Syria conflict: First aid for Darayya since 2012

The Syrian Red Cross tweeted an image showing the convoy entering Darayya
(Image: ICRC SYRIA)

The besieged Syrian town of Darayya has received its first aid convoy since November 2012, according to the country's Red Cross.

In April, UN aid officials said the town was suffering dire shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

A 48-hour ceasefire for the town, which lies south of Damascus, came into force early on Wednesday.

Vaccines, baby milk, medicine and nutritional goods were being delivered, the UN's humanitarian arm said.

In April, the UN said at least 4,000 people were besieged in the town by Syrian government forces.

Darayya's electricity supply was cut off more than three years ago.

Speaking at the time, UN emergency relief co-ordinator Stephen O'Brien said the Syrian government had ignored "countless" requests for aid to be allowed in.

An aid convoy was blocked from entering the town last month, despite all involved parties agreeing aid could be delivered.

Russia's defence ministry said on Wednesday it had agreed a "regime of calm" with the Syrian authorities for 48 hours to allow for the distribution of humanitarian aid in Darayya.

The suburb borders a military airport used by Russian planes in support of the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Syria conflict: IS 'overruns hospital in Deir al-Zour'

Deir al-Zour has been devastated by years of fighting               REUTERS

Militants from the Islamic State (IS) group have briefly overrun a hospital complex in the eastern Syrian city of Deir al-Zour, reports say.

Activists say about 35 pro-government fighters were killed and some medical staff taken hostage. More than 20 IS fighters were also reported killed.

The attack was centred on al-Assad hospital, to the west of the city.

Government forces retook the hospital after several hours, reports say, but the fate of the hostages is unclear.

BBC Arab Affairs Editor Sebastian Usher says the latest offensive shows that IS, despite recent setbacks, can still threaten significant government territory.

IS controls more than of half of Deir al-Zour and is seeking to capture the entire city.

The group has been besieging government-held areas there for two years, trapping about 200,000 civilians.

IS's Amaq news agency said its fighters had carried out a "major offensive" in Deir al-Zour early on Saturday, storming the hospital and cutting the route between a Syrian army base and the city's airport.

It said it had also taken over a fire station, university accommodation, grain silos and territory near the al-Tayyam oil fields.

A UK-based opposition news service, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says government forces retook the hospital after several hours of fierce fighting.

Deir al-Zour is in an oil-rich area and on a vital supply route to the IS stronghold of Raqqa.

Hezbollah commander Badreddine killed in Syria

Mustafa Amine Badreddine's brother Adnan (L) paid his tribute in southern Beirut (AP)

The man believed to be Hezbollah's most senior military commander in Syria's war has been killed in Damascus.

Mustafa Amine Badreddine died in a large explosion near Damascus airport, the Lebanon-based militant group said in a statement on its al-Manar website.

Hezbollah supports Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and has sent thousands of fighters into Syria.

In 2015, the US said that Badreddine was behind all Hezbollah's military operations in Syria since 2011.

The US treasury, which imposed sanctions on Badreddine last July, said at the time he was behind the movement of Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon to Syria, and was in charge of the key battle for the town of al-Qusair in 2013.

Badreddine was also charged with leading the assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri in Beirut in 2005.

An initial report by Lebanon's al-Mayadeen TV said that Badreddine, 55, died in an Israeli air strike.

But a later statement by Hezbollah on al-Manar's website did not mention Israel.

Israeli media reported that the government refused to comment on whether it was involved in Badreddine's death.

Israel has been accused by Hezbollah of killing a number of its fighters in Syria since the conflict began.

The group was established in the wake of the Israeli occupation of Lebanon in the early 1980s, and has called for the "obliteration" of Israel.

A number of Twitter accounts supporting Syrian rebel groups and the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front say Badreddine was killed in a battle in Khan Touman, southern Aleppo, rather than in Damascus.

Khan Touman was captured by a coalition of groups including al-Nusra Front last week and has been subject to heavy shelling in recent days.

No official sources have commented on the reports.

