Source: Mideast Discourse
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier expressed readiness to retaliate after its servicemen were killed in the province of Idlib in an attack by Syrian government forces.

The General Staff of the Syrian army said it gives one last chance to the militants operating in the province of Idlib to lay down their arms, Ikhbariya news agency reported on Tuesday citing a military source, adding that the Syrian Army was ready to repel any Turkish aggression in the province.

“Our armed forces are trying to give the last chance to the militants and save the lives of the besieged civilians. The army units operating in the region have been ordered to allow those who decide not to rely on the support of the Turkish forces, to surrender their weapons”, the source said.

The source added that the Syrian Army was continuing its military operation against the militants, who have been fighting civilians and using them as “shields” in Saraqib and Tell Touqan in Idlib.

On 3 February, the Turkish Defence Ministry said that six Turkish servicemen had been killed in an attack by the Syrian Army in Idlib.

The Turkish military presence in Syria has never been sanctioned either by Damascus nor the UN Security Council. Turkey says its forces are deployed in the region in order to prevent conflicts in Idlib.

Fighting has escalated in Syria’s Idlib recently, as the Syrian government has been struggling to recapture control over the area, which remains a major terrorist stronghold in the country.

Idlib is home to various militant factions, with a large portion of it controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly known as Al-Nusra Front*), the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda*.

Source: SANA
Homs/Aleppo – Suicide terrorists blew themselves up with explosive belts in two security centers in Homs city, claiming lives of many people and injuring others.

SANA reporter said that six suicide terrorists infiltrated on Saturday morning into al-Ghouta and al-Mahatta areas synchronously and blew themselves up in two security centers in Homs city, adding that Major-General Hassan Daaboul, Head of Military Security Department, was martyred along with a number of security personnel.

Homs Governor Talal Barazi told SANA that the terrorist suicide bombings claimed the lives of 32 people including a military commander and injured 24 others, who were admitted to hospitals for getting the suitable treatment.

The Governor pointed out that the victories of the Syrian Army made the terrorists frenzied and pushed them to commit this coward terrorist atrocity in a hopeless attempt to undermine the capability of the security services, which managed to establish security and stability in Homs city.

Fatteh al-Sham Front (Jabhat al-Nusra) , designated as a terrorist organization on the international terrorism list, claimed, in a statement on websites, responsibility for the terrorist bombings.

Later in the day, a woman was killed and six others including a child were injured by terrorist rocket and sniping attacks in al-Zahra’a neighborhood in Homs city and Oum al-Dananir village in the city’s eastern countryside.

SANA’s correspondent in Homs said that terrorists located in Ein Hassoun village east of Homs city targeted with sniper fire homes in Oum al-Dananir village, claiming the life of one woman.

The correspondent said that terrorists targeted al-Zahra’a neighborhood with 3 rocket shells, injuring six people including a child and causing massive damage to a residential building and private properties.

Later, SANA’s correspondent in Aleppo city reported that a child was killed and six others were injured due to the explosion of an explosive device left behind by terrorists that were present in al-Azamiya neighborhood before the Syrian Army liberated the area.

The correspondent said that the injured people were hospitalized, and some of them are in critical condition.

Source: FarsNews
A senior Syrian commander said on Sunday that army advances in Southeastern Aleppo is gathering momentum and Aleppo is likely to be declared a fully liberated city in the next two days.

“The Syrian army and its allies’ advances towards al-Nusra Front (recently renamed to Fatah al-Sham Front) in Bustan al-Qasr (al-Kaser) and al-Kelaseh districts in Eastern Aleppo, tightening siege on the terrorists and cutting off of their supply routes will greatly help set Aleppo fully free in the next 48 hours,” Commander of al-Baath battalion in Aleppo Mohannad al-Haaj told FNA on Sunday.

He, meantime, said that strenuous diplomatic efforts are also underway to evacuate the terrorists from the remaining parts of Aleppo without any military clashes to prevent further human casualties.

The Russian Peace Coordination Center in Syria announced earlier on Sunday that nearly 80,000 civilian have been evacuated from Aleppo’s Eastern districts, while more than 1,300 militants have turned themselves in to the Syrian Army troops.

“Around 1,324 militants have laid down their weapons and crossed into areas of the city to surrender to the Syrian government troops. In accordance with the Syrian president’s decision, 1,270 were granted amnesty,” the Russian Center said in a statement, adding that since the operation to liberate Aleppo began, more than 78,000 civilians have been evacuated from Eastern Aleppo with the help of the Center.

Bomb disposal specialists working in Aleppo have also demined a total area of 24 hectares (2.6 square feet), including 162 residential blocks and 11 kilometers of roads

In total, bomb disposal specialists have detected and destroyed about 1,340 explosive objects in the Eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo that have been liberated from militants.

Source: Sputnik
Syrian Arab Army’s leadership issued a statement Monday saying that al-Nusra Front killed at least 84 people and injured 280 in Aleppo during the past three days.

Al-Nusra Front terrorist group, with the help of other militant groups, has intensified its offensive on Aleppo taking advantage of the ceasefire, the statement said.

