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Syrian Civil War (Graphic Photos/Vid Not Allowed)

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http://aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/regime-raid-kills-7-in-syrian-capital/754840

Seven people were killed in a regime airstrike in Syrian capital of Damascus late Monday, according to an opposition activist.

Regime warplanes struck the Damascus suburb of Barza in violation of a ceasefire deal between the Assad regime and opposition forces, Owaid Awad told Anadolu Agency.

He said two children and two women were among those killed in the raid, which also left a number of people injured.

The violence came despite a ceasefire deal brokered by Turkey and Russia that went into effect throughout war-torn Syria in late December.

On Saturday, at least 17 people were killed and scores injured in regime shelling of eastern Damascus on Saturday.

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http://aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/44-daesh-terrorists-killed-in-northern-syria/754862

At least 44 Daesh terrorists were killed in northern Syria in the last 24 hours by Turkish forces and the U.S.-led coalition, according to a Turkish General Staff statement on Tuesday.

The military also said 109 Daesh targets, including shelters, had been hit by Turkish land and air forces as part of Operation Euphrates Shield.

It also said one Turkish soldier was martyred and two others injured when clearing mines and IEDs. The army conveyed its condolences to the family of the martyred soldier and wished a speedy recovery to those wounded.

The Turkish-led Operation Euphrates Shield began in late August to improve security, support coalition forces and eliminate the terror threat along the Turkish border using Free Syrian Army fighters backed by Turkish artillery and jets.
 
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Ethnic cleansing of Serghaya by Khamenai and Hezbollah thugs. No country hates Muslims more than todays Iran.
 
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14:42
SHOIGU: MILITANTS TAKE HOLD OF APPROX. 2,500 MANPADS, ABOUT 650 ROCKET LAUNCHERS, OVER 24,000 MINES AND MORE THAN 600 TONNES OF EXPLOSIVES IN PERIOD OF CONFLICTS IN SYRIA, IRAQ, YEMEN AND LIBYA
 
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Actually your wahabis did NOT Iran.
"Wahabis" (thats how Khamenai thugs call Syrian majority) don't have air force and virtually no artillery. Thus virtually all destruction and murder in Syria is done by Assad aka Khamenai thugs.
 
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http://www.arabnews.com/node/1058041/middle-east

BEIRUT: The US-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance has crossed into Deir Ez Zor province for the first time as part of an offensive against Daesh, a Kurdish military source said on Tuesday.

The advance into the province, which is almost entirely under the control of the ultra hard-line group, is part of an operation to encircle and ultimately capture its de facto Syrian capital of Raqqa in the north of the country.
One aim of the campaign is to cut Daesh’s supply lines from Raqqa to Deir Ez Zor province.

“Military operations of the SDF are now taking place within the provincial boundaries of Deir Ez Zor, from the north — so, via southern Hasaka (province),” the Kurdish military official told Reuters.


The SDF, which includes the Kurdish YPG militia and Arab fighting groups, captured some 15 villages from Daesh militants in their incursion into the province, the source added. The source did not specify when this had taken place.
Daesh controls all of Deir Ez Zor province apart from a Syrian regime-held enclave in Deir Ez Zor city and a nearby military air base.

A number of different groups in Syria’s multi-sided conflict are fighting separate battles against Daesh, which has made an enemy of all sides.
 
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http://www.irinnews.org/analysis/2017/02/21/everything-you-need-know-about-latest-syria-peace-talks

Everything you need to know about the latest Syria peace talks
Geneva IV: Who is coming? What do they want? And will it matter?
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Violaine Martin/UN Photo
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Aron Lund
Freelance journalist and analyst specialising on Syria, and regular IRIN contributor


  • Key Points
  • Rebel divisions have prevented the formation of a broadly representative delegation
  • The main Kurdish group on the ground has been kept out of the talks
  • Political transition officially remains on the table, but talks will focus on governance issues
  • Talks will likely fail and, in the long run, Bashar al-Assad will likely remain in power
STOCKHOLM, 21 February 2017
Hopes are low for the Syrian peace talks set to begin on Thursday in Geneva, but that may not matter much. As the war in Syria moves towards a strategic endgame, the faltering peace process has begun to drift away from its past focus on a political transition, a shift that will ultimately have major ramifications for the country’s future.
 
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13:55
Two military police battalions deployed in Syria - Shoigu

13:22
SHOIGU: 162 SAMPLES OF NEW WEAPONS TESTED IN SYRIA
 
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http://www.arabnews.com/node/1058641/middle-east

BEIRUT: Turkish-backed Syrian opposition announced on Thursday they had taken full control of Al-Bab from the Daesh group, marking a key defeat for the jihadists after weeks of heavy fighting.

The town of Al-Bab, just 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of the Turkish border, was the last Daesh stronghold in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo.

“We are announcing Al-Bab completely liberated, and we are now clearing mines from the residential neighborhoods,” said Ahmad Othman, a opposition commander.

