PHOTO: Soldiers embrace after lifting of Islamic State’s siege of Kweires airbase

LATEST

WEDNESDAY FEATURES

Syria Audio Analysis: Russia’s Latest Proposal Is A Non-Starter
Propaganda and Shady Characters — How Russia Created Its “Meetings with the Free Syrian Army”

The Assad regime is celebrating its first significant victory of 2015, after the Syrian military lifted the Islamic State’s protracted siege of the Kweires airbase in eastern Aleppo Province.

The advancing units, including the elite Cheetah Force, reached about 300 Syrian troops inside the base on Tuesday afternoon. Kweires had been surrounded since late 2012, initially by Syrian rebels and then by the Islamic State since early 2014.

The offensive then captured at least two nearby villages as ISIS retreated to a town further to the east.

State media proclaims that President Assad congratulated the commander of the Tiger Forces, Colonel Suhail al-Hassan, on the victory, “You have fought, withstood and you were a good example for heroism, courage and a brilliant image in the history of the Army’s heroism.”

Commanders, including Hassan, visit soldiers in the base:

Claimed footage of the advance near Kweires:

The Syrian army and militia launched their offensive on September 14 and were later assisted by Russian airstrikes. A “military source” said the Syrian forces lost 57 soldiers, with more than 200 wounded, in the operation.

President Assad’s forces have suffered a series of defeats through 2015, including the loss of almost all of Idlib Province to rebels in northwest Syria. The opposition has also taken parts of southern Syria and the Islamic State had triumphed in the northeast and center — including the historic city of Palmyra — leaving the regime is in control of only about 20% of the country.

Covered by the Russian airstrikes and supported by forces from Hezbollah, Iran, and Iraqi, Afghan, and Pakistani militias, the Syrian military began a six-front offensive — five of them against rebels and the other against the Islamic State — on October 7.

The offensive has made notable gains only on one front, against rebels south of Aleppo city. The Assad regime is now hoping that this advance can reach the M5 highway from Aleppo to Damascus and move back into Idlib Province.

Meanwhile, the pro-regime site Al-Masdar News notes the cost of the victory over the Islamic State. To reach Kweires and to push back an ISIS counter-attack that cut the main road into Aleppo city, the Syrian military had to divert forces from other fronts. As a result, rebels successfully advanced in a counter-offensive in northern Hama Province, taking territory such as the key town of Morek further south on the M5 highway.

The site declares that elite forces, including those of Colonel Hassan, may now be redeployed in northern Hama.

Claim: Draft Russian Document Calls for 18-Month “Reforms”, Then Elections — No Mention of Assad Departure

A draft Russian document is proposing an 18-month constitutional reform process, followed by Presidential elections, according to Reuters.

The eight-point proposal, which would likely be presented to a second set of international talks in Vienna on Saturday, does not rule out President Assad’s participation in the elections: “[The] popularly elected president of Syria will have the functions of commander-in-chief of the armed forces, control of special services, and foreign policy.”

The reform process would not be chaired by Assad, but by a candidate agreed by all sides.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denied the report, “This information does not correspond to reality.”

An unnamed Western diplomat said others were working to ensure the draft would not be the basis of Saturday’s talks: “The document does not suit a lot of people.”

Monzer Akbik, a member of the Syrian National Coalition, confirmed the opposition’s rejection of the initiative, “The Syrian people have never accepted the dictatorship of Assad and they will not accept that it is reintroduced or reformulated in another way.”

He added, “The Russians are now trying to play the game they have been playing since Geneva,” referring to UN-led talks that collapsed in 2014.

Latest Russia Propaganda: 1 Million+ Syrians Return Home After Our Bombing

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov said on Wednesday, “Since the beginning of Russian operations, according to UN structures, more than one million people have returned to their homes in Syria.”

Meshkov gave no support for his claim. In fact, the UN has reported that more Syrians have fled their homes because of Russian bombing and the Syrian military’s offensives that Moscow is supporting. On October 26, the number was put at more than 120,000 since the start of the month, including at least 80,000 from Idlib and Hama Province and at least 44,000 from southern Aleppo Province.

The UN later revised the southern Aleppo figure to more than 75,000.

Report: 4,000 Rebel Reinforcements to Southern Aleppo Front

The pro-opposition Qasioun News says the Jaish al-Fateh rebel coalition is sending about 4,000 reinforcements to the front south of Aleppo, where the Syrian military — covered by Russian airstrikes and alongside Iranian fighters and commanders, Hezbollah, and Iraqi militia — has advanced towards the Aleppo-to-Damascus highway.

Reports: 2,000-Kg Russian Missile Hits Displaced Persons’ Camp in Latakia Province

Witnesses report that a 2,000-Kg (4,400-lb) Russian missile struck a displaced persons’ camp in Latakia Province, near the border with Turkey.

The missile may have spread cluster bombs across the Aubain camp, one of the largest in northwest Syria with more than 1,700 civilians.

“I saw at least four cluster bombs explode inside the camp….We later found the missile body, some seven meters long — why is the blood of Syrians so cheap, that we’re bombed with these kinds of weapons?” a resident asked.

A video indicated that the missile is an OTR-21 Tochka, which can deliver a high-explosive warhead of up to 482 kg (1063 lbs) on targets up to 70 km (43 miles) away.

State Media: 24 Killed by Rockets in Latakia

State news agency SANA says 24 people were killed and 50 others injured by rocket attacks on Latakia in western Syria on Tuesday.

A police official said two shells hit residential areas.

SANA also reports that one person died and five others were injured by mortars fired on an area of Damascus.

UN Envoy: Subgroups for Political Resolution Begin Work on Wednesday

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has said that three subgroups will begin work in Vienna on Wednesday, gathering information to support the pursuit of a political resolution.

De Mistura said one subgroup will assemble a list of groups involved in terrorism, one will research the elements of the Syrian opposition, and one will consider humanitarian issues. The envoy said the US and Russia will chair the discussions.

Russia and Iran, who support the Assad regime, differ with other countries over which factions should be considered “terrorist”. Moscow’s presentation of the Syrian conflict applies the label to most elements in the Syrian rebellion.

After briefing the UN Security Council on Tuesday, De Mistura urged countries to build on an initial conference on October 30, even though the gathering showed little tangible advance: “The momentum in Vienna needs to not be missed….[We] must bring some deliverables to the Syrian people. One of them should be reduction of violence.”

About 16 countries, the European Union, and UN are scheduled to convene again in Vienna on Saturday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov tried to apply some pressure on Tuesday, pushing against any insistence on the departure of President Assad:

If instead of specific work on these two issues [the lists of terrorists and opposition groups], someone forwards again abstract ideas like “let’s change the regime and all will settle down by itself”, then of course there will be no success at this meeting.

Russia and Iran conferred on their strategy yesterday, with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian meeting Russian counterpart Mikhail Bogdanov in Moscow.