PHOTO: Regime troops in woods close to Sheikh Miskeen, south of Damascus

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Regime forces are close to the capture of the key town of Sheikh Miskeen, south of Syria’s capital Damascus.

After weeks of attacks supported by Russian and regime bombing, Syrian troops have reduced rebel resistance to a few buildings in the town, located in Daraa Province on the highway from Damascus to the Jordanian border.

State news agency SANA said the army was “inflicting heavy losses upon terrorists in ranks and equipment”, establishing control over roads between Sheikh Maskin and towns such as Ibta’a and Nawa. The site claimed that a large field hospital was seized.

Rebel video showing regime troops close to the center of Sheikh Miskeen:

Footage on Russian State outlet RT:

Rebels had taken Sheikh Miskeen in early 2015, as they advanced across southern Syria and took 70% of Daraa Province in an offensive which threatened the future of the Assad regime. However, Russia’s aerial intervention from September 30 and support from Hezbollah forces on the ground shored up the Syrian military.

Rebels were further hindered by divisions between factions. Local sources also noted the effect of a cut-off of weapons and supplies by the foreign-run operations center in Jordan. They said that US officials imposed the restrictions, initially from fear of the collapse of the Assad regime and later as Washington joined Russia in an attempt for opposition-regime talks.

The Southern Front said in a statement later Tuesday that the operation was a “demonstration of how much [the Assad regime] relies on Russia as its air force and foreign militia as its ground troops” to regain territory. It claimed that Russia carried out about 800 airstrikes with up to 50 each day, supplemented by 100 barrel bombs dropped by the Syrian air force, and that 2/3rds of the ground forces were non-Syrian including Hezbollah, Iranian troops, and Afghan and Palestinian militias.

The Front said the regime and its allies suffered more than 200 casualties.

Britain’s Foreign Office representative for Syria, Gareth Bayley, said the episode showed the “hypocrisy of Russian targeting“, attacking the opposition rather than Moscow’s supposed foe of the Islamic State and killing civilians:

Despite having themselves defined the Southern Front and Free Syrian Army as opposition groups — not extremists — Russia and the Assad regime bombarded the town, causing massive destruction.

This blatant targeting of opposition groups is deeply concerning, particularly as it comes just days before UN-led negotiations for a political settlement leading to transition in Syria.

Opposition-Rebel Bloc Suspends Involvement in Negotiations Because Conditions Not Met

The opposition-rebel bloc has suspended involvement in negotiations, including talks planned for Friday in Geneva with the Assad regime, because of the failure to address issues such as ceasefires, release of detainees from regime prisons, and humanitarian aid for besieged areas, according to the opposition Step news agency.

US Secretary of State John Kerry had indicated last weekend that the conditions should not be met before the discussions, but should be addressed during the talks. UN envoy Staffan de Mistura had also given no sign that the issues should be addressed in advance of negotiations.

Instead, de Mistura sent invitations on Tuesday to some of the delegates on Russia’s alternative list of 15 names (see below).

UN Envoy Invites Delegates on Russian List to Talks; No Word About Opposition-Rebel Bloc

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has invited delegates from a Russian list to the “peace talks”, scheduled to begin on Friday in Geneva.

Randa Kassis, President of the domestic group Movement of the Pluralistic Society, said she had received her invitation. She added that de Mistura’s office also contacted. Saleh Muslim, head of the Kurdish Democratic Party (PYD); Ilham Ahmed, a leading member of the Kurdish Democratic Society Movement; Haitham Manna, head of the recently-created Syrian Democratic Council; and Qadri Jamil, a former Cabinet member.

Manna confirmed his invitations.

There is no word yet of invitations to the 33-member opposition-rebel negotiating team appointed last month at a conference in Saudi Arabia. The group was meeting today to decide its response to the Friday meeting, given the failure to address its preconditions for negotiations.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu had warned that if the Kurdish PYD was invited to the Geneva talks, Ankara would boycott the meetings.

Çavuşoğlu said:

There are efforts to water down Syrian opposition. PYD is a terror organization, just like Daesh [the Islamic State] and [Jabhat al-] Nusra.

There cannot be PYD elements in the negotiating team. There cannot be terrorist organizations. Turkey has a clear stance.

Islamic State Double Bombing Kills At Least 22 in Homs

A double bombing by the Islamic State in Homs city has killed 22 people and wounded more than 100, according to Syrian State TV.

Syrian officials said a car bomb at a security checkpoint was followed by a suicide bombing detonating his explosive belt.

The Islamic State claimed that its attack killed 30 people.

Russian FM Lavrov Denies Moscow Asked Assad to Step Down

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has denied reports that Moscow asked President Assad to step down.

Last week London’s Financial Times claimed that the head of the military intelligence service GRU, General Igor Sergun, carried the message from President Putin in a December mission to Damascus.

Lavrov said at a press conference on Tuesday:

I read the speculation that was spread regarding the late Igor Sergun, which alleged he made a special trip to Damascus and there asked President Assad to go. This is not true. Such a conversation with President Assad was not necessary.

The Foreign Minister said that any pursuit of a “joint war on terror” in Syria demanding that Assad steps down is a “big mistake”.

Activists: Russian Airstrike Kills 16 Members of Family in Raqqa

Activists report that a Russian airstrikes killed 16 members of a family last weekend in the Islamic State-controlled city of Raqqa.

