provinceorstate:aleppo

Syrian truckers fear for jobs as Turkish drivers cross border
▻https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/03/syria-bab-al-salama-crossing-turkey-trucks-goods.html

Turkey has reopened the Bab al-Salam/Oncupinar border crossing with Syria to Turkish truck traffic, effectively cutting half a workday off some truckers’ delivery times. Turkish trucks had not entered Syria through the gate for nearly eight years for security reasons following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war.

On March 5, Turkish authorities gave trucks laden with goods the green light to cross into Syria’s Aleppo province via the Bab al-Salam/Oncupinar crossing. Their cargoes now can be driven through the Syrian area controlled by the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA). Previously, once Turkish trucks reached the crossing, their goods were transferred onto Syrian trucks.

Turkey’s official news provider, Anadolu Agency, reported that about 50 Turkish trucks crossed the border March 5.

Anadolu quoted a truck driver as saying, “We had [previously] unloaded trucks in the buffer zone to be loaded onto Syrian trucks, but now we cross the border and unload the trucks directly where we need to.”

The alternative to this unloading-loading process had been to use al-Rai crossing, which allowed trucks to enter Syria, but this then required a lengthy drive to reach their destinations in al-Bab, Azaz, Marea and other FSA-controlled areas.

Anadolu quoted a Turkish official in the transport sector as saying, “Thanks to the opening of [Bab al-Salam/Oncupinar crossing] for direct transit, the drivers and transport companies can shorten their distance and time. We needed four hours to reach Azaz, and now it only takes us 15 minutes.”

Not everyone is pleased with the change, however. The development has angered Syrian truck drivers, owners of shipping companies and employees.

#syrie #normalisation (enfin, si on veut)

Syrian opposition arresting those who promote reconciling with regime
▻https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/08/syria-north-fsa-arrest-reconciliation-regime.html

https://9c998969b63acdb676d1-37595348221e1b716e1a6cfee3ed7891.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/almpics/2018/08/RTS1O22L.jpg/RTS1O22L-870.jpg

Regime opponents have been cracking down on people it accuses of spreading rumors about or urging reconciliation with the government and its allies in northern Syria.

Since mid-July, such rumors have been circulating in opposition-controlled parts of Idlib and neighboring areas in rural Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces, along with al-Ghab Plain in Idlib and Hama provinces. There have been reports that an increasing number of people in these areas are calling for reconciliation. The regime’s Ministry of Reconciliation also reports that dignitaries of these areas have contacted the ministry and officials at Khmeimim air base, which is operated by Russia in Latakia, to discuss their surrender.

The rumors, according to regime opponents, broke out a few days before the regime took full control over the southern province of Daraa in a bloody mid-July campaign. President Bashar al-Assad said Idlib would be next, sparking concerns in opposition-held areas in the north.

Capt. Abdel Salam Abdel Razzaq is a leader of the Syrian Liberation Front, which is affiliated with the opposition’s Free Syrian Army (FSA). He told Al-Monitor, “After the regime took over Daraa, we were expecting those collaborating with the regime [in the north] to come out and make their voices heard about the need to reconcile with the regime. … We also warned residents about people promoting reconciliation and stressed the need to track them down.”

Turkish security forces hit PKK/PYD targets in Syria’s Aleppo province in anti-terror ops - DailySabah
▻https://www.dailysabah.com/war-on-terror/2018/01/13/turkish-security-forces-hit-pkkpyd-targets-in-syrias-aleppo-province-in-

#Syrie #Kurdes #Turquie

Israel’s Relations with the Syrian Rebels: An Assessment :: Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
▻http://www.aymennjawad.org/20017/israel-relations-with-the-syrian-rebels

With this overview of the dynamics in these border areas, it remains to be asked what exactly are the Israeli goals and interests here. Much of the recent analysis has used the terminology of a “buffer zone” in relation to Israel’s border policies, meaning that the goal is to create an area of allied or “friendly” forces that will keep elements considered active threats to Israel away from the borders.[61] In this regard, the main threats are thought to be Iran and allied militias such as Lebanon’s Hizballah, the concern being that were the regime to regain full control over Quneitra governorate, Iran and its allies would have free access to this territory to build a Golan “resistance” front against Israel, which would at minimum entail the threat of small-scale attacks to harangue Israeli forces in the Golan and “test the waters,” so to speak, and at worst a full-scale invasion of Israeli territory.

