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The Beatings Will Continue: Syrian and Egyptian Edtions
 ISIS executes civilians before arrival of Turkish troops [al-Manar] ISIL terrorists have executed at least 40 civilians in the Syrian northern town of al-Bab right after being captured, Al Mayadeen broadcaster reported. Currently, the Syrian army is approaching al-Bab controlled by ISIL from the west and south, while the Turkish-led forces are attempting to advance into and liberate the town from the north and the east. The Syrian army forces and the Turkish-led forces are not coordinating their actions, since Damascus considers the presence of the Turkish forces a violation of Syria’s sovereignty. On Friday, a military source told Sputnik that the Syrian army forces cut off the retreat path for ISIL from al-Bab. The Turkish military operation in Syria’s al-Bab has entered the final stage. Turkey’s units entered central al-Bab, the operation is being conducted in coordination with Russia. Al-Bab is one of ISIL’s last remaining strongholds near the Turkish border. Capturing the city is of strategic importance to Turkey in order to prevent the Syrian Kurds taking it and unifying their own territories. ISIS executes 5 in Sinai [al-Manar] ISIL terrorist group claims to have executed five men allegedly accused of assisting the Egyptian army which is battling the Takfiri group in the country’s restive Sinai Province. In a series of photos released on the messaging application of Telegram, five men introduced as army “elements” are seen lying face down on the ground before a militant shoots them in the back of their heads with a rifle. The location of the shot video, reported by US-based the SITE Intelligence Group that tracks terrorists’ online activities, is not specified and still remains undisclosed. The killings seem to have occurred after the Egyptian army announced Friday that it had killed “500 terrorists” since the start of a wide-ranging security operation in Sinai in September 2015. Militants have slain hundreds of soldiers and police officers in the sparsely-populated Sinai Peninsula over the past several years. ISIS prepares for MOUT operations in Raqqa [AAWSAT] Beirut- ISIS militants mobilized in the Syrian city of Raqqa on Friday ahead of a new round of battles, which local activists expected to be tantamount to urban warfare. The International Coalition has pounded Raqqa’s bridges on the Euphrates River, cutting off any connection between the two sides linking the river while the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militias were still advancing towards the city. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, SDF spokesperson Talal Silo said the Americans did not yet inform the group about the content of Washington’s agreement with Ankara concerning the liberation of Raqqa. “We had previously opposed any involvement of Turkish forces in the Raqqa battle. However, if there was a U.S.-Turkish agreement in this regard, we would probably discuss the issue to reach an appropriate formula to liberate the city,” Silo said. U.S. Army Colonel and Spokesperson for the Combined Joint Task Force John Dorrian said on Thursday night during a news briefing from Baghdad that in total, more than 3,410 kilometers square of territory has been liberated since the operation to isolate Raqqa began Nov. 5. The SDF and their partners have encountered “light to moderate” resistance as the enemy’s command-and-control system struggles to deal with multiple ongoing operations simultaneously, he added. Meanwhile, Moscow is currently busy trying to mediate between the Syrian regime and political and military opposition factions. At the battlefield, Russia is working to set the temp of the ongoing battle in al-Bab city following clashes between Ankara-backed opposition fighters, and Syrian regime forces and their allies on Thursday night. Also in al-Bab, Turkey denied on Friday Kremlin’s announcement that Ankara provided the coordinates for the Russian airstrike, which killed three Turkish soldiers and wounded 11 others. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “Turkish soldiers should not have been there,” adding there is no dispute regarding the cause of the incident. At the political level, the outcome of a meeting held earlier between members of the Syrian Coalition and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov were discussed by the High Negotiations Committee in Riyadh on Friday. In a related development, head of the Syrian regime Bashar Assad rejected during an interview with Yahoo News the creation of safe zones for refugees and displaced people in Syria, an idea supported by U.S. President Donald Trump. Assad signaled he would welcome cooperation with Washington in the fight against ISIS, however, as long as the United States took a “clear political position” on Syria’s sovereignty and unity. Posted by: badanov 2017-02-12 |
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