Syria has accused four countries of double standards for refusing to label Ahrar ash-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam as terrorist organisations while Aleppo comes under shelling from rebel groups. A letter sent to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon by the Syrian Foreign Ministry accuses US, France, Britain and Ukraine of helping terrorist groups in Syria.
A notorious night raid by US special forces in Afghanistan that resulted in the deaths of seven civilians, including two pregnant woman, is the subject of a cover up, according to Gareth Porter, an investigative journalist on US national security policy. An internal investigation by the Defense Department resulted in no disciplinary action for any soldier involved. According to eyewitnesses US soldiers killed two pregnant women at the raid near Gardez, Afghanistan and then removed the bullets from the corpses.
Starting about two weeks ago, a new campaign was launched to put the substantially weakened Islamic State on the defensive: in the south, Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), Popular Mobilization, and Sunni tribal fighters have closed in on a multiple-axis assault to encircle the city of Fallujah. As we reported previously, Iraqi forces, together with Kurdish Peshmerga forces, Shi'ite Muslim militias, and Sunni tribal fighters, backed by U.S.-led coalition forces, have pushed on toward Fallujah after recapturing several key cities in the past year, including Ramadi, Tikrit, and Baiji.
Over 270 civilians have been killed and hundreds injured as terrorist groups shelled Syrian cities over the past 24 hours, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. “Militants from terrorist groups have shelled Syrian cities killing more than 270 peaceful civilians and leaving hundreds of people injured,” an information bulletin from the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria reported.
Washington Is Using Russia’s Reliance on Diplomacy To Revive ISIS And To Involve Russia In Long-Term War In Syria
Russia’s Use Of Force Was Highly Successful, but is being undermined by resort to fruitless diplomacy.
Russia Fiddles While Syria Burns
by Stephen Lendman
Make no mistake. Putin’s strategic intervention in Syria last September was a bold, vital step. He deserves credit and praise for taking it.