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Syria conflict: Aleppo rocked by fresh fighting

Syrians run for cover following a reported air strike on the rebel-held district of Qatarji, Aleppo (29 April 2016)Image copyrightAFP
Image captionAid agencies have warned that Aleppo is on the brink of a humanitarian disaster
Deadly fighting has resumed in Syria's divided second city of Aleppo, after a brief lull overnight.
State media say rebels shelled a mosque in the government-held district of Bab al-Faraj, killing eight people.
Rescue workers report that a clinic in rebel-held Marja was targeted in an air strike, the second medical facility to be hit in a week.
The military meanwhile has announced a "regime of calm" will take effect elsewhere in Syria early on Saturday.
It will last, it says, for 24 hours in Damascus and the Eastern Ghouta region outside the capital, and for 72 hours in the northern countryside of Latakia province.
The "regime of calm" is not explained nor is there any mention of Aleppo, where seven days of escalating violence has left more than 200 civilians dead.



Map of Aleppo
The Syrian Civil Defence, whose volunteer emergency response workers are known as the "White Helmets", say that among the sites targeted by government warplanes was a clinic in Marja that had provided dental services and treatment for chronic illnesses, AFP news agency reports.
Several people were wounded, including at least one nurse, it adds.
On Wednesday night, the al-Quds Hospital in the rebel-held Sukkari district was completely destroyed in air strikes that US Secretary of State John Kerry said appeared to have been "deliberate".The Free Aleppo Doctors Association said on Friday that at least 50 people, including five members of staff, had been killed.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the attack was "unacceptable" and warned that Aleppo was being "pushed further to the brink of humanitarian disaster".
The LCC said it had documented a total of 73 deaths in rebel-held Aleppo on Thursday, most of them the result of air strikes.
Before Friday's mosque shelling, the official Sana news agency reported that at least 33 people had been killed in government-controlled areas in 24 hours.
Damaged vehicle outside remains of al-Quds Hospital in Aleppo (28 April 2016)Image copyrightReuters
Image captionThe US said the air strikes that destroyed the al-Quds Hospital appeared to be deliberate
Aleppo has been one of the areas worst affected by the five years of war in Syria.
Large parts of the city have been destroyed and its infrastructure has been severely damaged, leaving civilians without water and electricity for months.
The ICRC said the escalating violence was putting millions, many of whom are displaced and living close to frontlines, at grave risk and without a chance of getting much-needed aid.
Graph showing Syrian death toll
In an interview with the BBC, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on the warring parties to overcome their differences and work towards peace.
Syrian leaders had to "go beyond their narrow personal perspectives" and call a halt to the destruction of their country, Mr Ban said.
"How long are they going to fight? They are destroying their people and infrastructure. How will this be resolved?"
In a reference to Europe's failure to cope with the influx of Syrian refugees, Mr Ban warned Syria's war had worrying implications worldwide for the protection of human rights and human lives.

'Aleppo is burning': Regional media reaction

The latest reports from Aleppo have alarmed regional media outlets opposed to the Syrian regime, with fire being the image of choice.
"Aleppo is burning" reads a stark headline in the Saudi paper al-Riyadh, while an editorial in the Lebanese daily al-Mustaqbal accuses President Bashar al-Assad of "burning Syria while the whole world watches".
An Arabic hashtag translating as "Aleppo is burning" had been re-tweeted more than 180,000 times by Friday morning.
In Syria itself, Nasser Qandil, in pro-government al-Thawra, warns rebels in the city that a "war of all wars" will be unleashed on them in the coming weeks.
Many regional commentators fear the worst in Syria's second city, with London-based Arabic paper al-Sharq al-Awsat predicting a "war of annihilation" by government forces.
Meanwhile Maher Abu Tair, in Jordan's al-Dustur, criticises the wider Arab and Muslim world for "standing and watching the carnage", while Asaad Haider in al-Mustaqbal argues the "world cannot remain blind in the face of a catastrophe".The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, says one person was killed in Friday's air strikes on rebel-held Aleppo, while the Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), an opposition activist network, puts the death toll at three.

Syria conflict: Obama rules out ground troops for Syria

President Barack Obama has ruled out deploying US ground troops in Syria and says military efforts alone cannot solve the country's problems.
"It would be a mistake for the United States, or Great Britain... to send in ground troops and overthrow the [Bashar al-] Assad regime," he told the BBC.
He also said he did not think so-called Islamic State would be defeated in his last nine months of office.
But he said: "We can slowly shrink the environment in which they operate."
Mr Obama, who has been on a three-day visit to the UK, also warned that Britain could take up to 10 years to negotiate trade deals with the US if it votes to leave the EU in a June referendum.
The US president later arrived in Hannover, Germany, where he hopes to boost support for the controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal.
Later, he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are due to open the Hannover Messe, the world's largest industrial technology trade fair.

No military solution

Mr Obama told the BBC that Syria was a "heart-breaking situation of enormous complexity".
"I don't think there are any simple solutions," he said.
"In order for us to solve the long-term problems in Syria, a military solution alone - and certainly us deploying ground troops - is not going to bring that about."

