Senior Syrian opposition negotiator 'not optimistic' on Geneva talks
Mohamed Alloush, a senior Syrian opposition negotiator representing the Jaish al-Islam (Islam Army) rebel group, has told reporters in Geneva that he is not optimistic about the peace talks, Reuters reports.
"Nothing has changed in the situation on the ground so as long as the situation is like this we are not optimistic," he told reporters. "There are no good intentions from the regime's side to reach a solution."
Linked here is an interactive map of Syria showing which groups control which areas, created by historian and Twitter user @deSyracuse who is tracking the Syrian conflict.
UN envoy de Mistura meets Syrian government delegation in Geneva: AFP
UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura has begun talks with Syrian government representatives in Geneva this morning, AFP is reporting.
De Mistura said yesterday that he indirect talks between Syrian government and opposition groups had begun.
The main opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee, is set to meet de Mistura this afternoon, AFP say.
Iraqis running out of food, medicine in IS stronghold Fallujah
Tens of thousands of Iraqis in the besieged IS stronghold of Fallujah are running out of food, medicine and fuel, according to residents reached by Reuters by telephone.
Fallujah in western Anbar province is under siege after IS mined entrances to the city to prevent residents leaving.
A senior Iraqi official has appealed to the U.S.-led coalition to air drop food and medicine to people in Fallujah.
Syrian army makes advances in northern Aleppo: monitor
The Syrian army and loyalist forces have made fresh advances today in a major offensive in northern Aleppo that could cut rebel supply lines between the city and the Turkish border, the Britain-based monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said.
The advances are backed by Russian air support, according to SOHR.
Syrian state news agency SANA reports this morning that Syrian army units and "popular defense groups" -- likely a reference to the Syrian National Defense Force, a pro government militia -- had captured the village of Hardatnin in the northern Aleppo countryside on February 1.
The offensives are apparently aimed at seizing rebel held territory around the Shi'ite villages of Nubl and al-Zahraa, according to Reuters.
SANA published a video with footage from the fighting in the area.
Kremlin spokesman: Britain's remarks on Russia in Syria can't be taken seriously
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has weighed in on the accusation by British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond that Russia is strengthening IS in Syria, saying that Hammond's comments were illogical, incorrect and cannot be taken seriously.
"As far as I am aware, our Foreign Ministry has already given a reaction. Of course, these remarks cannot be taken seriously. In fact, Russia is undertaking a massive, sustained effort in order, first of all, to help Syrians in the war on terror, on international terror, which poses a threat not only to Syria itself but to the whole world. Therefore, to make such a statement is illogical, it is incorrect and most of all it is contrary to the essence of the efforts that Russia is making," Peskov said according to RIA Novosti.
Russia dismisses Britain's accusations that it is strengthening IS in Syria as "dangerous disinformation"
Moscow has dismissed comments by Britain's Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond that Russia's actions in Syria are undermining efforts to fight the IS group, with Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova telling a Moscow radio station this morning that Hammond's accusations were "dangerous disinformation."
"It’s a source of constant grief to me that everything we are doing is being undermined by the Russians," Hammond told Reuters during a visit to the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, about 10km south of the border with Syria.
"The Russians say let’s talk, and then they talk and they talk and they talk. The problem with the Russians is while they are talking they are bombing, and they are supporting Assad."
Unfortunately, we won't be running the Tracking Islamic State blog today due to illness. Thanks for understanding.
That concludes our live blogging for today. Please join us again tomorrow for more coverage.
A Reuters report:
The United States and its allied targeted Islamic State militants in Iraq with 18 strikes on Friday and five strikes in Syria, the U.S. military said on Sunday.
Four of the strikes in Iraq were near Mosul, destroying two Islamic State heavy machine guns, two fighting positions, five assembly areas, and a checkpoint, the U.S. Defense Department said in a statement.
Near Ramadi, also in Iraq, seven strikes struck three separate Islamic State tactical units, it said.