Syria

The United States is constructing two air bases in Kurdish-controlled northern Syria. One base is nearing finished being set up and another dual purpose military-civilian base is under construction, according to a Kurdish website. Reuters UK reports: The Erbil-based news website BasNews, quoting a military source in the Kurdish-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), said most of the work on a runway in the oil town of Rmeilan in Hasaka was complete while a new air base southeast of Kobani, straddling the Turkish border, was being constructed.

The US House Foreign Affairs Committee is calling for an international tribunal on Syria having passed a resolution accusing the Syrian government, Russia and Iran of war crimes in Syria. The move on Wednesday comes despite a breakthrough agreement between the US and Russia on a Syrian ceasefire.

Syria has reported a widespread blackout across the entire country, with authorities currently scrambling to find out the cause of the outage.  Experts say that the power was cut in all areas across the country and said a potential EMP attack could not be ruled out. By midnight officials had begun restoring electricity in some areas, but were still unable to determine the official cause. BBC News reports: In most parts of war-torn Syria, electricity is already available only two to four hours a day, if at all. However, nationwide blackouts are rare.

Syria has warned Saudi Arabia against attempts to undermine peace efforts as the fragile ceasefire in the war-torn region enters its third day. The Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday that remarks by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir about a ‘plan B’ in Syria are clearly aimed at derailing the truce.

ISIS militants in Syria have been caught using social media in order to buy, sell and barter a variety of CIA-made weapons and munitions.  The American-made weapons include rocket launchers, machine guns, and grenade launchers. Hangthebankers.com reports: As The Foreign Desk News’ Lisa Daftari explains, Jihadists in Syria are using Facebook as a marketplace to buy, sell and barter a wide variety of American-made weapons and munitions ranging from rocket launchers to machine guns.