The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that hundreds of Al Qaeda-linked jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) advanced overnight toward a Turkish border crossing. The move comes shortly after the group battled with elements of the more moderate Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA). Meanwhile...

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Damascus has ruled out talks with a bulk of the opposition forces battling to overthrow the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, excluding among others the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition (SNC) and calling into question the viability of peace talks scheduled to take place between various factions in November. “Assad is...

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Sunni extremists aligned against Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime have at times made deliberate, extensive efforts to win hearts and minds. Al Qaeda officials, in general, are known to be concerned about the sensitivities of local populations. Documents and memos captured in Mali advise affiliates not to impose harsh sharia measures...

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Hezbollah was heavily involved in instigating and extending violence in Iraq, stretching back almost a decade. The Iran-backed terror group has been critical in assisting Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime extend that country’s war, which has seen over 100,000 people killed and hundreds of people gassed to death. The group has...

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Reuters reports that Russia has expressed hopes that some resolution revolving around some aspect of Syria’s vast chemical weapons arsenal can be hammered out this week. The details of that resolution have yet to be worked out, but Russia officials have very definite ideas about what won’t be included: “There...

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A Syrian human rights group is reporting that at least seven people were killed in a car bomb that exploded today in Damascus. Syrian state news outlets also confirmed the attack. The BBC noted that the Tadamon district where the explosion occurred has been the scene of some of the...

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Last month Iranian diplomats who spoke to Al-Monitor floated rumors that Hamas was seeking to reestablish close ties with Tehran, after a period that saw the Palestinian terror group drift toward Sunni extremist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood’s decline in Egypt had, according to both those diplomats...

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Intelligence officials and world leaders are expressing renewed doubts about the potential for Syria’s chemical arsenal to be safely secured and destroyed, amid newly published figures describing Syria’s stockpile and political maneuvering by actors involved in the crisis. The Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons,...

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CNN disclosed last night that Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime was moving its chemical weapons stockpile around the country, less than a day before Damascus provided inspectors with an “initial declaration” describing the unconventional weapons program. One Obama administration officials who spoke to CNN found the news cause for either comfort...

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Video footage appearing to show members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) operating on the ground in Syria – training and coordinating with Syrian government troops – have renewed questions regarding the extent to which the Islamic republic is directly involved in fighting the Syrian conflict. Tehran has admitted to training Shiite...

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