Senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards general killed in Syria: IRGC

The United States is dropping a $500 million Pentagon program to train Syrian rebels fighting the administration of President Bashar al-Assad, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing unidentified Obama administration officials.

Thomas Pierret, an expert on Islam in Syria, said the U.S.-led coalition bombing IS in Syria was “not very active” in Aleppo, and that Russia’s strikes there had struck mostly rebels, allowing IS to push forward.

Last week, Washington shelved a program to train and equip “moderate” rebels opposed to Assad who would join the fight against Islamic State.

A military source in the Sahl al-Ghab plain said Russian air strikes had targeted at least three villages there Thursday morning.

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation secretary general Jens Stoltenberg warned that Russian Federation is testing “some of their most modern weapons” in Syria, while carrying out a great military deployment.

Four Russian ships fired 26 missiles into Syria, hitting 11 targets, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin during a televised meeting.

Also in Aleppo, Islamic State militants killed an Iranian brigadier general and adviser to the Syrian government, Hossein Hamedani, Iran’s official news agency said Friday.

He also said he could not confirm reports that Russian missiles had crashed in Iran. The announcement comes amidst claims hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria to support the Syrian army. “The clashes also killed 11 [rebel] fighters”, he said, and the numbers were expected to rise as more casualties were confirmed.

Russian strikes hit northern areas of Latakia province, the coastal heartland of Assad’s Alawite minority sect, as well as northern areas of Hama province further east, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

It was not clear whether Gen Hamedani’s killing was related to that IS offensive. Iran, an ally of the Syrian government, says it has advisory missions in the country but no military forces.

Around 15 army tanks and armoured vehicles had been destroyed or immobilised by rebel missile strikes, Abdulrahman and an opposition activist on the ground said.