Born in 1961, Badreddine is believed to have been a senior figure in Hezbollah's military wing.

He was a cousin and brother-in-law of Imad Mughniyeh, who was the military wing's chief until his assassination by car bomb in Damascus in 2008.

According to one report, a Hezbollah member interrogated by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), described Badreddine as "more dangerous" than Mughniyeh, who was "his teacher in terrorism".

They are alleged to have worked together on the October 1983 bombing of the US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut that killed 241 personnel.

Badreddine was on a US sanctions list

Badreddine is reported to have sat on Hezbollah's Shura Council and served as an adviser to the group's overall leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Badreddine was tried in absentia by the ongoing Special Tribunal for Lebanon, in The Hague, over the killing of Mr Hariri.

He was indicted on four charges and was said by the tribunal to be "the overall controller of the operation" to kill Mr Hariri.

Three other Hezbollah members also stand accused of their role in the assassination.

The indictment also details Badreddine's role in bombings in Kuwait in 1983, that targeted the French and US embassies and other facilities, and killed six people.

He was sentenced to death over the attacks, but later escaped from prison.

Key questions

What is Hezbollah doing in Syria?

The Lebanese Shia Islamist movement has played a major role in helping Iran, its main military and financial backer, to prop up the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the uprising erupted in 2011.

Thousands of Hezbollah fighters are assisting government forces on battlefields across Syria, particularly those near the Lebanese border, and hundreds are believed to have been killed.

Who could have killed Mustafa Badreddine?

Any of the armed groups seeking to overthrow Mr Assad might have sought to kill the man co-ordinating Hezbollah military activities. However, suspicion is likely to fall on Israel, which fought a war against Hezbollah in 2006.

Israel has been accused of killing several of the group's leaders over the years, although it has never officially confirmed its involvement.

Hezbollah military chief Imad Mughniyeh was killed in a car bombing in Damascus in 2008 that US intelligence officials said last year was a joint operation by the CIA and Israel's Mossad spy agency.

In January 2015, a suspected Israeli air strike in the Syrian Golan Heights killed six Hezbollah fighters, including Mughniyeh's son Jihad, and an Iranian Revolutionary Guards general.

And in December, Hezbollah said one of its senior figures, Samir Qantar, was killed when missiles fired by Israeli jets struck a block of flats in Damascus.

Israel has also reportedly conducted air strikes aimed at preventing advanced weapons shipments from Iran from reaching Hezbollah via Syria.

Syria conflict: UN steps up aid deliveries as truce holds

People work to fix a damaged shop in Darat Izza, Aleppo province, on Sunday

An aid convoy has reached one of several besieged towns in Syria, as the UN takes advantage of a partial truce brokered by the US and Russia.

The UN and its partners are stepping up deliveries of food, water and medicine, and plan to reach more than 150,000 people over the next five days.

They hope to help 1.7 million in hard-to-reach areas by the end of March.

Earlier, the UN's secretary general said the cessation of hostilities had held "by and large" since Saturday.

Ban Ki-moon also said a taskforce monitoring compliance, co-chaired by the US and Russia, would meet for the first time to evaluate alleged violations.

A Free Syria Army fighter rests in al-Tamorah, in the north of Aleppo province, on Sunday

France has expressed concern about reports of air strikes by Syrian government and Russian aircraft on areas controlled by mainstream rebel forces.

Russia has said that it is only targeting UN-designated jihadist terrorist organisations - including the so-called Islamic State (IS) and the al-Nusra Front, which is part of a major rebel alliance - in line with the terms of the cessation of hostilities.

Meanwhile US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter stressed that the US-led coalition would also continue to fight IS during the truce.

"Let me make it crystal clear," he told a news conference in Washington. "There is no cessation of hostilities in the counter-ISIL [IS] campaign. Operations continue unabated."

'Sealed off'

The relative calm on the ground around the capital Damascus allowed 10 aid lorries carrying blankets and hygiene supplies to entered the suburb of Muadhamiya on Monday afternoon, Syrian Arab Red Crescent officials said.