It may in fact not be necessary for Iran to station its own personnel or members of foreign client forces in Quneitra in the future: It could well realize aspirations to build a “resistance” front in the area by “native proxy” through the multiple Syrian Hizballah groups that have arisen in the course of the civil war. Broadly speaking, Syrian Hizballah groups can be divided into two types: larger movements like Liwa al-Baqir, which claims 4,000 fighters[62] and has developed considerable networks within Aleppo province, and small-scale “special operation” groups that deploy to a number of different fronts depending on military needs and a sense of crisis. Some of these small Syrian Hizballah outfits have deployed to the Quneitra front,[63] though there is no evidence that they have done so to prepare for an imminent attack on Israel. In a future scenario of the development of a broader “resistance” along the Golan, these smaller groups may well be a key actor to threaten Israel.

A related source of concern has centered on the Druze village of Hadr, in that Samir al-Quntar–a Hizballah commander of Druze origin–and Farhan al-Sha’alan–an NDF commander originally from the Druze village of Ein Qiniyya in the Golan Heights–were trying to build a “resistance” movement in Hadr in order to target Israel.[64] Both men were killed in a suspected Israeli airstrike in December 2015. No hints have emerged since of the revival of such a project.

Yet the case of Hadr actually shows that the “buffer zone” narrative, while seemingly convincing in its simplicity, does not fully account for Israel’s approach towards these border areas. On the general level, it is certainly true that in a choice between regime and rebel control over towns like Jubatha al-Khashab, the preference is that rebel forces should control them. With Hadr, however, Israel’s concern is that the village should not fall into rebel hands, despite concerns about Hizballah using it as a base for recruitment of personnel to target Israel. This position has arisen in deference to the sentiments of the Druze community in Israel and the Golan Heights, who understandably fear the fate of their co-religionists should the village ever fall to the rebels. Muru Hawran demonstrated an awareness of this lack of Israeli willingness to see Hadr fall, elaborating, “All that is happening is an international game at the expense of Syrian blood: settling of accounts.”[65] In a similar vein, he was clear that he still considered Israel to be an enemy state, but justified Fursan al-Jawlan’s acceptance of aid through Israel on the grounds that it is better to do so than to “destroy oneself.”[66]

The Natural Gas War Burning Under Syria
▻http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-Natural-Gas-War-Burning-Under-Syria.html

Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and their confederates are in it to win it, and the fighting in Syria has focused on the pipeline routes. Aleppo province, which would host the Qatari pipeline, is where Turkey wants to establish a buffer zone to support “moderate” rebel forces. If Turkey can control this territory, it will bolster the Qatari pipeline and ensure its own preeminence as the energy hub in southern Europe, where it would gather oil and natural gas from Russia, Central Asia, the Caspian, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Middle East, and become less reliant on Russian gas, which accounted for over 50 percent of its imports in 2014. But Russia hasn’t been standing still: it has surrounded Turkey on three sides by occupying Crimea, sending more troops to Armenia, and deploying the S-400 air defense system to Syria, creating a no-fly zone, and maybe a “no-buy” zone for potential customers of Qatari gas.

#gaz #énergie #moyen-orient #Syrie

Farsnews
▻http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950629001434

Avec les jihadistes chinois, ce sont désormais de véritables « brigades internationales » de l’islam qui sont désormais réunies pour la révolution syrienne... On comprend que les Chinois aient pris langue avec le régime de Damas.

Informed local sources disclosed that the ISIL is using codes written in the Chinese language for communication among the terrorists in the city of Hawija in the Southwestern part of Kirkuk province.

“Most of the ISIL’s combat fighters are now Chinese nationals who have joined the terrorist group’s military bases in Hawija city and they have come from the city of Raqqa in Syria,” an informed local source said.

He reiterated that the ISIL is trying to encode its contacts, specially its urgent messages in Chinese language and then translate them into Arabic language in a bid to avoid being hacked.

In late January unconfirmed reports said that several Wahhabi militants with Chinese nationalities had been killed in Syrian airstrikes on ISIL positions Northeast of Aleppo province.

Selon Sputnik News, prétendant citer une source anonyme kurde, la France serait en train de construire une base pour ses forces spéciales près de Kobane, en Syrie.
▻http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160610/1041141404/france-syria-military-base.html

According to a Kurdish source, French forces stationed in northern Syria have begun constructing a military base near the city of Kobani in Aleppo province.
French forces stationed in northern Syria have begun constructing a military base near the city of Kobani in Aleppo province, a Kurdish source told Sputnik on Friday.
“The French have begun constructing a military base similar to the US military bases… French experts and military advisers working in the region will be stationed there,” the source said.

