Syrian Activists Report New Chlorine Attack in Idlib
According to Mohammed Tennari – a doctor who testified before the U.N. Security Council last month after treating victims of a half-dozen attacks in Idlib from an earlier attack – government helicopters dropped barrel bombs on the villages of Janoudieh, Kansafrah and Kafr Batiekh, injuring nearly 80 people.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights, a monitoring group based outside of Syria, confirmed the reports of three different attacks.
The accounts could not be independently verified.
There has been a rise in reports of suspected chlorine bombs attacks as rebel groups have made significant advances against government troops in recent weeks.
A U.N. resolution was passed last month condemning the use of chemical weapons including chlorine in Syria and threatening action in the case of new violations.
However, the U.N. Security Council, which remains divided on Syria, has been unable to follow up on the resolution because no one has had a mandate to assign blame.
The increase in reports of suspected attacks comes as the U.S. spearheads an effort to attribute blame for Syrian chlorine attacks.
U.S. Military Begins Training Syrian Rebels to Fight Islamic State
After months of delays and vetting, the U.S. military has begun training the first group of Syrian rebels this week at a base in Jordan as part of a broader effort to create a force capable of challenging the Islamic State, Reuters reports.
U.S. defense secretary Ash Carter said that a group of just 90 Syrians were being trained initially by the military in Jordan and that more fighters would begin training soon at sites in Jordan, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
“We’re starting with the people that we have that we’ve vetted very carefully,” Carter said, pointing out that the effort was advancing with tremendous caution.
“Nearly 4,000 fighters volunteered for the program but, after an extensive screening process, only 400 were given places,” the BBC reports.
Even as the Pentagon announced the start of training, it did not indicate what would happen if the rebels intentionally or unintentionally engaged in fighting with government forces.
The Obama administration has said the program aims to target Islamic State forces only. However, experts warn that the fighters are likely to come in contact with Syrian government forces eventually.
The program aims ultimately to train and arm more than 15,000 rebels over the next three years.
Since last year, the U.S. has been part of an international coalition conducting an airstrike campaign against Islamic State, which controls large swathes of territory inside Iraq and Syria.
Turkey Officials Confirm Deal with Saudi Arabia to Assist Rebels Fighting Against Assad
Turkey and Saudi Arabia have launched a new joint strategy to oust Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, AP reports.
The two countries have for years been at odds over how to deal with the regime. However, they have now reportedly agreed on a deal to greatly enhance support to rebels battling President Assad’s government forces.
“Mutual frustration with what they consider American indecision has brought the two together in a strategic alliance that is driving recent rebel gains in northern Syria, and has helped strengthen a new coalition of anti-Assad insurgents,” AP writes.
A new joint command center in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib was established following the Turkish–Saudi agreement. There, a coalition of groups – calling itself Conquest Army – an alliance of Islamist groups including Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham, has been working collectively to erode Assad’s front. The alliance took the city of Idlib and the strategic town of Jisr al-Shughour in the past two months.
The Obama administration has made it clear that its focus is on battling the Islamic State and that it is worried a revived rebel presence would topple the Assad regime and could potentially put a more dangerous radical Islamist regime in its place.
The new push by Turkey and Saudi Arabia suggests that they view Assad as a bigger threat to the region than groups such as the al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra.
“Turkish officials discount the possibility that Nusra will ever be in a position to hold sway over much of Syria,” AP writes.
Recommended Reads
- The Economist: Syria’s Civil War: Clinging On
- Associated Press: Turkey Officials Confirm Pact with Saudi Arabia to Help Rebels Fighting Syria’s Assad
- The Guardian: Five Charged in Syria Fraud Investigation
- Stratfor: In Turkey, Saudi Finds an Unlikely Partner Against Syria
- Agence France-Presse: I.S. Attack on Kurdish Forces in Syria ‘Kills 16’