north of Aleppo, raising the prospect of an assault on regime forces both in the Aleppo Central Prison and in the town of Handarat.

The opposition forces captured al-Madafeh hill, defeating regime forces and local and foreign militias. They claim they destroyed a regime tank, killing its five-member crew.

Sources also indicate that the rebels took Handarat Hill as well; however, a later report says that Syrian forces reclaimed it after aerial attacks.

Islamic Front footage of its operations in the area:

The regime had tried for months to take the area around Handarat, cutting off opposition-held areas of Aleppo city. However, rebels have turned the tide, including the defeat of a regime offensive last month with heavy casualties suffered by Syrian troops and their allies.

The rebels also said the Free Syrian Army has bombarded pro-Assad militias and their fortifications in Bashkoy, the one village they were able to hold after the ill-fated February offensive.

The opposition claimed that it bombed the remaining structure of the Air Force Intelligence building in northwest Aleppo city. The complex was heavily damaged earlier this week by an underground bomb while killed dozens of regime troops.

The Free Syrian Army also said that it is fighting the Islamic State in the village of Zour Magar, near the jihadist-held city of Jarablus on the Turkish border.

Funerals for 7 Iranian Revolutionary Guards Killed in Syria

Asr Iran reports on funerals for 7 Revolutionary Guards troops killed in Syria.

The article follows the template of not revealing details of where the troops died, repeating the formula that they were killed “defending the Sayyeda Zeinab shrine” in southern Damascus.

Iranian fighters have been involved in Syrian regime operations south of Damascus and northwest of Aleppo in recent weeks.

European Union Sanctions Members and Organizations in Assad Regime

The European Union imposed sanctions on more officials and organizations in the Assad regime on Friday.

The identities of the seven people and six organisations added to the existing list of 211 individuals and 63 entities will be made public in a legal notice on Saturday.

Those on the blacklist have their assets in the European Union frozen and are barred from entry to any of the 28 nations in the EU.

The European Council said that the EU will “continue imposing and enforcing sanctions that target the regime and its supporters as long as repression continues” and that it continues to support efforts for a political settlement in which President Assad will relinquish power.

Former Head of Political Security Ghazaleh Leaves Hospital After Beating — Or Shooting — and Dismissal

Rustom Ghazaleh, until last month one of the Assad regime’s most powerful figures, has left hospital after he was beaten — or shot — following his dismissal as Head of Political Security.

Ghazaleh was admitted to the intensive care unit of a Damascus hospital in late February, less than 24 hours after he was fired.

Accounts differ on the exact cause of his injuries, although all converge that Ghazaleh was punished for offending other figures in the Assad regime.

“Political sources” told Lebanon’s Daily Star that Ghazaleh was beaten on the orders of Lieutenant General Rafik Shehadeh, the head of military intelligence. He was summoned to Shehadeh’s office, attacked by the general’s bodyguards, and dumped at the entrance of the hospital.

Ghazaleh’s offense was his refusal to hand over his villa in his native village of Qarfa in Daraa Province to military personnel from Iran and Hezbollah. The Iranians and Hezbollah allies have been helping direct a counter-offensive against rebels south of Damascus.

However, other sources have given EA a different account. They say Ghazaleh may have been shot in the shoulder as punishment alongside his dismissal. The “crime” was his declaration to Syrian fighters, whom he recruited to protect his village, that Qardaha — the ancestral hometown of President Assad — can be controlled by the rebels, but that Qarfa must never be lost.

Ghazaleh was the long-time head of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon before Damascus’s forces withdrew in 2005. He was also a key liaison with Iranian officials supporting the Assad regime.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Announces Formation of Interfaith Youth Groups in Syria

Iranian Revolutionary Guards Brigadier General Hossein Hamedani announced on Friday that the Guards have formed interfaith youth groups, “Keshab”, in Syria.

Hamedani said the groups would strengthen unity and spirituality among Alawites, Christians, and Sunnis, as well as promoting the Islamic Republic’s revolutionary values: “These measures have reached a point where fortunately today our young seminary students in Aleppo have become the centerpiece of cultural activities in Syria.”

(Cross-posted from Iran Daily)

Claimed Video: Army and Air Force Attack Islamic State in Suweida Province

The Syrian Army and Air Force attack Abu Harat village, near the Khalkhalah airbase, in Suweida Province in southern Syria. Pro-regime accounts claim the village was taken from the Islamic State.