On Wednesday, the UN and its partners plan to deliver aid to the rebel-held towns of Madaya and Zabadani, in the mountains north-west of Damascus, and the government-controlled towns of Foah and Kefraya, in the northern province of Idlib.

Syria conflict: Russia 'steps up air strikes' ahead of truce

The cessation comes as government forces have been making gains around Aleppo in the north

Russian jets are reported to have intensified attacks on Syrian rebel positions, hours before a cessation of hostilities is due to come into force.

Russia said it was continuing to bomb "terrorists" in parts of Syria.

Meanwhile, almost 100 rebel factions have agreed to respect the truce, the main Syrian opposition group has said.

The High Negotiations Committee (HNC) said Free Syrian Army factions and the armed opposition had signed up to the truce from midnight (22:00 GMT).

The temporary "cessation of hostilities" involves government and rebel forces - but not the so-called Islamic State (IS) group and the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front. On Friday, Nusra Front urged its supporters to intensify attacks against President Bashar al-Assad and his allies.

Warring parties in Syria were meant to make their intentions known by midday Friday ahead of the pause in fighting.

Announcing the intentions of rebel factions, the HNC said the Syrian government and its allies must not use the "proposed text to continue the hostile operations against the opposition factions under the excuse of fighting terrorism".

Overnight, Russian air strikes which were "more intense than usual" hit rebel bastions including Eastern Ghouta east of Damascus, northern Homs province and western Aleppo province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

"It's more intense than usual," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman was quoted by news agency AFP as saying. "It's as if they [the Russians and the government] want to subdue rebels in these regions or score points before the ceasefire."

The Observatory said the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Douma had also suffered heavy air strikes on Friday, killing eight people, four of them children.

It said the Syrian government had also shelled the area, which is a stronghold of the Army of Islam rebel group.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin said his forces were targeting IS, Nusra Front and other extremist groups designated as legitimate targets by the UN Security Council, adding that "the decisive fight against them" would "without doubt, be continued".

The cessation has been brokered by the US and Russia but scepticism has lingered over the plan.

BBC Arab affairs editor Sebastian Usher says all sides have made it clear they will fight if attacked.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed "great concern" over fresh reports that pro-government forces had dropped barrel bombs on the Damascus suburb of Darayya.

He urged all parties "to refrain from steps that could endanger the ceasefire so close to it coming into effect".

Earlier, US President Barack Obama said the success of the cessation would depend on whether warring parties including the Syrian government, Russia and their allies lived up to their commitments.

Attacks needed to end, he said, and humanitarian aid had to be allowed through to desperate civilians.

"The coming days will be critical and the world will be watching," he added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he hoped the US would also respect the truce.

More than 250,000 Syrians have been killed in nearly five years of civil war. Millions more have been displaced.

Syria conflict: US-Russia brokered truce to start at weekend

The ceasefire call comes as government forces make gains around Aleppo in the north

The US and Russia have announced that a planned cessation of hostilities in Syria will come into effect at midnight on 27 February.

Their statement said the truce did not include so-called Islamic State (IS) and the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.

World powers agreed on 12 February that a truce would come into effect within a week, but that deadline passed and scepticism remains over the new plan.

On Sunday 140 died in bombings in Homs and Damascus as the violence continued.

More than 250,000 Syrians have been killed in the conflict which began in March 2011.

Some 11 million others have been forced from their homes, of whom four million have fled abroad - including growing numbers who are making the dangerous journey to Europe.

Separately, Syria's government has called a parliamentary election for 13 April. The last was in 2012 and they are held every four years.

Assad 'ready'

The White House said that President Barack Obama had phoned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at Mr Putin's request to discuss the efforts to establish the cessation of hostilities.

After their phone call, the joint Russian-US statement was released.

The truce applied to "those parties to the Syrian conflict that have indicated their commitment to and acceptance of its terms", the statement said.

This excluded IS, Nusra and "other terrorist organisations designated by the UN".

