Turkey and Russia Conduct Joint Airstrikes for the First Time

Russia and Turkey conducted their first joint airstrikes together on Wednesday, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, BBC News reported.

The coordinated airstrikes targeted the so-called Islamic State in al-Bab, a town in the eastern Aleppo province near the Turkish border. Turkey, which launched its military intervention in Syria – dubbed “Euphrates Shield” – in late August, suffered heavy ground-troop losses in the town last month.

U.S. aircraft conducted joint airstrikes with Turkey on al-Bab last week, following Turkish calls for support from the U.S.-led coalition and Ankara accusing Washington of supporting ISIS.

Turkey and Russia have supported opposing sides in the nearly six-year war; Russia supports the Syrian government whereas Turkey has backed rebels fighting to oust Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Ankara has recently shifted its policy to focus on targeting the so-called Islamic State, as well as Syrian Kurdish forces, which it sees as a threat to its border. Kurdish forces are a key U.S. ally in the fight against ISIS.

Moscow and Ankara brokered a nationwide cease-fire that came into effect on December 30, paving the way for peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana next Monday.

U.S. ‘Already Invited’ to Peace Talks, Russia Says

The U.S. is invited to Russian-, Turkish- and Iranian-sponsored peace talks scheduled for Monday, said the Russian state-run news agency RT.

“We have already invited (the U.S.),” said Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. “We think it would be the right thing to invite the representatives of the U.N. and the new U.S. administration to the meeting.”

The proposed peace talks in Astana will be between government and opposition forces.

“So far, we believe that Astana will be about talks with terrorist groups over a cease-fire,” President Assad said in his Twitter account, Reuters reported. The Syrian government uses the blanket term “terrorists” to refer to its opposition.

The conference’s priority is to reach “a cease-fire to protect lives, and to permit humanitarian aid to reach different areas of Syria,” Assad said.

Iran, a key ally of the Syrian government, has voiced its opposition to the U.S. attending the talks.

Former Al-Qaida Group Claims Responsibility for Damascus Suicide Bombing

The Syrian jihadist group formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra said it carried out a suicide attack on Damascus, Reuters reported.

The bombing in the Kafr Sousa district of the capital killed seven people last week. Several security apparatuses are located in the area.

The jihadist group changed its name to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham in July 2016, and claimed to have cut off ties with al-Qaida.

RECOMMENDED READS:

• Agence France-Presse: At Syria Retirement Home, Elderly Left Behind by War
• Clingendael: The Syrian Humpty-Dumpty
• The Guardian: Islamic State Surrounds Military Airport in Dier Ez-Zor, Eastern Syria
• Foreign Policy: Democratic Rep. Gabbard Makes Secret Trip to Syria
• Reuters: Iran to Operate Mobile Service Network in Syria