Deadly Attacks Kill More Than 100 in Syria

Two explosions hit the northeastern city of Hassakeh on Friday, killing 45 people, including five children, as they celebrated the Kurdish New Year, AFP reports.

“There are now 45 dead from last night’s attacks in Hassakeh, as most of those who were in critical condition passed away,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

At least one of the explosions was caused by a suicide bomber in a vehicle as the Kurdish minority took part in festivities on the eve of Nowruz, the Kurdish New Year.

“They were lighting the candles at night, and there were a lot of children around,” said Observatory director Rami Abdulerahman.

The attacks, reportedly carried out by the Islamic State, occurred on Friday in what AFP reports as one of ISIS’s bloodiest days in Syria, when the group killed more than 120 people across the country.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon condemned the “heinous” attacks, “took note” of claims that ISIS jihadists were behind them and condemned the group.

Jihadists also launched attacks on government positions in the provinces of Homs and Hama, killing at least 82 members of forces loyal to the Syrian regime.

At least 13 people in Damascus, Deir Ezzor and Homs province were executed by jihadists over the weekend.

“ISIS has faced setbacks recently in the provinces of Aleppo and Raqa and in Hassakeh in confrontations with Kurds on the one hand and regime forces on the other, and are now trying to score military points, even limited ones, to offset their losses,” said Abdulerahman.

The news comes as CIA Director John Brennan said the group’s momentum had been blunted in Syria and Iraq due to coalition airstrikes against ISIS.

Elsewhere in the country, Islamist rebels belonging to Syrian al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra captured four members of a regime helicopter that crashed in the northwestern province of Idlib on Sunday, while a fifth was killed.

Syrian state television SANA confirmed that an army helicopter made an emergency landing near Jabal al-Zawiya, in northwest Syria, and said a search for the crew members was under way.

Syrian Islamist Merger Threatens Jabhat al-Nusra in Northwest Syria

The Syrian Islamist insurgent group Ahrar al-Sham, one of the largest jihadist groups in Syria alongside Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, merged with the smaller Suqur al-Sham, in a move that could thwart the growing influence of Jabhat al-Nusra, which has expanded its reach since ousting Western-backed rebels in northwest Syria, Reuters reports.

Earlier this month the first Syrian rebel group given U.S. weapons dissolved after a major defeat in which it lost its headquarters to Syria’s al-Qaida affiliate.

The Syrian Revolutionaries Front, another one of the Western-backed groups, was also driven from Idlib province by Jabhat al-Nusra last fall.

“Nusra Front has largely turned its attention away from fighting the Assad regime and toward fighting what it considers corrupt elements among the opposition,” the Wall Street Journal writes.

The defeat of Western-backed opposition groups has complicated efforts to combat extremism by leaving large parts of Syria that were once controlled by moderates in the hands of groups like Jabhat al-Nusra.

“The factionalism has helped Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s army gain ground against his opponents and inch closer to encircling them in rebel-held parts of the northern city of Aleppo,” Reuters writes.

Syria’s Opposition in Exile Declines Invitation to Peace Talks in Russia

Syria’s opposition in exile has refused an invitation from Russia to participate in peace talks in Moscow with representatives from the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, AFP reports.

The exiled Syrian National Coalition said it had “decided not to take part in the Moscow 2 talks” scheduled to take place in Moscow on April 6.

“There is no reason to attend the meeting in Moscow, especially when we see attempts on the part of the regime’s allies including Russia and Iran to place Assad centre-stage again,” Anas al-Abdo told AFP, reiterating rejection of “any political transition that would include Assad.”

He added that the coalition rejected the invitation because of “the lack of a clear agenda, the absence [of] a clear point of reference for anything that might be decided and the Coalition’s refusal to engage in dialogue with the regime if this is not part of a transition process.”

A staunch ally of Assad, Russia has been trying to relaunch peace talks between the regime and the opposition in a bid to end the conflict. It hosted a meeting in January that many opposition figures, including the exiled Syrian National Coalition, refused to attend, saying they would appear only at a meeting that led to Assad’s ousting.

Recommended Reads

• The Wall Street Journal: U.K. to Help Train Syrian Opposition Against ISIS; Stops Short of Airstrikes
• Reuters: CIA’s Brennan: Islamic State’s Momentum Blunted in Syria, Iraq
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• BBC: Syria Fears Prompt Travel Ban on Five Teenage Girls
• Reuters: Syrian Insurgents ‘Mimicking Ruthlessness’ of Army – Rights Group