A jihadist group that was formerly Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria has confirmed that an air strike killed a senior leader after the Pentagon said it had targeted him. Ahmed Salama Mabrouk, an Egyptian also known by his nom de guerre Abu Faraj “was martyred after a coalition air strike in the west of Idlib province,” … Read more
Russia’s increasing military action in Syria is forcing moderate elements within the Syrian opposition into the hands of extremists, a US state department spokesman has said. Mark Toner said renewed Russian and Syrian air strikes were making a difficult situation “more confused”. The US says it may end co-operation with Russia over its action in … Read more
The US is trying to spare a Syrian jihadist group in case it is needed to unseat President Assad, the Russian foreign minister has told the BBC. Sergei Lavrov said the US had broken its promise to separate the powerful Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly known as al-Nusra Front) and other extremist groups from US-backed moderate … Read more
A week-old truce in Syria brokered by the US and Russia appears close to unravelling, with alleged violations by government and rebel forces mounting. A US-backed rebel group in the divided northern city of Aleppo said the initiative had “practically failed”. Rebels also warned that the forced evacuation of some 300 fighters from a besieged … Read more
A US-led air attack in eastern Syria that killed dozens of government troops fighting so-called Islamic State has endangered an already shaky ceasefire deal, Russia says. The attack put “a very big question mark” over the truce’s future, said Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin. The Russian army says at least 62 Syrian troops were killed … Read more
US-led coalition air strikes have killed at least 62 Syrian troops fighting so-called Islamic State in the east, the Russian military says. Aircraft flew in from Iraq and bombed Syrian troops near Deir al-Zour airport, allowing the IS jihadists to advance, the Russians said. The US has not yet commented. Russia earlier expressed fears the … Read more
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Syrian rebel groups are exploiting the current ceasefire to regroup. He said the US, which backs some rebel groups, was more focused on retaining their military capacity than separating moderate and militant groups, a stated aim of the truce which began on Monday. Mr Putin also urged Washington to … Read more
A cessation of hostilities has come into effect in Syria, although it is unclear how widely it will be observed. If the truce holds for seven days, the US and Russia will carry out co-ordinated air strikes against jihadist militants. The Syrian army says it is observing the truce but it is still unclear whether … Read more
Turkey has a duty to defeat the so-called Islamic State (IS) in neighbouring Syria; President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said. He called it a “binding duty”, to ensure the militants were “unable to carry out actions inside our country”. Turkey’s military said its warplanes killed 20 IS fighters during air raids over Syria on Saturday. … Read more
Turkey and the EU have welcomed a nationwide truce for Syria brokered by the US and Russia but have warned that further action is needed. Turkey said aid must be delivered from the very start while EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini looked towards a “political transition”. The deal provides for a 10-day truce from … Read more
A senior commander of the Syrian militant group formerly known as al-Nusra Front has been killed near Aleppo, rebel sources say. The group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham said on its Twitter account that commander Abu Omar Sarakeb died in an air strike in Aleppo province. It did not say which country’s forces had carried out the … Read more
A senior commander of the Syrian militant group formerly known as al-Nusra Front has been killed near Aleppo, rebel sources say. The group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham said on its Twitter account that commander Abu Omar Sarakeb died in an air strike in Aleppo province. It did not say which country’s forces had carried out the … Read more