Daesh executes 40 civilians in northern Syrian town: Report

The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group has reportedly executed more than three dozen civilians in Syria’s strategic northern province of Aleppo as they continue to lose ground in battles against government forces.

The media bureau of Syria’s Joint Operations Command announced in a statement on Saturday that Daesh extremists had rounded up 40 civilians in the town of al-Bab, located some 40 kilometers northeast of Aleppo, and then killed them all.

The killings came as fierce clashes continue unabated between Turkish-backed militants and Daesh Takfiris on the fringes of al-Bab.

Turkish artillery units also lobbed a barrage of projectiles at Daesh outposts inside and outside of the border town.

On August 24, 2016, the Turkish Air Force and special ground forces kicked off Operation Euphrates Shield inside Syria in a declared bid to support the Free Syrian Army militants and rid the border area of Daesh terrorists and fighters from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Democratic Union Party (PYD).

The offensive was launched in coordination with the US-led military coalition, which has purportedly been fighting Daesh extremists since 2014.

The incursion was the first major Turkish military intervention in Syria, which drew strong condemnation from the Syrian government for violating the Arab country’s sovereignty.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on November 29, 2016 that the Turkish army had marched into Syria to end the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, whom he accused of terrorism and causing the deaths of thousands.

The remarks caused consternation in the Kremlin, with Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, demanding that Erdogan clarify anti-Assad goals in Syria.

The Turkish leader backtracked on the comments two days later, asserting that the offensives there were aimed only at terrorists.

Late on Friday, Syrian army forces managed to retake Abu Taltal village near the town of al-Bab after heavy skirmishes with foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants there.

Syrian soldiers and allied forces launched an operation against Daesh positions near al-Tharda region of the eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr on Saturday, killing scores of the terrorists in the process.

Syrian Air Force fighter jets also carried out a string of strikes against Daesh terrorists in the al-Makabbat area of the same Syrian province, killing six terrorists and injuring another seven. A motorcycle belonging to the terrorists was destroyed in the aerial attacks as well.

Additionally, Syrian aircraft targeted Daesh gatherings in the al- Hamidiyah district of Dayr al-Zawr city, situated about 420 kilometers northeast of the capital Damascus, and the outskirts of a military airport, killing and injuring many of the terrorists and destroying vehicles equipped with heavy machineguns.

Syrian troopers and fighters from pro-government popular defense groups also thwarted separate infiltration attempts by Daesh from al-Hweiqa and al-Husseiniya villages into Dayr al-Zawr city, killing most of the terrorists.

Source: Press TV

In Syria: Syrian army besieges Daesh- held town of Bab

Syrian government troops and their allied forces have laid siege to the town of al-Bab, the largest stronghold of Daesh terrorists in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo, according to a pro-opposition monitoring group.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Monday that Syrian forces had completely surrounded the town.

The Britain-based group added that the advance followed the army’s capture of Awishyah hill, which is several hundred meters away from a road that links al-Bab to Raqqah and Dayr al-Zawr provinces.

The capture of the hill came hours after Syrian troops took control of the village of Awishyah, it said.

The latest advance means government forces have now encircled the terrorists in the towns of al-Bab, Bizaah, Qabasin and Tedif.

In January, the monitoring group reported that Daesh terrorists had transferred their families out of al-Bab to other areas under their control ahead of the Syrian army’s imminent advance on the town.

As a landmark victory against the invading terrorist groups, the Syrian army liberated the strategic city of Aleppo in 2016.

Meanwhile, Turkish forces fighting as part of Operation Euphrates Shield have failed to keep their control over Bizaah. Daesh terrorists are said to have recaptured the town after multiple ambushes that left an unconfirmed number of Turkish soldiers dead.

In August last year, the Turkish air force and special ground forces launched Operation Euphrates Shield inside Syria in a declared bid to aid the Free Syrian Army militants against Daesh terrorists.

Turkey is also accused of using the fight against Daesh as a cover to repel Kurdish forces, who themselves have been battling against the terrorist group.

Ankara has already made it clear that it will not tolerate Kurdish territorial gains close to its frontiers.

Source: PressTV

US President Donald Trump to ‘ban immigrants from Syria and 6 other Muslim countries’

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump is set to sign several executive orders, including one on building a border wall with Mexico, this week to crack down on immigrants – one of his central campaign promises – and could suspend immigration from some Muslim nations, media reports have said.