Syria civil war: The message from Moscow
▻http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/middleeast/2016/06/syria-civil-war-message-moscow-nusra-160604163154005.html

Russia has sent three messages over the past week or so about the situation in Syria.

First, the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front is to be blamed for violating and jeopardising the truce.

“The Nusra terrorist group is active in Aleppo and Idlib today and it is the main obstacle for the further extension of the cessation of hostilities,” the defence ministry said, accusing the group of exploiting the truce to rearm and regroup. 

Second, the US is to be blamed for failing to separate the “moderate opposition units they control from terrorists. That is why further postponing by our American partners in that effort doesn’t only discredit the so called moderate opposition but leads to undermining the peace process”.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned the deadline to back away from al-Nusra will expire this week.

And third, the Turkey border is still being used to smuggle weapons to “terrorists” in Syria.

“The number of heavy trucks moving from the Turkish-Syrian borders to the region of Azaz (Aleppo province) …and to the region of Darat Izza (Idlib province) has increased significantly,” the defence ministry said.

En mars de cette année, une mystérieuse « New Syrian Army » annonçait avoir pris le contrôle du poste-frontière d’al-Tanf, aux confins des frontières syrienne, irakienne et jordanienne, jusque là détenu par Da’ich. Al-Tanf, c’est là : ▻https://www.google.fr/maps/place/At+Tanf,+Syrie/@33.745316,36.4217732,7z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x153e0a85826f8d3f:0xfbaab842977dcbd6!8m2!3d33.48959!4d38.663
Ce groupe sans aucun fait d’armes connu jusqu’ici semblait être soutenu par la Jordanie et les USA, voire servir de couverture à des forces spéciales de ces deux pays : ►http://seenthis.net/messages/474150 et ►http://seenthis.net/messages/468261

Dans un récent article, le Washington Post nous donne des nouvelles de la "New Syrian Army"et décrit un groupe, armé et formé par le programme du pentagone sur une base en Jordanie, et qui connaîtrait désormais des difficultés, malgré l’appui aérien américain, du fait d’un attentat suicide de Da’ich qui aurait décimé ses rangs :
The last remaining Pentagon-trained rebel group in Syria is now in jeopardy WaPo 27.05.16
▻https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/the-last-remaining-pentagon-trained-rebel-group-in-syria-is-now-in-jeopardy/2016/05/27/91de194a-1c5f-11e6-82c2-a7dcb313287d_story.html

The New Syrian Army completed the U.S. training course in Jordan, infiltrated into Syria and then, in March, without fanfare or publicity, seized a pinprick of territory from the militants at the remote Tanaf border crossing with Iraq in the far southeast corner of the Syrian province of Homs.
There they have remained, holding their ground without deserting, defecting or getting kidnapped, unlike many of the other similarly trained rebels whose mishaps prompted the temporary suspension of the program last year.
Even this modest success is now in jeopardy, however, following an Islamic State suicide attack this month. An armored vehicle barreled into the rebels’ base shortly before dawn on May 7, killing a number of them, said Lt. Col. Mohammed Tallaa, a Syrian officer who defected and is the group’s commander.

Avec les échecs du nouveau programme du Pentagone, au sud avec les difficultés de la New Syrian Army et au nord où ces groupes sont en situation difficile dans la poche d’Azaz, il ne reste plus pour les USA pour combattre Da’ich que le YPG kurde qu’on essaie d’enrichir d’arabes au sein des SDF (dans le contexte d’une avancée rapide des SDF au nord de la province de Raqqa) :

In March, the training was restored, with the less ambitious goal of working with existing rebel groups in northern Syria’s Aleppo province. Those groups are now battling for their survival against Islamic State fighters advancing in the area around the town of Azaz near the border with Turkey.
In the meantime, however, the Pentagon has forged ahead with a different alliance, with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which is seen as a rival or worse by many Arab rebel groups. The YPG is responsible for almost all of the territorial gains made so far against the Islamic State in Syria, and its close coordination with the U.S. military is a source of deep resentment among other Syrian rebels. An effort to rebrand the YPG as a coalition with Arab rebels called the Syrian Democratic Forces has brought only a small number of Arabs into the force so far.

