Turkish president announces plans to clear Raqqa of ISIS as well as 4,000-5,000 sq. km of land in Syria’s north to establish safe zones, while regime forces set sights on the Ghouta of the capital Damascus and the country’s south
Opposition website Enab Baladi reports on the eleventh-hour struggle between political and armed opposition groups to form a delegation for next week’s negotiations in Geneva with the Assad regime
Washington-based organization’s “charges and propaganda fakes” were dismissed as false long ago, Syrian state media quotes the Kremlin as saying
Russia’s deputy FM speaks to government news agency SANA about Moscow’s expectations ahead of next week’s UN-supervised negotiations in the Swiss city of Geneva
An interview with Kheder Khaddour on why, despite its weak fighting capabilities, the Syrian army remains a key element of the regime’s survival strategy. Here is the second part of the interview.
Opposition outlet AlSouria Net speaks with the Syrian actor and member of the Cairo platform about next week’s negotiations in Geneva with the Assad regime, the role rebel groups will play, as well as Moscow’s intentions surrounding the political process in Syria
Alsouria reveals the names of the 21-member delegation to the upcoming talks in Switzerland, as confirmed by the HNC late last week, despite prominent rebel groups Ahrar al-Sham and Jaish al-Islam being excluded from the final list
Various opposition groups are refusing to cooperate to form a delegation for the upcoming Geneva negotiations with the Assad regime, as rifts emerge between the HNC and rebel leaders who participated in the Astana meetings late last month, Ibrahim Hamidi writes
Saudi-based opposition newspaper reports on accidental killing of three Turkish soldiers in Russian operation near Syria’s northern border, as Putin attributes blunder to ineffectual military partnership between the two countries
Medical workers and facilities are deliberately and repeatedly targeted by Syrian and Russian air strikes with 167 specialists killed in 2016 alone, opposition site Sada al-Sham writes
State media SANA reports on meeting between Syrian president and Russian Duma delegation as sides look to boost cooperation in the education and health sectors following recent gains against the armed opposition
Editor-in-chief of the pro-regime online newspaper admonishes the US president for continuing to support key regional allies and failing to back Syria, Russia and Iran’s fight against terror in the Middle East
Political opposition stands its ground against attempts by Moscow to influence the make-up of its negotiating delegation at the upcoming Geneva talks, while the US presidency begins meetings with UN and regional leaders on the Syrian issue, Sada al-Sham writes
Opposition website reports on recent strikes on the capital and northern Idleb province which killed and injured scores of people as fighting for control of the last remaining opposition-held areas intensifies
President Assad told Belgian media that statements made by Trump are promising regarding the priority of fighting terrorists, and mainly ISIS. Below is the full text as appeared on SANA:
Activists Anwar Bunni talks to All4Syria about his efforts to prosecute rights violators in Europe, explaining that his recent efforts to file suits in numerous countries is a partial opening of the door to justice in Syria
Amid intensified efforts to clear Damascus and its surroundings of rebel forces following the fall of Aleppo, Enab Baladi lists the areas in which the opposition continues to hold off inside the capital region
In Saudi-owned Al-Hayat, Ibrahim Hamidi breaks down the current struggle for representation at the upcoming negotiations as well as the tug of war around prioritizing the political and military tracks
Assyrian and Syriac Christians in Syria describe their situation in two words: “Feeling of injustice” and “exclusion”
Death toll still to be announced after explosion rocks Russian APC carrying nine soldiers in the coastal province, opposition media reports
