LATEST: Activists — Regime Warplanes Kill At Least 13 in Jassem in Southern Syria

For the first time, the Assad regime has declared publicly that the Islamic State is “doomed”, signalling Damascus’s growing emphasis on fighting with the jihadists.

Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi told the People’s Assembly on Sunday:

The time of the rise of ISIS [Islamic State] and its sisters is approaching its end….ISIS and the other terrorist organizations operating in Syria are inevitably doomed thanks to the sacrifices of the Syrian army and armed forces, security forces and popular defense groups.

The Assad regime and the Islamic State had an effective non-aggression arrangement in early 2014, as the jihadists turned on Syria’s insurgents. However, in the spring, the Islamic State paralleled its offensive in neighboring Iraq with attacks on Syrian bases and resources such as oil and gas fields, advancing in the north and east of the country and threatening positions in the center.

In recent weeks, the Islamic State and regime forces have battled in Deir Ez Zor and Hasakeh Provinces in eastern Syria, with the jihadists laying siege to Deir Ez Zor military airport. State media have claimed over several days that the Syrian military has taken a series of villages in Hasakeh province from the jihadists.

Halqi’s speech on Sunday is a a shift from regime rhetoric which normally puts a priority on the defeat of foreign-supported “terrorists”, i.e., the insurgency.

The Prime Minister also said on Sunday that the bases for regime advance included pursuit of “national reconciliation” — local ceasefires brought about in part by siege and bombardment — securing of citizens’ needs, care for martyrs’ families, and reconstruction.

Halqi called on more than 4 million refugees to return to Syria, pledging “full support”. More than 6 million people are also displaced inside the country.

However, the more telling remarks might be the Prime Minister’s acknowledging of the growing economic problems of the regime.
He said that shortages in resources required “rationalizing” — reducing — subsidies and controlling spending.

Implicitly referring to the Islamic State’s control of most of Syria’s oil and gas fields, with a 95% drop in regime oil production since March 2011, Halqi noted fuel shortages caused by “terrorist attacks” and international sanctions.


Activists: Regime Warplanes Kill At Least 13 in Jassem in Southern Syria

Activists claims that at least 13 people, including women and children, have been killed in regime airstrikes on Jassem in Daraa Province in southern Syria:

The Syrian military has been using aerial attacks to try and check an insurgent advance across the province, having lost two bases and a series of villages in recent weeks.

Russia Tries to Save “Peace” Talks, Blasts Opposition Coalition

Trying to save its fading “peace” talks, Russia has blasted the opposition Syrian National Coalition for not attending last week’s discussions in Moscow with an Assad regime delegation.

Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said, “The Syrian National Coalition’s decision not to come to Moscow was based on some implausible excuses. One of them was that the government was not represented on a proper level.

Gatilov claimed that “many other” opposition representatives were involved and engaged in a “serious” round of negotiations.

After months of effort, Russia brought together an Assad delegation, led by Syrian’s UN Ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari, with 34 members of opposition groups on Wednesday and Thursday. However, many opposition groups and figures stayed away, citing the futility of the discussions, and the Assad regime downgraded its representatives. The talks ended with no more than a vague promise to re-convene later this month.

Photographs: After the Battle — The Destruction in Kobane

Days after Syrian Kurdish fighters — assisted by Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga and the Free Syrian Army — repelled the Islamic State’s four-month offensive against Kobane in northern Syria, foreign journalists are touring the devastation.

AFP was first into the city near the Turkish border, with the BBC and Wall Street Journal visiting this weekend:

KOBANE DESTRUCTION

KOBANE CEMETERY

Former Head of Supreme Military Council Proposes 60,000-Strong “National Army”

General Salim Idriss, the former head of the insurgency’s Supreme Military Council, proposed a 60,000-strong “national army” on Sunday:

Idriss, who was replaced as head of the SMC in March 2014 but who retains a prominent role in the insurgency, told the pro-opposition Siraj Press that the army would “restore unity” to Syria.

The head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, Khaled Khoja, said the army was a “viable and effective” solution to the conflict. It would bring “the re-institutionalization of Staff under the leadership of professionals and technical officers”.

Those Killed in Damascus Bus Bomb on Sunday — Lebanese Tourists or Hezbollah Fighters?

On Sunday, at least six people were killed in a bus bombing in Damascus — but were they “tourists” seeing religious sites or Hezbollah fighters?

Activists have been posting images, taking from Hezbollah-linked accounts, of the men who were slain. One of the victims, Sheikh Mahdi al-Miqdad, is allegedly a commander in the Lebanese organization.

Another 24 people were reportedly wounded.

Accounts linked to Jabhat al-Nusra claimed that the Islamist faction carried out the attack. While some initial reports said the bomb was attached to the front of the bus, it was detonated by a Saudi member of Jabhat al-Nusra.

Hezbollah quickly denounced “the terrorist blast that was executed by Takfiri criminals…[that] led to the killing and wounding of several pilgrims”.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil denounced the “cowardly” bombing, telephoning the families of the victims to offer his condolences.