Article très intéressant d’Elijah Magnier sur les divergences actuelles entre Damas, Téhéran et le Hezbollah d’un côté et la Russie de l’autre quant à la cessation des hostilités :
Russia equivocates in Syria, Iran is confused and al-Qaeda takes the initiative
▻https://elijahjm.wordpress.com/2016/05/11/russia-equivocates-in-syria-iran-is-confused-and-al-qaeda-takes-
Morceaux choisis :

The Damascus and Moscow alliance faced with the cooperation of the Middle Eastern regional countries and the United States in Syria is failing at the moment. Al-Qaeda in al-Sham (Jabhat al-Nusra) although excluded from the Cease-fire, grabbed the initiative on the ground and counter attacked south of Aleppo with many allies: Ahrar al-Sham, Jund al-Aqsa, Jaish al-Sunnah and the Turkestan forces (all not excluded from the Cease-fire) fighting within the ranks of Jaish al-Fateh, the “army of conquest,” which includes more jihadist organizations and others more moderate.[...]
Now that over 97 cities and towns are engaged in the cessation of hostilities (COH), the Russian President Vladimir Putin needs a strong case to return to the Syrian arena in full force. Today, Moscow has placed itself alongside flexible American diplomacy, which in Syria changes according to developments and is unwilling to re-initiate a military campaign that could be considered aggressive to various countries in the Middle East. Such a flexible Russian attitude has angered Tehran and Damascus and their proxy allies, forcing them to alter plans of deployment.[...]
Decision makers in Syria say “Moscow gave the time for rebels to regroup and reorganise their offensives. There is no point in fighting and dying in areas we don’t need to hold on to. Before the Russian intervention, we were defending the main cities and no force could have managed to break in. Now we are on several fronts without serious coordination between all forces. It is time to change tactics and reduce military deployment”.[...]
“Countries in the region are prepared to wait seven more months for a new U.S. President who would interact with Assad more aggressively than President Barack Obama. These countries will continue supporting the rebels in the next 7 months, sending money and weapons so they are prepared for another confrontation. The allies of Damascus consider Russia has repeated what the late President of Egypt Anwar al-Sadat did in 1973 when he stopped the war suddenly and gave Israel the opportunity to regroup its forces, returning to regain the initiative and overcome the Egyptian third army, all of which resulted in the Camp David agreement”.[...]
It is therefore expected that Hezbollah, a strong and effective ally of Damascus, will modify its deployment plans on the battlefield to mitigate the human losses as long as there is an unclear horizon and that Russian politics in Syria are unclear, say the sources. Six months ago, Damascus and its allies decided to retreat to the main cities and abandon distant and rural areas, difficult to supply logistically and considered less strategic. Today, Hezbollah refuses to engage in all on-going battles when military plans are drawn up but not implemented, even with limited officers. If Russia is willing to hit only ISIS in the East of Syria and refrain from hitting al-Nusra and other jihadists spread in vast area around Aleppo, Hezbollah is not willing to lose more men to keep a status quo. There will be no withdrawal from Syria but redeployment and reduce participation in many forthcoming battles, according to sources on the ground.
A fuzzy future is overwhelming Syria. It seems that the appeasing Russian policy of appeasement with regard to Jahbat al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham and other jihadists will negatively affect the Syrian army provided that there are no other changes in the Syrian dynamic. The war in Syria is not expected to end soon.

Article original en arabe dans le journal koweïtien al-Raï ici : ▻http://www.alraimedia.com/ar/article/special-reports/2016/05/10/678502/nr/syria

An Opportunity in Aleppo

Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, is once again the center of media attention. Two weeks of devastating airstrikes against the rebel-held parts of the city ended on Wednesday after the United States and Russia agreed on a new cessation of hostilities in the city. However, clashes continued in nearby rural areas in southern Aleppo province, and the government and the rebels traded accusations that the truce has already been violated by the other side.

http://timep.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/BN-GZ318_syria0_J_20150217063546-704x318.jpg

Un point assez complet sur les combats actuels en Syrie et la pause dans les pourparlers :
Syrian rebels launch new assaults as opposition seeks peace talks ’pause’
MEE / 18.04.16
▻http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/rebels-launch-new-offensives-syrian-opposition-seeks-pause-peace-talk
Relevé des points saillants :
A Lattaquieh :

Among the groups involved in the Latakia offensive are Kataib Ansar al-Sham, the al-Qaeda-linked Turkistan Islamic Party, Ahrar al-Sham, Jaish al-Islam and the First Coastal Division.