Air strikes by Syria, Russia and the US-led coalition against these groups would continue, the statement read.

It said that armed opposition groups taking part would have to confirm their participation by midday on 26 February.

Russian and Syrian planes would halt any attacks on the armed opposition groups.

Russia and the US will work together to "delineate territory where groups that have indicated their commitment to and acceptance of the cessation of hostilities are active".

The deal also sets up a communications hotline and calls for a working group to monitor ceasefire violations.

Syria's main opposition grouping, the High Negotiations Committee, said it would accept the truce, but its commitment was conditional on the lifting of sieges, an end to attacks on civilians, the freeing of prisoners and the delivery of aid.

US Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed the deal, saying: "If implemented and adhered to, this cessation will not only lead to a decline in violence, but also continue to expand the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian supplies to besieged areas."

Russia and the US back opposing sides in the war; Moscow is President Bashar al-Assad's strongest ally.

On Saturday, President Assad had said he would be ready for a ceasefire, if what he termed "terrorists" did not take advantage of the lull in the fighting. But he had previously cast doubt on the success of a truce.

Government forces, backed by Russian air strikes, have been making advances against rebels around the northern city of Aleppo.

Analysts say there will be huge scepticism about the possibility of an effective ceasefire, given the current fighting and failure of the first deadline.

Air strikes will continue and it is unclear whether Kurdish forces, which have been making ground in the north, sparking artillery fire from Turkey, will abide by any truce.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said fighting and air strikes continued unabated on Monday, with IS fighters attacking the army's main supply route between Damascus and Aleppo.

Islamic State militants said they carried out the attacks in Homs and Damascus on Sunday.

Russia said the attacks were aimed at "subverting attempts" to reach a political settlement.

On Monday, a spokesman for the US-led coalition fighting IS in Syria, Col Steve Warren, said he believed that IS was "beginning to lose".

He said the number of Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, previously placed at between 19,000 and 31,000, was now between 20,000 and 25,000.

"They have been able to replenish their forces at roughly the same rate as we've been able to kill their forces. That's hard to sustain," Col Warren said.

'Fractured state'

Meanwhile, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syriareported its findings on Monday. They include:

• Syria is a "fractured state on the brink of collapse"

• War crimes by the government and IS are widespread and rampant

• The conflict should be referred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague

• The international community must "curb the proliferation and supply of weapons to warring parties"

• "Indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on the civilian population must end"

Source: BBC

Syria conflict: Pressure grows on Russia over civilian bomb deaths

Pressure is increasing on Russia over civilian deaths in Syria, with France and the US urging greater caution.

French PM Manuel Valls and US Secretary of State John Kerry said civilians were dying in Russian air strikes.

Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev said there was "no evidence of our bombing civilians, even though everyone is accusing us of this".

One observers' group says at least 1,015 civilianshave been killed in Russian air strikes.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said late last month that close to a quarter of those killed were under the age of 18.

Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has consistently denied hitting civilian targets and insists it is battling terrorists.

Mr Valls said his government "respects Russia and Russia's interests" but "that to re-discover the path to peace, to discussion, the Russian bombing of civilians has to stop".

Mr Kerry again accused Russia of using so-called 'dumb bombs' in Syria that do not hit precise targets. Last week, he said women and children were being killed "in large numbers" by Russian raids.

Mr Medvedev said Russia was "not trying to achieve some secret goals in Syria", adding that "we are trying to protect our national interests".

Their comments were made at a security conference in Munich, days after world powers agreed a deal to push for a cessation of hostilities in Syria within a week.

Agreement to try to bring about a cessation of hostilities and allow more access for humanitarian aid was reached by world powers late on Thursday in Germany, but neither the Syrian government nor the rebels were involved.

Under the plan, efforts will be made to try to make urgent aid deliveries to besieged and hard-to-reach areas in Syria. Steps will also be taken to work towards an eventual ceasefire and implementation of a UN-backed plan for political transition in Syria.

