PHOTO: Map of military situation near Kuweires Airbase, east of Aleppo city, on Monday


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UPDATE 1615 GMT: State news agency SANA claims that the Syrian army, having “eliminated large numbers of ISIS terrorists”, has made “contact with the forces defending Kweires Airport”.

A pro-regime site claims a brigade of the elite Cheetah Forces, the National Defense Forces militia, and the Kataebat Al-Ba’ath volunteer militia broke through Islamic State lines to meet more than 300 trapped soldiers.

A “military source” said the Syrian forces lost 57 soldiers, with more than 200 wounded, in the operation to lift the siege.


ORIGINAL ENTRY: The Syrian military is close to lifting a three-year siege on Kuweires Airbase, east of Aleppo city in northwest Syria.

After an eight-week offensive, regime forces are less than 2 km (1.2 miles) from the base, moving into the town of Sheikh Ahmad on Monday.

Kuweires has been surrounded since late 2012 and by the Islamic State since early 2014. It has remained operational although it has little value in the Assad regime’s fight against Syrian rebels and ISIS. The Islamic State has made occasional attempts to move into the base, but has been checked by fortifications and Syrian air force attacks.

The Syrian Army, joined by Iranian and Hezbollah forces, renewed its efforts to lift the siege on September 14. The campaign was reinforced by the start of Russian airstrikes from September 30 and complemented by other offensives in northwest Syria a week later. However, the assault was met by ISIS resistance and a counter-attack that briefly cut the main route into Aleppo city.


Oman: Assad Regime Rejected A Meeting With Opposition

Oman’s Foreign Minister Yousuf Bin Alawi has said that the Assad regime rejected his country’s attempt to broker a meeting with the Syrian opposition.

Bin Alawi also said Oman tried to arrange the discussion under the umbrella of the Arab League, but Damascus refused.

The Foreign Minister spoke of Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moallem’s trip to Oman in August, saying Moallem made the journey “because he was advised by somebody after the success of the Iranian issue”, Tehran’s nuclear deal with the 5+1 Powers in July.

“Mua’alem asked for Oman’s help, but we told him that there should be a decision by the Arab States on this matter,” Bin Alawi said.

The minister said the head of the externally-based opposition Syrian National Coalition, Khalid Khoja, also came to Oman after he was advised by Qatar to do so.

“We welcomed him and we felt that he was looking for a solution to the Syrian crisis,” Bin Alawi added.


1st Elections for New Opposition Council in Daraa Province

The government in opposition-controlled areas of Daraa Province in southern Syria has held its first round of elections.

The vote for the new provincial council chose six members to represent the al-Qalaa district, in eastern Daraa from the Jordanian border to the edge of Suwayda Province. The government hopes to hold elections in all six of Daraa’s districts to form the council.

The elections were run under a system that grants one representative to every 10,000 citizens. The 24 local representatives elected from al-Qalaa appointed six of them to represent the district at the provincial level.


Russia: Support for Assad Conditional on Syrian Military Success

A statement by the Kremlin’s administration chief Sergey Ivanov could point to a step back by Moscow from its military support of the Assad regime — or at least making continued backing conditional on established success by the Syrian army.

Ivanov said on Tuesday:

As for the operation in Syria, I think it will be continued for certain time. As it was said at the beginning, its duration will depend on the Syrian army’s achievements on the ground.

So far the Syrian army is on an offensive. Let us wait and see the results.

See also Syria Analysis: Is Russia Preparing to Dump Assad?

Ivanov also indicated that Russia’s military leverage is primarily leverage to get the “right” political outcome in Syria: “Any military operation is to end in political settlement.”

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a trip to Kuwait on Tuesday, “It is necessary to stop the military hostilities, end the bloodshed and start a political process as soon as possible between Syrian government representatives and all opposition groups.”

Moscow said after the international conference in Vienna on October 30 that it was going to convene a meeting of regime representatives and selected opposition figures, The gathering has not taken place, but on Monday Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov received a delegation from the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change.


Rebels Advance Farther in Northern Hama Counter-Offensive

Rebels advanced farther in their counter-offensive in northern Hama Province on Monday.

Opposition forces took the regime’s al-Abboud checkpoint, south of the key town of Morek — captured last week by rebels — on the Hama-to-Aleppo highway. They also attacked the village of al-Mughayr (see map), closing on the mainly-Christian town of al-Sqaylabiyah.

If rebels take al-Sqaylabiyah, they will have a route into the regime-held Tartous Province on the Mediterranean.

The rebel counter-offensive has already regained all territory lost to the Syrian military’s offensive from October 7 and is pushing both toward the regime strongholds to the west and towards Hama city to the south.

See Syria Daily, Nov 6: Rebels Advance Across Hama Province

The pro-regime Al-Masdar News says the elite Tiger Forces are being moved to northern Hama Province in an effort to check the rebel advances. The Forces, commanded by Colonel Suhail “The Tiger” Hassan, have been part of the offensive to lift the Islamic State’s siege of Kweires Airbase in eastern Aleppo Province.