A Hama :

There were also reports of a new opposition offensive against government targets in Hama.
According to the pro-Assad al-Masdar news site, fighters from the al-Qaeda splinter group Jund al-Aqsa launched a major assault on the al-Ghaab Plains near the Hama-Latakia axis, in an attempt to capture the village of Khirbat al-Naqous.

A Alep :

On Sunday, government jets carried out air strikes in Aleppo province that killed at least 11 civilians, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.

Formation d’une nouvelle chambre d’opération commune Ahrar al-Cham/ Jaysh al-Islam et groupes labellisés ASL - sans qu’al-Nousra qui participe aux combats, avec d’autres organisations classées terroristes (Parti Islamique du Turkestan), n’en fassent formellement partie :

A number of groups, including the powerful Ahrar al-Sham group, also announced on Monday the “formation of a joint operations room to begin the battle...in response to violations by the army of Assad”.

Toujours la question d’Assad sur laquelle les négociations achoppent :

Negotiations between the opposition and the government have stalled over the government’s refusal to discuss the opposition’s call for Assad to step aside as part of any peace deal and some have suggested that rebels on the ground have pushed for the opposition negotiators to withdraw from talks altogether.

Les tweets de Mohammed Allouche, négociateur du HCN (opposition de Ryadh) appellant à frapper le régime partout - et donc à mettre fin à la cessation des hostilités :

On Sunday, Mohammed Alloush, senior negotiator for the HNC, called in a tweet for the resumption of attacks on Syrian government targets.
“Don’t trust the regime and don’t wait for their pity,” Alloush wrote on Twitter.
“Strike them at their necks [kill them]. Strike them everywhere,” he said, reciting a passage from the Quran dealing with war.

En bonus de jolies photos/vidéos récentes de rebelles avec des missiles anti-tanks américains TOW et des missiles sol-air portatifs (chinois)...

#option_Stinger

Turkey: Open Borders to Syrians Fleeing ISIS. At least 30,000 Trapped Amid Northern Syria Fighting

(Istanbul) – Turkey should stop shooting at Syrian civilians fleeing fighting and immediately allow them to cross the Turkish border to seek protection, Human Rights Watch said today. Renewed fighting between the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, and armed opposition groups in Northern Aleppo has displaced at least 30,000 people in the past 48 hours, with Turkish border guards shooting at some of them as they approach Turkey’s new border wall.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CgDiJxxW4AAKPyQ.jpg

▻https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/04/14/turkey-open-borders-syrians-fleeing-isis
#Turquie #réfugiés #réfugiés_syriens #fermeture _des_frontières #asile #migrations #réfugiés #Alep #murs #barrières_frontalières #cartographie #visualisation
cc @reka

Un Sukhoï 22 de l’aviation syrienne abattu par un missile sol-air portatif dans le sud d’Alep.
Info confirmée par l’agence syrienne SANA : ▻http://sana.sy/en/?p=73719
Le pilote aurait été capturé vivant selon des photos circulant sur les réseaux sociaux et amené au quartier d’al-Nousra :
Article d’al-arabiya :
▻http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2016/04/05/Syrian-rebels-shoot-down-war-plane-near-Aleppo-.html

Syria militants shot down a warplane on Tuesday in an area south of the city of Aleppo where insurgents are battling the Syrian army and allied militias, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The monitor said a plume of smoke was seen as the plane caught fire before it fell in the Talat al-Iss highland, where al Qaeda-affiliated militants have come under heavy bombardment by Syrian and Russian planes since they captured the area this week.
Syrian state TV confirmed that the jet was shot down by a surface-to-air missile in Aleppo province and the pilot ejected.
However according to the monitor and a militant source said that the pilot of downed plane has been taken by al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra front to one of its headquarters.

Par ailleurs Ahrar al-Cham revendique avoir abattu l’avion :
▻https://twitter.com/thomasjoscelyn/status/717346096205447169

A noter que si l’on en croit les déclarations du ministère de la défense russe du 13 mars 2016, un avion syrien avait déjà été abattu par un missile sol-air le 12 mars dernier :
▻http://www.janes.com/article/58762/russia-says-syrian-mig-21-downed-by-manpads

A Syrian MiG-21 fighter-bomber has been shot down by rebels using a man-portable air defence system (MANPADS), the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.

When it released its daily summary of breaches of the current ceasefire agreement on 13 March, the Russian MoD said the aircraft was shot down by a MANPADS near the town of Kafr Nabudah at 14.41 on 12 March. Kafr Nabudah is on the border of Hamah and Idlib provinces.

The MoD added that the MiG-21 “was performing airspace control tasks” when it was hit.

