Dozens Killed in Clashes Between Rebels and Islamic State in Qalamoun

At least 42 fighters are reported to have been killed in clashes between rebels and Islamic State militants north of Damascus, Agence France-Presse reports.

“At least 30 Islamist rebels and 12 fighters from ISIS were killed in fighting since Tuesday” in the hilly region of Qalamoun, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Qalamoun is divided in two with a western side that borders Lebanon and is mostly controlled by the regime and fighters from the allied Lebanese Shiite movement, Hezbollah.

The eastern portion has been subject to intense battles between ISIS and the rebels. It is an important area because it straddles rebel weapons supply routes from the Turkish border to the north and the Jordanian border to the south.

ISIS has reportedly cut off one route and is preparing to consolidate more to “suffocate the rebels,” the Syrian Observatory said.

Elsewhere in the country, the Syrian government bombarded rebel-held territory in Damascus and a northern town and surrounding villages controlled by the Islamic State – including a local hospital – killing dozens of people, Associated Press reports.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 15 people were killed in regime airstrikes on a hospital in the town of Dayr Hafir and surrounding villages in the northern province of Aleppo.

The Observatory reported government airstrikes killed at least 11 people, including two women, in rebel-held suburbs Harasta and Douma in the capital of Damascus.

Russia Supplies Arms to Iraq and Syria to Battle Islamic State

In interviews on Wednesday, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia is arming Syria and Iraq to help them battle the Islamic State and called U.S.-led coalition strikes against the group ineffective, Reuters reports.

“Islamic State is our main enemy at the moment. If only because hundreds of Russian citizens, hundreds of Europeans, hundreds of Americans fight alongside IS,” he said in an interview with three radio stations. “They are already coming back… and to enjoy themselves could stage vile acts at home.”

Lavrov criticized the U.S.-led efforts to battle the militant group, and called on Washington to work with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in the fight against ISIS.

“We are helping both Iraq and Syria, possibly more effectively than anyone else, by providing weapons to their armies and security forces,” Lavrov said.

Russia, a key ally and financial backer of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, has long supported him with arms supplies for Syria. Russia has also been trying to re-launch peace talks between the regime and opposition. However, it has rejected opposition and Western calls for the departure of Assad.

It says that cooperation with the regime in Damascus is necessary to fight “terrorists’ on the ground.”

Recommended Reads

• PBS: Teen Brides and Future Jihadis, Syria’s Child Refugees
• The Guardian: Turkey to Crack Down on Australians Crossing Border to Join Conflict in Syria
• Reuters: Active Online, Foreign Women Become Islamic State Widows
• Foreign Policy: Is Iran Overstretched in Syria?
• The National: Western Fighters Help Kurdish Forces in Syria Battle ISIL

Photo Courtesy of AP Images