Major Attack on Homs Security Branch

At least 32 people were killed in a multiple suicide attack on security bases in Homs on Saturday, BBC News reported.

The head of local military intelligence was killed in the attack, according to Syrian state TV. The attack was claimed by the jihadist group Tahrir al-Sham.

Since December 2015, Homs has been under government control after rebels left the city in a cease-fire deal. The attack happened while government and rebel delegations were meeting in Geneva for negotiations.

“Every time we had talk, or negotiation, there was always someone who tried to spoil it. We were expecting that,” said U.N. envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura. “It was tragic, terrible, and that’s why, you know, I’m expecting during these talks unfortunately spoilers.”

Tahrir al-Sham is a jihadist alliance led by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (JFS), al-Qaida’s former affiliate in Syria. It was not included in the December 30 cease-fire deal, nor is it a part of the current peace talks.

The Syrian government said the attacks would not go unanswered, and the head of the government delegation to Geneva, U.N. ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari, demanded all opposition groups denounce the violence. The main Syrian opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), said that it condemned “all terrorist operations committed by terrorist groups.”

Government airstrikes later targeted al-Waer, the last opposition enclave in Homs. Rebels there are not affiliated with Tahrir al-Sham.

Government Offensives Escalate on Several Fronts

Four people were killed in government airstrikes on rebel-held neighborhoods this weekend, Al Jazeera reported, amid government offensive escalations throughout the country.

Government warplanes targeted al-Waer and the rebel-held town of Douma outside the capital, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) monitor.

On Sunday, Syrian government forces took territory from the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) south of al-Bab city. Turkish-backed forces have been fighting for control of al-Bab, only 19 miles (30km) south of the Turkish border and the last significant ISIS foothold in Aleppo.

By taking control of the town of Tadef, just southeast of al-Bab, government forces are now preventing Turkish-backed rebels from moving farther south, and are now only 16 miles (25km) away from taking control of Lake Assad, a crucial supply of drinking water for Aleppo.

Syrian government and allied forces also advanced in the east toward the ISIS-held city of Palmyra, taking control of several hills that oversee three oilfields west of the city, according to SOHR.

Government forces backed by regional allies took control of Palmyra in March, but ISIS was able to wrest control of the ancient city again in December.

U.N. Credibility at Stake, France Says

The credibility of the United Nations Security Council is at risk as it discusses the possibility of sanctions against Syria for the use of chemical weapons, the French ambassador to the U.N. warned on Friday, Reuters reported.

“If the Security Council is not able to unite on such a vital, literally, vital question of proliferation and use of weapons of mass destruction against civilian population, then what?” said the French U.N. ambassador Francois Delattre. “On the scale of the threats to peace and security, we are at 10 here.”

Last year, a joint investigation by the U.N. and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) found Syrian government forces responsible for three chlorine gas attacks, and ISIS responsible for one attack using mustard gas. The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons.

The draft resolution targets 11 Syrian military commanders as well as 10 government entities involved in producing and developing chemical weapons.

“The ‘doing nothing’ attitude or the ‘talking only’ attitude are not an option confronted with such a threat,” Delattre said.

RECOMMENDED READS:

• Agence France-Presse: Film on Syria’s White Helmets Wins Oscar
• Al-Monitor: Residents of Syria’s Deir Ez-Zor Fear IS Massacre
• NPR: New Book Focuses on the ‘Humanity of Syria’ Lost in the War
• Al Jazeera: Syrian Women Demand Justice for Detainees
• Heinrich Böll Stiftung: In Order to Be Taken Seriously