Syrian rebels recapture village in west: monitoring group

Soon after the Russian air campaign began on September 30, Assad’s forces began several ground offensives.

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with government forces battling against the so-called moderate opposition and various extremist groups, including the Islamic State (ISIL) militant group, and the Nusra Front.

Smoke rises after shelling by the Syrian army, after Russian airstrikes, in Damascus, Syria, October 14, 2015.

Rebels wrested back a flashpoint town in central Syria on Friday, reversing the last of the gains the army had made in a month-old offensive in Hama province, a monitoring group said.

Iran, of course, is doing precisely the opposite-organizing thousands of Iraqi Shia militia groups to fight on Assad’s behalf, deploying additional Quds Force operatives to advise pro-Assad military units on the ground, and funneling plane-loads of ammunition and weapon to government forces.

She said Secretary of State John Kerry was hoping that if the USA and others could “rope” Russian Federation into the diplomatic effort, it would lead Moscow to seek a peaceful solution different from the military intervention they are engaged in today.

The TOW rockets have been instrumental, he and other commanders said.

Bassam Khabieh/ReutersRebel fighters aim their weapons as they demonstrate their skills during a military display as part of a graduation ceremony at a camp in eastern al-Ghouta, near Damascus, Syria July 12, 2015.

Fifteen Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant fighters accounted for the remainder of the death toll, the British-based Observatory said, after a series of strikes on Tuesday that hit the ISIL stronghold. He’s now serving as a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. “But I think it’s a game changer, with the Russians arriving”. He is the former USA ambassador to Syria and a longtime critic of the US response there.

But Hammond said “we do not believe it is going to be possible to bring the opposition groups into the political process and have an effective cease-fire unless we have a clear point at which President Assad will depart at a few point during the transitional process”. “They want to keep him alive and they want to go on strong for the negotiations”.

Nuland said Russian Federation is spending $2 million to $4 million a day on its air campaign in Syria at a time when Rep. Ed Royce (R., Calif.), chairman of the committee, called Obama’s policy “tepid” and “very ineffectual”.

Officials also acknowledge that facts on the ground in Syria are prone to change quickly.

“The major offensives are only in their infancy”, said the official, who requested anonymity in order to discuss the issue.

In late October, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a loose alliance of rebel groups, denied its delegations had visited Moscow amid heightened diplomacy on Syria.

And the growing ground force is sizeable, with intelligence officials estimating there now are likely 10,000 or more pro-Assad troops in Syria. That is to say that eventually Russian Federation could concede to the removal from power of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whereas there is no indication that Iran might do the same.