ICRC tweets map of water points in Aleppo after water cut
Pawel Krzysiek of the Red Cross has tweeted this map showing the locations of boreholes in Aleppo after water supplies in the city were cut off again.
'Syrian talks unlikely to succeed if government doesn't win on the ground': TASS
As German Chancellor Angela Merkel said this afternoon that she was "appalled" at the suffering of Syrian civilians amid a government offensive in Aleppo backed by heavy Russian air strikes, TASS published a remarkable indirect response to criticisms of Russia's actions in Syria.
TASS cited Russian experts as saying that the Syria peace talks in Geneva will not succeed -- unless government troops win on the ground.
The inter-Syrian talks, which are resuming in Geneva on February 25, are unlikely to succeed if the Syrian army does not win on the ground, Russian experts told a roundtable meeting (the Unsuccessful Start of the Syria Peace Talks: Possible Consequences) held on Monday.
The TASS piece has the effect of putting a fascinating spin on criticisms that Russian-backed air strikes in Syria have led to the collapse of fragile peace talks and are exacerbating an already disastrous humanitarian situation in Syria.
Last week, Western leaders and UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon blamed the collapse of the peace talks on devastating Russian air raids in Syria. UN chief Ban said that an immediate cease fire was needed in order for the diplomatic process to have any chance of succeeding.
While Russia said it backed the peace talks -- even going so far as to say that it supported the inclusion of two hard-line Islamist groups, Ahrar al-Sham and the Islam Army, in the talks -- its actions in Syria appear to belie that position.
The Russian experts quoted by TASS appear to articulate something closer to Russia's real policy in Syria.
Vladimir Yevseyev of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization department at the Institute of CIS Studies said that peace talks would succeed when the Syrian army succeeded on the ground.
"Victory on the ground, which I believe will occur in the next few months, is necessary to ensure the success of the inter-Syrian talks in Geneva," Yevseyev said.
The talks would not succeed if they restarted on Feb. 25, Yevseyev added, because -- simply -- government forces would not have gained a convincing victory by that time.
"That is why I do not believe that a compromise is possible on February 25 because so far there are no conditions for the Syrian national army to gain a convincing victory," Yevseyev said.
A second expert, Amur Gadzhiyev of the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Oriental Studies, said that the Syrian opposition had backed out of the Geneva talks because the Syrian army had gained ground, in particular by cutting off main supply routes for militants in Aleppo province.
"The Syrian opposition, which fears that the retreat on the front might result in significant concessions at the talks, decided for itself [an on advice from international sponsors] that it was not the best time to continue the talks. This, in my view, is one of the main reasons for the abortive start of the Geneva negotiations," Gadzhiyev said.
'There are fears 70,000 more refugees could arrive at Turkey border': Syria Direct
Syria Direct has spoken with civilians who fled from northern Aleppo to the Syrian border during the recent Russian-backed government offensive near the city.
“There are fears that 70,000 additional refugees could arrive at the border,” on top of the estimated 70,000 already there if the regime continues its progress north, Abu Ahmed al-Halabi, who fled from northern Aleppo to the border during the recent offensive told Syria Direct on Monday.
“Today we're 70,000 displaced, and people expect there will be up to 150,000 at the Bab al-Salama border soon if the Russian bombings continue,” Mazan al-Halabi, the alias of a north Aleppo resident currently near Bab a-Salama, told Syria Direct Monday.
Iran-backed Shi'ite militia warns against sending Arab forces to Syria, Iraq
The powerful Iraqi Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia Kataib Hezbollah has warned that Arab forces sent to Syria or Iraq would "open the gates of hell."
"The Arab kingdoms tried Daesh mercenaries to implement their malicious plans in Iraq and Syria, and they failed," a statement from Kataib Hezbollah said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
Kataib Hezbollah, which is fighting IS in Iraq alongside Iraqi government forces, has also sent fighters to Syria to support government troops.
Its statements come after the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia both said that they are prepared to supply ground troops to fight IS in Syria.
IS claims bomb blast in Riyadh
IS has claimed responsibility for a bomb blast that damaged a car in the Saudi capital Riyadh today, Reuters reports.
A police spokesman said that there were no injuries in the blast, which damaged the car while it was parked outside a citizen's house in the Al-Azizia district.
Canada to end bombing missions in Iraq and Syria on Feb. 22
Canadian fighter jets will return home on Feb. 22 from their participation in the U.S.-led coalition against the IS group in Syria and Iraq, while the government will triple the size of its training and assisting mission there.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada's revised mission today, the Globe and Mail reports.
Libya forces say they conducted strikes against IS in Derna
Forces allied to Libya's eastern government conducted air strikes against IS militants in Derna city, a spokesman for Libyan National Army Forces said, according to Reuters.
An LNA MiG-23 aircraft later crashed "due to a technical problem," the spokesman said, adding that the plane had been involved in air strikes and that the pilot had managed to escape.
The militant group Ansar al-Sharia, which is close to Al-Qaeda, had claimed responsibility for downing the plane.
That concludes our live-blogging of the crisis surrounding Islamic State. Check back here tomorrow for more of our ongoing coverage.
Iraqi woman charged with role in IS hostage Kayla Mueller's death
The wife of a senior IS militant killed in a U.S. special forces raid last year has been charged in U.S. federal court with holding American Kayla Mueller hostage and contributing to her death.
The woman, Nisreen Assad Ibrahim Bahar a.k.a. Umm Sayyaf, admitted after her capture last May that she and her husband Abu Sayyaf held Mueller captive alongside several other female hostages.
While Mueller was held hostage by Sayyaf she was repeatedly raped by IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, U.S. officials have said.
Australian IS militants 'untrained and naive'
Australian militants fighting alongside the IS group are untrained, naive and expendable, Security and Intelligence Organization director Duncan Lewis has said.
"Untrained and naive young Australians are being drawn into the conflict and finding themselves in what I would describe as highly expendable, highly dangerous positions of low importance amid the ISIL effort," Lewis said on Tuesday, Sky News Australia reports.
Lewis said that at least 45 Australians have died fighting alongside IS in Syria and Iraq, possibly as many as 49.