“After hours of fighting, we chased out the last remaining Daesh rank and file that were collapsing after the fierce shelling of their positions,” he added.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported that the opposition were now in control of central Al-Bab.
It said fighters had surrounded the town to “break” Daesh's will but had held off on storming the center “with the aim of preventing civilian casualties.”


The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights however said Daesh fighters were still present in parts of the town and the opposition were in control of less than half of it.

The opposition launched an offensive to capture Al-Bab last year with the support of Turkish ground troops, artillery and air strikes.

Al-Bab was Daesh’s last remaining stronghold in Aleppo province, after a US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters seized the town of Manbij in August.

The jihadist group still controls a scattering of smaller villages and towns in the province.

Field commanders from two other opposition factions in the town confirmed the capture of Al-Bab to AFP.
“Yesterday (Wednesday), we captured the city center, which was Daesh’s security zone... The jihadists collapsed, and this morning around 6 am (0400 GMT) we completed the operation,” said Saif Abu Bakr, who heads the Al-Hamza opposition group.

Abu Jaafar, another opposition field commander, said he expected clearing up operations would be wrapped up within hours.

“Dozens of IS fighters were killed and we evacuated more than 50 families from inside Al-Bab,” Abu Jaafar said.
Turkey sent troops into Syria in August last year in an operation it said targeted not only Daesh but also US-backed Kurdish fighters whom it regards as terrorists.

The battle for Al-Bab has been the bloodiest of the campaign with at least 69 Turkish soldiers killed there.
“Al-Bab is important, insofar as its taking from Daesh will deprive the group of a tax base and an area where it was able to congregate and plot attacks against Syrians and the west,” said Aaron Stein, a senior fellow at the US-based Atlantic Council.

“For Turkey, the mission, as was defined back in 2016, is now complete: Turkish forces have forced Daesh from the border and cut the overland route between the two Kurdish cantons,” he told AFP.

Syria’s Kurds have managed autonomous administrations in swathes of the country’s north since 2012, and Al-Bab falls between the “cantons” of Kobani and Afrin.

“However, Turkey will now have to grapple with the questions of prolonged occupation of a foreign country and help to oversee the transition to civilian rule, a tall task of any foreign military,” Stein added.

The opposition victory comes as a fresh round of UN-brokered peace talks between Syria’s government and opposition figures opens Thursday in Geneva.

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The Free Syrian Army (FSA), backed by the Turkish military, celebrated on the streets of Al-Bab on Thursday after taking control of the strategic town from Daesh.

Earlier in the day, FSA commander Ahmed al-Shahabi told Anadolu Agency: "The center of Al-Bab is now under opposition control."

Later, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik also confirmed the liberation of the town saying: “Almost all of Al-Bab is under control now, and a sweep operation is ongoing."

FSA fighters gathered in the town to celebrate the victory, firing into the air and saying prayers.

"Terrorist organizations will be cleared from Syria as well. Our country will soon be free," Ahmad Ali, an FSA field commander, told Anadolu Agency.

Sharef Akel, a civilian resident, told Anadolu Agency some Al-Bab families had started returning to their homes.

"Fortunately, our town was cleared of terror organizations. The conflict is over and we are relieved," Akel said.

Anadolu Agency teams witnessed celebrations by opposition units amid destroyed homes in Al-Bab.

The Turkish-led Operation Euphrates Shield aims to provide security, support U.S.-led coalition forces and eliminate the terrorist presence along Syria’s northern border with Turkey.

The operation, which began last summer, relies heavily on FSA fighters backed by Turkish artillery and air support.

*Reporting by Halit Suleyman and Kemal Karagoz; Writing by Fatma Bulbul

http://aa.com.tr/en/vg/video-gallery/fsa-fighters-celebrate-liberation-of-al-bab

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http://aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/injured-free-syrian-army-fighters-treated-in-turkey/758113

Twelve Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters injured during clashes with Daesh terrorists in northern Syria were brought to Turkey's southern Kilis province for treatment on Thursday.

According to an Anadolu Agency correspondent in Kilis, the FSA fighters were wounded during fighting for Al-Bab.

The injured men received treatment at Kilis State Hospital, close to Turkey’s border with northern Syria.

Earlier in the day, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said the FSA, backed by the Turkish military, had taken control of "almost all" of Al-Bab.

“Almost all of Al-Bab is under control now, and a sweep operation is ongoing," Isik told reporters in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir.

The Turkish-led Operation Euphrates Shield aims to provide security, support U.S.-led coalition forces and eliminate the terrorist presence along Syria’s northern border with Turkey.

The operation, which began last summer, relies heavily on FSA fighters backed by Turkish artillery and air support.

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http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/mc...oops.aspx?pageID=238&nID=110105&NewsCatID=352
A spokeswoman for Republican Senator John McCain said Feb. 22 that he traveled to northern Syria last week to discuss plans for defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) with U.S. forces stationed there.
McCain, an Arizona Republican, is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

In a statement on Feb. 22, McCain’s spokeswoman described the visit as a “valuable opportunity to assess dynamic conditions on the group in Iraq and Syria,” The Associated Press reported. McCain had not announced the trip in advance.