The activists said the airstrikes destroyed a multi-story residence on January 22, with the oldest son the only survivor.

Six of the dead were children.

The activists noted, “These were innocent civilians: doctors, lawyers, [and] engineers. They were honorable, proud, and decent people.”

Russian airstrikes killed hundreds of civilians over the weekend in northern Syria, particularly in in Raqqa and in Deir ez-Zor Province, where the Syrian military is facing attacks by the Islamic State.

See Syria Feature: 142 Killed on Friday Amid Russian and US Airstrikes

Ahrar al-Sham Denounces “International Pressure” on Opposition-Rebel Bloc

The leading faction Ahrar al-Sham has issued a statement denouncing “international pressure” on the opposition-rebel bloc, amid reports of a US “ultimatum” to enter talks with the Assad regime or face a loss of support.

Arhar al-Sham rejected “dictations” and warned of “diluting the process of negotiations in the name of rapprochement talks and meetings”. It said that, just as Russia was trying to establish the rule of President Assad, friends of Syria should back the “cause of the Syrian people”.

Over the weekend, opposition and rebel leaders accused US Secretary of State John Kerry of carrying “Russian and Iranian messages” to a discussion in Riyadh with the head of the opposition-rebel bloc, former Prime Minister Riad Hijad. They said that Kerry retreated from the requirement that President Assad step aside, proposing a “national unity government” rather than a transitional governing authority, and that the Secretary of State rebuffed preconditions for talks such as ceasefires and access to humanitarian aid for besieged areas.

See Syria Daily, Jan 25: Did Kerry Give Ultimatum to Opposition Over Talks With Regime?

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted that Kurdish representatives must be at the opposition-regime talks: “The Syrian Kurds are around 15 percent of the population and a significant, key territory.”

Moscow has refused to accept the 33-member opposition-rebel negotiating team. Russia has promoted an alternative list of 15 names, including Syrian politicians close to Russia and Kurdish political leaders.

More Deaths in Starving Madaya Amid Snow and Siege

Sophie McNeill of Australia’s ABC News reports on the latest deaths from starvation in Madaya, the town northwest of Damascus besieged by the Syrian military since July:

More than 60 people have reportedly died of malnutrition since Madaya was cut off last July. The Assad regime finally allowed three aid convoys into the town two weeks ago after international attention to the crisis. However, a mother in the town says she has only enough food for 10 days for her family, including an infant.

See Syria Feature: The “Ask Me Anything” Discussion With a Mother in Starving Madaya

When the first aid convoy reached Madaya on January 11, the UN said about 400 people would be evacuated for urgent medical treatment. However, the organization backed away, and only four residents — one of whom subsequently died — were taken to Damascus.

CNN has posted videos of interviews in Madaya. Citing aid workers, it support McNeill’s report of “up to 10” deaths since January 11, including the woman and man who perished on Monday.

The US channel notes images of a man and his granddaughter, both suffering from malnutrition. A doctor beside them reiterates:

More than 400 people in Madaya are on the verge of death. We need an immediate exit. We need a humanitarian corridor so that we can leave immediately.

Another doctor says:

Scores of people have arrived at the clinic unconscious; we have around 500 sick people in the town that require hospital treatment. Most importantly, we also have women on the verge of giving birth and that may need caesareans. But we don’t have the medical capabilities for this.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed the latest news, saying that the situation in Madaya had been turned into a “fetish” so “if humanitarian aid is allowed into Madaya, then the [opposition-regime] talks will get off to a good start”.

If not, then the opposition might not come and so on.

We told our UN colleagues including representatives from the Human Rights Council, who made the relevant reports, where Madaya was practically the only point of concern, we told them that everything should be done honestly and that they should act as UN officials and not as the perpetrators of someone’s order, the more to speculate about people’s suffering.

Citizen Journalist: I Was Tortured by Rebels in Damascus Suburb

Citizen journalist Mahmoud a-Shami has told Syria Direct that he was detained for a month and tortured by a rebel brigade in a southern Damascus suburb.

Shami said he was arrested in December by fighters of the Ababil Houran Brigade near one of their command posts in Beit Sahm. He was initially accused of “espionage and treason” by working for the regime, based on his video for Al Jazeera several months earlier on the Free Syrian Army’s defense against regime militias. Later he was charged with “pledging allegiance to the Islamic State.”

The journalist said he was kept in a dark cellar. Masked men attached him to a “mashbaha”, lifting him until his feet dangled in the air and beating him. He was eventually photographed making a written “confession” of his support for ISIS.

Shami said he was released in a prisoner exchange for civilians from Islamic State-controlled territory.

Islamic State Renews Attacks on Regime in Deir ez-Zor City

The Islamic State has renewed its attacks on regime forces inside the divided city of Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria.

Pro-regime outlets acknowledge ISIS attacks, including two suicide bombings, in northwest Deir ez-Zor along the Euphrates River. Fighters was reported near Al Jazeera University, the Al Firat Hotel, and Al-Rawad Hill.

The Islamic State have controlled much of the city since an offensive in July 2014 defeated rebel factions and the jihadists of Jabhat al-Nusra. Since then, the militants have surrounded Deir ez-Zor and launched periodic assaults on regime forces, notably at the airport to the east of the city.

On January 16, ISIS advanced into the Ayyash district, seizing a large weapons depot, and attacked the al-Baghayliyah section. Regime outlets say Syrian forces continue to resist in al-Baghayliyah.