Multiple Bombings Across Government and Kurd-Held Areas

At least six bombs in four Syrian provinces went off between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. local time on Monday morning, killing at least 47 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The deadliest of the attacks was a double bombing that targeted the Arzouna bridge area at the entrance to the coastal province of Tartous, which hosts a Russian military base. At least 35 people were killed when a car bomb was followed by a suicide bomber during the Tartous summer festival, Reuters reported.

A motorcycle bomb targeted the Marsho roundabout in the Kurdish Hasaka province, killing at least five civilians, according to the BBC. A car bomb killed at least four people at Bab Tadmour in Homs province and in Damascus two suicide bombers detonated their explosives, killing at least three people, the Observatory reported.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, nor was it immediately clear if the bombings were connected.

Russia, U.S. To Continue Talks for Syria Cease-Fire Agreement

U.S. president Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met on Monday to discuss a possible agreement to end the conflict in Syria, Reuters reported.

The meeting came after U.S. secretary of state John Kerry and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov failed to reach a cease-fire agreement on Sunday. This was their second attempt in two weeks, according to Reuters.

Obama and Putin directed Kerry and Lavrov to resume talks this week, a U.S. official told Reuters.

“If an agreement can be reached, we want to do so urgently, because of the humanitarian situation. However, we must ensure that it is an effective agreement,” the senior U.S. administration official told Reuters. “If we cannot get the type of agreement we want, we will walk away from that effort.”

Turkish Forces, Syrian Army Advance in Northern Syria

Turkish troops and their allied forces have pushed militants from the so-called Islamic State group clear of the northern Syrian border with Turkey, prime minister Binali Yildirim said on Sunday.

“From Azaz to Jarablus, our 91km [56 miles] of borderline with Syria has been entirely secured,” Yildirim said, according to the BBC. “All the terrorist organisations were pushed back – they are gone.”

Turkey launched a military intervention in northern Syria last month to push militants out of its border area. Turkish soldiers and tanks fought alongside Turkish-backed opposition forces against ISIS. Turkey was also concerned with Kurdish forces in northern Syria who have been gaining ground over the past few months.

Seperately in the northern provinces, the Syrian army retook parts of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, effectively putting the eastern part of the city under siege, according to the BBC.

Syrian and Russian air forces backed the ground offensive, which saw pro-government troops seize two military sites and sever a supply line the opposition had been able to establish last month. Some 250,000 people remain in the eastern part of Aleppo city.

Recommended Reads:

• The New York Times: U.S. Presses for Truce in Syria, With Its Larger Policy on Pause
• The Guardian: Epidemic Warning over ‘Ghost’ Refugees Stuck at Jordan–Syria Border
• The Los Angeles Times: In China, Obama Struggles for Elusive Deal With Russia on Syria
• Vox: A ‘Safe Zone’ in Syria Sounds Like a Great Idea. It Would be a Disaster.
• The Syrian Observer: Hungary to Provide 170 Scholarships to Syrian Students