PHOTO: Aftermath of a Russian airstrike on Ariha in Idlib Province on Wednesday
LATEST
- Kerry: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Withdraw “Significant Number” of Troops
- World Health Organization Employs Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister’s Wife
- Islamic State-Regime Fighting Continues for Key Town of Khanaser, East of Aleppo
UPDATE 1830 GMT: A “Syrian military source” has said that there will be no ceasefire in Darayya, a town southwest of Damascus which has been under heavy Russian and regime bombardment and ground attacks for months.
Dozens of airstrikes were reported on Darayya on Thursday, as a rebel spokesman predicted any agreenebt would soon collapse.
“They [the regime and its allies] want to exploit the ceasefire and focus their fire on Darayya to take it. This will be the first breach. We won’t accept it,” said Abu Ghiath al-Shami of the Alwiyat Seif al-Sham group.
The Syrian military source used the pretext of the jihadists of Jabhat al-Nusra, who are not covered by the US-Russian plan for cessation, to justify ongoing bombing:
There is evidence that the ones there are Nusra Front. They found documents, books, flags that point to the Nusra Front being in Daraya. In any place where there is Nusra Front, we will continue operations.
Fighting is also reported in northern Latakia Province in western Syria, which pro-regime forces are hoping to control completely.
“The regime wants to try to retake all of northern Latakia before Feb. 26,” said Fadi Ahmad, spokesman for the Free Syrian Army’s First Coastal Division. “The battles are very fierce….Three minutes ago I saw a Russian plane in the sky hitting us here in rural Latakia.”
Syria’s opposition-rebel bloc has accepted a US-Russian proposal for a two-week “cessation of hostilities”, saying that they will test the commitment of the Assad regime and Russia to a halt to bombardment and fighting from Saturday.
The opposition-rebel High Negotiations Committee had hesitated on Wednesday to agree, believing that Russia might use the pretext of attacks on “other terrorist groups” to continue its intensive bombing of opposition-held areas.
The US-Russian plan was put forth on Monday, calling for an end to all military operations except those against the Islamic State and the jihadists of Jabhat al-Nusra. Russian President Vladimir Putin expanded the clause to include assaults on “terrorist groups” as defined by the UN Security Council.
Russia has repeatedly said that it considers the leading rebel factions Ahrar al-Sham and Jaish al-Islam to be “terrorist”.
The opposition-rebel bloc also expressed concern that the provision of attacks on Jabhat al-Nusra would effectively be a mandate to continue bombing, as the jihadists are positioned in opposition-held areas, especially in northwest Syria.
On Tuesday, after Russian pressure, the Assad regime said it would observe the cessation. President Assad repeated the statement in a phone call to Russian counterpart Putin on Wednesday. The Kremlin repeated that the two men agreed on an “uncompromised fight” against the Islamic State, Jabhat al-Nusra, and other groups “which are included in the respective list of the United Nations Security Council”.
Kerry: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Withdraw “Significant Number” of Troops
US Secretary of State John Kerry has declared that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps have withdrawn a “significant number” of troops from the Syrian battlefield.
Kerry told a Congressional committee, “The IRGC has actually pulled its troops back from Syria. Ayatollah Khamenei [the Supreme Leader] pulled a significant number of troops out. Their presence is actually reduced in Syria,”
He continued, “That doesn’t mean that they’re still not engaged and active in the flow of weapons from Syria through Damascus to Lebanon. We’re concerned about that and there’s an ongoing concern.”
Kerry did not give a source for his claims, instead inviting the lawmakers “to get the intel briefing.”
Iranian media have acknowledged the deaths of almost 200 commanders and troops, as well as an unspecified number of Iranian-commanded foreign militia, since an escalation in operations last October.
See Iran Daily, Feb 12: Islamic Revolution’s Anniversary Overshadowed by Syria
World Health Organization Employs Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister’s Wife
The UN’s World Health Organization has employed the Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister’s wife, Shukria al-Miqdad, as a consultant over the mental health of displaced Syrians.
The WHO chief in Damascus, Elizabeth Hoff, defended the choice, saying that her team includes people from all political factions: “I didn’t recruit them based on their names or their connections. I also have people in my office who are strongly with the opposition.”
Hoff said Miqdad plays no “prominent” role in the office.
The revelation follows a series of criticisms of the UN for working too closely with the Assad regime over issues from the conflict, such as aid to besieged areas and care for the displaced.
Last month, UN staff in Damascus were challenged for removing all references to “siege” and “besieged” in a document about blockades including those imposed by the Syrian military, following discussions with regime officials. Syrian activists wrote an open letter accusing the UN of “complicity” in the regime’s continuing “surrender or starve” strategy.
The UN has acknowledged that only 13 of 103 requests for access were granted by Assad’s officials in 2015.
On Wednesday, the UN emergency relief coordinator for Syria, Stephen O’Brien, told the Security Council that the Health Ministry had prohibited aid convoys from reaching around 30,000 people in recent weeks. He said convoys this year have reached less than a quarter of 487,000 besieged Syrians.
Activists say the number of besieged civilians is far higher, given figures of at least a million.
Islamic State-Regime Fighting Continues for Key Town of Khanaser, East of Aleppo
The battle between the Islamic State and regime forces continues for the key town of Khanaser, southeast of Aleppo.
Islamic State fighters reportedly overran Khanaser on Monday. The town lies on the regime’s main supply route into the divided city of Aleppo.
The Amaq news agency, linked to ISIS, claimed on Wednesday that 220 pro-regime troops were killed, posting photographs to support the assertion. It was unclear how many of the soldiers were Syrian Army and how many were foreign militiamen.
A pro-regime website asserted yesterday that the Syrian Army’s “Tiger Forces” had counter-attacked and taken hills near Khanaser.
An opposition activist reported this morning that regime forces have retaken the town, although ISIS still controls 8 km (5 miles) of road to the north.
