U.S. and Russia Working to Split Fighting Forces, Create ‘Safe Zones’

Washington and Moscow said on Monday they are studying possible ways to separate rival forces in the area, by delineating potential “safe zones” for opposition fighters in Aleppo and dividing rebel forces from the Syrian military.

The two powers are working to extend a cease-fire to the divided city of Aleppo, where an escalation in violence over the past weeks has collapsed the cessation of hostilities and forced a pause in the Geneva peace talks.

U.S. secretary of state John Kerry met with other foreign dignitaries in Geneva on Monday in an attempt to revive the two-month-old U.S.- and Russia-backed cease-fire, which brought a relative peace to the war-torn country for the first time in five year but has quickly unraveled in recent weeks. He said the next 24 to 48 hours would be crucial in determining whether the new plan will work.

“I don’t want to make any promises that can’t be kept,” he said.

And while temporary truces were announced in two areas toward the end of last week, the agreements have not been extended to Aleppo, where Russian and government airstrikes and rebel shelling have killed hundreds of civilians in the past week, including more than 50 people in a hospital that aid workers say was directly targeted by the government.

“There are only two air forces flying in that particular area,” Kerry said, referring to the government and Russia, Bashar al-Assad’s primary backer. “The Russians have been clear they are not flying.”

“We are trying in the next hours to see if it is possible to reach an agreement that can … create a path forward for the cessation to hold so that there isn’t one day of silence or two days of silence, but an ongoing process that relieves the people of Syria from this devastation, from this day-to-day killing machine that is being unleashed by the Assad regime,” Kerry said.

Inmates Revolt, Seize Guards in Hama Prison

Pro-government troops surrounded Hama prison, 132mi (212km) north of Damascus, on Monday and fired tear gas into the yard after inmates revolted and seized several guards, according to a monitoring group.

The inmates, who include political and Islamist prisoners, were protesting against a planned transfer of prisoners from Hama to Sednaya military prison, 17mi (27km) north of Damascus, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The nearby Ajnad al-Sham rebel group, a Damascus-based alliance of several Islamist rebel groups, said it was ready to shell government militias in towns surrounding the prison in response to the mistreatment of inmates, who it said were demanding “basic rights” including the right to trial.

According to the group, prisoners had asked the armed opposition to “break the siege” by government forces.

In August last year, hundreds of inmates in Hama’s prison rioted in protest against poor conditions and harsh sentences.

Turkey and U.S.-Led Coalition Hit ISIS in Syria

Turkish military shelling and drone strikes conducted by the U.S.-led coalition killed a total of 63 militants fighting with the so-called Islamic State group (ISIS) on Monday, the Associated Press reports.

The offensive began on Sunday after four rockets fired from Syria hit the Turkish border town of Kilis, wounding eight people. On Monday, rockets that struck the town killed one person and wounded two others.

Four drones deployed from the Incirlik air base, used as a launching point for U.S.-led coalition forces in southern Turkey, killed a total of 29 militants.

Another 34 ISIS militants were “neutralized” by Turkish rocket fire and artillery shelling, according to the Turkish state media, which said the strikes took out multiple rocket launchers and gun positions.

Recommended Reads

• The Washington Post: The U.S. Should Accept a Syrian Kurdish Region, Says Turkish Opposition Leader
• The New York Times: Talks on Syria Seek to Extend Fragile Truce to Aleppo
• Los Angeles Times: As Russian Planes Bombard Syrian Rebels, Debate Over Anti-aircraft Missiles Returns
• Bellingcat: Striving for “the Grandest Epics”: Forecasting the Future of Jund al-Aqsa
• PRI: The Other Islamic State: al-Qaida Is Still Fighting for an Emirate of Its Own