Syrian army makes advances in northern Aleppo: monitor
The Syrian army and loyalist forces have made fresh advances today in a major offensive in northern Aleppo that could cut rebel supply lines between the city and the Turkish border, the Britain-based monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said.
The advances are backed by Russian air support, according to SOHR.
Syrian state news agency SANA reports this morning that Syrian army units and "popular defense groups" -- likely a reference to the Syrian National Defense Force, a pro government militia -- had captured the village of Hardatnin in the northern Aleppo countryside on February 1.
The offensives are apparently aimed at seizing rebel held territory around the Shi'ite villages of Nubl and al-Zahraa, according to Reuters.
SANA published a video with footage from the fighting in the area.
Iraqis running out of food, medicine in IS stronghold Fallujah
Tens of thousands of Iraqis in the besieged IS stronghold of Fallujah are running out of food, medicine and fuel, according to residents reached by Reuters by telephone.
Fallujah in western Anbar province is under siege after IS mined entrances to the city to prevent residents leaving.
A senior Iraqi official has appealed to the U.S.-led coalition to air drop food and medicine to people in Fallujah.
UN envoy de Mistura meets Syrian government delegation in Geneva: AFP
UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura has begun talks with Syrian government representatives in Geneva this morning, AFP is reporting.
De Mistura said yesterday that he indirect talks between Syrian government and opposition groups had begun.
The main opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee, is set to meet de Mistura this afternoon, AFP say.
Linked here is an interactive map of Syria showing which groups control which areas, created by historian and Twitter user @deSyracuse who is tracking the Syrian conflict.
Senior Syrian opposition negotiator 'not optimistic' on Geneva talks
Mohamed Alloush, a senior Syrian opposition negotiator representing the Jaish al-Islam (Islam Army) rebel group, has told reporters in Geneva that he is not optimistic about the peace talks, Reuters reports.
"Nothing has changed in the situation on the ground so as long as the situation is like this we are not optimistic," he told reporters. "There are no good intentions from the regime's side to reach a solution."
Lavrov: Russia doesn't recognize Islam Army as partner in talks: RIA
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Moscow does not recognize the Syrian rebel group Jaish al-Islam (Islam Army) as a partner in the peace talks in Geneva.
Lavrov's comments come as senior opposition negotiator Mohamed Alloush of the Islam Army told reporters that he was "not optimistic" about the prospects of the talks.
Russia considers the Islam Army to be a terrorist group. Alloush is a negotiator with the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), a Syrian opposition umbrella group backed by Saudi Arabia.
"We know that the delegation of that part of the Syrian opposition, which was formed at a meeting in Riyadh, includes a couple of people linked, as we understand it, with the Islam Army... We agreed and the government delegation agreed with us, that if they are to participate in the negotiations process, they will do so in a private capacity," Lavrov said.
Such participation "did not mean any recognition of the groups Islam Army and Ahrar al-Sham as partners in the talks," Lavrov added.
More British air strikes against IS in Syria, Iraq
British forces have carried out more air strikes against the IS group in Syria and Iraq, including to provide close air support for the Kurdish peshmerga militia in northern Iraq on February 1.
Most of the strikes were in Iraq, but the UK government reported that on January 29, Tornado GR4 and Typhoon FGR4s from RAF Akrotiri, supported by a Voyager tanker, flew armed reconnaissance missions over north-east Syria; and on January 31, a pair of Typhoons also patrolled over eastern Syria, where they used eight Paveways to destroy two large clusters of defensive positions.
IS pushed back in Syria, Iraq but a threat in Libya: Kerry
IS is being pushed back in Syria and Iraq but is threatening Libya, where it could steal the country's oil wealth, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said at a meeting in Rome of 23 countries involved in the fight against the IS group this morning.
Reuters reports:
"In Libya, we are on the brink of getting a government of national unity," Kerry told the Rome conference. "That country has resources. The last thing in the world you want is a false caliphate with access to billions of dollars of oil revenue."
Unanswered questions a year after IS burned Jordanian pilot alive
Middle East Eye has spoken with the family of Muath al-Kasasbeh, the Jordanian pilot whom IS militants burned alive in a cage after his plane was downed over Syria on December 24, 2014.
Kasasbeh's family still get phone calls from people who claim that the pilot is still alive.
While his family don't believe these claims, "the precise circumstances surrounding his death are not clear."
In his murder video, Kasasbeh said he was ejected from his aircraft after it was hit by anti-aircraft fire. There were also claims the plane was hit by a heat-seeking missile, but Jordanian and US authorities insisted the IS group didn’t – and still doesn’t – have the capability to shoot a plane out of the sky.
“Everything is foggy. Nothing is clear. The coalition gave us a different explanation than Jordan did, then the US gave us a different explanation, and IS claims they shot down the airplane,” said Jawad [al-Kasasbeh, al-Kasasbeh's older brother].
“There must be a reason the plane came down. Muath was a professional pilot. I don’t know who shot it down, but I am sure it wasn’t IS.”
Carpet bombing IS against 'our values,' U.S. general says
A commander of the U.S.-led coalition against the IS group in Syria and Iraq has dismissed calls from Texas Senator and U.S. presidential hopeful Ted Cruz that it should carpet-bomb the militants, AFP reports.
Baghdad-based Lieut, Gen. Sean MacFarland told reporters that the coalition is "bound by the laws of armed conflict."
"Indiscriminate bombing where we don't care if we are killing innocents or combatants is just inconsistent with our values," MacFarland added.