UN strains to keep Syria talks alive: Reuters
The United Nations is straining to keep the faltering Syria peace talks alive today, as Russia vowed to continue its air strikes until all "terrorists" were defeated, Reuters reports.
UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said that peace talks formally started on Feb. 1 in Geneva but both opposition and government representatives have insisted that, in fact, the talks have not yet begun. Meanwhile fighting continues on the ground in Syria -- and so do air strikes and sieges.
Russia's air campaign in Syria proving successful -- for Moscow (and Assad)
The Washington Post notes this morning that, four months after starting its air strikes in Syria, Moscow is confident that its operation there is paying off -- for Russia and for its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose forces have gained ground against moderate and Islamist rebels.
Under the banner of fighting international terrorism, President Vladimir Putin has reversed the fortunes of forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which were rapidly losing ground last year to moderate and Islamist rebel forces in the country’s five-year-old crisis. Government forces are now on the offensive, and on Tuesday, they scored their most significant victory yet, seizing the strategic town of Sheikh Miskeen from rebels who are backed by a U.S.-led coalition.
Aid convoy heading to besieged Syrian town: ICRC
An aid convoy of 12 trucks carrying food and medicine is heading to the besieged Syrian town of Moadamiyeh southwest of Damascus today, ICRC spokesman Pawel Krzysiek said, AP reports.
The humanitarian situation in Moadamiyeh worsened toward the end of 2015 after government forces blocked the last access point.
IS shelling kills Iraqi soldiers in Ramadi
IS militants killed at least 13 Iraqi soldiers in Ramadi in fresh shelling on the newly-liberated town today, Al Jazeera reports.
IS is engaged in a counter-assault against Iraqi security forces, who retook the town several weeks ago in what was lauded as a significant victory against the militants.
Iraqi military sources told Al Jazeera that at least nine soldiers from the army's 8th Division were killed by shelling in the eastern suburb of Shujirayah -- one of the last strongholds for IS in the city -- while four more were killed in an IS artillery barrage on Abu Risha in the north.
Lebanese army kill two, arrests 27 militants including IS commander
The Lebanese army has killed two militants and arrested at least 27 more including a commander from the IS group in a raid in the town of Arsal near the Syrian border, a security source has told Reuters.
Among those detained was Abu Bakr al-Raqqawi, a local IS commander, the source said.
IS kills 'spies' in Libya's Sirte
The IS group in Libya has carried out execution-style killings of two people it claimed were "spies" from Libya Dawn (Fajr Libya), a group of Islamist militias that took over the Libyan capital Tripoli in 2014.
According to analyst Oded Berkowitz, one of the victims was crucified in Sirte and the other was shot in the head in the desert.
Lavrov: No grounds for ending Syria operation
BBC Russian has more of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's comments on Syria.
Lavrov said that he saw no grounds for Russia to end its air strikes in Syria.
"Russian air strikes will not stop while we have not really defeated the terror organizations IS and the Al-Nusra Front. I don't understand why these air strikes must stop," Lavrov said.
Lavrov added that Moscow was prepared to coordinate its war on terror with the U.S.-led coalition, despite "questions about it legitimacy."
"The only real problem lies in the insufficient legitimacy of the U.S.-led coalition: they have permission from the Iraqi authorities but not from the Syrian authorities," Lavrov said, referring to the fact that the U.S.-led air strikes against IS in Syria are being conducted without permission from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
U.S.-led coalition more effective in Syria after Russian air strikes began: Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also claimed that that U.S.-led coalition against the IS group had become more effective in Syria since the start of the Russian air campaign there in late September.
"We showed them an example, the U.S.-led coalition against IS was not very impressive for the previous year and a half. We are glad that with the success of the Russian operation, the coalition's operation started to become much more effective," Lavrov said.
RIA Novosti, which reported Lavrov's remarks, also included an infographic to show the number of coalition air strikes in Syria and Iraq.
'Capricious people' have emerged among Syrian opposition delegation: Lavrov
Lavrov also commented on the Syria peace talks in Geneva, criticizing the Syrian opposition delegation by saying some in that delegation were putting forward conditions that ran contrary to agreements reached earlier.
"Capricious people have also appeared [in the delegation], who are starting to put forward preconditions that have no relation to the fundamental principles and the Geneva communique, and the Vienna documents and the UN Security Council resolution," Lavrov said.