#option_Stinger

Dans un article du WINEP sur les motivations supposées de Da’ich dans l’attentat à Istanbul l’auteur soutient qu’il y aurait un plan américano-turc pour reprendre le contrôle de la frontière turco-syrienne d’Azaz à Jarabulus, plan que selon lui Da’ich aurait visé à contrecarrer en commettant cet attentat :
▻http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/what-is-behind-the-istanbul-attack

Second, by bringing the war to Turkey’s largest city, IS aims to undercut the planned U.S.-Turkish campaign against its forces in Syria, which is reportedly scheduled to begin in a matter of weeks following Vice President Joe Biden’s January 23 visit to Ankara. The apparent goal of the joint plan is to capture the sixty-mile-long Jarabulus-Azaz corridor along the Syrian border, most of which is currently held by IS. If successful, the campaign would effectively plug the group’s last overland conduit from Syria into Turkey and Europe. The IS leadership is well aware that such a development would hurt its finances, recruitment efforts, and prestige, so it appears to have acted preemptively in the hope that Turkey will stand down or at least not escalate its military efforts.

L’article ne mentionne pas que, de fait, pour la partie tenue par Jaysh al-Fatah, le corridor d’Azaz est largement menacé de tomber sous les efforts distincts de l’Armée syrienne et des forces kurdes du YPG dans le canton d’Afrin, soutenus tous deux par l’aviation russe. La route Azaz-Alep étant d’ores et déjà coupée sur une petite partie par l’armée syrienne.
D’autre part, à l’est d’Alep, dans la zone tenue par Da’ich, d’un côté les kurdes du YPG, adjoints de quelques groupes de l’ASL au sein des SDF et soutenus par l’aviation américaine, ont déjà passé la « ligne rouge » turque de l’Euphrate et pourrait se diriger vers Manbij, tandis que de l’autre côté l’armée syrienne progresse depuis sa reprise de l’aéroport militaire de Kuweires en direction de la ville d’al-Bab.

Ce plan serait-il une manière de réagir à ces évolutions inquiétantes pour la Turquie tout en actant la fin de son soutien de fait à Da’ich et en s’intégrant à un éventuel plan américain pour en pas rester sur la touche ?
Si quelqu’un à des lumières particulières ou d’autres sources évoquant cet hypothétique plan américano-turc...

Aleppo Rebels Overstretched as Attack Shifts to Defense
▻http://www.syrianobserver.com/EN/News/30316/Aleppo_Rebels_Overstretched_Attack_Shifts_Defense

Speaking to Al-Souria, rebel commander Abu Yaman said: “In 2013, opposition factions were advancing in many regime-held areas, armed with very simple kinds of weapons. We managed to cut the regime’s supply route, and we were planning to progress towards the Defense Plants, but since the advent of ISIS, the situation has started to decline as the regime began to regain strength and mobilize its troops in order to restore control over the entire city of Aleppo.”

Abu Yaman added the opposition in Aleppo is currently fighting on several fronts: “Against the regime in the southern, western and northern areas of the province of Aleppo, while many of our forces are fighting against ISIS and Kurdish militias in the northern countryside.”

Syrian Opposition Guide | Institute for the Study of War
▻http://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/syrian-opposition-guide

Russian air operations in Syria impose new pressures on Syrian rebel groups on the ground. Although the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed that Russian airstrikes focused on ISIS, local reports and the U.S. official statement indicate that the strikes have primarily targeted Syrian opposition groups in areas far from core ISIS-held terrain. Free Syrian Army (FSA)-affiliated rebel groups that receive support from the U.S. are among those that Russian warplanes have hit.

As Russian airstrikes intensify, Syrian opposition factions will likely seek the protection of a strong partner in the fight against the regime and its allies. The majority of the groups that may seek protection already cooperate militarily with Syrian al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra out of necessity, and this trend is likely to increase as rebels come under greater duress. The pressure of a reinvigorated air campaign in support of the Syrian regime may drive these groups closer to Jabhat al-Nusra and potentially hardline Islamist Ahrar al-Sham in the absence of alternative sources of robust military assistance from countries opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In fact, between October 2 and October 4, two rebel groups merged separately under Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham in Hama and Aleppo provinces respectively. This trend damages not only the U.S. anti-ISIS mission, but also the implicit mission to counter al-Qaeda’s influence in Syria. It is therefore vital to observe changes in the behaviors and affiliations of Syrian rebels in response to ground events.