This visit came before a visit to Turkey, during which McCain met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım on Feb. 20 in Ankara.

McCain has been a harsh critic of U.S. President Donald Trump’s worldview, declaring his administration in disarray. But the statement said the president “has rightly ordered a review of U.S. strategy and plans to defeat” ISIL.

A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S.-backed force composed mainly of Kurdish fighters along with some Arab members, told Russia’s sputniknews.com on Feb. 23 on condition of anonymity that McCain had also come to Kobane, a Kurdish-dominated area in northern Syria, and held talks there with SDF members.

The SDF source said they had demanded more weapons and support from the U.S., claiming that McCain had promised more support.


The SDF is mostly comprised of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG), which Turkey regards as a terror organization due to its ties with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and does not want the YPG to exert a strong presence along the border with Syria.

The U.S. regards the YPG and its political wing, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), as reliable partners in the fight against ISIL.

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A total of 56 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants were killed by Turkey-backed forces around the Syrian town of al-Bab and by U.S.-led coalition air strikes in the latest operations on Feb. 22, the Turkish military said on Feb. 23.

Turkish artillery fire also hit 104 ISIL targets, including buildings and bombed vehicles, the army said in a statement, reiterating it had largely established control in the residential areas of al-Bab.

The ISIL stronghold, 30 km (20 miles) from the Turkish border, has been a prime target since Turkey launched an operation with Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels in August 2016 to push the jihadists from its frontier.

The army said 11 of the jihadists were killed in air strikes by coalition forces, while the rest were killed in artillery fire and clashes during operations in al-Bab.
 
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http://aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/iraqi-warplanes-strike-daesh-positions-in-syria/758721

Iraqi warplanes strike Daesh positions in Syria
For first time, Iraqi military aircraft strike Daesh targets outside Iraqi territory

Iraqi warplanes have struck a number of sites associated with the Daesh terrorist group inside Syrian territory, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Friday.

“We ordered our air force to strike terrorist targets in Husaybah [in Iraq’s western Anbar province] and in Abu Kamal inside Syria,” al-Abadi said in a statement broadcast on state television.

Located on the Euphrates River near the Iraqi border, the city of Abu Kamal is in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province.

According to al-Abadi, the targeted sites -- both in Iraq and Syria -- had served as “staging areas” for recent terrorist attacks in Baghdad.

“These sites were the staging areas for the recent terrorist bombings in the capital,” the prime minister asserted.

Last week, Daesh claimed responsibility for a massive car bomb that killed dozens of people in Baghdad’s eastern Al-Bayaa district.

Iraqi warplanes had struck their targets “with great success”, al-Abadi said without elaborating.

In a statement issued Friday morning, the Iraqi army’s Joint Operations Command confirmed that Iraqi F-16s had struck several Daesh targets inside Syrian territory.

It is the first time for Iraqi military aircraft to target Daesh positions outside of Iraq since the terrorist group overran vast swathes of territory in both Iraq and Syria in mid-2014.

The army statement also linked the targeted sites to recent terrorist attacks in Baghdad.

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http://aa.com.tr/en/todays-headlines/turkey-to-help-al-bab-residents-return-home-army-chief/758780

“The next step in the operation is to clear Manbij [east of Al-Bab] of terrorists,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said

Speaking to reporters in Turkey’s southern Antalya province on Friday, Cavusoglu said Turkey now hoped the new U.S. administration would keep the promises made by the previous one.

“We had said to our American friends ‘Keep your promises’ and they said ‘After the end of Manbij operation, YPG [fighters] will retreat to the east of Euphrates River’,” Cavusoglu recalled.

“That was what the previous administration promised us. They did not keep their promises,” said Cavusoglu, adding Turkey now hoped the new administration would clear Manbij of YPG terrorists.

Turkey and the U.S. designate the PKK a terrorist group, but Washington has resisted doing so with the YPG, saying the organization is a reliable partner in the anti-Daesh fight.

The Turkish military had said earlier on Friday that the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army forces had taken control of all neighborhoods in Syria’s Al-Bab.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/tw...irim.aspx?pageID=238&nID=110135&NewsCatID=352
Two Turkish soldiers have been killed in an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) suicide attack in Syria’s al-Bab, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said on Feb. 24.

Yıldırım said the suicide attack targeted Turkish soldiers who were conducting road checks at the entrance of al-Bab.

Two soldiers were killed in the attack while there were also wounded soldiers, he said.

Yıldırım also added that clean-up works in al-Bab were continuing with the utmost caution to prevent casualties due to the presence of hand-made explosives and bomb set-ups in the city.

February/24/2017
 
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Assad aka Khamenai thugs exterminate Muslims in Barzeh. Despite double case fire agreements (local with Barzeh signed in 2014 and global in the end of 2016).


The only cease fire they respect is cease fire with Israel.
 
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