Trump is expected to order the construction of the border wall with Mexico, the first in a series of actions to bolster national security, The New York Times reported.

The border wall was a signature promise of Trump’s campaign to control the illegal flow of immigrants.

His actions would also include slashing the number of refugees who can resettle in the US and blocking Syrians and others from “terror prone” nations from entering, at least temporarily.

He and could move to suspend some immigration from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, either temporarily or “indefinitely,” sources familiar with the plans that have been under consideration were quoted as saying by the ABC news.

“Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!,” Trump tweeted.

He also plans to review whether to resume the once-secret “black site” detention programme; keep open the prison at Guantanamo Bay; and designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation.

Trump is expected to target legal immigrants as early as this week, White House officials said, by halting a decades-old programme that grants refuge to the world’s most vulnerable people.

The refugee policy under consideration would halt admissions from Syria and suspend it from other majority- Muslim nations until the administration can study how to properly vet them.

The plan is believed to be in line with a ban on Muslim immigrants that Trump proposed during his campaign, arguing that such a step was warranted given concerns about terrorism.

The expected actions drew strong criticism from immigrant advocates and human rights groups, which called them discriminatory moves that rejected the American tradition of welcoming immigrants of all backgrounds.

“To think that Trump’s first 100 days are going to be marked by this very shameful shutting of our doors to everybody who is seeking refuge in this country is very concerning,” said Marielena Hincapie, the executive director of the National Immigration Law Center.

“Everything points to this being simply a backdoor Muslim ban.”

Sources outside the government familiar with the Trump team proposals say they expect any presidential action will not impact young immigrants currently benefiting from former President Barack Obama’s initiative known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which provides temporary legal protection and work permits, ABC News said.

During the campaign, Trump promised swift action on immigration on “Day One” in office. He pledged to cancel all federal funding to sanctuary cities, suspend immigration countries with ties to terrorism, investigate abuses of visa programmes and deport criminal undocumented immigrants.

It’s almost a well-known fact that most US technology titans were not exactly thrilled by Donald Trump’s victory in the US elections.

In fact, many of them openly opposed him during his election days. Breaking the frosty relationship, the US President elect met the movers and shakers of the world’s biggest technology industry.

Source: Economic Times

In Syria: Syrian forces encircle militant-held area NW Damascus

Syrian forces have reportedly encircled a militant-held area on the Damascus outskirts, where the capital’s water supplies are located.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that the route between Wadi Barada, and the adjacent militant-controlled Qalamoun region, was cut on Thursday.

Head of SOHR, Rami Abdel Rahman, said the government forces and allied fighters, “besieged Wadi Barada” following “an advance from the north” the previous day.

Home to the key Ain al-Fijeh spring, Wadi Barada has been rocked by fierce clashes since December 2016. The government forces have been fighting in the area against Takfiri militants, who have damaged the water processing facilities there and cut water flow to some 5.5 million people in Damascus and its suburbs.

Last week, locals struck a truce deal with the Syrian authorities to allow the water pipes to be repaired.

However, the agreement was called off after terrorists in Wadi Barada killed Ahmad al-Ghadban, a representative of the Syrian government, who would coordinate reconciliation talks between Damascus and militant groups.

Meanwhile, an unnamed Syrian military source confirmed that the government troops had encircled Wadi Barada and that fighting was ongoing.

“Ain al-Fijeh has practically fallen militarily.

The armed groups are surrounded… and have no choice but to accept the settlement or the continuation of the military operation,” the source said.

Militant infighting rages on in Idlib Separately on Thursday, the SOHR said that members of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorist group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, had attacked checkpoints and positions held by the Saudi-backed Ahrar al-Sham militant outfit in Syria’s northwestern Idlib Province.

According to the UK-based monitoring group, the two sides clashed with each other, with Fateh al-Sham seizing a border crossing into Turkey.

The developments come as a cessation of hostilities has been largely holding across Syria for almost three weeks now while new round of peace talks is due in the Kazakh capital, Astana, on January 23.

The Daesh and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorist groups are excluded from the ceasefire and the upcoming discussions.

Source: PRESSTV