Zitat:Syrian army pushed back in north by new militant coalition

Pro-government forces in Syria suffered the latest in a series of reversals when a recently formed rebel coalition captured the town of Jisr al-Shughur in the northern province of Idlib on 25 April.

Zitat: Neues Islamisten-Bündnis bedroht Syriens Diktator

Während der IS unter Druck steht, ist al-Qaida in Syrien auf dem Vormarsch. Das Netzwerk hat ein Bündnis radikaler Gruppen geschmiedet und Siege errungen. Nun steht es vor der Kernregion des Regimes.
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An der Grenze zu Assads Machtbasis steht nun ein relativ neues Bündnis radikaler Dschihadisten, das vom syrischen Al-Qaida-Ableger Nusra-Front angeführt wird. "Armee der Eroberer" nennt sich die Sammlungsbewegung, die sich im März zusammenfand. Sie kämpft ihrem eigenen Anspruch nach nicht nur um die Macht in Syrien, sondern in einem viel größeren Dschihad gegen alle Ungläubigen. Und die Sekte der Alawiten gilt ihr als Inkarnation der Ketzerei, für die die Todesstrafe vorgesehen sei. 2013 waren Dschihadisten schon einmal in die Mittelmeerregion vorgedrungen und hatten 13 Dörfer eingenommen. Damals begingen sie Massaker an den alawitischen Einwohnern. Viele wurden entführt und gefoltert. Sollte die Armee der Eroberer tatsächlich weiter in Gebiete der Alawiten vordringen, droht ein Blutbad.
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Zitat:Turkey Officials Confirm Pact With Saudi Arabia To Help Rebels Fighting Syria's Assad
AP | By DESMOND BUTLER
Posted: 05/07/2015 10:58 am EDT Updated: 3 hours ago
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A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issues, said the administration is concerned that the new alliance is helping Nusra gain territory in Syria.
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The new Turkish and Saudi push suggests that they view Assad as a bigger threat to the region than groups like Nusra. Turkish officials discount the possibility that Nusra will ever be in a position to hold sway over much of Syria.

Under Turkish and Saudi patronage, the rebel advance has undermined a sense that the Assad government is winning the civil war — and demonstrated how the new alliance can yield immediate results. The pact was sealed in early March when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan flew to Riyadh to meet Saudi's recently crowned King Salman. Relations had been tense between Erdogan and the late King Abdullah, in great part over Erdogan's support of the Muslim Brotherhood.
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The Turkish-Saudi agreement has led to a new joint command center in the northeastern Syrian province of Idlib. There, a coalition of groups — including Nusra and other Islamist brigades such as Ahrar al-Sham that Washington views as extremist — are progressively eroding Assad's front. The rebel coalition also includes more moderate elements of the Free Syrian Army that have received U.S. support in the past.
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Zitat:Syria's Mercenaries: The Afghans Fighting Assad's War

Syrian dictator Bashar Assad is running out of soldiers and is forced to rely on mercenaries in his ongoing battle against rebels. Many of his foreign fighters come from Afghanistan -- men like Murad, who is now being held in Aleppo as a prisoner-of-war.

His war only lasted from one dawn to the next. When the sun rose for the second time over the Syrian city of Aleppo, Murad, a farmer from Afghanistan, was still cowering on the second floor of the house he was supposed to defend to the death. That, at least, is what his Iranian officer had ordered him to do. [...] That was seven months ago. Since then, Murad and another Afghan have been sitting in a makeshift prison belonging to the al-Shamiya Front, one of Aleppo's larger rebel formations. They are being held in a neon-lit basement, next to a roaring generator. The walls are crumbling, a product of the myriad explosions that have shaken the city. In addition to Afghans, Pakistanis and Iranians have also been taken prisoner by other rebel groups, all of them fighting on the front lines. [...]

The Assad family dictatorship is running out of soldiers and is becoming increasingly reliant on mercenaries. Indeed, from the very beginning the Assad regime had an opponent that it could never really defeat: Syria's demography. [...]

Up to 2 million Hazara live in Iran, most of them as illegal immigrants. It is an inexhaustible reservoir of the desperate, from which the Pasdars -- as Iran's Revolutionary Guards are called -- have recruited thousands for the war in Syria over the last year and a half. [...] Murad didn't say no. He would have to join the war in Syria for two months, the officer told him, saying that he would only be given simple tasks and guard duty. When he returned, the officer promised, he may even receive a residency permit. The other Afghans in his cell also agreed to trade in the rest of their sentences for two months of service in Syria. They were promised a monthly salary of 2 million toman, the equivalent of $700.

Said Ahmed Hussein, who is being held with Murad, mentioned the same sum. Hussein had spent years working in construction in an exclusive residential district in northern Tehran. "Suddenly, there were raids and I was one of 150 illegal immigrants arrested. All of us were Hazara. Then, the Pasars came and promised us money and residence permits if we would voluntarily go to Syria. But they said 'we're sending you there no matter what.' Everybody signed up."

Zitat:Mon May 25, 2015 11:26
EXCLUSIVE: Syrian Army, Hezbollah Win Back Strategic Hilltops in Jisr al-Shughour

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian army and the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance fighters made massive gains in the province of Idlib and took control over hilltops near the strategic city of Jisr al-Shughour in Northwest.
The army and Hezbollah forces tightened their grip over the last hilltops under Al-Nusra Front control before winning back Jisr al-Shughour. Almost the entire city is under terrorists' control.

Yet, parts of the Jisr al-Shughour, including its Hospital, have remained under the Army's control despite the terrorist group's numerous heavy offensives to win control over these few pockets of resistance. Earlier this week, the Syrian army started massive operations to prevent the terrorists from capturing the Jisr al-Shughour Hospital.

