PHOTO: Kurdish and Free Syrian Army fighters congratulate each other after capturing Tel Abyad on Monday

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Kurdish forces, supported by Free Syrian Army units, have completed the takeover of Tel Abyad in northern Syria, as well the nearby crossing on the Turkish border.

“[Tel Abyad] is now under complete control,” Redur Xelil, a spokesperson for the Kurdish militia YPG said on Monday. While small groups of Islamic State fighters were reportedly putting up resistance, most of the militants had left as the Kurdish-FSA force closed on the town. Photos showed some led away by Turkish soldiers as they left Syria.

The moment the Kurdish-FSA force took over the Tel Abyad border crossing from the Islamic State:

A rapid advance of 90 km (56 miles) from both the west and east has linked the Kurdish cantons of Kobane and Cezire. It is the latest significant reversal for the Islamic State: after their failure to take the Kurdish center of Kobane city early this year, they have been pushed out of a series of villages from Raqqa Province — their base of power in Syria — to west of the Euphrates River in Hasakah Province.

Some mainstream media are already sharply revising their narrative from the rise to the fall of the Islamic State. For example, The Washington Post on June 1 proclaimed, “The Islamic State is regaining momentum despite more than eight months of U.S. led-airstrikes.” On Monday, it pronounced that defeat in Tel Abyad raised “new questions about the group’s vaunted military capabilities”.

The New York Times, apparently overlooking the series of defeats in Hasakah and Raqqa Provinces, declared that the Kurdish-FSA advance was “surprisingly swift, especially since recent victories by the jihadists in Iraq and Syria had suggested that months of [US-led] airstrikes had done little to blunt the Islamic State’s military prowess”.

More than 23,000 people are estimated to have fled Tel Abyad for the Turkish border. After a block by the Turkish authorities on Saturday — leading to pictures of the displaced being pushed back by water cannon and mothers trying to hand their children to soldiers for safe entry — the suspension was lifted by Sunday; however, the Islamic State reportedly prevented crossings as they looked for “wanted” people to detain.


Kurdish Commander Reportedly Apologizes for “Violations” of Forces Against Arabs Near and In Tel Abyad

[Qasioun News has now apologized to Nisreen Abdullah and the Kurdish leadership for a “false” story — see Syria Daily, June 17: Website Apologizes for “False” Story That Kurdish Leader Criticized Militia for Expelling Arabs]

Nisreen Abdullah, a commander of the Kurdish women’s militia YPJ, has reportedly said that the Kurdish militia YPG committed “violations” against Arabs as they advanced on the Islamic State in Tel Abyad.

According to Qasioun News, Abdullah apologized to the Arab residents of two villages and said they can safely return to their homes. She said that the fighters who expelled the residents will be punished.

Allegations have circulated that Kurdish fighters have displaced Arabs as they moved this spring against the Islamic State in Raqqa and Hasakah Provinces.


Rebels: “No Need” to Move into Regime’s Idlib Enclaves — “Battle is Pretty Much Decided”

As the Jaish al-Fateh coalition tries to clear out the last regime positions in southern Idlib Province, an Ahrar a-Sham fighter explains the strategy over the regime’s enclaves of Kefraya and al-Fu’ah, north of Idlib city:

I think that at the moment they don’t intend to attack the two villages. There are other strategically significant battles going on, and I think that Kefraya and Fu’ah might be, in the future, a card in the rebels’ hands — to exchange prisoners, or break the siege in return for the siege on Ghouta [near Damascus], for example.

The two villages have been surrounded by rebels for many months, and the isolation was compounded this spring by the rebel takeover of Idlib city and nearby military camps.

The fighter says:

Both villages are suffering from a loss of equipment and men, and are considered finished because of the intense siege imposed on them. They resemble military barracks, nearly empty of women and children. There are only men and weapons….

The only way for them to receive supplies is from the air.


Families of Islamic State Hostages Protest in Northern Lebanon

Families nine Lebanese servicemen, held hostage by the Islamic State since summer 2014, blocked both sides of a north Lebanon highway on Tuesday.

“We are standing here today to ask whether the servicemen are still there or if they were executed like some rumors said,” the brother of Army Sergeant Major Ibrahim Mgheit said. “Were they moved to Syria or are they still on the outskirts” of the Lebanese border town from where they were abducted?”

Mgheit added, No one is reassuring us. No one is saying anything that could ease our minds.”

At least nine soldiers and policemen — some who reportedly defected to fight with Syrian rebels — have been held by Islamic State, following deadly clashes with the Lebanese Army in the border town of Arsal last August. The militants executed two other soldiers.

Jabhat al-Nusra, which also fought in Arsal last year, holds another 16 servicemen. However, the families of those soldiers have been visiting them on the outskirts of the town.


Reports: 2nd-in-Command to Prominent Assad Commander Soheil “The Tiger” Hassan Is Killed

The second-in-command to Colonel Sohail “The Tiger” Hassan, has been killed.

Some reports said that Mohammed Kalthoum was shot in the head by a sniper in Idlib Province, while others said that he was wounded about 10 days ago during Islamic State attacks on oil and gas fields in eastern Homs Province, fell into a coma, and died in a Homs hospital.

Hassan’s elite forces were sent to Idlib Province this spring to try and check a rebel offensive. While they have made isolated gains, they have been unable to stem the opposition advance and are in danger of being expelled from the province.

