ISIS’s Iraq Advance ‘Impossible’ Without Syrian Base

The Economist says the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS)’s storming of Mosul and Tikrit would have been impossible without its Syrian presence, namely its stronghold of Raqqa city.

“In the past year or so, as borders and government control have frayed across the region, ISIS has made gains across a swathe of territory encompassing much of eastern and northern Syria and western and northern Iraq,” it says.

“It was barely a year ago, in April 2013, that ISIS announced the expansion of its operations from Iraq into Syria. By changing its name from the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) by adding the words “and al-Sham”, translated as ‘the Levant’ or ‘Greater Syria,’ it signified its quest to conquer a wider area than present-day Syria.

“It is ruthless, slaughtering Shia and other minorities, including Christians and Alawites, the offshoot to which Syria’s president, Bashar Assad, belongs. It sacks churches and Shia shrines, dispatches suicide bombers to marketplaces, and has no regard for civilian casualties. Its recent advances would have been impossible without ISIS’s control since January of the eastern Syrian town of Raqqa, a testing ground and stronghold from which it has made forays farther afield. It has seized and exploited Syrian oilfields in the area and raised cash by ransoming foreign hostages.”

Car Bomb Explodes in Homs, Killing Seven

As attention is focused on ISIS, fighting continues across Syria. The AP reports that a car bomb exploded in a pro-government neighborhood Thursday, killing at least seven people. In Damascus, a mortar shell killed one person and injured four others in a southern residential neighborhood.

“The Syrian government took full control of Homs last month after rebels withdrew from their strongholds in the Old City as part of a negotiated evacuation deal following a nearly two-year siege by the military,” the wire writes. “That agreement has largely restored a sense of calm and order to the city, although car bombs still occasionally target government areas. Thursday’s blast occurred in the Wadi Dahab district and killed at least seven people, the Syrian state news agency said. It added that some 25 others were wounded.

“The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at eight. The activist group said six of the dead were civilians, but it was not clear whether the other two were civilians or pro-government gunmen. Also Thursday, the Observatory said the Syrian government has released around 530 detainees under a ‘general amnesty’ announced Monday by President Bashar Assad following his re-election. Thousands more prisoners are expected to be released under the presidential pardon.”

Syrian Refugee Children in Lebanon Forced to Work

The Guardian publishes a photo essay on Syrian child laborers in Lebanon who have been forced to work to support their families.

“Mariam Houssein al-Ali, 11, and her sister Ragala, 10, are from the Aleppo countryside. In Syria they lived in a big house and did not work,” it writes. “Now, like more than 80 percent of Syrian working children, they are laboring in the fields. Mariam says: ‘It’s good to have work because we need money to live.’

“Before the crisis in Syria, the fields of the Beqaa Valley were worked by Syrian migrant laborers and Lebanese men. Now they are tilled in the main by Syrian women and children, who work for lower wages. Jneid Houssein, who is unemployed while his son Ali, 12, and daughter Aisha, 11, work in the fields, says: ‘Farmers prefer to hire kids because they can do anything they want to them. They can hit them if they want, they can make them work long hours. Men won’t stand for this.’ Increasing unemployment among former Lebanese laborers is leading to rising anger towards the refugees.”

Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team

NY Times: Somali-Americans Join Anti-Government Fight in Syria

WSJ: Islamist Rebels in Syria Target Assad’s Sect

BuzzFeed: Syria’s Nightmare Scenario is Now Playing Out in Iraq

Carnegie Middle East Center: Syria’s Very Local Regional Conflict