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14-07-2014, 19:54
Battle over Syria's Aleppo nears

GAZIANTEP, Turkey — After more than three years of civil war in Syria, government troops are advancing to retake Aleppo, the country's largest city, and possibly deliver a crushing blow to the rebellion against the regime of President Bashar Assad.

Defeating the rebels would give Assad a major victory as he prepares to be sworn in for a third term next week.

"It will be a huge loss for the revolution if Aleppo falls, as it became the biggest stronghold for the rebels after the fall of Homs," said Baraa al-Jabli, 20, of Aleppo, who works with the opposition.

Assad's gain would also be a loss for President Obama, who has called for the Syrian president to step down, citing mass atrocities against his own people, so new elections can be held. Obama recently proposed $500 million to aid more moderate rebels in southern Syria, a move that follows complaints by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and other critics that the president has been too timid in supporting the rebellion.

This week, both sides began preparing for what could be a fierce battle in Aleppo, the last urban area that Syrian rebels partly hold. If the rebels are ousted, that could end the uprising that began in March 2011 against Assad's rule and quickly turned into a civil war that has killed more than 100,000 civilians.

The Islamic Front, a coalition of rebel groups, has called for reinforcements to defend the city, sections of which have been held by rebels since 2012.

Oubai Shahbandar, a spokesperson for the Syrian National Coalition, said Assad's forces are "almost entirely dependent upon Iranian military forces and Lebanese Hezbollah militias."

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, an opposition-affiliated organization, said military reinforcements are arriving from Iran's Republican Guard and from Lebanon's Hezbollah to cut the rebels' supply lines.

"Syria is really its four big cities. If (Assad) can retake Aleppo — the last big city contested by rebels, he will feel that he has destroyed the rebellion and retaken Syria," said Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

The rebels not only face Syrian forces, they're also fighting the al-Qaeda splinter group called the Islamic State, which recently pushed into the Syrian countryside surrounding Aleppo. Last month, the militant group claimed control of a large part of Iraq and parts of Syria to create an Islamic territory that straddles both countries.

"We have Assad in front of us and (Islamic State) behind us — what can we do?" said Abo Yussef of the Liwa al-Tahwid brigade of the Islamic Front in Aleppo.

Holding the line against the Islamic State farther north in the province is tying up troops and splitting the rebels' limited military presence, he said.

In Aleppo, rebels struggle with their limited weaponry, said Col. Abu Bilal, military commander for Liwa al-Tahwid.

"Everybody knows the rebels don't have high-quality weapons," he said. "We don't have enough ammunition. Aircraft and the airplane normally fly very high and bomb."

Rebel groups, however, are increasingly coordinated, he said. "We have a strategy to stop them surrounding Aleppo," he said. "I think it will be a long battle."

The $500 million in aid proposed by Obama last month to train and arm the Syrian opposition would go to approved rebel groups as part of a larger effort to protect U.S. allies in the region — Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon — from a growing threat of Islamic extremists fighting the Syrian regime.

Obama unveiled the plan amid a series of internal problems within the military arm of the Syrian National Coalition — a sign of the difficulties within the opposition and the constant frustrations facing Western nations that have attempted to aid the rebels. Obama has said Western support is complicated by concerns that moderate rebels get the help, not the extreme groups such as the Islamic State.

The rebel coalition renewed its calls for arms as a way to stop Assad and thwart the extremists.

"The Syrian opposition has made clear to the international community and its allies that an immediate infusion of military aid is necessary to stop (Islamic State) terrorists from spreading and to halt the Assad regime and Iranian-backed militias from creating a humanitarian disaster on an unprecedented scale," Shahbandar, the coalition spokesman, said.

The threat posed by the Islamic State remains clear in the minds of Syrians who lived under its brutal rule for the latter half of 2013 before pushing the militants toward the eastern part of Syria.

The Islamic State claims it's building an Islamic territory, "but it is hurting people," al-Jabli said. He said civilians have been executed for not observing Islamic religious customs.

