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Syria
Four rebel battalions in Idlib– al-Ansar, al-Naser al-Qadem, al-Naser, and al-Muntaser Billah — split from the Ahfad al-Rasoul brigade and declared they would proceed independently with “armed jihadist struggle” against the Assad regime. A suicide bomber detonated in central Damascus. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham confiscated a coal-laden truck and an excavator machine destined for displaced civilians in Deir Izzour. An American ISIS fighter was killed fighting against regime troops in eastern Hama; Islamic groups and regime forces also clashed in the Mourk area. The Al Nusrah Front, ISIS, and Islamic battalions clashed with regime forces in…
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Syria
The UN Human Rights Commission said large-scale human rights abuses have been perpetrated by both sides in the Syrian conflict, and that evidence implicates the highest level of government. Fighters from the Al Nusrah Front, Kabhat Tahrir al-Qalamoun, the al-Ghuraba’ brigade, the Tahrir al-sham brigade, and the al-Umariya brigade have taken over the ancient Christian town of Maaloula in Reef Dimashq. A terrorism court in Damascus executed 12 men for “crimes against the nation.” The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, which took over the Church of Armenian Martyrs in Raqqah, has converted it into a proselytizing office. Al…
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Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham
Senior Member Of The SMC Defects To ISIS And Details Foreign Involvement In the Oppostion
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Syria
The Al Nusrah Front killed at least five regime troops in a suicide car bombing at a police checkpoint near Nabuk. Regime aircraft dropped barrel bombs in rebel-held areas of Al Bab outside Aleppo, apparently targeting a rebel headquarters, and killed at least 20 people. A similar air raid in Al Bab yesterday killed at least 26 people. Deputy Foreign Minister Muqdad said no solution discussed at the forthcoming Geneva peace talks would be implemented without President Assad’s approval. Muqdad also said Turkey’s policy on Syria has begun to evolve from “the stupid Turkish policy which has compromised the Turkish…
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European Union
European envoys back on road to Damascus
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Syria
The Al Nusrah Front and rebels clashed with regime forces in Maaloula in an attempt to retake the town. Al Nusrah and allied Islamist factions battled regime forces in al-Nabek in Reef Dimashq. Over 400 people have reportedly been killed during fighting in Syria since Nov. 28, many of them in Ghouta and Qalamoun. ISIS released video of its fighters attacking Sufi shrines in Aleppo and sniping at regime forces in Hama. Al Nusrah released video claiming that its fighters and “Islamic brigades” captured Syria’s largest oil field, and that it executed five regime helpers in Damascus.
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Al Nusrah Front
Europe could feel the backlash from jihadist conflicts
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Al Nusrah Front
US: American fighters in Syria a security risk
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Syria
Disillusionment Grows Among Syrian Opposition as Fighting Drags On
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Al Nusrah Front
Aleppo braces for major regime offensive
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Syria
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, the Al Nusrah Front, and Islamic battalions clashed with regime forces in Reef Dimashq. ISIS, Al Nusrah, and rebel battalions attacked military residential facilities in Aleppo. ISIS and Al Nusah also attacked Kurdish YPG checkpoints in Aleppo. Al Nusrah, Ahrar al Sham, Jaish al Islam issued a statement calling for ISIS to resolve a dispute in sharia court with them over the Koniko gas facility in Deir Izzour. A spokesman for the Syrian National Coalition estimated that the newly formed Islamic Front controls up to 60 percent of the Syrian rebels; the…
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OPCW
Dozens of firms interested in destroying Syrian chemicals: OPCW sources
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Syria
Selim Idriss, the head of the Free Syrian Army’s Supreme Military Council, pledged cooperation with the newly formed Islamic Front coalition. Kurdish YPG forces took control of three villages in Hasakah after clashes with the Al Nusrah Front, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, and rebel battalions. The Fajer al-Sham Islamic battalion, Ahrar al-Sham Islamic battalion, and the ISIS clashed with regime forces in Aleppo. Eleven “Islamic fighters” were killed while fighting regime and Hezbollah forces in Reef Dimashq. Regime forces recaptured Deir Atiyeh after the ISIS withdrew. State media claimed that terrorists murdered five doctors, five nurses,…
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Free Syrian Army
Syrian official on opposition: ‘They are living in a different era’
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Islamic Front endorses jihad, says ‘the Muhajireen are our brothers’
The charter of the newly formed Islamic Front indicates that the group is willing to work with al Qaeda’s two branches inside Syria.
