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Israeli Warplanes Strike Near the Border of Syria and Lebanon

Israeli warplanes launched two raids near the Syrian-Lebanese border late Monday, according to Lebanon ’s National News Agency, raising speculation that Israel might have targeted a weapons convoy to prevent the Syrian government from delivering missiles to its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah . Israel has struck Syria at least three times in the past year, according to United States officials, to prevent sophisticated weapons from reaching Hezbollah amid the chaos of Syria ’s war. Neither Syria nor Hezbollah has retaliated. The potential significance of Monday’s strike depended on whether the raids hit Syrian or Lebanese territory, which was not immediately clear. Analysts said it would be politically harder for Hezbollah to refrain from striking back if Israel, its longtime enemy, had struck inside Lebanon. An Israeli strike inside Lebanon would also represent a further escalation in the regional involvement in — and spillover from — the Syrian […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Top Military Body Against Syria’s Assad Is in Chaos, Undermining Fight

It appeared to be a huge step forward for the scattered rebel groups fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad of Syria: the creation of a central body of top insurgent commanders who would coordinate military campaigns, direct foreign support and serve as a unifying force for their diverse movement. But 14 months after its creation, the body, known as the Supreme Military Council, is in disarray. Islamist groups have seized its weapons storerooms, its members have stolen or sold its supplies, and one prominent commander it armed and equipped has publicly joined an offshoot of Al Qaeda. The council’s full dysfunction spilled into public view recently when a group of its members decided at a secret meeting to oust its chief of staff, Gen. Salim Idris, and put another man in his place. While the opposition’s exiled leadership, the Syrian National Coalition, quickly congratulated the new […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Fears of Syria militancy expand influence of Saudi prince

Saudi Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef, perhaps the most powerful younger prince in the ruling al-Saud family, is shaping Riyadh’s new emphasis on protecting the kingdom from a fresh wave of Islamist militancy inspired by the war in Syria. The United States pulled out the stops for him when he visited Washington last week to prepare for President Barack Obama’s fence-mending trip to Riyadh next month. Secretary of State John Kerry, National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Central Intelligence Agency chief John Brennan, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey and National Security Agency director Keith Alexander all sat down with the 54-year-old, a veteran of Saudi Arabia’s fight against al Qaeda. Prince Mohammed seems likely to be a central figure in the world’s top oil exporter for decades to come. Many Saudis say he is a strong candidate to become king […]

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Bombings in Syria Force Wave of Civilians to Flee

Hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians have fled rebel-held parts of the city of Aleppo in recent weeks under heavy aerial bombardment by the Syrian government, emptying whole neighborhoods and creating what aid workers say is one of the largest refugee flows of the entire civil war. The displaced, as many as 500,000 to date, the United Nations says, have flooded the countryside, swelling populations in war-battered communities that are already short on space and food and pushing a new wave of refugees into Turkey , where in interviews many have described a harrowing journey that left them in desperate condition, broke, hungry and, in many cases, sick or wounded. Much of the human tide flowing out of northern Syria has crashed on this once-quiet border town, where Syrians now nearly outnumber the original […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Syria Peace Talks Deadlock as Recriminations Fly

The second round of Syria peace talks deadlocked in acrimony and frustration on Friday, as the government delegation appeared to rule out any compromise with the opposition, throwing the future of the negotiations into more doubt. Members of the opposition delegation called on the United States and Russia, the two major sponsors of the talks, to find ways to move forward, and said there was a small possibility of a final meeting between the antagonists on Saturday. But the prevailing mood was grim. The impasse in Geneva came as the United Nations human rights office warned of new deprivations and civilian uprooting inside Syria and antigovernment activists in the country reported new mayhem, including a large car bombing in the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Saudis Agree to Provide Syrian Rebels With Mobile Antiaircraft Missiles

Washington’s Arab allies, disappointed with Syria peace talks, have agreed to provide rebels there with more sophisticated weaponry, including shoulder-fired missiles that can take down jets, according to Western and Arab diplomats and opposition figures. Saudi Arabia has offered to give the opposition for the first time Chinese man-portable air defense systems, or Manpads, and antitank guided missiles from Russia, according to an Arab diplomat and several opposition figures with knowledge of the efforts. Saudi officials couldn’t be reached to comment. The U.S. has long opposed arming rebels with antiaircraft missiles for fear they could fall into the hands of extremists who might use them against the West or commercial airlines. The Saudis have held off supplying them in the past because of U.S. opposition. A senior Obama administration official said Friday that the U.S. objection remains the same. "There hasn’t been a change internally on our view," […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Escaped Inmates From Iraq Fuel Syrian Insurgency

A series of daring but little noticed breakouts from Iraqi prisons has freed hundreds of hardened militants who are now among the leaders and foot soldiers of the radical Sunni groups operating in neighboring Syria and, increasingly, in Iraq itself. The role of the former inmates in fueling a new wave of Sunni jihad across the region is an unfortunate reminder of the breakdown of authority in Iraq since the United States departed in 2011, of the security vacuum that has spread around the region and of the continuing threat of Sunni-led terrorist groups that the United States said it was fighting during its occupation of Iraq. The prison breaks also […]

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Fate of Hundreds of Men Evacuated From Homs and Detained in Doubt

Hundreds of evacuees from this besieged city were detained by the Syrian regime as soon as they were rescued, said the top United Nations official here, who said the U.N. now has no control over their fate. The disclosure came as President Barack Obama and his visiting French counterpart, François Hollande, expressed dismay in Washington about the humanitarian crisis in Homs and elsewhere in Syria. Mr. Obama described the situation as "horrendous" and asserted that the country was "crumbling" as he put the responsibility partly on Syrian ally Russia. Most member states of the U.N. Security Council want to pass a resolution requiring that humanitarian aid be allowed into besieged areas of Syria. But, "Russia is a holdout," Mr. Obama said. "They cannot say that they are concerned about the well-being of the Syrian people when there are starving civilians," he said, adding not only Syria is responsible, […]

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Syrian Regime Loyalists Seethe Over U.N. Aid Operation for Rebel Area

HOMS, Syria—Regime loyalists here voiced fury over a United Nations humanitarian relief mission for a rebel-held enclave in their city, accusing the organization of bias against minorities that support President Bashar al-Assad. The U.N. said Monday that it was extending the relief mission for the old quarter of Homs for three more days. It has already evacuated more than 1,000 people and delivered desperately needed food while its convoys came under mortar and sniper fire on their way into the besieged enclave. At least 11 people have been killed in violence around the operation since it began on Friday, the U.N. said. Members of the Mr. Assad’s Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam and a minority in Syria that dominates the regime, accused the U.N. of being far more concerned about taking in food and medicine for rebels and civilians than determining the whereabouts of some 740 missing […]

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Break in Siege Is Little Relief to Syrian City

Civilians in Homs, Syria, left for a safer part of the city Sunday. Despite a cease-fire, aid convoys were attacked over the weekend. Bassel Tawil/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images ANTAKYA, Turkey — A three-day humanitarian cease-fire in the Syrian city of Homs was supposed to be a small breakthrough, a moment of relief for civilians trapped in a grim civil war. But mortar rounds and gunfire struck near aid convoys, damaging vehicles and leaving victims lying in the streets. Snipers fired on civilians as they fled their besieged neighborhood. Others refused to leave, fearing a massacre of those left behind. Limited food made it in, and some of the nearly 700 people who reached safety said they had been surviving on one meal a day and that some of their neighbors had resorted to eating grass. Though few expect the international peace talks that resume in Geneva on Monday […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple