Unanimous Vote at U.N. Security Council Extends Toxic Gas Probe

The investigation into chemical attacks in Syria was extended for another year by the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, Agence France-Presse reported.

In a unanimous vote, the council agreed to extend a U.S.-drafted resolution tasking a joint panel of the U.N. and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to continue until November 2017 investigating chemical attacks in Syria and identifying who is responsible.

The work is “far from finished,” said U.S. ambassador Samantha Power, pointing to recent alleged attacks in eastern Aleppo.

The panel, also known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), has accused the Syrian government of responsibility for three toxic gas attacks in 2014 and 2015, and the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) of one.

“Russia’s skeptical position is well-known regarding the conclusions,” said its deputy ambassador to the U.N. Vladimir Safronkov, but he said Moscow is backing the resolution because it still sees chemical weapons as a threat in Syria and Iraq.

Airstrikes Continue on Aleppo, Hit Children’s Hospital

Continued government air raids on eastern, rebel-held Aleppo hit a hospital on Friday, the Associated Press reported.

The only pediatric hospital left in besieged eastern Aleppo was damaged in the airstrikes, leaving staff in search of a place to move their patients to safety. The hospital had been targeted by airstrikes on Wednesday, as well.

The city “is a mess,” a member of the first responders team Syria Civil Defense told the Associated Press. Bombings had left behind fires in at least 10 different areas of the city, with first responders struggling to put them out.

The Syrian government resumed its aerial campaign on rebel-held parts of Aleppo on Tuesday, as its ally Russia announced it would target Idlib and Homs. At least 100 people have died across Syria in the past four days, according to United Kingdom-based monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

Seven people were killed in airstrikes on southwestern rural Aleppo earlier on Friday, reported the SOHR.

Turkish Borders Secure by Mid-2017, Says Defense Minister

Turkey will secure its borders by the first half of next year, its defense minister said on Thursday, Reuters reported.

Turkey, a member of NATO, launched a military operation in Syria in August, supporting Syrian rebels with the goal of repelling the so-called Islamic State from its borders and pushing Syrian Kurdish forces back from a 55-mile (90km) stretch of the border.

Syrian Kurdish forces led by the YPG are a key U.S. ally in the fight against Islamic State, but Turkey views the YPG as an extension to its own Kurdish insurgency, the PKK, that has been fighting for autonomy since the 1980s.

“It is expected that the full security of our borders will be established in the first half of 2017,” said defense minister Fikri Isik.

The next stage, Isik said, is to move further south to “cleanse” areas of Islamic State, including the city of al-Bab. Kurdish-led forces have also been working to take al-Bab from the extremists, making the town even more strategic for Turkey in an effort to divide Kurdish cantons.

Recommended Reads:

• The Los Angeles Times: Russia, Turkey Expand Military Operations in Syria During Trump’s Transition to Power
• Global Voices: The Uphill Battle of Protecting Syria’s Antiquities Amidst War
• The Los Angeles Times: Aleppo Was Syria’s Factory Floor. Now It’s in Ruins and Business Leaders Wonder if It’s Safe to Rebuild
• The Military Times: U.S. Halts Military Support for Turkey’s Fight in Key Islamic State Town
• Arab Reform Initiative: Foreign Backers and the Marginalization of the Free Syrian Army