For rebels, the battle is not just for control of the city, it's a fight for survival. Most of those in the rebel-held part of the city simply have nowhere else to go. After months of relentless bombing in Aleppo by government forces, a pre-election campaign by the Syrian government allowed those remaining the option to be "pardoned" and return to government-controlled areas.

For many, this isn't an option.

"The fighters' willingness to fight is at an all-time high," al-Jabli said.

Bron: usatoday.com

14-07-2014, 19:58


[video=youtube;SG4Aim5XAsM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG4Aim5XAsM[/video]

14-07-2014, 20:00
Bashar al-Assad is west's ally against Isis extremists, says Syria


Syria is determined to "eliminate" the Sunni extremist group Isis, according to a senior minister, who urged western countries to recognise "new realities" by joining the battle against terrorism and ending their support for rebels trying to overthrow president Bashar al-Assad.

"The only way to resolve the situation is to work with president Assad," Faisal Mekdad, Syria's vice foreign minister, told the Guardian. Mekdad said that "many countries" were now seeking security cooperation with Damascus, but "security matters could not be separated from the political cooperation".

He rejected suggestions that Assad is in league with Isis, which controls large parts of northern and eastern Syria as well as contiguous areas of Iraq. Assad's enemies accuse him of tolerating the group or tacitly cooperating with it to foment fighting between rival rebel units and present himself as a secular bulwark against al-Qaida and jihadi fanaticism.

"I know the rumours," Mekdad said. "But to those who claim that Syria is not doing its best to combat this group, I answer that if these extremists – Jabhat al-Nusra, the Free [Syrian] Army and Isis – are killing themselves and fighting for more influence and expansion, do you think we are sad? But the Syrian army has its priorities and we shall decide what to do next."

The Free Syrian Army, backed by the US, Britain, EU, Turkey and the Gulf states, insists that it is the only group capable of defeating Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra while bringing about democratic change in Syria. Isis – originally the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant – now calls itself the Islamic State. Latest estimates say 170,000 people have been killed since the anti-Assad uprising began in March 2011. Millions have been made homeless.

Mekdad, dismissing what he called cheap propaganda, used a wide-ranging interview to broadcast Syria's determination to defeat Isis with the help of Iraq and "all those who are willing to fight terrorism". As the government's most articulate spokesman, his arguments clearly echo Assad's views, which will be heard when he is inaugurated for a new presidential term this week.

European countries, including Britain, were changing their minds about Syria, Mekdad suggested. "Deep in their hearts they know that what they did is a grave crime against the people of Syria. Thinking that the regime would fall in few weeks [in 2011] has led to the flourishing of terrorism inside Syria and threatening the security of European countries themselves. They have started to understand that what is happening in Syria is not a revolution but a threat to Europe.

"Many countries are approaching us to establish cooperation on security matters. We told all of them that security matters could not be separated from political cooperation."

Mekdad was "not aware" that Britain had made any such approach. Among EU countries, Germany is thought most likely to go down the path of rapprochement, according to well placed Syrian sources. Thousands of Europeans, including an estimated 400 Britons, are thought to have fought in Syria. The attack in May on the Jewish museum in Brussels by a Frenchman who spent a year in Syria was widely seen as a wake-up call about the risks posed by returning jihadi fighters.

Assad's re-election last month – though the vote was held only in government-held areas – must change calculations, Mekdad argued. "The overall situation is improving. The government has more self-confidence. President Assad will be sworn in soon for a new term of office. The British, Americans, the French and Europeans in general have to change and accommodate themselves to the reality of developments in Syria. And they have to respect the will of the Syrian people. I hope that will happen, although I have my doubts."

Accusations of war crimes carried out by Syrian government forces were propaganda, he claimed. "This is politicisation and a continuation of the onslaught by European countries."

Mekdad attacked Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey for backing the rebels. But he suggested that Syria's position in the Arab world was improving with signs of growing support from Egypt, where President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi shares Assad's hostility to the Muslim Brotherhood. Neighbouring Jordan is now reportedly balking at US plans to expand training for Free Syrian Army fighters on its soil.