Read about the Syrian war:


Mr Obama said the US-led coalition would continue "to strike ISIL (Islamic State) targets in places like Raqqa, and to try to isolate those portions of the country, and lock down those portions of the country that are sending foreign fighters into Europe".
But he said the international community would have to continue to apply pressure to all parties, including Russia, Iran and moderate opposition groups "to sit down at the table and try to broker a transition".
But he added: "That's difficult."Mr Obama criticised those countries whose parliaments had not approved actions in Syria but still "want the United States to do something about it".
"You can't have it both ways," he said.


So-called IS in Raqqa, Syria, fileImage copyrightAP
Image captionMr Obama says military strikes will continue to degrade the IS group, but such actions alone cannot solve Syria's long-term problems
Barack Obama arrives on Hannover. 24 April 2016Image copyrightAFP
Image captionPresident Obama has arrived in Hannover Germany, for a two-day visit

Mr Obama said Syria was one of many issues that are "transnational in nature... and require a transnational response".
He said: "It would be, I think, tempting, for a lot of people, to believe that we can pull up the drawbridge and that we can carve a moat around ourselves and not have to deal with problems around the world."
But without co-operation and alliances "we are far weaker and we won't solve these problems", he said.
On so-called Islamic State he said: "Prosecuting the campaign is critical, and although I don't anticipate that in the next nine months it will be finished, because, unfortunately, even a small pocket of extremists, if they're prepared to die themselves, can still wreak havoc on many of our cities.
"But I do think that we can slowly shrink the environment in which they operate and take on strongholds like Mosul and Raqqa that are the beating heart of their movement."
At least 250,000 people have died in five years of conflict in Syria and millions have fled the fighting.


Aftermath of air strike in rebel-held neighbourhood of Tareeq al-Bab in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. 23 April 2016Image copyrightAFP
Image captionClashes and air strikes have continued in Syria, despite the agreed cessation of violence

Mr Obama and the UN fear a fragile truce between the government forces and non-jihadist rebels, in place since February, is in danger of collapse amid renewed clashes.
Current talks in Geneva between the Syrian government and opposition delegations will continue into next week, but there have been bitter exchanges.
The Syrian opposition delegation, known as the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), and rebel forces inside Syria have accused the government of repeatedly violating the terms of the truce brokered by the US and Russia.
The HNC said the Syrian government was "not a serious partner" while the government hit back by accusing the HNC of "sulking".
Any peace process would require a transitional government, but the role of Mr Assad is a key sticking point.


Map showing territorial control in the Syrian conflict (23 February 2016)

Palmyra: Syria forces 'retake' Islamic State-held city

Syrian government forces have re-captured the ancient city of Palmyra from so-called Islamic State (IS), say state media and a monitoring group.
An army representative told Syrian state TV that the recapture of Palmyra marks the beginning of IS' collapse.
The Syrian army had been gaining ground for several days, supported by Russian air strikes. Military sources say the army now has "full control".
IS seized the Unesco World Heritage site and modern town in May 2015.
Images released by the Syrian military on Saturday showed helicopters and tanks firing at positions in Palmyra.
The date of the footage could not be independently verified.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said there was still gunfire in the eastern part of the city, but the bulk of the IS force had pulled out and retreated further east.
In a statement released on Saturday, Russia's defence ministry said the strikes hit 158 IS targets, killing more than 100 militants.

A strategic victory - Sebastian Usher, BBC Arab affairs analyst

The Syrian government and Russian air power threw their full force behind the three-week offensive. The battle for Palmyra may not quite be over, but reports suggest that IS militants have mostly pulled out of the city.
The world focus on Palmyra, fuelled by concern over the spectacular ancient ruins on its outskirts, means that this is a major propaganda coup for President Assad and Russia, as well as an important strategic victory.
The Syrian army general command says it shows that the army and its friends are the only force capable of combating and eradicating terrorism. That claim has long rung hollow in Western capitals, but the recapture of Palmyra and the rescue of what remains of its fabled ruins does give it some substance.
Palmyra sites graphic

Destruction of ancient sites

When IS seized the city it destroyed archaeological sites, drawing global outrage. Two 2,000-year-old temples, an arch and funerary towers were left in ruins.
The jihadist group, which has also demolished several pre-Islamic sites in neighbouring Iraq, believes that such structures are idolatrous.
The prospect of the city's liberation was welcomed by Unesco, the UN's cultural agency, which has described the destruction of Palmyra as a war crime.
The head of Syria's antiquities authority, Mamoun Abdelkarim, promised to repair as much of the damage as possible as a "message against terrorism".

