PHOTO: Rebels in Mare’ in Aleppo Province on Friday

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Rebels have held off an Islamic State attack on the town of Mare’, on the frontline of the 20-month battle in northern Aleppo Province in northern Syria.

The Islamic State moved on Mare’, 25 km (16 miles) north of Aleppo city and close to the Turkish border (see map), from three directions including the nearby village of Sandaf. The assault was preceded by heavy shelling, while rebels said they destroyed a vehicle bomb before it struck the town.

Fighting reportedly continues this morning:

The US-led coalition reportedly carried out airstrikes in the area. Earlier in the day, the Free Syrian Army’s Division 30 — which has the first rebel troops trained and equipped by the Americans — said that some of its personnel could now go into Mare’ as spotters for the coalition aircraft.

However, unconfirmed claims said the troops withdrew after the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra, which has attacked Division 30 and the US-trained soldiers, abducted five soldiers from an allied brigade.

Fighting between the Islamic State and rebels broke out in January 2014, when the militants split from forces challenging the Assad regime. The frontline has remained near Mare’ since then, but in recent weeks the Islamic State has stepped up pressure on the town, capturing nearby villages and forcing rebels to bring in reinforcements.

In the past two weeks, the Islamic State has carried out a series of bombings as well as two attacks with mustard gas that have injured scores of fighters and civilians.

Russia’s Putin: Assad Agrees to Early Parliamentary Elections

Trying to renew a Russian initiative for high-level political talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that President Bashar al-Assad has agreed to early parliamentary elections and to establish contacts with the “healthy opposition”.

A Russian-Iranian political effort collapsed last month when Saudi Arabia insisted that Assad must depart before negotiations for a transitional government can develop. In the past week, Moscow has redoubled its commitment to the President’s stay in power, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denouncing those who call him “illegitimate”.

Trying to build a coalition that will work with the Assad regime, Putin said that Russia will consider participation in an international coalition to combat the Islamic State, and that he has discussed the issue with US President Barack Obama, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

“There is a general understanding that joint efforts in the fight against terrorism should go hand by hand with the political process in Syria,” Putin said, claming that Assad “agrees to this”.

Syria’s last Parliamentary elections were in May 2012. Assad was “re-elected”, in a vote with nominal opposition, in June 2014.

Commenting on media rumors of Russian aerial and ground forces in Syria, Putin said that “it is too early” to talk about Russian action although “we are considering various options”.

The President restated that Russia is helping the Assad regime with weapons and “military support”.

Deputy FM: Our Military Has Never Attacked Syrian Cities and Villages

Deputy Foreign Minister Feisal al-Mikdad has told the BBC’s Jeremy Bowen that none of the civilian deaths and destruction has been caused by the Assad regime’s military:

Mikdad also blamed the millions of Syrian refugees — highlighted this week by the growing numbers among refugees in Hungary and the photograph of a toddler on a Turkish beach after he, his brother, and his mother drowned — on “terrorists”.

White House: We Are Monitoring Reports of Russian Military Operations in Syria

The White House said on Thursday that it is watching reports of increased Russian military activity in Syria.

Spokesman Josh Earnest said:

We are aware of reports that Russia may have deployed military personnel and aircraft to Syria, and we are monitoring those reports quite closely.

Any military support to the Assad regime for any purpose, whether it’s in the form of military personnel, aircraft supplies, weapons or funding, is both destabilizing and counterproductive.

Evidence in the last month has indicated an escalation in Russian military equipment, notably advanced infantry fighting vehicles,
and the possibility that Moscow will expand a naval base or build a new facility in Latakia Province on the Mediterranean coast.

Unconfirmed claims, headlined in mainstream media in the past week, have said that the Russian air force is operating in Syria and that Russian troops are now fighting alongside those of the Assad regime.

High-level Russian officials, as well as Syrian military sources, have denied the claims.

See Syria Analysis: Rumors of Russia’s Military Involvement Miss A Bigger Political Story

A US official confirmed that “Russia has asked for clearances for military flights to Syria”:

We don’t know what their goals are. Evidence has been inconclusive so far as to what this activity is.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said, “It’s up to the Russians to explain exactly what they are doing.”