Syria still wanted a political solution to the conflict despite the failure of the Geneva II talks earlier this year, but only after defeating terrorism, Mekdad said.

Stefan de Mistura, the Swedish-Italian diplomat appointed to replace Lakhdar Brahimi as UN envoy, must remain neutral, he warned – and recognise the "new realities" after Assad's election.

Mekdad also dismissed suggestions that an agreement on Iran's nuclear programme would mean reduced support from Tehran. Backing from Iran, the Lebanese Shia organisation Hezbollah – and Russia – has been crucial to Assad for the past three years. "We are not afraid of any Iranian-American-European rapprochement," Mekdad said. "We have every confidence in the Iranian leadership and the strategic nature of relations between Syria and the Islamic Republic."

Bron: theguardian.com

14-07-2014, 20:05
UN Security Council authorizes Syria aid convoys

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The UN Security Council adopted a resolution Monday authorizing humanitarian convoys to assist more than one million Syrian civilians in rebel-held areas, without the consent of Damascus.

The council unanimously approved the measure, including permanent members Russia and China, who have vetoed four Western-backed draft resolutions on Syria since the start of the conflict in 2011.

The shipments will travel through four different border crossings -- two in Turkey (Bab a-Salam and Bab al-Hawa), one in Iraq (Al-Yarubiyah) and another in Jordan (Al-Ramtha). All three neighboring countries are also hosting large numbers of refugees from the four-year conflict.

The resolution will allow immediate aid deliveries to 1.3 million civilians in rebel-held areas, British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told the Council.

"It marks a major step forward in the international community's effort to respond to the suffering in Syria," he said.

More than 10.8 million Syrians are in need of aid, according to UN officials, who have accused Damascus of impeding deliveries of life-saving supplies.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the resolution would put an end to President Bashar al-Assad's "stranglehold" on aid routes.

"Many vulnerable communities remain completely besieged because of the regime's starve or surrender tactics. So this process of cross-border aid delivery must start without delay," said Hague.

The draft resolution had been the focus of tough negotiations for five weeks, with Moscow insisting that the Syrian regime be given some rights to monitor the convoy movements.

The authorization is valid for 180 days and must be renewed by the council.

Bron: news.yahoo.com

14-07-2014, 20:10


Hezbollah fighters killed in clash on Syria-Lebanon border


(Reuters) - Seven fighters from the Lebanese group Hezbollah were killed in fighting with Sunni Islamist insurgents in a mountainous area on the Syria-Lebanon border in which at least 16 rebels were also killed, a monitoring group reported on Monday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-affiliated watchdog, said a further 31 fighters from Hezbollah had been wounded in the fighting in the border area between Ras al-Maara in Syria and Arsal in northeast Lebanon.

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shi'ite Islamist group whose fighters have been aiding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war.

A Lebanese security official and a source close to Hezbollah said at least two Hezbollah fighters and 27 rebels had been killed in the fighting that erupted on Sunday.

Syrian government forces backed by Hezbollah fighters have driven rebels from major towns along the border with Lebanon in the last year. That has helped to shore up Assad's control in a corridor of territory stretching north from Damascus and driven remaining rebels into the mountains at the border.

The Observatory said Hezbollah had captured 14 Islamist fighters from groups including the Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's official affiliate in the Syrian war.

Syrian government forces and Hezbollah "control the area, but they don't control every cave and mountain. There are many areas to hide in the mountains", said Rami Abdurrahman, the Britain-based head of the Observatory.

Bron: uk.reuters.com

14-07-2014, 20:20
ISIS steps up assault on Kurds in Syria’s north

BEIRUT: Militants from the Al-Qaeda splinter group ISIS using weapons recently seized in Iraq have intensified an offensive against Kurdish areas in northern Syria as they fight to expand the territory under their control, activists said.