Ancient city of Palmyra

This file photo taken on March 14, 2014 shows Syrian citizens riding their bicycles in the ancient oasis city of PalmyraImage copyrightAFP/Getty
  • Unesco World Heritage site
  • Site contains monumental ruins of great city, once one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world
  • Art and architecture, from the 1st and 2nd centuries, combine Greco-Roman techniques with local traditions and Persian influences
  • More than 1,000 columns, a Roman aqueduct and a formidable necropolis of more than 500 tombs made up the archaeological site
  • More than 150,000 tourists visited Palmyra every year before the Syrian conflict
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Who is Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (July 2014)Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim al-Badri, otherwise known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was born in 1971 in Samarra, Iraq, to a lower-middle class Sunni family.
His family was known for its piety and his tribe claimed descent from the Prophet Muhammad.
As a youth, Baghdadi had a passion for Koranic recitation and was meticulous in his observance of religious law.
His family nicknamed him "the Believer" because he would chastise his relatives for failing to live up to his stringent standards.
Baghdadi pursued his religious interests at university. He obtained a bachelor's degree in Islamic studies from the University of Baghdad in 1996, and a Master's and PhD in Koranic studies from Iraq's Saddam University for Islamic Studies in 1999 and 2007 respectively.
Until 2004, Baghdadi spent his graduate school years living in the Tobchi neighbourhood of Baghdad with his two wives and six children.
He taught Koranic recitation to neighbourhood children at the local mosque, where he was also the star of its football club.
During Baghdadi's time in graduate school, his uncle persuaded him to join the Muslim Brotherhood.
Baghdadi quickly gravitated towards the few violent ultra-conservatives in the Islamist movement and by 2000, under their tutelage, had embraced Salafist jihadism.

Activist to insurgent

Within months of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, Baghdadi helped found the insurgent group Jaysh Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamaah (Army of the People of the Sunnah and Communal Solidarity).
In February 2004, US forces arrested Baghdadi in Falluja and sent him to a detention facility at Camp Bucca, where he remained for 10 months.
While in detention, Baghdadi devoted himself to religious matters, leading prayers, preaching Friday sermons, and conducting classes for prisoners.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (file photo)Image copyrightAFP
Image captionThe US held Baghdadi at a detention centre in Iraq for 10 months
According to a fellow inmate, Baghdadi was taciturn but had a knack for moving between the rival factions at the facility, where former Saddam loyalists and jihadists mingled.
Baghdadi formed alliances with many of them and stayed in touch when he was freed in December 2004.
After his release, Baghdadi contacted a spokesman for al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), a local al-Qaeda affiliate run by the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Impressed with Baghdadi's religious scholarship, the spokesman convinced Baghdadi to go to Damascus, where he was to ensure AQI's propaganda adhered to the principles of ultra-conservative Islam.
Zarqawi was killed in June 2006 by a US air strike and was succeeded by an Egyptian, Abu Ayyub al-Masri.
That October, Masri dissolved AQI and founded the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI). The group continued to privately pledge allegiance to al-Qaeda.

The new emir

Because of Baghdadi's religious credentials and his ability to bridge the divide between the foreigners who founded ISI and the local Iraqis who later joined the group, Baghdadi steadily rose through the ranks.
He was appointed supervisor of the Sharia Committee and named to the 11-member Shura Council that advised ISI's emir, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.
Aftermath of car bomb in Homs (21/02/15)Image copyrightEPA
Image captionBaghdadi exploited the chaos in Syria to gain a foothold there for Islamic State
Baghdadi was later appointed to ISI's Co-ordination Committee, which oversaw communication with the group's commanders in Iraq.
After the deaths of ISI's founder and its emir in April 2010, the Shura Council chose Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to be the new emir.
Baghdadi set about rebuilding the organisation, which had been decimated by US special operations forces.
Hoping to capitalise on growing unrest in Syria in 2011, Baghdadi ordered one of his Syrian operatives to establish a secret branch of ISI in the country, later known as al-Nusra Front.

Advent of Isis

Baghdadi soon fell out with the leader of al-Nusra, Abu Mohammed al-Julani, who wanted to collaborate with the mainstream Sunni rebels fighting Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.
But Baghdadi wanted to establish his own state through brute force before going after Assad.
In the spring of 2013, Baghdadi announced that al-Nusra was part of ISI, which he renamed "Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham/the Levant" (Isis/Isil).
Islamic State supporters rally in Mosul (June 2014)Image copyrightAP
Image captionSo-called Islamic State was formed in defiance of the al-Qaeda leadership
When al-Qaeda's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri ordered Baghdadi to grant al-Nusra its independence, Baghdadi refused. In February 2014, Zawahiri expelled Isis from al-Qaeda.
Isis responded by fighting al-Nusra and consolidating its hold on eastern Syria, where Baghdadi imposed harsh religious laws.
Its stronghold secure, Baghdadi ordered his men to expand into western Iraq.

The caliph

In June 2014, Isis captured Iraqi's second largest city, Mosul, and soon after, the group's spokesman proclaimed the return of the caliphate, renaming Isis "Islamic State".
Days later, Baghdadi delivered a Friday sermon in Mosul and declared himself caliph.
The media has wrongly reported Baghdadi's demise several times.
But if he dies, the organisation will lose a skilled mediator, a ruthless politician, a religious scholar, and a man of noble lineage - an unusual combination for the leader of a global militant organisation, much less a proto-state.
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