Syria’s Assad Marks Eid as His Troops Suffer High Toll
The AP reports that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose troops are already stretched as they fight numerous battles across the country, prayed at a Damascus mosque at the start of Eid on Monday amid an unprecedentedly high death toll for forces battling extremists from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
“The military casualties came as fighting intensified in the past two weeks, with militants from the al-Qaida-breakaway Islamic State group seeking to eliminate opponents from all sides, dealing a series of setbacks for government forces and rival rebels alike,” the wire says. “The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said about 1,240 soldiers and other Assad loyalists have been killed in the past 10 days in northern Syria.
“However, the Syrian government has not reported on the heavy losses. State TV on Monday showed Assad performing prayers in Damascus’ Khair mosque earlier in the day, smiling as he greeted Muslim clergymen. It was his second public appearance in less than two weeks.”
Syrian and Turkish Kurds Unite to Battle ISIS Threat
The Independent reports on Syrian and Turkish Kurds, who have come together to fight ISIS, which is advancing towards the Kurdish northeast. Winning the city of Kobani would allow ISIS to control a large section of the Turkish border.
“At night, the battle for the Syrian Kurdish stronghold of Kobani, which is under attack from three sides, can be heard in Turkey,” it writes. “Rockets screech and there are regular explosions and the popping of rifle fire. Last week, the Turkish Kurdish Workers’ Party, (PKK) said 1,000 fighters had gone to help their brethren fight ISIS.”
“We announced the number of fighters to make people pay attention to what is happening in Kobani,” says Ismail Kaplan, a local Kurdish leader. “Since ISIS came back from Mosul with US weapons, they are much more powerful so we need to give the Kurds a hand – if Isis becomes stronger, we will attack to help the Kurds in Syria.”
UN Condemns Terrorist Oil Sales From Syria, Iraq
The AP reports that the U.N. Security Council has “strongly condemned any sale of oil from Syria or Iraq by terrorist groups and reminded all countries that buying the illegally obtained oil violates U.N. sanctions.”
A statement approved by all 15 council members targets Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS, which has seized a wide swath of territory in eastern Syria and western Iraq.
“The statement expresses ‘grave concern’ at reports that these two groups have seized oilfields and pipelines in Syria and Iraq and warns that they could face further sanctions,” the wire says. “It expresses concern that oilfields or infrastructure controlled by terrorist organizations ‘could generate material income for terrorists, which would support their recruitment efforts, including of foreign terrorist fighters, and strengthen their operational capability to organize and carry out terrorist attacks.’”
Christians Flee Syria
Reuters reports that Christians in Syria were among the members of religious communities around the world forced to flee their homes last year, the United States has said in its annual report on religious freedom.
“In almost every corner of the globe, millions of Christians, Muslims, Hindus and others representing a range of faiths were forced from their homes on account of their religious beliefs,” the report said. The wire writes that “hundreds of thousands of Christians had fled three years of civil war in Syria and in the Central African Republic, lawlessness and sectarian violence between Christians and Muslims had reportedly resulted in 700 deaths in December alone and the displacement of more than a million people in 2013.”
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