50,000 Syrians fleeing Aleppo fighting amass at Turkey border crossing
The Turkish Islamic charity IHH says that about 50,000 Syrians fleeing intense fighting in northern Syria have amassed at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing on the border with Turkey.
Serkan Nergis of IHH says that displaced Syrians began heading for the border crossing yesterday and that IHH is setting up tent camps to provide temporary shelter on the Syrian side. The border remains closed today.
Syrian opposition should welcome Aleppo offensive as it targets Al Qaeda: Russia
Alexey Borodavkin, Moscow's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, has said that the Syrian opposition should welcome an offensive by the Syrian government in Aleppo province because it targets Islamist militants including from Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, the Al-Nusra Front, Reuters reports.
"Why did the opposition that left Geneva complain about the offensive in Aleppo, which is actually targeted against Jabhat al-Nusra and other radical extremist groups?" said Borodavkin.
"The opposition should be happy that terrorists are defeated. But, on the contrary, they were disappointed and left negotiations," Borodavkin added.
Borodavkin said yesterday that it was "obvious" that the "moderate" Syrian opposition were linked to "terrorists" from the Al-Nusra Front, RIA Novosti reported.
"Regarding the Aleppo offensive, then the question arises -- why are the so-called moderate opposition so worried that terrorists from the Al-Nusra Front are suffering a defeat. Nusra are terrorists, recognized as such by the UN Security Council. The answer, unfortunately, is obvious. This opposition is linked to Nusra, which is an affiliate of Al-Qaeda," Borodavkin said.
Syrian opposition official: we probably won't return to talks because of Moscow, Damascus
Mohammed Alloush, the chief negotiator of the main Saudi-backed Syrian opposition group, has told AP that his delegation is unlikely to return to Geneva for indirect peace talks because of Syria and Russia's "arrogant" bombing campaign.
Alloush, who represents the Islam Army, said that the Syrian government and Russia were to blame for the failure of the talks.
IRGC general, 6 Basij volunteers killed in Syria: reports
A high-ranking member of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and six Iranian Basij militia volunteers have been killed in fighting in Syria, semi-official Iranian media is reporting today.
Tens of residents of Russia's Astrakhan Oblast fighting with IS in Syria: officials
Several tens of residents of Russia's Astrakhan Oblast are fighting in Syria alongside the IS group, the head of the regional Interior Ministry, Oleg Agarkov, has told Interfax.
Agarkov said that over 70 people from the region, mostly aged under 30, were fighting in Syria and that local Federal Security Service (FSB) and police officers were working to identify recruiters.
"We are checking the residential sector, identifying tenants and so on. We are carrying out measures in areas where there are large concentrations of people. There are results," Agarkov said.
Video shows scale of displacement from Aleppo amid Russian air strikes
Video footage posted yesterday by the Shahba News Agency shows some of the scale of the displacement of Syrians in northern Aleppo province as a government offensive backed by heavy Russian air strikes encircles the city.
Two Kyrgyz militants recruited others from Syria: GKNB
Two Kyrgyz nationals are accused of carrying out recruitment activities while they were in Syria, according to the press service of Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security (GKNB).
The two men are both residents of the city of Talas in northwestern Kyrgyzstan and have been identified as A.A. born in 1986 and Zh.A., born in 1993.
A.A. is thought to have relocated his wife and three children to Syria in 2015.
Syrian rebel commander says northern Aleppo countryside 'totally encircled'
The commander of a U.S.-supported Syrian rebel group has told Reuters this morning that the northern countryside of Aleppo province is completely encircled by Syrian government forces and its allies.
Heavy Russian bombardment is continuing, said Hassan Haj Ali, the head of Free Syrian Army group Liwa Suqour al-Jabal that has received U.S. military training in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
The comments from Haj Ali come after reports that Syrian government troops broke a rebel siege of two Shi'ite villages in northern Aleppo province on Feb. 3, cutting off rebel supply lines from Turkey to Aleppo city.
Syrian government closes in on Daraa city
AP has more on the Syrian state media reports that government troops have retaken the rebel-held town of Atman in Daraa province.
As AP notes, the retaking of Atman opens supply routes to Daraa city immediately to the south, which is contested between rebels and government forces.
As with the government advances in Aleppo province, Russian air strikes have played a key part in the recapture of Atman in Daraa province.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that government troops and allied militias advanced under cover of heavy air strikes and artillery bombardment.
Pro-rebel social media accounts have also reported Russian air strikes in Atman. This unverified video purports to show the aftermath of a Feb. 3 air strike in the town.
German spy agency: IS sending militants disguised as refugees to Europe
IS militants have been deliberately planted among refugees flowing into Europe, the head of German's BfV intelligence agency has said.
Hans-Georg Maassen made his comments on ZDF television this morning, a day after Berlin police foiled a potential IS attack in Berlin.
"Then we have repeatedly seen that terrorists ... have slipped in camouflaged or disguised as refugees. This is a fact that the security agencies are facing," Maassen told ZDF television.
"We are trying to recognize and identify whether there are still more IS fighters or terrorists from IS that have slipped in."