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Al Qaeda
As Foreign Fighters Flood Syria, Fears of a New Extremist Haven
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Syria
Rebels led by two al Qaeda affiliates, the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, have killed over 200 people, captured dozens of villages, and seized an airport over the past two days in an Alawite area. Rebels are targeting aviation hubs in Aleppo as well, including the Kweiris military airport, the Neyrab military airport, and Aleppo International airport. The Tahrir al-Sham rebel brigade of the Free Syrian Army claimed it targeted President Assad’s convoy today in Damascus, but he later appeared on television unharmed.
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Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant leads charge to take Syrian airport
An “emigrant lion from the Peninsula of Muhammad” drove a BMP packed with explosives into the Minnigh airbase in Aleppo province; assault teams then took the airbase. Free Syrian Army units fought alongside al Qaeda’s affiliates during the attack.
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Syria
The Al Nusrah Front took away several Kurdish civilians from a family in Aleppo. Kurdish forces clashed with regime troops fleeing Minnegh military airport and took over two military tanks. The Minnegh facility was seized by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, al-Fateh brigade, and several other rebel battalions after a Saudi suicide bomber from the al-Muhajireen and al-Ansar battalions blew himself up in an armored vehicle driven by a Chechen comrade. Rebel forces attacked the Air Force intelligence facilities in Aleppo. At least 300 jihadists from Albania, Kosovo, and Macedonia are said to have gone to Syria…
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Russia
Exclusive: Saudi offers Russia deal to scale back Assad support – sources
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CIA
CIA Sees Syria as Top Threat
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Israel
Across Forbidden Border, Doctors in Israel Quietly Tend to Syria’s Wounded
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Syria
Syrian rebel ‘moles’ wage battle from underground tunnels
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Syria
Rebel forces, including the Free Syrian Army and the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, captured Menagh air base near Aleppo after a suicide bomber detonated inside the base, which has been besieged for months. Rebels also captured four towns near Latakia. President Assad called the Syrian National Coalition a “failure” and said it could have no role in resolving the conflict, which he blamed on “terrorism.”
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Syria
Rebels launched an offensive in the port city of Latakia. The Al Nusrah Front killed a mother and her nine children after accusing them of killing a truck driver who was delivering crude oil to Aleppo. The Shariah Council of Aleppo issued a decree barring the transport of food, medical supplies, diapers, fuel, and building materials into regime-held areas of Aleppo. Rebels cut off the water supply in Hasakah city. Islamist rebels and Kurdish forces continued to clash in Hasakah province. The Syrian National Coalition urged the UN to investigate alleged regime “massacres” during Ramadan and said it would cooperate…
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The softer side of Salafist jihad?
Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliates again attempt to put on a benevolent face.
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Kurdistan Workers’ Party
Syrian Kurds take fragile steps towards autonomy
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Syria
Several rebel groups, including the al Qaeda-linked Al Nusrah Front, seized a weapons depot near Damascus. The Syrian National Coalition urged warring Kurds and jihadists in Hasakah province to “exercise restraint.” A member of the Salafist Hizb Ut-Tahrir claimed that two Lebanese brothers were killed, one as a suicide bomber, during an offensive by the Jund al Sham in Homs. Regime aircraft targeting rebels in Yabroud near the Lebanese border killed nine people, including six members of a family.
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Syria
The UN has begun investigating allegations that rebel forces executed Syrian soldiers after capturing them in Khan al-Assal; the Al Nusrah Front participated in battle there. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights called for the release of Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, who is being held by the Islamic State of Iraq in the Levant; the priest disappeared after meeting with ISIL to negotiate the freedom of several hostages. Fighters from Al Nusrah, ISIL, and allied rebel groups battled regime forces near Aleppo Central Prison. At least 12 Islamist fighters and 22 Kurdish fighters were killed in clashes in Hasakah. A senior…
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Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham
Kurdish Struggle Blurs Syria’s Battle Lines
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Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham
Syrian Christian towns emptied by sectarian violence
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CIA
Exclusive: Dozens of CIA operatives on the ground during Benghazi attack
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Syria
Rebel shelling hit a weapons depot in a regime-controlled area of Homs, setting off explosions that killed 40 people and injured at least 160 more, some critically. President Assad made his first known public trip outside Damascus since March 2012, visiting the former rebel stronghold of Daraya. Clashes between allied Islamist forces and Kurdish fighters continued in Hasakah province; the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant launched two mortars in Ras al-Ein.
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Al Qaeda
Aleppo rebel religious committee forbids ‘colonial’ croissants
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Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham
Erdoğan, Kurds, Syria and Turkish military
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US officials claim Israeli strike in Latakia missed some Yakhont missiles
US officials believe that an Israeli strike in early July near the Syrian port city of Latakia failed to eliminate all of the targeted Russian anti-ship missiles.
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Syria
Why fewer ground reports are emerging from Syria
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Egypt
NATO says it is keeping close eye on Egypt, plans no action
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Syria
The leader of the Syrian National Coalition said the SNC will not engage in peace talks until “the Free Army and revolutionary forces” regain ground lost over the past eight months. Two al Qaeda affiliates, the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, are fighting along with allied groups simultaneously in the northern provinces of Raqqah; Hasakah; and Aleppo, where they have kidnapped over 200 civilians from two towns. Regime forces are fighting to regain the town of Khan al-Assal, the site of alleged chemical weapons use by rebels. Iran signed a deal to supply…
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Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham
War in Syria inspires Kurdish unity
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Syria
In Syria, Signs of Civilian Massacre
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Syria
A car bomb in Qamlishi killed Isa Huso, a founder of the Kurdish PYD; Kurdish YPG fighters, who have been battling Islamists in northern Syria for weeks, issued a call to arms against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the Al Nusrah Front, and allied groups. An Italian priest who traveled to Raqqah to talk with the ISIL about releasing hostages has disappeared, raising fears he has been kidnapped. The Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation appealed for a ceasefire during next week’s feast of Eid al-Fitr.
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Al Qaeda affiliate kidnaps priest in Syria: report
Reuters reports that a Jesuit priest has been kidnapped by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In June, another priest was targeted by the Al Nusrah Front.
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Syria
The Liwa’ al-Islam brigade reportedly used an advanced antiaircraft rocket to destroy a helicopter near Damascus International airport, killing the crew. Clashes between Kurdish and Islamist fighters continued in Hasaka and Aleppo; several fighters and one commander from each side were killed.
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Egypt
Insurgency takes root in Egypt’s Sinai
