Stretched Thin, Syrian Extremists are Pressured
Loveday Morris reports for the Washington Post on the precarious state of the Islamic State of Iraq in Syria. The Al Qaeda linked group has alienated allies and left itself vulnerable to attack by other rebel groups.
“For now, at least, a coalition of more-moderate Syrian rebels seems to hold the upper hand — a development that would come as a relief to Western governments that had become increasingly concerned about the gains made by the extremist,” she writes.
“The al-Qaeda-linked group’s setbacks in Syria are in contrast to its fresh successes in neighboring Iraq, where its challenge to the Baghdad government has thrust it into renewed prominence. But even in Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, was facing new pressure Tuesday, with the government launching airstrikes in the western province of Anbar as it sought to regain control of cities seized by militants.”
Syria Reports Two Attacks on Chemical Arms Sites
The Syrian government said that insurgents attacked two chemical weapons storage sites, the first report of such an assault.
“The attacks, if confirmed, underscore the difficulties in securing and destroying the chemical weapons in the midst of a civil war, a point that the organization’s officials have repeatedly made since an ambitious joint mission with the United Nations to eliminate them began in early October with the Syrian government’s consent,” writes The New York Times.
“The Syrian government is facing increased pressure to accelerate the process for ridding the country of the most dangerous materials among the 1,200 tons of toxic agents it has amassed over the years. It missed the deadline for exporting them by Dec. 31. The entire arsenal must be destroyed by June 30, under a Security Council resolution approved in September.”
UN Aided 38,000 Victims of Syrian Gender-Based Violence in 2013
Reuters reports that more than 38,000 people asked the U.N. for help “after facing sexual assault or other gender-based violence in Syria in 2013, a figure which may represent the tip of the iceberg” as the conflict goes into its third year.
“The U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) released figures this week showing it provided psychological first aid or support for such violence to 33,430 people in Syria in the first 11 months of 2013, and to another 4,800 in December in Idlib, Homs, Damascus and rural Damascus,” the wire says.
“In Lebanon, home to the largest number of Syrian refugees at 850,000 people, the U.N. agency said it had ‘provided post-rape treatment to 17 hospitals and primary health care centers covering the potential needs of 1,020 survivors.’ In Jordan, which hosts the Za’atari camp which houses about 85,000 refugees, about 75 “survivors” of gender-based violence access UNFPA services every month, the agency said.
“UNFPA Syria Regional Response Advisor Dan Baker said it was impossible to know how the numbers in Syria compared to the pre-conflict situation, and that they did not prove that rape was being used as a systematic weapon of war.”
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WSJ: Rebels Linked to al Qaeda Retreat in Syria
AP: Car Bomb Near School in Central Syria Kills 16
AFP: Qaeda Group Loses HQ in Syria’s Aleppo
NOW: Has Sahwa Hit the Fan in Syria
Reuters: Russia Blocks U.N. Security Council From Condemning Attacks