LATEST: UN Finally Passes Aid Resolution

SATURDAY FEATURE

Syria: A Brief Guide To Chechen & North Caucasian Factions UPDATED

Syria’s protesters turned the regime’s “terrorism” narrative back on Bashar al-Assad on Friday, linking Damascus to the danger of “extremists”.

The Assad regime has claimed that the priority in Syria is to vanquish insurgent “terrorists”, insisting at last week’s Geneva II peace conference that the issue must be discussed rather than that of a transitional governing authority.

However, demonstrators in Kafranbel, the town in northwest Syria which has become iconic for its protests and posters, used their Friday march to say that the violence and repression of the regime were to blame:

Protests across the country also questioned whether recent truces near Damascus between Syrian forces and insurgents were to be welcomed, although the Kafranbel march expressed sympathy for those who had bowed to regime conditions: “He who is forced is neither a coward nor humiliated.”

Meanwhile, the Local Coordination Committees said 96 people were killed on Friday, including 21 children and 10 women.

Of the deaths, 40 were in Aleppo Province, 23 in Damascus and its suburbs, 16 in Hama Province, and 10 in Idlib Province.

UN Finally Passes Aid Resolution

The United Nations Security Council has adopted a unanimous but non-binding resolution calling on Damascus to allow aid to several besieged Syrian cities.

Russia had blocked three previous resolutions and had objected to a Western-Arab draft circulated earlier this month.

However, Moscow’s alternative text and the Western-Arab draft were merged earlier this week, and neither Russia nor China exercised vetoes in Saturday’s vote.

Limited amounts of aid were sent into the Old City of Homs last week after United Nations mediator Lakhdar Brahimi pressed for the initiative during the Geneva II conference with Assad and opposition delegations.

The reaction of the US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, to the passage of the resolution:

Kurdish Militia Push Islamic State of Iraq Out of Tal Brak

Activists report that the Kurdish militia YPG have taken Tal Brak in Hasakeh Province in eastern Syria, pushing out the Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham.

The YPG claimed it had the bodies of 16 “armed mercenaries” and had taken 42 prisoners. The militia said three of its fighters were killed.

Tal Brak lies on the highway between Hasakeh and Qamishli, two of the main cities in northeast Syria.

General Idriss Declares “Hidden Dispute” Behind Attempted Dismissal By Supreme Military Council

The official Twitter account of General Idriss, the head of the Free Syrian Army, has denounced this week’s attempt by the Supreme Military Council to dismiss him with this cryptic message:

Insurgents “Close to Liberation” of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib Province

Reuters’ report of the insurgent advance on the regime positions around Khan Sheikhoun, the last major regime stronghold in southern Idlib Province, first covered by EA yesterday:

Sources say insurgents are making progress with the removal of about 30 regime posts but warn that the humanitarian situation is deteriorating in the town, in which there are no Syrian forces. They say that almost all civilians have fled to other towns and villages, with thousands living in streets and the countryside.

The Khan Sheikhoun outposts are vital for the regime for supply to bases further north in Idlib Province. The Syrian military is retaliating by hitting the town with airstrikes, including barrel bombs.