The ‘Butcher of Aleppo’ returns to Syria

“Rebels” is an euphemism for  for Al Qaeda, al Nusra, ISIL, ISIS, or whatever name you want for these 7th century savages.

IRGC’s ‘Butcher of Aleppo’ returns to Syria as Assad feels the heat

IRGC commander Javad Ghaffari in a feature from Iran’s state broadcaster in Arabic, Al-Alam

An Iranian commander who led the battle to retake Aleppo from Syria’s opposition forces in 2017 has returned, Iran’s state media said, as President Bashar al-Assad faces renewed threats from armed groups bent on toppling his government.

Assad Should Break with Iran and Seek Help from the US and UAE

Syria: Jihadis seize Hama, Assad raises salaries for military personnel by 50%

Thousands flee Syria’s Homs as opposition forces advance on key city

Rebel fighters led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham say they are ‘at the walls’ of Homs, Syria’s third largest city.

Syrian Jihadis Move on to Second Major City, Hama

Syrian rebel commander Hassan Abdul Ghany said in a social media post on Thursday that his forces have entered the city of Hama, a strategically vital position south of the previous insurgent conquest, Aleppo. The rebels appeared to control much of the city by Thursday afternoon.

The rebel offensive reached Hama on Tuesday, engaging in heavy combat with the Syrian army and its Iran-backed militia allies. Syrian state media insisted the attack on Hama was repelled, but Syrian media said the same about Aleppo until rebel occupation of the city could no longer be denied, and there was soon little doubt that insurgents were in control of the city.

Reports: Turkey-Backed Militias Trap 15,000 and Engage in ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ in Syria

 Turkey-Backed Militias Trap 15,000 and Engage in ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ in Syria

Both Kurdish forces in Syria and humanitarian organizations on the ground warned this week that militias backed by Turkey are seizing territory in northern Syria and endangering Kurdish civilians, including potentially engaging in “ethnic cleansing.”

The Syrian National Army (SNA), an amalgam of various militias supported by the Turkish government, announced a military campaign in Syrian Kurdistan this week shortly after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a jihadist outfit with ties to al-Qaeda, conducted a surprise siege of Aleppo, the second-largest city in Syria. The dictatorship of Syrian leader Bashar Assad lost control of Aleppo last week; reports on Thursday indicate it may have also lost control of the city of Hama.

The clashes between the SNA and Kurdish forces in Syrian Kurdistan do not appear to be in support of HTS. Rather, it is an operation, overtly supported by the Islamist government of Turkey, to erode Kurdish control over northern Syria. The Kurds lead the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) through their military, the People’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ). The YPG and its all-female partners in the YPJ were instrumental in helping the United States dismantle the Islamic State “caliphate” in Syria in the last decade and are now warning that some Islamic State elements are taking advantage of the chaos to attempt to regroup.

The government of Islamist Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan considers the SDF, despite its affiliations with NATO ally America, to be a terrorist organization indistinguishable from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a U.S.-designated Marxist terrorist organization. Erdogan’s regime insists the SDF poses a national security threat to Turkey.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a non-governmental organization (NGO), reported on Tuesday that its sources on the ground had seen evidence of “ethnic cleansing” by pro-Turkish militias in Aleppo governate and areas where the SDF and SNA are fighting.