The halt will not apply to the battle against jihadist groups Islamic State (IS) and al-Nusra Front.

Assad 'deluded'

Rebel groups in Syria have told the BBC they would not stop fighting because they do not believe that Russia will end its bombing campaign in support of the government.

They also reiterated their demand that President Assad be removed from power. On Friday, the president said he wanted to retake "the whole country" from rebels.

But US state department spokesman Mark Toner said Mr Assad was "deluded" if he thought there was a military solution to the conflict.

Syrian government forces, backed by Russian air strikes, have almost encircled rebels in parts of the northern city of Aleppo.

More than 250,000 people have been killed and some 11 million displaced in almost five years of fighting in Syria.

On Saturday, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saudi Arabia would send war planes to the Turkish air base of Incirlik, from where they would attack militants in Syria from the so-called Islamic State.

Saudi Arabia is already part of the international coalition against IS.

Mr Cavusoglu also said it was possible that troops from his country and Saudi Arabia might participate in a ground operation against IS forces. The US has so far ruled out a ground invasion.

Moscow has warned against any new foreign ground intervention in the country, saying such a development could even lead to a world war.

Why is there a war in Syria?

Anti-government protests developed into a civil war that, four years on, has ground to a stalemate, with the Assad government, Islamic State, an array of Syrian rebels and Kurdish fighters all holding territory.

Who is fighting whom?

Government forces concentrated in Damascus and the centre and west of Syria are fighting the jihadists of Islamic State and al-Nusra Front, as well as less numerous so-called "moderate" rebel groups, who are strongest in the north and east. These groups are also battling each other.

How has the world reacted?

Iran, Russia and Lebanon's Hezbollah movement are propping up the Alawite-led Assad government, while Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar back the more moderate Sunni-dominated opposition, along with the US, UK and France. Hezbollah and Iran are believed to have troops and officers on the ground, while a Western-led coalition and Russia are carrying out air strikes.

Syrian government 'to let aid into besieged Madaya'

The Syrian government has agreed to allow aid into the besieged rebel-held village of Madaya, the UN says, amid reports of residents starving to death.

The UN humanitarian co-ordinator said it was planning to deliver humanitarian assistance "in the coming days".

Aid agencies say conditions in Madaya, near Damascus, are "extremely dire".

The UN said it also had government permission for access to Kefraya and Foah in the north but, unlike Madaya, these are besieged by rebel forces.

Up to 4.5 million people in Syria live in hard-to-reach areas, including nearly 400,000 people in 15 besieged locations who do not have access to the life-saving aid they urgently need.

'More children will die'

Madaya, which is about 25km (15 miles) north-west of Damascus and 11km from the border with Lebanon, has been besieged since early July by government forces and their allies in Lebanon's Shia Islamist Hezbollah movement.

The UN said it had received credible reports of people dying from starvation and being killed while trying to leave. On 5 January, a 53 year-old man reportedly died of starvation while his family of five continues to suffer from severe malnutrition, it said.

Save the Children also warned on Thursday that "more children will die in the coming days and weeks unless food, medicine, fuel and other vital aid is immediately allowed into... Madaya".

Aid lorries delivered medical and humanitarian supplies to the village in October, and medical evacuations took place in December, but it has been inaccessible since then, despite numerous requests for access.

Conditions have worsened with the onset of winter.

A Syria-based spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Pawel Krzysiek, told the BBC on Wednesday that he had visited Madaya during the last aid delivery and that the situation was now "even more dire".

"People here have started eating earth because there's nothing left to eat," Madaya resident Abdel Wahab Ahmed, told the BBC on Thursday. "Grass and leaves have died because of the mounting snow."

He described the lack of medical facilities for the sick and vulnerable as "terrifying".

The cost of basic goods has reportedly also surged, with 1kg (2.2lb) of crushed wheat selling for as much as $250 (£171) and 900g of powdered formula for babies going for about $300.

Ammar Ghanem, a Syrian American doctor who grew up in the Madaya area and has been in touch with family there, told the BBC that "lately people are going after cats and dogs, to catch them and eat them".

