Konflikten i Syrien

Report: US tried to encourage Syrian military coup

The Obama administration maintained secret communications with senior Syrian officials in an effort to overthrow embattled President Bashar al-Assad, The Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday.
As the Assad regime began a violent crackdown on protesters in 2011, U.S. intelligence attempted to identify officials who could potentially lead a regime change, according to the report.

“The White House’s policy in 2011 was to get to the point of a transition in Syria by finding cracks in the regime and offering incentives for people to abandon Assad,” a former senior administration official told The Journal.
More than two-dozen U.S. officials, Arab officials and diplomats spoke to The Journal for the report.

28 civila har dödats i ett flyganfall av Al-Assad-regimen nära Damaskus under torsdagskvällen, uppger oppositionella människorättsorganisationen SOHR.
Tio av de dödade ska vara barn.
Minst 60 andra civila ska dessutom ha skadats i attackerna, som riktades mot östra Ghouta.
Området är det största fästet för rebeller i Damaskus-området och bombas regelbundet av syriska styrkor.

Moscow provides France with evidence of Turkish support for IS

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia has provided France with proof of Turkey's support for the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group operating in Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry said, Xinhua reported Thursday, December 24.

"Gen. Valery Gerasimov has presented information concerning the continued plunder of natural resources in Syria, which are sold to provide financing for the IS, as well as the role of Turkey in this process," the ministry said in a statement issued after Russian Armed Forces General Staff Chief Gerasimov met with his French counterpart, Pierre de Villiers, in the Russian capital.
The ministry claimed that Turkey is smuggling militants to the northern part of Syria to reinforce the terrorist group.
The two sides outlined prospects for intensifying cooperation in the fight against international terrorism, including through forming a working group of military experts from both General Staffs, the statement said.

They also agreed to promote real-time information exchange in order to coordinate their efforts aimed at launching more effective strikes against IS targets, it added.
France was the first European country to join the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition in Syria. However, since Moscow started launching its own strikes against terrorists in the country, Russia and France have not coordinated their efforts yet.

Zaran Aloush, ledaren för den mäktiga rebellgruppen Jaysh al-Islam i Damaskus förorter, har dödats i ett ryskt flygangrepp, uppger två källor inom gruppen. Han ska ha dödats i ett angrepp mot gruppens hemliga högkvarter.
Jaysh al-Islam (Islams armé) beskrivs som den viktigaste rebellgruppen i Damaskus och den ska ha tillgång till tusentals stridande. Förutom att bjuda hårt motstånd mot regimens styrkor slogs Jays al-Islam mot IS i närheten av Damaskus. IS-experten Hassan Hassan, författare till Isis: Inside the army of terror, skriver på Twitter att regimen aldrig brydde sig om att bekämpa IS-celler omkring Damakus. I ställer är Jaysh al-Islam den mest effektiva motståndaren till IS.