Turkey Says Only 100 ISIS Fighters Remain in Al-Bab

Turkish-backed forces have taken control of half of al-Bab, leaving fewer than 100 jihadists in the town, the Turkish defense minister, Fikri Isik, said on Wednesday. He added that those who remain “are very dangerous people. Some are snipers, some are potential suicide bombers.”

Turkish troops and the Syrian rebels they support have been fighting to take control of the town for several months. Located around 20 miles (30km) south of the Turkish border, al-Bab is the final significant foothold for the so-called Islamic State in Aleppo province.

However, the United Kingdom-based monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) told Agence France-Presse that Turkey and its supported rebels control only 25 percent of al-Bab and there are still nearly 700 jihadists fighting there.

SOHR added that more than 124 civilians have been killed by Turkish airstrikes and shelling in the past two weeks. Kevin Kennedy, regional U.N. humanitarian coordinator said, “The conflict in al-Bab has put civilians, many of whom are women and children, in grave jeopardy.” Ankara denies it has killed civilians.

The battle for al-Bab has been the bloodiest in Turkey’s “Euphrates Shield” operation in Syria, with the largest number of Turkish soldiers killed there. Ankara launched the operation in Syria in August 2016 with the aim of targeting both ISIS and Kurdish forces.

Peace Talks Start in Geneva, De Mistura Does Not Expect ‘Breakthrough’

Government and opposition delegations are in Geneva today for the first U.N.-sponsored peace talks in nearly a year, BBC News reported.

The delegations will not negotiate directly, and Staffan de Mistura, the U.N.’s special envoy to Syria, is not “expecting a breakthrough.”

The opposition has reiterated its demand to negotiate the fate of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, which the government says is not up for discussion.

The agenda for the talks is based on the 2015 Security Council resolution that backs a peace process, de Mistura said. The resolution aims to establish inclusive and nonsectarian governance to create a process to draft a new constitution and to hold U.N.-monitored elections within 18 months of the new constitution.

The opposition is represented by the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), an umbrella group of Syrian opposition in exile supported by Saudi Arabia. The government delegation is led by Syria’s ambassador to the U.N., Bashar al-Jaafari.

Russia Willing to Discuss Safe Zones With U.S. if Damascus Consents

Russia is open to discussing safe zones in Syria with the U.S. if the Syrian government agrees to coordinate, according to Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, the Associated Press reported.

“We believe that any such initiatives concerning the territory of Syria need to be coordinated with the Syrian government; otherwise it would be hard to implement them,” Lavrov said at a news conference on Wednesday. “Having described our understanding of what we can talk about, we are waiting for clarifications from Washington.”

U.S.-Russian ties were strained under the previous U.S. administration, with Washington refusing military coordination in Syria because of Moscow’s support for the Syrian government. President Trump has promised to improve relations with Russia and to fight the so-called Islamic State together.

RECOMMENDED READS:

• The Associated Press: Long Road Ahead for Justice and Accountability in Syria
• Al Monitor: No Breakthrough Expected at New Syria Talks
• The Century Foundation: Participatory Democracy and Micropolitics in Manbij
• Council on Foreign Relations: Reconciling U.S.-Turkish Interests in Northern Syria
• NPR: Sen. McCain Makes Unannounced Trip to Syria to Meet With U.S. Forces