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Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham
Number of foreign fighters from Europe in Syria is historically unprecedented
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Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham
Inside Syria: Al-Qaeda Was Here
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Syria
The Assad regime said it would participate in the Jan. 22 peace talks in Geneva but would not “hand over power.” The head of the Free Syrian Army said it was not the right time for peace talks and asked for more arms and ammunition. The Chechen-led Emigrants’ Army swore allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham. ISIS, the Al Nusrah Front, and Islamic battalions clashed with regime forces in Aleppo. ISIS executed a rebel battalion leader for “apostasy” and six other fighters in Aleppo,and Al Nusrah executed two soldiers and three alleged regime “collaborators” in Damascus.…
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Syria
Nun emerges as power broker and publicist in Syria; rebels condemn her as ‘Assad’s nun’
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ISIS praises slain commander who fought in Iraq, Libya, and Syria
Abu Abdullah al Libi fought against US forces in Iraq, the Ghaddafi regime in Libya, and against Bashir al Assad’s regime before being killed in Syria in September.
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Iran
US and Saudis in Growing Rift as Power Shifts
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Syria
Rebel groups advanced in eastern Damascus and southeast Aleppo; the Syrian National Coalition said it was due to the recent merger of Islamist groups into the Islamic Front. A human rights organization condemned abuses against women in Syria, including rape, kidnapping, and use as human shields. The UN set a Jan. 22 date for the next round of Geneva peace talks on Syria.
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Syria
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham captured a Free Syrian Army supplies distribution warehouse in Atmeh, seized four tent-laden trucks, and hauled the warehouse’s three FSA officers and a Suqour al Sham commander into sharia court in Dana on the Turkish border. Fighting raged in East Ghouta over the weekend, where at least 100 rebels and 60 regime troops were reportedly killed. Rebel missiles targeting an oil refinery in Homs started a fire.
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Jordan
Syria Seen as Most Dire Refugee Crisis in a Generation
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Syria
Syria conflict: Children ‘targeted by snipers’
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Syria
The Al Nusrah Front and other Islamist groups captured Syria’s largest oilfield, in Deir Azzour province; it is not known if it is operational. Regime airstrikes in Aleppo killed 40 civilians. Gunmen in Hama failed to assassinate National Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar but killed his driver.
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Analysis: Formation of Islamic Front in Syria benefits jihadist groups
The formation of the Islamic Front has been characterized as a blow to al Qaeda, but the new Islamist alliance shares al Qaeda’s goals and continues to fight alongside the global jihadist group.
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Syria
As Syrian Chemical Attack Loomed, Missteps Doomed Civilians
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Syria
Seven large Islamist groups, amounting to about 45,000 fighters — Ahrar al-Sham, Jaysh al-Islam, Suqour al-Sham, Liwa al-Tawhid, Liwa al-Haqq, Ansar al-Sham, and the Kurdish Islamic Front — announced their “gradual merger” into an Islamic Front to battle the Assad regime and create an Islamic state. The group’s spokesman said the Al Nusrah Front wanted the seven groups under its banner. The Islamic Front’s leader previously headed the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front, which is aligned to the Free Syrian Army’s Supreme Military Council. Regime forces battled in the Qalamoun region against Al Nusrah and the Islamic State of Iraq and…
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Iran
Iran’s Secret Army