“Al-Nusra Front terrorist group and a number of affiliated militant groups continue intensifying attacks on the city of Aleppo from several directions, taking advantage of the ceasefire,” the statement said.

Al-Nusra Front terrorists and some Syrian rebel groups, allied to the group, launched an offensive in Aleppo’s south-west on Friday. For more than three days, terrorists have been attacking Syrian Arab Army’s units, as well as residential areas in western and central parts of Aleppo.

On Saturday, militants in Aleppo carried out attacks on the Al-Asad military academy and Bustan az-Zakhra district. Heavy fighting continues near the academy with armored vehicles’ detonation and suicide bombers’ attacks as part of the terrorists’ offensive. According to Syrian military intelligence data, during a few days of the humanitarian pause in Aleppo, militants have redeployed some 8,000 fighters to the city’s south and north. If terrorists gain control over the Al-Asad military academy, the whole western part of Aleppo will be under threat of militants’ fire.

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31/10/16 – Terrorists have used chlorine gas in today’s attacks in Aleppo; a number people were being treated in al-Razi Hospital.

Inspire to Change
Syria is demanding the UN take action after it says French war planes killed more than 120 civilians during airstrikes on Tuesday near the Turkish-Syrian border. The deaths came just a day after US air assaults killed a further 20 people in Manbij.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry sent letters to the UN secretary general and to the president of the UN Security Council, which at present is Japan.

Damascus wants the organization to look into atrocities committed by France, which is a member of the US-led international coalition, after it targeted the village of Toukhan Al-Kubra, located near the Turkish-Syrian border and the city of Manbij.

The mass death toll in Toukhan Al-Kubra came just a day after US war planes killed around 20 people, mainly women and children, while many more were injured in and around the city of Manbij, the Foreign Ministry states.
“The government of the Syrian Arab Republic condemns, with the strongest terms, the two bloody massacres perpetrated by the French and US warplanes and those affiliated to the so-called international coalition which send their missiles and bombs to the civilians instead of directing them to the terrorist gangs… Syria also affirms that those who want to combat terrorism seriously should coordinate with the Syrian government and army,” the ministry added.

In the letter, the Syrian Foreign Ministry added that it condemns the continued support by the US, France, Saudi Arabia, the UK and Qatar to terrorist organizations such as Al-Nusra Front and Jaish Al-Islam, despite these groups having clear links to Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and Al-Qaeda.

The human rights watchdog Amnesty International also hit out at the US-led coalition, saying that it needs to do more to prevent the deaths of civilians.

“Anyone responsible for violations of international humanitarian law must be brought to justice and victims and their families should receive full reparation,” Amnesty’s interim Middle East director Magdalena Mughrabi said, as cited by Reuters.

A spokesman for the US Department of Defense says that it is aware of the loss of civilian life in Syria.

“We are aware of reports alleging civilian casualties near Manbij, Syria, recently. As with any allegation we receive, we will review any information we have about the incident,” Matthew Allen said in a statement.

“We take all measures during the targeting process to avoid or minimize civilian casualties or collateral damage and to comply with the principles of the Law of Armed Conflict,” he added.

The US-led coalition has been providing air support to the rebel group the Syrian Arab Coalition, which is involved in heavy fighting around the city of Manbij, currently under the control of Islamic State.

The terrorist group has been in control of the city since it seized large swathes of Syria and Iraq in the summer of 2014.

In an interview with NBC News last week, Syrian President Bashar Assad said that the US is not interested in defeating terrorists in Syria as it really wants “to control and use them.”

“The reality is telling that, since the beginning of the American airstrikes, terrorism has been expanding and prevailing,” he told the channel, specifying that “during the American and alliance airstrikes, ISIS was expanding and taking over new areas in Syria.”

“It’s about being serious, having the will. The United States doesn’t have the will to defeat the terrorists. It had the will to control them and to use them as a card, like they did in Afghanistan. That will reflect on the military aspect of the issue,”Assad said.

Source: SputnikNews
Syrian troops and popular defense forces (NDF), on Thursday, regained control over the town of Bluzah in the country’s northwestern Aleppo province, Iran’s Fars news agency reported on Thursday.

The victory by the army and popular forces came after fierce clashes with the terrorists over the town which is located south of Safira in Aleppo province.

Syrian army forces also inflicted heavy losses on the militants destroying their weapons and ammunition around a scientific research center west of Aleppo city.

Inside the city, an army unit destroyed the positions of al-Nusra Front and other terrorist organizations in Bani Zaid neighborhood, the agency reported.

During the operations in Jeb al-Safa village and al-Bab city in the northeastern countryside of the province, the Syrian Army destroyed a number of machinegun-equipped vehicles used by the terrorists, a military source said on Thursday.

During the past week, the Syrian Armed and allied militia forces have been making steady gains in the northwestern parts of the country, driving the militant groups back from more territories in the region.

Syrian fighter jets also have been targeting the militant groups’ positions in Aleppo province in recent days.