More British air strikes against IS in Syria, Iraq
British forces have carried out more air strikes against the IS group in Syria and Iraq, including to provide close air support for the Kurdish peshmerga militia in northern Iraq on February 1.
Most of the strikes were in Iraq, but the UK government reported that on January 29, Tornado GR4 and Typhoon FGR4s from RAF Akrotiri, supported by a Voyager tanker, flew armed reconnaissance missions over north-east Syria; and on January 31, a pair of Typhoons also patrolled over eastern Syria, where they used eight Paveways to destroy two large clusters of defensive positions.
Lavrov: Russia doesn't recognize Islam Army as partner in talks: RIA
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Moscow does not recognize the Syrian rebel group Jaish al-Islam (Islam Army) as a partner in the peace talks in Geneva.
Lavrov's comments come as senior opposition negotiator Mohamed Alloush of the Islam Army told reporters that he was "not optimistic" about the prospects of the talks.
Russia considers the Islam Army to be a terrorist group. Alloush is a negotiator with the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), a Syrian opposition umbrella group backed by Saudi Arabia.
"We know that the delegation of that part of the Syrian opposition, which was formed at a meeting in Riyadh, includes a couple of people linked, as we understand it, with the Islam Army... We agreed and the government delegation agreed with us, that if they are to participate in the negotiations process, they will do so in a private capacity," Lavrov said.
Such participation "did not mean any recognition of the groups Islam Army and Ahrar al-Sham as partners in the talks," Lavrov added.
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.