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261 Syrians and Iraqis Killed in Fighting, US-Led 16 Air Strikes on Islamic State Positions

February 15, 2015 

 

Rebel fighters carry their weapons as they move towards their positions near the front line against forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Ratian village, north of Aleppo February 17, 2015	Coffins of Syrian soldiers, sohr

 

 

 

221 killed yesterday 17/02/2015, 75% of them killed in Aleppo

SOHR, February 18, 2015

the dead : 14 civilians, 79 rebels, 20 Non-Syrian Islamic fighters, 34 Regular forces,30 NDF, 8 unknown rebels, 10 ISIS, 25  Non-Syrian fighters allied to regime forces.

By province :  Reef Dimashq (11 rebesl ), Aleppo (  11 civilians, 66 rebels ), Hama ( 1 rebel ),  Dar’a ( 1 rebel, 3 civilians ).

– 10 fighters from the IS killed by Clashes against YPG in Kobane countryside and al-Raqqa.

–  8 Unknown rebels killed by clashes against regime forces, bombardment, and targeting their checkpoints .

– 30 National Defense Forces militiamen were killed by clashes and attacks on their checkpoints around Syria.

– 34 Regular forces were killed by clashes, snipers, IEDs, and attacks on their checkpoints and vehicles in Reef Dimashq 4, Aleppo 24, Homs 2 .

–20 Non-Syrian fighters from ISIS, Jund Al-Sham and Jabhat Al-Nusra were killed by clashes and targeted bombardment.

– 25 Non Syrian fighters allied to regime forces killed by clashes against Islamic fighters and ISIS.

70 soldiers in regime forces killed after the failure of its attack on Aleppo

SOHR, February 18, 2015

70 members of the regime forces, NDF and the Shiite fighters from Iran and Afghanistan who were killed during the attack launched by the regime forces on Aleppo city and its countryside ” Aleppo city , al-Rashin district, Jam’ia al-Zahraa “, no less than 66 Syrian fighters from rebel and Islamic battalions were killed during clashes after the attack including 46 killed in the northern countryside and 20 killed on fronts in Aleppo city, confirmed reports of killing 20 non-Syrian fighters from Jabhat al-Nusra and al-Muhajrin Wa al-Ansar army.

61 soldiers in regime forces were able to reach Nubol and al-Zahraa towns after they had flee the battle fields in Retian town leaving dozens of corpses behind them, reports that 25 soldiers in regime forces and allied gunmen were also killed during the clashes. Clashes took place after midnight between the two sides in al-Ameria neighborhood, Jam’ia al-Zahraa, al-Rashdin, and Hendarat. A child was killed by regime’s bombardment on the northern countryside of Aleppo. A man was killed by regime’s bombardment on Mseben hill.  

IS militants execute 40 people in Iraq's Anbar province

 • IS militants Tuesday executed over 40 people, many were security members, in Iraq's Anbar province.  

• The battlefield town is located near the major air base of Ain al-Asad which houses hundreds of U.S. troops.  

• Since December of last year, there have been insurgent attacks in Sunni Arab heartland west of Baghdad. 

RAMADI, Iraq, Feb. 17, 2015 (Xinhua) --

The Islamic State (IS) militants Tuesday executed over 40 people, many were security members, in Iraq's western province of Anbar, a provincial security source said.

The battlefield town is located near the major air base of Ain al-Asad which houses hundreds of U.S. troops.

IS militants captured over 40 people from the albu-Obeid Sunni tribe, including policemen and members of the government-backed Sahwa paramilitary group, in the town of al-Baghdadi, and executed them then burned their remains, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The battles in and near al-Baghdadi have continued since Thursday when IS militants attacked the town and nearby Ain al-Asad air base and seized the town.

However, their attacks on the air base were repelled by security forces and U.S. aircraft, while fighting continued in the town after Iraqi troops regained control of large parts of it.

Meanwhile, IS militants laid siege to a neighborhood in the town housing dozens of families of security members and Sahwa fighters, said the source.

He added that residents are fighting back IS attacks but families are facing acute shortage in food and drinking water, as well as in weapons and ammunition.