– See more at: ▻http://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/syrian-opposition-guide#sthash.YsbEubpt.dpuf

Hearts, Minds, And Teeth — Nusra Hands Out Tooth Twigs In Syria Propaganda Push
▻http://www.rferl.org/content/jabhat-al-nusra-syria-propaganda-push-hearts-minds-teeth/27190428.html

http://gdb.rferl.org/7ED97118-D277-4BB1-A05F-DCF7F1905CF3_cx0_cy14_cw0_mw1024_mh1024_s.jpg

Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, has published a series of propaganda images showing its militants handing out “miswak sticks” — or teeth-cleaning twigs — to Syrians in the northern part of Aleppo Province.

The photos were shared on the social network VKontakte on August 12 by Nusra’s Russian-language media wing, White Minaret.

They show smiling militants from Nusra’s Uzbek-led battalion Katiba Sayfullah Shishani handing out the twigs, which according to some hadith — collections of statements attributed to Muhammad — were recommended by the Muslim Prophet.

#miswak
#siwak #bâton_d'arak

Siwak — Wikipédia
▻https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siwak

Le siwak (en arabe سواك), appelé aussi souek, souak, miswak ou « bois d’araq (bâton d’arak) », est la racine de l’arbuste Salvadora persica utilisée comme brosse à dents naturelle.

L’Assemblée des turkmènes syriens (▻https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Turkmen_Assembly) s’est réunie à Gaziantep (Turquie) pour décider que les différents groupes de combattants turkmènes qui opèrent sous la bannière de l’ASL, en étroite coordination avec les militaires turcs, soient unifiés au sein d’un commandement militaire unique visant à combattre et refouler les kurdes du YPG (beaucoup) et éventuellement Da3ich (un peu, si les Turcs s’entendent avec les Américains) :
▻https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/565547-syria-turkmen-move-to-form-anti-kurd-army

Syrian Turkmen military and political officials, who are close to Turkey, have been moving to form a unified army in northern Syria capable of confronting the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara views as a terror group.
“Turkmen fighting groups in Syria have taken the decision to offer greater support to each other and work to create a Turkmen army if conditions permit,” Syrian Turkmen Assembly chief Abdel Rahman Mustafa told Turkish Anadolu news on Monday.
The Turkmen official’s comments came as the Syrian Turkmen Assembly held a meeting in southern Turkey’s Gaziantep that brought together Turkmen representatives from Aleppo, Tal Abyad, Jarabulus, Latakia, Idlib, Raqqa and the Golan.
Alaraby Aljadeed reported that the Turkmen military and civilian officials in the meeting decided to form a military council which reports to the Syrian Turkmen Assembly, a pro-opposition group with ties to the Turkish government.
The decision to form the council comes after calls emerged from Turkmen military formations to fight both ISIS and the Kurdish Democratic Union Party that controls the YPG, the London-based daily added.
Syrian Turkmen have already armed themselves in a series of brigades throughout Syria that are loosely affiliated with each other and count on about 10,000 armed men in total, with the largest fighting units operating in the Aleppo province.
Turkey’s security institutions maintain close links with the Turkmen units in Syria, providing special forces training to the brigades, which are affiliated with the Free Syrian Army and have taken part in operations in Aleppo, Idlib and outside Latakia.

Erdogan tente-t-il une voie médiane pour peser sur les évènements au Nord et éviter un contrôle par la milice kurde des routes d’approvisionnement de Da3ich et des rebelles d’Ansar al-Chariah (al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Cham et les débris de l’ASL) sans avoir à recourir à une intervention militaire directe qui rencontre l’hostilité de certains militaires turcs et des States ?
Toujours est-il que deux envoyés militaires américains ont rencontré aujourd’hui des officiels turcs pour discuter de la Syrie selon l’AFP :
▻http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/contents/afp/2015/07/syria-conflict-turkey-us-military-diplomacy.html

The US special envoy for the coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group was in Ankara on Tuesday to meet Turkish officials, after speculation Turkey could launch a military intervention inside Syria, sources told AFP.
“General John Allen will hold talks in Ankara today,” a Turkish official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that the talks were “naturally” expected to focus on the fight against IS.
Accompanied by US Undersecretary of Defence for Policy Christine Wormuth and military officials, Allen is expected to meet with Feridun Sinirlioglu, the Turkish undersecretary of the foreign ministry as well as military chiefs, the source said.
Turkey has reinforced its military presence on the volatile border over the past week, deploying tanks and anti-aircraft missiles there as well as additional troops.
The moves come as fighting between Islamist-led groups an
d Syrian regime forces in the northern city of Aleppo has intensified.

