PHOTO: A regime airstrike on the rebel-held town of Zabadani, July 2015


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A 48-hour ceasefire covering both the rebel-held town of Zabadani in Damascus Province and two regime enclaves in northwest Syria has broken down, with problems over the evacuation of wounded from the areas.

The ceasefire was supposed to begin Thursday morning, but was still to be confirmed on Friday. Pro-Assad outlets claimed that rebels had added the demand for the release of a number of detainees from regime prisons.

Reports initially said the ceasefire was re-confirmed later on Friday, but social media accounts — including the pro-opposition Local Coordination Committees — noted this morning that fighting continues in Zabadani and rebel shelling on the enclaves of al-Fu’ah and Kafraya in Idlib Province.

Rebels later confirmed their attacks through a series of attacks. They said Hezbollah initially broke the ceasefire with another assault inside Zabadani.

A Hezbollah-regime force has tried for almost two months to capture Zabadani, 31 km (19 miles) northwest of Damascus, but has been defied by hundreds of rebels in the mountainside resort.

Meanwhile, the rebel coalition Jaish al-Fateh has threatened to seize al-Fu’ah and Kafraya, north of Idlib city. The fortified enclaves and the regime militias in them have been surrounded for months, as rebels captured almost all of Idlib Province.

Negotiations have been pursued for weeks, reportedly with Iranian and Turkish mediators, for a resolution to both situations. The rebels and regime accepted a 72-hour ceasefire two weeks ago; however, the faction Ahrar al-Sham, representing the rebels, suspended talks as they claimed that the Iranians were demanding that all civilians as well as fighters leave Zabadani.

Claimed video of Hezbollah fighters in conversation with rebels across the road:


Kafranbel Protests: Killing Syrians at Home and Abroad

The protesters in Kafranbel in northwest Syria note both the killing of Syrians by regime forces and their deaths when try to flee the country:

KAFRANBEL 29-08-15


Reports: Turkey and US Attack Islamic State Inside Syria — More Operations to Follow?

Reports are circulating that the Turkish military has intervened as the Islamic State closes on the town of Mare’ in northern Aleppo Province.

Turkish artillery have fired on the militants and joint US-Turkish airstrikes are reported:

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said in its statement, “The struggle with the terror groups is Turkey’s priority in terms of national security. This struggle will continue with determination.”

The Pentagon said on Thursday that a detailed US-Turkey agreement, bringing the Turks into the US-led aerial coalition against the Islamic State, had been completed. A Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman said, “It is obvious for all to expect joint airstrikes to begin in the near future,” Bilgiç had said.

The Islamic State has advanced towards the frontline town of Mare’ this week, taking several nearby village from Syrian rebels.

Turkey carried out artillery and air operations in late July against the Islamic State, soon after it announced a “safe zone” for northern Syria, but has been accused of focusing its attacks on the Turkish Kurdish insurgency PKK.

Observers are speculating that the overnight attacks may be the start of the Turkish-US campaign to clear the Islamic State from a 98-km (61-mile) strip along the Turkish border, running from Mare’ to Jarablus.


State Media: Homs Bomb Kills 4, Injures 19

Four people were killed and 19 injured in a car bombing in Homs on Saturday, according to State news agency SANA.

The site said the blast was in the al-Zahraa neighborhood in front of a pharmacy near a roundabout.


Reports: Regime Counter-Attack in al-Ghab Plain in Hama Province

Reports on Friday indicated that regime forces have launched a counter-attack into the northern al-Ghab Plain in Hama Province, days after losing the area for the second time this month.

Unconfirmed claims said the Syrian military had taken Khirbet al-Naqous and was moving on Tal Wasit and Mansoura.

Rebels had swept through the northern plain within 48 hours earlier this week.

See Syria Daily, August 27: Rebels Reclaim Key Area in Hama Province

Control of the plain opens up the possibilities of an advance on either the Assad regime’s heartland of Latakia Province to the west or Hama city to the south. However, the area is surrounded by mountains — held by the regime to the west and rebels to the east — which have prevented either side from taking long-term control since rebels advanced this spring.


US-Russian Consultations in Moscow

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and the US special envoy for Syria, Michael Ratney, met in Moscow on Friday.

“The sides exchanged opinions on a wide range of issues connected with efforts to facilitate the soonest political and diplomatic settlement of the Syrian crisis and tasks of effectively fighting against the terrorist threat,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

No details were released, but Ratney is going to Saudi Arabia for talks on Saturday. He will then see the UN envoy Staffan de Mistura in Geneva.

Ratney was appointed as the Obama Administration’s envoy in July.

A Russian-Iranian initiative for high-level political talks, discussed with US Secretary of State John Kerry, broke down in mid-August when Saudi Arabia insisted on President Assad’s departure at the outset of negotiations for a transitional government.