Syria’s al-Qaida Branch Seizes Most of Regime-Held City of Idlib

A coalition of Islamist insurgents, including al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra, seized almost full control of the northwestern city of Idlib on Saturday, in a powerful blow to President Bashar al-Assad’s government. Assad’s forces collapsed after four days of fighting, the AP reports.

If the insurgents are able to retain their hold on Idlib, a major urban center near the border with Turkey, it would be the second provincial capital lost by President Assad’s forces in the four-year conflict, after the loss of Raqqa two years ago.

The northern city of Raqqa was seized by fighters, including members of Jabhat al-Nusra, but it was soon taken over and used as a base by the Islamic State to expand its extremist rule.

Syrians fled Idlib on Sunday, fearing government reprisals and harsh retaliation.

“The Syrian American Medical Society estimated that 100,000 more people could be displaced by the fighting in Idlib, which is already crammed with people displaced from elsewhere,” the New York Times writes.

Opposition fighters including Jabhat al-Nusra have controlled the countryside of Idlib province since 2012, but forces loyal to President Assad have maintained their hold on the city.

Idlib is located near a main highway linking the capital Damascus with Aleppo.

Its capture by Jabhat al-Nusra highlights the growing power of extremist groups in Syria, who now control about half the country.

“With the world’s attention focused on the Islamic State group, the Nusra Front has quietly consolidated its power in Syria in recent months, crushing moderate rebel groups the West may try to work with while increasingly enforcing its own brutal version of Islamic law,” the AP writes.

Last week, opposition forces, also led by Jabhat al-Nusra, captured the strategic town of Bosra al-Sham in southern Syria.

President Bashar al-Assad Denies Use of Chemical Weapons, Barrel Bombs; Claims Islamic State is Expanding

In an interview with CBS News, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denied reports that his regime had used chemical weapons and barrel bombs against his country’s citizens, calling the widely held claim “malicious propaganda against Syria,” Newsweek reports.

“First of all, the chlorine gas is not military gas,” Assad says in a clip of the interview. “You can buy it anywhere.”

When interviewer Charlie Rose claimed the gas could be used as a weapon, Assad added, “It’s not very effective. It’s not used as military gas. That’s very self-evident. Traditional arms are more important than chlorine.”

His statements come a week after claims that Syrian government helicopters attacked the village of Binnish and town of Sarmin with chlorine bombs.

The president also claimed that the Islamic State had expanded and gained recruits since the start of U.S.-led strikes against the militant group.

Asked how much benefit he was getting from the strikes in Syria, which began last September, Assad said, “Sometimes you could have local benefit but in general if you want to talk in terms of ISIS, actually ISIS has expanded since the beginning of the strikes.”

He also said that some estimates suggested the group was attracting 1,000 recruits a month in Syria.

In another excerpt from the same interview, Assad claimed he was open to dialogue with the U.S.

“As [a] principle, in Syria we could say that every dialogue is a positive thing, and we are going to be open to any dialogue with anyone, including the United States, regarding anything, based on mutual respect,” he said.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said this month that his country would have to negotiate with Assad for a political transition in Syria. However, the State Department quickly clarified that Kerry was not suggesting the U.S. would negotiate with Assad himself.

Islamic State Reportedly Beheads Eight Shiites in Syria’s Hama

A new video released by the Islamic State group on Sunday reportedly shows the group beheading eight men said to be Shiite Muslims in the central Syrian province of Hama, VICE News reports.

“The video, first posted Saturday on Twitter, bears the watermark of the Islamic State’s official media wing and shares similar stylistic elements to previous execution videos released by the militant group,” VICE writes.

An Islamic State fighter uses a derogatory term for Shiites in the video, calling them “impure infidels.” He adds that the current military campaign against the Islamic State will only make the group stronger.

“Our swords will soon, God willing, reach the Nuseiries and their allies like Bashar and his party,” the man said referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group, which is fighting on his side.

“The word ‘Nuseiry’ is a derogatory term to refer to Assad’s Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam,” the AP writes.

While the identities of those killed have not been confirmed, the Lebanese state-run National News Agency quoted the family of Younes Hujairi, who was kidnapped from his hometown of Arsal near the Syrian border in January, as saying he had been beheaded.

Last August, fighters from the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra captured two dozen Lebanese soldiers and policemen in a joint, cross-border raid.

According to the AP, at least four of those hostages have been killed so far, including two who were beheaded by the Islamic State.

“It was not clear if Hujairi was one of one of the men beheaded in the video. Hujairi is a Sunni, while the video states that all the beheaded men were Shiites,” the AP writes.

ISIS has beheaded scores of people since it captured large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in its self-declared caliphate.

Recommended Reads

• Reuters: Syria’s President: Islamic State Has Expanded Since Start of U.S. Airstrikes
• The Guardian: A Chance to Save Syria That World Leaders Must Seize This Week
• The Huffington Post: How Will Syria’s Assad Be Held Accountable for Crimes Against Humanity?
• The Washington Post: Visualizing the 220,000 Lives Lost in Syria
• Associated Press: U.N. Warns Emergency Fund for Palestinians in Syria Near Empty

Photo Courtesy of AP Images