Syrian rebel group that got U.S. aid dissolves
▻http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/syrian-fighter-group-that-got-us-missiles-dissolves-after-major-defeat/2015/03/01/286fa934-c048-11e4-a188-8e4971d37a8d_story.html

The first Syrian rebel group to be given U.S. weapons collapsed Sunday after losing control of its headquarters to Syria’s main al-Qaeda affiliate, further complicating American-led efforts to counter the rise of extremism in Syria.

The rout of Harakat Hazm, whose name means Steadfastness Movement, culminated months of clashes with the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra in which the moderate group first was pushed from its main headquarters in the northern Syrian province of Idlib and then was ousted Sunday from its new base in the province of Aleppo.

After losing this latest battle, Hazm said in a statement circulated on social media that the movement had been dissolved “in an effort to halt the bloodshed” and that surviving members would be absorbed into a new rebel coalition called the Shamiyah Front.

Nusra fighters boasted on Twitter that they had seized control of U.S.-made TOW anti-tank missiles and other American aid provided to Hazm when they overran the rebels’ headquarters in the town of Atarib in the province of Aleppo. The claims could not be verified, and American supplies of weaponry to moderate rebels in northern Syria had in any case been scaled back in recent months since the battles with Nusra began.

Syrian troops, rebels battle for key #Aleppo district
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/18765

Syrian troops battled rebels Monday over a strategic Aleppo district that could be key to securing a nearby prison and laying siege to the city’s rebel-held east. The Al-Watan daily, which is close to the government, said troops had advanced in the Sheikh Najjar district of Syria’s second city and onetime economic hub. “The army has achieved new progress in Sheikh Najjar industrial city... during its military operation to cleanse the vicinity of the Aleppo central prison and lift the siege on it,” the newspaper said. read more

#Syrian_conflict #Top_News

Exodus of Businessmen From #syria
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/exodus-businessmen-syria

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/136109-01-08.jpg

Syrians gather with their belongings on the rebel controlled side of the Bustan al-Qasr checkpoint in the district of Aleppo on February 3, 2014. (AFP - Baraa al-Halabi). Syrians gather with their belongings on the rebel controlled side of the Bustan al-Qasr checkpoint in the district of Aleppo on February 3, 2014. (AFP - Baraa al-Halabi).

#Damascus – Media reports have accused some Syrian businessmen of evading settling billion-lira loans to local banks, while others are under fire for funding armed opposition groups. Amid this renewed media campaign, businessmen who fled Syria are once again in the spotlight.

Ziad Ghosn

read (...)

#Mideast_&_North_Africa #Articles #Syrian_economy

Syrian army advances towards Aleppo
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syrian-army-advances-towards-aleppo

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/613537-01-08.jpg

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on November 10, 2013, shows Syrian government forces advancing after seizing control of a key base, Base 80, in northern Aleppo province after fierce clashes with rebels. (Photo: AFP /SANA)

Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad captured on Friday the last of three towns on the south-eastern approaches of Aleppo, state television said, advancing on the city after similar gains around the (...)

#syria #Top_News

Notable évolution chez Al Jazeera : la lutte armée à Alep est loin de bénéficier du soutien unanime de la population, et il y a des combattants étrangers parmi les rebelles.
►http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/08/201282345719523948.html

Rebels in Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, say they are disappointed that more residents have not joined their cause.

Reporting from the frontline, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr says the young fighters in the city are mainly from the countryside of Aleppo province.

It has not been easy to stand up against the Syrian army, especially when the city did not rise up when rebels stormed some poor neighbourhoods and set up bases, she says.

However, some foreigners are fighting alongside the rebels, including a few who claim allegiance to al-Qaeda.

“We saw a few Arab fighters from Saudi Arabia and Egypt who didn’t want to be filmed,” our correspondent said.

“Undoubtedly the majority of the fighters here are Syrians, but this war has attracted Arabs who feel obliged to help the opposition, who are mainly Sunni Muslims.”

Our correspondent says the authorities still enjoy some backing in Aleppo, either out of fear of the state or fear of an opposition that has no clear agenda apart from overthrowing the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

markito0171#Syria #Assad forces shelled the towns of #Byanoun and #Hayan in the #Aleppo district ►http://wikimapia.org/#lat=36.3333986&lon=37.0566916&z=14&l=5&m=b