Kalthoum (right) with Hassan:

HASSAN KULTHUM

One of a series of images from Kalthoum’s funeral:

KALTHUM FUNERAL


Clashes in Qamishli in Northeast Over Regime’s Forced Conscription of Kurdish Men

Reports on social media point to Kurdish clashes with Syrian forces on Tuesday in Qamishli in northeast Syria.

The fighting in the mainly-Kurdish city was reportedly sparked by Assad units trying to conscript Kurdish youth for military service. The Kurdish security force, Asayish tried to stop the Syrian troops, leading to fighting that included gunfire.

An official statement from Asayish said that Syrian authorities released the men and “stability” returned to Qamishli.


New Rebel Operations Room Points to Offensive in West Ghouta, Near Damascus

A new rebel operations room indicates that an offensive will soon be pursued in West Ghouta, near Damascus.

Rebel units in the Mount Hermon area, near the demilitarized zone with Israel, have united in Jaish al-Hermon. The area of operations moves from Quneitra Province in southwest Syria towards the West Ghouta territory, southwest of the capital.

Despite protracted regime sieges and bombing, in some cases since 2012, some Damascus suburbs have remained under rebel control.

A spokesman said that the new operations room will not include the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra:

Part of the force at the entrance to Jaba, with an advance reported nearby Khan Arnabah (see map):


Oxfam CEO: I Met With Assad Regime to Discuss Water-Treatment Projects

Oxfam International CEO Mark Goldring has now given a statement about his Sunday meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Feisal al-Mikdad.

The meeting was headlined on Monday morning by Syrian State media as “joint cooperation” between the regime and Oxfam, one of the largest aid agencies in the world.

See Syria Feature: Assad Regime Proclaims “Joint Cooperation” with Oxfam Over Aid

The statement said the meeting was in connection with projects such as “a state-of-the-art treatment plant” in Salamiyah in Hama Province “to remove naturally-present hydrogen sulphide and saline salts in the town’s groundwater supply”, providing drinking water for 35,000 people from a dormant well.

Goldring said, “Meetings with government ministers were constructive and highlighted the need to scale up the response.”

The CEO did not refer to wider issues, such as claims by the UN and other agencies that the Assad regime blocks aid deliveries to rebel-held areas — amid Syrian military sieges of up to three years — and seizes the assistance, holding it on military bases.

Goldring did say, “I also made clear Oxfam continues to have grave concerns about the impact of the conduct of the conflict on ordinary Syrians, and the need for greater humanitarian access to the people affected.”

The statement said, “Oxfam is facing a number of challenges with its work in 10 of the 14 governorates of Syria. The ability to assess needs and monitor program work is hampered by safety issues and bureaucratic hurdles.”

Goldring added:

All the humanitarian aid in the world won’t end the crisis in Syria. There needs to be an end to indiscriminate attacks, sieges and concrete movement towards a resolution of the crisis. Only then can the refugees and displaced people I met be able to go home and rebuild their lives.


Southern Front Rebels Give Another Assurance to Druze Over Security

Amid a rebel advance in southern Syria and questions over the safety of the Druze community, the Southern Front rebel coalition has offered another reassurance about security.

A Southern Front spokesman said that the rebels will protect the Druze from the Islamic State, asserting that the Assad regime will not. He also said the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra will not be involved in battles near Druze areas.

The position of the Druze — a religious community based mainly in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel — has taken on importance as rebels moved to the borders of Suweida Province, the main Druze area in the south. Earlier this month, the Southern Front took the Brigade 52 army base and advanced on al-Thala airbase, just inside Suweida.

The situation was further complicated last week when a Jabhat al-Nusra unit killed 23 Druze members in fighting in Idlib Province in northwest Syria. In the aftermath of the attack, the Southern Front halted the assault on the al-Thala airbase, saying it was negotiating with Druze leaders. Leading rebel factions also condemned the Idlib deaths and promised the Druze that they would be protected in Suweida.

See Syria Daily, June 13: Rebels Pause Attacks on al-Thala Airbase in South


Rebels Claim Advance in Northwest of Aleppo City; State Media Say 23 Killed by Rockets

Rebels claimed an advance on Monday in northwest Aleppo city, while State media said 23 people were killed and more than 100 wounded by rockets.

The rebel coalition said it had taken buildings at the al-Layramoun roundabout, while attacking on other fronts so the regime could not reinforce defenses in the area.

Rebels have periodically attacked in Layramoun, including the destruction of an Air Force intelligence building in April, but this is the strongest assault since early May.

The advance came as State news agency SANA said that 23 people were killed and more than 100 injured by rockets fired by rebels. SANA said that most of the casualties were children.

It was not clear from either rebel or SANA reports whether the rocket attacks were linked to the rebel offensive and assaults on the Syrian military. However, the pro-regime Al-Masdar News makes the connection, while acknowledging rebel success:

Following their barrage of mortars and rockets, the [rebels] stormed the northern neighborhoods of the al-Ashrafiyeh and al-Rashideen Districts, where they encountered fierce resistance from the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the National Defense Forces (NDF) before they quickly advanced past their frontline defenses.

The pro-opposition Local Coordination Committees report “26 martyrs…in ‪‎Aleppo,‬ the majority of them due [to] missiles [and] shelling on ‪‎Faisal_Street‬ and the surroundings of ‪Rahman_Mosque‬, ‪‎Sabeel_Residences‬, ‪Siryan‬, ‪‎Nile_Street‬, ‪‎Masharqa,‬ and ‪Azizyeh‬”.

The casualties were among 65 across Syria on Monday, according to the LCC.

The pro-opposition Syrian Network for Human Rights put the death toll at 31, including 12 children and three women.