Activists said the siege of Madaya had been stepped up by the government and Hezbollah in retaliation for the rebel siege of Foah and Kefraya, which has lasted even longer.

The situation in the predominantly Shia villages, about 7km (5 miles) to the north of the city of Idlib, is also reported to have worsened since the fall in September of a nearby government air base where helicopters were able to drop off food.

Some of the estimated 30,000 people trapped in the villages have been forced to eat grass and undergo surgery without anaesthesia, according to wounded pro-government fighters evacuated at the end of December under a deal that also saw rebels and civilians allowed to leave Madaya.

The UN has warned that international humanitarian law prohibits the targeting of civilians, and also the starvation of civilians as a tactic of war.

What's happening in Syria?

More than 250,000 Syrians have lost their lives in almost five years of conflict, which began with anti-government protests before escalating into a brutal civil war. More than 11 million others have been forced from their homes as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and rebels opposed to his rule battle each other - as well as jihadist militants from Islamic State.

Why are civilians under siege?

All parties to the conflict are using siege warfare, encircling populated areas, preventing civilians from leaving and blocking humanitarian access in an attempt to force opponents to surrender. Shortages of food, water, medicine, electricity and fuel have led to malnutrition and deaths among vulnerable groups.

Where are the sieges?

Government forces are besieging various locations in the eastern Ghouta area, outside Damascus, as well as the capital's western suburb of Darayya and the nearby mountain towns of Zabadani and Madaya. Rebel forces have encircled the villages of Foah and Kefraya in the northern province of Idlib, while IS militants are besieging government-held areas in the eastern city of Deir al-Zour.

Source:BBC

Syria conflict: Jaysh al-Islam rebel leaders die in air strike

Zahroun Alloush founded Jaysh al-Islam

The head and several leaders of one of Syria's most powerful rebel groups, Jaysh al-Islam, have been killed in an air strike east of Damascus.

Founder Zahroun Alloush, 44, was among those killed when rockets hit a meeting place, rebels and the Syrian army said.

The Saudi-backed Islamist group is one of the biggest factions and is dominant in the Eastern Ghouta countryside.

It recently joined an opposition summit in Riyadh which produced a framework for peace talks with the government.

Ten rockets struck as Jaysh al-Islam commanders met, Saudi-funded al-Arabiya TV reported. The group's deputy leader was also killed, al-Arabiya said.

Jaysh al-Islam later named Issam al-Buwaydani - who is also known as Abu Humam - as its new leader. He is from Douma - a town to the east of Damascus.

Analysis: Lina Sinjab, BBC News, Beirut

The killing of Zahran Alloush comes days after the UN passed a resolution endorsing a path to peace in Syria.

It sends a strong message as to whom the Russians and the Syrian government are willing to sit at the negotiating table with, when and if peace talks take place.

Russia, President Assad's strong ally, has presented a list of rebel groups it identifies as terrorists. Jaysh al-Islam was one of them.

Jaysh al-Islam controls most of the Eastern Ghouta agricultural belt on the edge of Damascus.

It succeeded in forcing so-called Islamic State out of the area, which has been under heavy bombardment from the regime since early on in the war.

In a statement carried by state television, Syria's army command said it had conducted the "special operation" that killed Alloush, reported AFP news agency.

However, some activists said it was a Russian air strike, while other sources suggested the Syrian air force had conducted the strike using Russian missiles.

Analysts called it a severe blow for rebel forces and a threat to the nascent efforts to find a political resolution.

Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has been waging an air campaign in Syria since the end of September.

Moscow insists it has been targeting so-called Islamic State, but rebels and Western officials say the Russian strikes have mainly been hitting other groups.

Jaysh al-Islam, whose fighters number tens of thousands, took part in the conference in the Saudi capital which agreed a common approach among disparate rebel groups for UN-backed peace talks planned for January.

Syria and Russia dismissed the meeting, saying the groups did not properly represent the opposition and that those that did attend were unacceptable.

Source: BBC