LATEST: US Airstrike Hits Insurgents in Idlib Province in Northwest Syria

WEDNESDAY FEATURE

Analysis: Has the US Stopped Its Covert Arming of Insurgents? — The PR Behind the Headline

After months of gains in Quneitra Province in southwest Syria, insurgents have announced a new offensive aimed at one of the area’s largest towns.

The opposition said it would on Khan Arnabeh, close to the Golan Heights and the demilitarized zone with Israel.

Khan Arnabeh, northeast of Quneitra city, had a population of 7,375 in 2004 and is the administrative center of an area of 19 towns and villages with almost 43,000 people in the last census.

Since the spring, insurgents have taken most of Quneitra Province and Daraa Province in southern Syria, including significant victories this month. H

The regime remains in control of Quneitra city, but was attacked at the start of the offensive on Tuesday by Free Syrian Army units with mortar shells and heavy machine guns.

Campaign videos from the insurgents, including armored vehicles, posted by the channel of the Horan Brigade:


US Airstrike Hits Insurgents in Idlib Province in Northwest Syria

The US military has again hit Syrian insurgents with an airstrike, bombing the town of Harem in Idlib.

Several insurgent factions are present in Harem. Contrary to an Associated Press report, the town is not “controlled” by the Islamist Jabhat al-Nusra, which been attacked by US bombs and missiles on three other occasions since September 22, although the group’s fighters are among those present.

The Local Coordination Committees confirmed the attack. There was no immediate word on casualties.

The US military has previously said that it is targeting the “Khorasan Group”, which it claims is planning terrorist attacks in America and Europe.

UN Committee Condemns Assad Regime Over “Grave Deterioration of Human Rights”

The UN General Assembly’s committee for human rights passed a resolution on Tuesday condemning “the grave deterioration of the human rights situation” in Syria.

The resolution was adopted by 125 to 13, with 47 abstentions. It condemned the use of chemical weapons and torture in detention centers, and demanded an end to attacks on civilians including barrel-bombing.

Syria’s Ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari Syria’s Ambassador Bashar Jaafari said the resolution was biased and politically-motivated and suggested that the committee investigate Saudi Arabia or Qatar over rights abuses.

“They align themselves against Syria as long as Saudi oil runs through their veins,” he alleged.

Video: Islamic Front Prepares Roads for Winter in Aleppo Province

The Islamic front prepares roads for the coming winter in Aleppo Province, seeking to ensure routes for supplies to civilians and movements of insurgents:

Activists: Regime Bombing Kills 34 and Injures 85 in and near Aleppo

Activists of the Local Coordination Committees report that 20 people were killed and 65 injured on Monday night by two barrel bombs on the Islamic State-controlled town of Al-Bab, northeast of Aleppo.

One bomb struck the entrance to the city and a second hit a restaurant, also causing explosions from fuel sold nearby by vendors, in the city centre.

On Tuesday, barrel bombs on the Qabr al-Inglizi area of Aleppo killed at least 14 people and wounded 20, activists said.

Fuel Crisis as Winter Approaches? A Clue from State Media

A brief article from Syrian State news agency SANA, on a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, gives a clue to regime worries over fuel as winter approaches:

Chairing the session, Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi reviewed the government’s efforts in various fields, asserting that there will be an improvement in the availability of cooking gas and heating fuel very soon.

Facing the loss of most of its oilfields to the Islamic State, and pressure on its major gas field in central Syria, the Government sharply raised the prices of diesel fuel and heating oil by up to 33% last month.

See Syria Daily, Oct 31: Economic Difficulties in Damascus — “Unimaginable Prices for the Winter”

The Cabinet also approved a bill allocating 50% of job vacancies in State establishments to the families of military martyrs, of injured personnel who suffer from full disability, and of “those who are of equivalent status”.