Syrian Opposition to Elect New President
The AP reports that the Syrian National Coalition, the Western-backed “moderate” opposition in exile, has begun a three-day meeting in Istanbul to elect a new president, replacing Ahmad Jarba. The officials will also discuss the June offensive carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which threatens to overwhelm other rebels – including a limited Free Syrian Army presence – in eastern Syria.
“The meeting comes amid reports that 150,000 people have been displaced from their homes in eastern Syria by jihadi fighters who captured wide areas of the eastern province of Deir Al Zor in the past weeks,” the wire says.
Official Mustafa Osso said the SNC’s presidential vote is expected on Tuesday. The top candidates to replace Jarba are senior coalition members Hadi Bahra and Muwaffaq Nairabiyeh, both of whom belong to his Democratic bloc. Jarba was elected in July of 2013 and has now served two six-month terms, the maximum period allowed by the SNC.
But even as the group meets, it says the Syrian regime is poised for an assault on Aleppo. AFP quotes SNC spokesman Luay Safi as saying that “The military situation is very difficult, the siege of Aleppo has become a reality. Syrian troops are preparing to invade Aleppo.” Assad forces have made advances in the northern city in the last week, taking control of most of the northeast industrial district and threatening to cut off rebel supply lines.
ISIS Militants Seize Syria’s Al-Tanak Oil Field
The AP also reports that ISIS fighters seized the al-Tanak oil field in eastern Syria, near Iraq, and inched closer to the Turkish border on Friday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the activist collective of Deir Ezzor both reported the gains.
The capture of al-Tanak “followed the Islamic State group’s seizure of Syria’s largest oil field on Thursday. Both oil fields were taken from other rebel groups,” the wire writes. “The extremist Sunni Muslim group now has nearly full control over a corridor from the Syrian provincial capital of Deir Ezzor to the border town of Boukamal. The area neighbors parts of northern and western Iraq that it seized last month, allowing the group to flow freely between the two countries.”
Meanwhile, AFP reports that the group has “forced out” 30,000 residents of Shuheil, a former stronghold of its extremist rival Jabhat al-Nusra, after seizing the town last week. Another 30,000 residents have been forced from their homes in the towns of Khosham and Tabia Jazeera, also in Deir Ezzor.
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