Nearly 200 Syrian soldiers are protecting Jisr al-Shughour hospital against the terrorists.

Last week, the Syrian warplanes targeted the terrorists' concentration centers in Jisr al-Shughour town and some villages in the Idlib province, pushing the fighters back from their positions, sources in the Northwestern province confirmed.
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Zitat:Thu Jun 04, 2015 5:9
Leader's Top Aide Underlines Iran's Plan to Continue All-Out Support for Syria

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Supreme Leader's top adviser for international affairs Ali Akbar Velayati underlined Tehran's continued support for Syria in its fight against the terrorists and the Zionist regime.
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Zitat:Syria conflict: Rebels seize major army base in Deraa

Rebels in Syria say they have captured a major army base in the south of the country. The Southern Front, an alliance of rebel groups, announced that the base, known as Brigade 52, was "liberated" in an attack on Tuesday morning. The base, outside the town of Harak, is one of the largest in Deraa province. [...]

At the start of April, the Southern Front captured the Nasib border crossing with Jordan, days after another rebel alliance seized the capital of the north-western province of Idlib. [...] A spokesman for the Southern Front, Maj Essam al-Rayes, told the AFP news agency that at least 2,000 rebel fighters had overrun Brigade 52 in a "short and quick" assault launched at dawn on Tuesday. [...]

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said the battle had killed 20 troops and pro-government militiamen, as well as 14 rebels.

Zitat:Al Nusrah Front, allies form new coalition for battle in Aleppo

BY THOMAS JOSCELYN | July 3, 2015
Screen Shot 2015-07-02 at 4.36.01 PM

The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, and allied organizations have formed a new coalition for the battle of Aleppo. The alliance calls itself Ansar al Sharia, a name used by other al Qaeda groups in the Middle East and North Africa. Along with a founding statement, the new grouping has released a short video announcing its establishment. A screen shot from the video can be seen above.

In addition to Al Nusrah, Ansar al Sharia includes one dozen other named groups. Ahrar al Sham and Ansar al Din, both of which are tied to al Qaeda’s international network, are members of the coalition.
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Zitat:Ansar al Din’s propaganda from the Battle of Aleppo

BY THOMAS JOSCELYN | July 3rd, 2015
Some of the first jihadist-produced images from the newly-launched offensive in Aleppo were posted by Ansar al Din, an al Qaeda-affiliated organization.
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A large contingent of jihadists from the Caucasus serve as JMA leaders and fighters. Sham al Islam is mainly comprised of fighters from North Africa and was founded by ex-Guantanamo detainees from Morocco. Saudis led Al Katibah al Khadra, before it was folded into the JMA.
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Zitat:Islamic State executes Syrian regime soldiers at Palmyra ruins
BY CALEB WEISS | July 5th, 2015 |

In a video released yesterday, the Islamic State showcased the execution of 25 Syrian regime soldiers in the city of Palmyra’s ancient Roman ruins. It appears that the executioners were adolescents, or possibly younger.

The jihadist group said these fighters were captured when it overran the city of Palmyra (Tadmur in Arabic) in late May. At least 462 civilians, 241 government troops, and 150 Islamic State fighters were killed in the fighting in and around the town since May 13, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
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Zitat:Tue Aug 04, 2015 6:5
Al-Nusra Kidnaps at Least Five More US Trained Militants in Syria

TEHRAN (FNA)- Al-Nusra Front kidnapped at least five more US-trained militants during an overnight raid in Northwestern Syria, reports said.

"Between Monday and Tuesday, al-Nusra Front seized at least five rebels from Division 30 in the village of Qah, near the Turkish border," the chief of the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Last week al-Nusra Front attacked the same US-trained division, kidnapping the unit's commander, along with seven members of the Division, according to the observatory.

Zitat:Syria's Assad Meets With Iran's Zarif as Damascus Shelled
The Associated Press Aug 12, 2015 8:51 PM

Iran's foreign minister also meets Hezbollah leader Nasrallah in Lebanon, discusses resolution for Syria's civil war.

Stepped-up rebel shelling and government airstrikes came just a few hours before Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Damascus, where he discussed a four-point proposal Iran wants to offer to the United Nations as a way out of Syria's grinding conflict.

That plan, according to a Lebanese politician familiar with the proposal, includes a cease-fire and a power-sharing government that would keep Assad in the picture, at least for now, pending internationally supervised elections.
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Zitat:Bad Blood Inside Al Qaeda’s Syria Franchise

Islamic State’s past ally and present enemy in Syria, Jabhat Al Nusra, is suffering from factionalism and regionalism. Its subgroups in the south are challenging leaders in the north, and local members have often disagreed with foreign ones.

Zitat:US-Aussenminister John Kerry hat bei einem Besuch in London die Gemeinsamkeiten seines Landes mit Russland im Kampf gegen die Terrormiliz Islamischer Staat (IS) betont. «Wir haben die gleichen Ziele», sagte Kerry dem britischen Fernsehsender Channel 4. «Der IS muss zerstört, komplett gestoppt werden», sagte Kerry. Gemeinsame Gespräche mit Russland seien notwendig, um die militärischen Operationen gegen den IS, etwa in Syrien,zu koordinieren.

Russland, das in Syrien das Regime von Machthaber Baschar al-Assad unterstützt, hatte gemeinsame Gespräche zur militärischen Strategie vorgeschlagen. Die USA gingen am Freitag darauf ein, als die Verteidigungsminister beider Länder, Sergej Schoigu und Ashton Carter, miteinander telefonierten.