The source warned that "the town could fall into the hands of IS militants if military support doesn't come in time, and the extremist militants will massacre the townspeople."

Saturday IS militants also executed 33 people in the town, many were local policemen and Sahwa members, according to a security source.

Ain al-Asad military base is used by Iraqi military forces, as well as roughly 300 U.S. Marines in their capacity as military trainers and advisers.

The IS group has seized around 80 percent of Iraq's largest province of Anbar and tried to advance toward Baghdad, but several counter attacks by security forces and Shiite militias pushed them back from western areas of the capital.

Since December of last year, there have been insurgent attacks in the Sunni Arab heartland west of Baghdad which stretches through the Anbar province.

Anbar province was the scene of fierce clashes which flared up once Iraqi police disbanded an anti-government protest outside Ramadi city.

The security situation in Iraq started drastically deteriorating June 10, when bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and IS, an al-Qaida offshoot.

IS took control of the country's northern province of Nineveh, later seizing swathes of territories once Iraqi security forces abandoned their posts in other predominantly Sunni provinces.

 

U.S. leads 16 more air strikes against Islamic State: statement

WASHINGTON Wed Feb 18, 2015 7:22am EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -

The U.S.-led coalition has staged 16 air strikes against Islamic State, including 14 in Iraq and two in Syria, the Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement.

The air strikes, launched during a 24-hour period since early Tuesday, struck several units of Islamic State fighters as well as staging areas, fighting positions, buildings and equipment, according to the statement released on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Washington Newsroom; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

 

Scores killed in Aleppo battles after army offensive: Syria monitor

BEIRUT, Wed Feb 18, 2015 6:24am EST

(Reuters) -

Battles in and around the Syrian city of Aleppo have killed at least 70 pro-government fighters and more than 80 insurgents after the army launched an offensive there, a monitoring group said on Wednesday.

The army backed by allied militia had captured areas north of Aleppo on Tuesday in what the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said was an attempt to encircle the northern city and cut off insurgent supply lines.

Aleppo is at the forefront of clashes between the army and a range of insurgents, including Islamist brigades, al Qaeda's Syria wing Nusra Front and Western-backed units battling President Bashar al-Assad.

The United Nations is seeking a ceasefire there, a step towards addressing the crisis in Syria which is about to enter its fifth year.

The advance on Aleppo is the second major offensive by pro-government forces in a week. The army and allied combatants from Lebanon's Hezbollah group have also launched a large-scale assault in southern Syria against insurgents.

On Wednesday the main route leading north out of Aleppo to the Turkish border was blocked and under fire by pro-government forces, the Observatory's founder Rami Abdulrahman said.

"The regime went forward a bit yesterday and the road is still closed," he said. The army was controlling the route from positions it set up in the villages of Bashkuwi and Sifat on Tuesday on either side of the road, he said.

Insurgents can take another route north but it entails going northwest out of the city and circumnavigating army-held areas before heading north again. "It is the very long way around," he said. He also said poor weather prevented Syrian air force bombardment on Wednesday but fighting continued on the ground.

Casualties on the government side could be higher because 25 of its combatants were unaccounted for, he said. Sixty-six Syrian insurgents from various groups were killed in the fighting, as well as at least 20 from Nusra Front, he said.

Around 60 Syrian soldiers reached the Shi'ite Muslim towns of al-Zahra and Nubl north of Aleppo after retreating from battles in the town of Ratain on Tuesday, the Observatory said.

Fighting had also raged in several Aleppo city districts on Tuesday. SANA, Syria's state news agency, said the army seized at least six villages near Aleppo on Tuesday.

On Tuesday United Nations Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said the government was willing to suspend air strikes and shelling of Aleppo for six weeks so that a local ceasefire plan could be tested. But he played down prospects for wider progress.

"Every time there is a proposal of a ceasefire ... history has proven that there is some type of acceleration in order to take a better position," he said. "I fear that could be the case."

The Syrian conflict started in 2011 with protests against Assad and has descended into a civil war, drawing in foreign fighters on both sides.

(Reporting by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Dominic Evans)

 

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