Rebels in Idlib threaten death sentence for anyone smuggling food to Shi'ite villages
Rebel 'judicial' authorities in Idlib province have issued a statement saying that anyone caught smuggling food or other provisions to the two Shi'ite towns of Kafriya and Fua, will be punished by "execution in the public square," according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Kafraya and Fua are besieged by a rebel coalition dominated by Syrian Al-Qaeda affiliate the Al-Nusra Front, who have threatened to massacre the mainly Shi'ite civilians who live there.
The statement shows how rebels are using sieges of Shi'ite villages as leverage to try to force the government to break its own blockades on rebel-held towns and villages. The statement, as reported by SOHR, also shows the sectarian language used by this particular group of rebels.
A recent deal between the government and rebels to allow emergency food aid into the besieged rebel-held town of Madaya was contingent on aid agencies being allowed to simultaneously deliver aid to the rebel-besieged Shi'ite villages of Kafraya and Fua.
According to SOHR, the rebel statement said that the ruling had been made in order that the rebel siege on Kafraya and Fua is not weakened. If people of Fua and Kafriya get any help, they could endure and resist the siege of the "mujahedin," the statement reasoned.
The rebels explained that if their siege on the Shi'ite villages is weakened, it would in turn weaken the position of militants who seek to “exploit the siege of Rawafid [Shi'ites]” as a lever to help to break the government sieges on Madaya and other areas.
By sieging Shi'ite villages, the rebels reasoned that they will be able to put pressure on the “Nusayri criminal regime” -- a derogatory term used to describe Alawites, the sect to which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad belongs -- and force them to lift the siege from “our people."The statement came after government troops, backed by Russian air strikes and Iranian-backed militias broke a years'-long rebel siege on two Shi'ite villages in Aleppo province, Nubl and Zahraa.
Russia 'isn't trying to cover up for or maintain the Assad government': FM spox
Russia is not trying to cover up the mistakes of Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.
"We never idealized the current political system in Syria, we have regularly criticized what officials in Damascus are doing and that includes regarding human rights and regarding compliance with democratic principles.
Russia's Foreign Ministry had frequently said that democratic reforms were needed in Syria, Zakharova said.
"We are not engaged in maintaining the regime in Syria. We believe that the internal situation in Syria is a matter for the Syrians themselves," she said.
Syria is domestic security issue for Turkey: Erdogan
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has commented on the crisis in Syria, describing the situation as a "domestic security issue" for Turkey.
Erdogan also criticized the United States for its policy on supporting the Syrian Kurds.
Russia says Syrian refugees fleeing IS terrorists, not Russian air strikes
Russia's Defense Ministry has said that Syrian refugees are fleeing Islamic State terrorists and not Russian air strikes, RIA Novosti is reporting.
Thousands of Syrians are fleeing fighting in Aleppo where a government offensive, backed by Russian air strikes, is threatening to encircle the city.
Some Syrians fleeing Aleppo seeking refuge in Kurdish region
Some of the civilians fleeing the fighting in Aleppo province are seeking refuge in the Kurdish region to the north.
The families said they had no choice to leave Aleppo, as the fighting and bombings are fierce.
"A rocket fell to the ground and hit my sister and her husband," a woman told VOA. "Her husband died and one of her hands and legs broke. She has a son and daughter."
Russian warships pass through Dardanelles heading to Tartous, Syria
Two Russian warships crossed the Marmara Sea and entered the Dardanelles strait this morning, heading to the Russian naval facility in the port of Tartous in Syria.
The two ships, the Minsk, a Project 775 Large Landing Ship, and the Azov, a Project 775M Large Landing Ship, conducted maneuvers near the town of Canakkale and then continued through the Aegean Sea accompanied by a Turkish coast guard cutter. The ships will continue through the Mediterranean to Tartous.
Lavrov, Kerry discussed Syria crisis, need for cease fire in phone call
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his American counterpart John Kerry have discussed the issue of the Syria peace talks, and the upcoming meeting of the International Syria Support Group in Munich on Feb.11, in a phone call this morning, RIA Novosti reports.
Lavrov and Kerry agreed on the "need to ensure a speedy cease fire and humanitarian access to blockaded towns and discussed the possibility of agreeing the relevant arrangements in the context of the UN Security Council resolution 2254," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Daghestan resident indicted on charges of fighting in Syria
A resident of the village of Magaramkent in Daghestan has been indicted on terrorism charges including participating in fighting in Syria, the local prosecutor's office has said.
Marik Nurmagamedov, 33, is accused of possessing an explosive device, belonging to an illegal armed group, and of fighting in Syria from March through July 2015.
The announcement by the prosecutor's office does not say to which group Nurmagamedov is alleged to have belonged, nor with which group he is alleged to have fought in Syria.
U.S.-led coalition reports 20 strikes against IS in Iraq, Syria on Feb. 9
The United States and its allies carried out 20 strikes against the IS group in Iraq and Syria on Feb. 9, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement on Feb. 10.
Eighteen of the strikes were in Iraq and two were in Syria, destroying two IS fighting positions near Raqqa.