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Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
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Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
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04Feb16
Government Forces, Backed by Russian Jets, Advance in Syria
Syrian government forces supported by heavy Russian airstrikes advanced in the country's north on Thursday, nearly surrounding rebels in the city of Aleppo and displacing thousands of civilians.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said it was willing to participate in a ground operation against the jihadists of the Islamic State if the United States and other nations fighting the group agreed to initiate such a campaign.
The latest developments in the five-year-old conflict came a day after the United Nations suspended a new round of international peace talks that had made no progress toward ending the war.
The Syria conflict has escalated from a civil war between the government of President Bashar al-Assad and rebels seeking his ouster to an international proxy war.
While the United States, Saudi Arabia and other nations support the rebels, Iran has sent military personnel to help the government, and Russia is bombing opposition forces. And all oppose the Islamic State, which has seized territory spanning the Syrian-Iraqi border.
If the government were to gain control of Aleppo, Syria's largest commercial center before the war, the loss would represent a major blow for the rebels after being pushed out of other major towns and cities by both the government and the Islamic State. The government's recent advance makes it clear that Russia's intervention has not simply stabilized the government's position, but enabled it to advance, diminishing pressure on Mr. Assad to compromise in negotiations.
The new government advances between the city of Aleppo and the Turkish border were facilitated by heavy Russian and Syrian airstrikes that increased while representatives of the warring parties were in Geneva for peace talks, opposition activists said. Aleppo has been divided between government- and rebel-controlled zones since 2012.
While government forces coming from the east and west had yet to meet and successfully block rebel supply lines on Thursday, fighting and airstrikes in the area had cut off the main route used to deliver humanitarian aid, according to Mercy Corps, an aid group.
"We are cut off from Aleppo city," David Evans, the group's regional program director for the Middle East, said in a statement. "It feels like a siege of Aleppo is about to begin."
The fighting sent civilians streaming out of the area toward the Turkish border.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey told an international donors conference in London on Thursday that 10,000 Syrians were waiting on the Syrian side of the Turkish border while 70,000 more were heading that way.
Activists inside Syria posted videos of huge crowds of civilians fleeing, many with children and carrying belongings in grain sacks.
While Russia has long supported Mr. Assad, it joined the war as a combatant last year, launching airstrikes it said targeted the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, although it mostly bombed opposition forces unconnected to the Islamic State.
The air support has blunted rebel offensives and allowed the government to retake some areas.
Saudi officials have long been frustrated with the reluctance of the United States to increase its military support for the opposition, a patchwork of armed groups that include extremists linked to Al Qaeda.
While the kingdom supports the idea of a political settlement, it says military pressure may be needed to bring it about.
"We believe that changing the balance of power on the ground is going to open up the way to a political settlement," Adel Al Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, said in an interview on Thursday.
Mr. Jubeir did not mention the possibility of ground troops. But in a surprise statement broadcast on the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya news network, a spokesman for the Saudi Defense Ministry suggested that the kingdom could send soldiers to fight the Islamic State.
"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is prepared to participate in any ground operations that the anti-ISIS coalition might agree to carry out in Syria if there is consensus among coalition leaders," the spokesman, Ahmed Asiri, said.
It appeared to be the first time Saudi Arabia had publicly suggested such a possibility, and had done so without first discussing the matter with the other nations fighting the Islamic State.
Asked about the Saudi comments, John Kirby, a State Department spokesman, said he had not seen the Saudi proposal and would not comment on it, Reuters reported.
The sending of ground troops to Syria would be a significant escalation in the kingdom's involvement in the war. American officials say the kingdom and other Persian Gulf nations have largely stopped participating in the bombing campaign because of their focus on the war in Yemen.
[Source: By Ben Hubbard, The New York Times, Riyadh, 04Feb16]
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 | This document has been published on 08Feb16 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. |