The clashes come after ISIS, which has changed its name to the Islamic State, declared a caliphate across areas they control in Syria and Iraq. Most of the land was seized in June during a push across Iraq. They captured large amounts of weapons left behind by Iraqi troops including U.S.-made armored personnel carriers, Humvees and artillery.

Kurdish official Nawaf Khalil said members of ISIS are trying to capture an area near the Turkish border that would link them with their positions in eastern Syria. The fighting is concentrated in the region of Ain al-Arab, or Kobani in Kurdish.

Mustafa Osso, a Turkey-based Kurdish activist, said the aim of the offensive is to take the entire Kobani area. Osso says those standing against ISIS are mostly members of the YPG or People’s Protection Units, the armed wing of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).

“We have called for support from Kurds around the world,” said Khalil, an official with the party.

ISIS captured three villages near Ain al-Arab and pressed forward toward the border town Wednesday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an anti-regime group, said 18 Kurdish fighters were killed Wednesday alone.

The clashes continued Thursday while elsewhere in Aleppo province, ISIS militants clashed with fighters from several Islamist militias and an allied Kurdish rebel group near the border town of Rai.

In neighboring Idlib province, Islamist rebel militias have been busy on two fronts – battling against regime troops, and against ISIS. The Observatory said 16 rebel fighters were killed in clashes with regime troops Wednesday near the Hamidieh and Wadi Deif military bases.

Separately, the head of the Suqour al-Sham militia, a member of the Islamic Front rebel alliance, issued a strong warning to the commanders of two smaller rebel groups in Idlib, whose members this week defected to ISIS, taking with them more than 100 vehicles.

Abu Issa al-Sheikh, the commander of Suqour al-Sham, instructed the two smaller groups to dissolve themselves and turn over their weapons to his militia or become the target of attacks.

The Daoud Brigade and the Sham Army militias were involved earlier this week in a murky incident in which rebels in a convoy of some 160 vehicles claimed they were headed to Aleppo to reinforce their rebel comrades – before heading instead to the city of Raqqa, the ISIS stronghold on the Euphrates River.


Bron: dailystar.com.lb

14-07-2014, 20:25
Syria war toll tops 170,000, one-third civilians

BEIRUT: The death toll in Syria's three-year war has eclipsed 170,000 people, one-third of them civilians, an activist group said in a new toll released Thursday.

"Ever since the first casualty of the Syrian revolution was registered on March 18, 2011 in Daraa province, the deaths of 171,509 people have been documented," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Among the dead were 56,495 civilians, including 9,092 children, according to the toll, which included casualties documented up to July 8 this year.

Another 65,803 were regime troops and pro-regime militiamen, while 46,301 were rebels seeking President Bashar Assad's ouster and members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) jihadist group.

The rebel toll includes 15,422 non-Syrians who traveled to the war-torn country to join the ranks of jihadists or local Islamist opposition groups.

Among the ranks of loyalists killed were 39,036 regular troops, as well as 24,655 members of pro-regime militias, 509 fighters from Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah, and 1,603 other non-Syrians fighting on Assad's side in the war.

Meanwhile, the deaths of 2,910 unidentified victims were also documented, according to the Observatory.

The Britain-based group, which relies on a broad network of activists, doctors and lawyers inside Syria to document casualties, said the actual number of killed among fighters on both sides was likely to be much higher.

It said documenting all the deaths was difficult "because both sides in the war try to conceal their actual losses."

Another 20,000 people detained by the regime were completely unaccounted for, said the Observatory, as were some 7,000 regime troops held by rebel fighters.

More than 2,000 other people are currently in the captivity of Islamic rebels and ISIS, accused of "collaborating" with the Assad regime.

Another 1,500 ISIS, rebel and Kurdish fighters have been kidnapped in recent months during battles among each other.

The Syrian conflict has forced nearly half the country's population to flee their homes.

Bron: dailystar.com.lb

14-07-2014, 20:40
Haleb weer in handen van de Syriërs & Assad ipv. de terroristen die worden gesteund door un, us, Israël & co.