Islamic State suddenly attacks rebels to expand area of control in southwest Syria near Israeli-occupied demilitarized zone


LATEST


Islamic State factions attacked rebels in southwest Syria on Monday, seizing three villages and a town.

Taking advantage of rebel attention to an assault on regime forces inside Daraa city, the factions of the Khalid Ibn al-Walid Army attacked at dawn to seize the town of Tseel and the villages of Tseel, Sahem al Golan, Adwan and Tel Jamoua, expanding their area of control along the Yarmouk Barrier near Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

“In a surprise attack, Islamic State made an attack on positions held by the Free Syrian Army groups, which no one expected to happen so fast,” said rebel Colonel Ismail Ayoub.

By dawn on Monday, the ISIS units had advanced 8 km (5 miles) east of its base. The force claimed it killed “20 apostates” and captured weapons and ammunition following a “swift collapse of the defensive lines” of the rebels.

A counteroffensive by the Southern Front bloc later regained two villages, Jileen and Heet, a rebel official said.

SOUTHWEST SYRIA MAP 20-02-17 2

Map: Tariq Adely/Syria Direct

The Khalid Ibn Al Walid Army was set up last year from a merger of two ISIS-linked group that were fighting rebels southeast of the Golan Heights.

A rebel official said Free Syrian rebel groups are expected to get fresh supplies of arms from the foreign-run Military Operations Center in Jordan in the next few weeks to bolsters defenses against the Islamic State.

The MOC has restricted supplies to rebels in southern Syria since summer 2015, limiting any attacks against regime forces. Despite the restriction, rebels suddenly attacked inside Daraa city last week, their first offensive in the south since late 2015.

But the assault left areas to the west vulnerable to the sudden ISIS attack. “Many personnel had been sent to the Daraa battles,” Abu Muhammad, an activist in the immediate vicinity of the fighting, said. “The factions left the smallest number of fighters possible at their positions.”

The Local Coordination Committees said it documented the deaths of 42 people in Daraa Province on Monday, including those executed by Islamic State and killed in the fighting in Daraa city.


Reports: Regime Chlorine Attacks on Residential Areas Near Damascus

Rebels and pro-opposition activists say pro-Assad forces have again shelled residential areas near Damascus with chlorine gas.

The sources said at least eight missiles filled ‎with chlorine were fired on the village of Housh al-‎Dawahreh near the town of Douma, according to media ‎office of Jaysh al-Islam. ‎

Regime forces and allied militia have been trying for months to overrun East Ghouta, taking part of the area and putting pressure on Douma, the center of the rebel faction Jaish al-Islam.


Russia’s Reassurance to Israel or Power Play v. Iran?

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, on a visit to Israel, has said he expects Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to leave Syria after the war.

Oleg Syromolotov told The Jerusalem Post, “I understand the fears of Israel relating to Hezbollah and the Revolutionary Guards in Syria, and you of course fear that they will stay in Syria after the war…[but they] will leave”.

With Moscow establishing the political and legal basis for its permanent military presence in Syria, Syromolotov’s statement can also be seen as a maneuver for post-war primacy of Russia in the country, pushing back Tehran, the other essential ally of the Assad regime.


Reports: Men Detained in Aleppo for Forced Military Service

Opposition activists, citing “private sources from Aleppo”, say men aged between 18 and 40 are being detained in Syria’s largest city, with the aim of forced military service.

The pro-opposition site Eldorar says security forces targeted departments at the University of Aleppo, cafes, and restaurants this week, as well as seizing men at checkpoints.

The sources claimed that the forced conscription fulfils a Russian plan aims to fill the depleted Syrian army with local men, rather than relying on Shia militias led by Iran.

A local EA source adds bluntly, “This is not just in Aleppo.”


Regime Snipers Block 1st Aid Convoy in 5 Months to Besieged al-Wa’er in Homs

Regime snipers have blocked an aid convoy hoping to make the first delivery in five months to besieged al-Wa’er in Homs city.

A UN representative said Sunday’s convoy was “aborted…due to the security situation”.

Al-Wa’er, where more than 50,000 residents remain, is the last opposition-held in Syria’s third-largest city. It has been surrounded since 2013 by regime forces. The last aid delivery was on September 16.

A local correspondent said at least two regime snipers fired on humanitarian workers after they entered al-Wa’er, injuring a civilian.

“The delegation stayed in Waer for 10 minutes, and then they turned around,” Jalal Talawi, a correspondent with SMART News, said.

Local sources and pro-opposition activists said regime forces stole aid from the convoy after it was blocked.

The attack on the convoy comes amidst two weeks of regime bombardment of Waer. Regime forces are hammering the district with airstrikes, mortars, surface-to-surface rockets and heavy gunfire.

Recent regime bombing and shelling have broken a truce which had provided relative calm since December. In the past two weeks, there have been “23 deaths and more than 150 injuries among civilians” from regime attacks, local correspondent Talawi said.

“The regime doesn’t want rebels or civilians to be able to eat,” resident Hassan al-Asmar told Syria Direct on Monday. “They want us to die of hunger.”

Last Thursday the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Syria, Jan Egeland, condemned the obstruction of aid delivery to blockaded areas across Syria, saying this was “a question of life and death”.


Russia Acknowledges 4 “Military Advisors” Killed in Bombing

Russia’s Defense Ministry has confirmed the deaths of four “military advisors” in a bombing in central Syria.

The Ministry said two others were seriously wounded last Thursday when a convoy of pro-Assad forces was moving from the Tiyas oilfield towards the city of Homs. An improvised explosive device exploded under one of the vehicles.

Regime forces and their allies have been battled the Islamic State in the area. In December, ISIS suddenly took the historic city of Palmyra and threatened to capture more oil and gas fields, including Tiyas, which is near one of the major regime airbases.