Russia says it gave U.S. contact numbers for Syria 'hotlines' ahead of ceasefire
The Russian Defense Ministry says that it has given a military attache from the United States Embassy in Moscow the contact details for primary and backup Russian telephone "hotlines" for use during the Syria ceasefire, set to start on Feb. 27.
The ministry said that it is awaiting similar information from the United States.
Russia opens 'reconciliation coordination center' at Hmeymim airbase in Syria
Russia has created a coordination center for the reconciliation of warring parties at the Russian Hmeymim airbase in Syria, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov has said.
"In accordance with the Russian-American agreement of February 22 on the cessation of hostilities in Syria, a coordination center for the reconciliation of warring parties has been created and has begun to operate at the Russian Hmeymim airbase in Syria for the implementation of a mechanism to monitor compliance with the cease-fire regime," Konashenkov said.
Konashenkov said that the main task of the coordination center is to facilitate the negotiation process between the Syrian authorities and the opposition, with the exception of the IS group, the Al-Nusra Front and other terrorist organizations recognized as such by the Security Council the United Nations.
The center will also help conclude local cease-fire agreements, as well as organizing the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Konashenkov said that representatives of opposition groups in Syria who have decided to cease hostilities and begin peace talks may contact the coordination center via a single telephone number that will operate 24 hours a day.
Anyone who approaches the coordination center will be provided maximum assistance in arranging contacts with the Syrian authorities, the Defense Ministry spokesman added.
German killed fighting IS in Syria alongside Kurdish YPG
A German national has been killed in Syria today while fighting against IS militants with the Kurdish YPG militia, a YPG official has told Reuters.
The man, who the YPG say they will not identify until his family has been informed, was killed in the town of al-Shadadi in the northeastern province of Hasaka.
The German man is the seventh Westerner to be killed fighting alongside the YPG in Syria.
UK Foreign Secretary: Judge Assad, Russia on their actions
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has tweeted this about the Syrian ceasefire, which is set to start Feb. 27 and to which the Syrian government has agreed -- albeit with certain provisos, namely that the IS group and the Al-Nusra Front can still be subject to military attacks.
30,000 residents of IS-held Al-Hasakah fled south amid Kurdish-led advances: Syria Direct
Tens of thousands of residents of IS-controlled lands in the southern countryside of Al-Hasakah province have fled south towards neighboring Deir al-Zor in the wake of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) lightning advances, Syria Direct report.
Residents are reportedly heading south, deeper into IS-controlled areas, rather than north, east or west into territory currently controlled by the Kurdish-majority SDF because they say they are afraid of arrests, expulsions and revenge killings, Abdullah al-Ahmad, an activist in Al-Hasakah city, told Syria Direct on Monday.
Syrian monitor SOHR estimates more than 370,000 dead in war: Reuters
The number of dead in Syria's five-year-long war is estimated at more than 370,000, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights activist group has said, raising its toll for documented deaths to more than 270,000.
Pentagon, CIA Chiefs Don’t Think Russia Will Abide by Syria Cease-Fire: WSJ
U.S. President Barack Obama’s top military and intelligence advisers don’t believe Russia will abide by a cease-fire agreement announced today in Syria and want the administration to ready plans to increase pressure on Moscow by expanding covert support to rebels fighting the Russian-backed Assad government, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, and Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan have voiced increasingly hawkish views towards Moscow in recent White House meetings, jointly calling for new measures to “inflict real pain on the Russians," a senior administration official said.
Islamic State tightens grip on Syrian gov't road to Aleppo: Reuters
IS militants are reported to have tightened their grip on a Syrian government supply route to Aleppo as the army battled to retake the road, which is important to its campaign to retake the city, Reuters reports.
Heavy Russian air strikes are also said to be targeting one of the last roads into opposition-held parts of Aleppo.
IS claims control over strategic village in southern Aleppo province
A media group aligned to Islamic state is claiming that the militants have overrun the village of Khanaser in southern Aleppo province in Syria.
16-year-old Swedish woman rescued by Kurds went to Syria after being 'misled' by IS
The Kurdistan Regional Security Council has issued a press release with further details about a young Swedish woman rescued from the Islamic State group in northern Iraq.
The woman, identified as Marlin Stivani Nivarlain is from the town of Boras in Sweden. She travel to Syria after being misled by an Islamic state member in Sweden. She later travelled to Mosul in Iraq.
The Kurdistan Region Security Council was asked by Swedish authorities and members of the woman's family to help locate her and rescue her from the Islamic State group. The rescue took place on February 17. The woman is now in Iraqi Kurdistan a later return Sweden.