Doubt Cast On Syria Peace Talks After Assad's Battlefield Gains
Doubt has been cast on Syrian peace talks due to start January 25 after recent battlefield victories by government troops backed by Russian air strikes, which have boosted President Bashar al-Assad and plunged rebels into disarray, AP is reporting this morning.
Invitations for the talks in Geneva, scheduled for next week, have yet to be sent but major powers have been in disagreement over which Syrian opposition groups should be invited.
That concludes our live-blogging of the crisis surrounding the Islamic State extremist group. Check back here tomorrow morning for more of our ongoing coverage.
Israel Warns IS Could Attack It, Jordan
Battlefield setbacks for IS in Syria have increased the chance of an attack by the IS group in Israel or Jordan, Israel's military chief Lieutenant-General Gadi Eizenkot has said.
"The successes against [IS] raise the probability, in my eyes, that we will see them turning their guns both against us and against the Jordanians," he told a conference hosted by Tel Aviv University's Institute for International Security Studies (IISS).
As IS continues to gain ground in its three-day offensive on the towns of Ayyash and Begayliya near Deir al-Zor city in eastern city, reports on social media suggest that IS's target is weapons stores near Ayyash.
The pro-opposition Al Aan news is reporting that IS now controls the Ayash weapons stores after Syrian government forces withdrew.
The location of Ayyash and Begayliya are shown on Wikimapia here.
Pro-IS accounts are tweeting that IS has gained control of a missile battalion base near Deir al-Zor.
IS Advances Near Deir Al-Zor
Reuters reports that the IS group has captured ground from Syrian government forces near the eastern city of Deir al-Zor.
IS militants control most of Deir al-Zor province and have been besieging the remaining government-held areas of Deir al-Zor city since March.
According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, IS has now taken control of areas in the south and west of two towns -- Ayyash and Begayliya, which are north west of Deir al-Zor city.
A Syrian government source has said the army repelled the attacks.
There have also been unconfirmed reports that IS has taken control of a missile battalion base on the outskirts of Deir al-Zor city.
Russia, Qatar Expect Syrian Peace Talks To Start This Month: Lavrov
Russia and Qatar expect Syrian peace talks to start "as soon as possible, this month," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.
Lavrov's comments followed a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Moscow today.
Lavrov said that Russia and Qatar had confirmed their commitment to agreements made in Vienna and then "enshrined in a UN Security Council resolution and which assume the necessity of ensuring that conditions are such for the Syrian people to freely decide their own fate."
A Belgian man arrested in Morocco on suspicion of having links to the men who carried out the November 13 Paris attacks was detained on January 15 in the town of Mohammedia near Casablanca, the BBC reports.
The Moroccan authorities did not give his name but gave his initials in Arabic, which could be transliterated as J.A. or G.A..
Reports Of IS Abductions In Deir Al-Zor Exaggerated
Syria Direct has looked into the reports that IS militants abducted more than 400 people from al-Baghiliya, a suburb of the eastern Syrian city of Deir al-Zor.
Pro-opposition journalist Abu Zeid Abdullah told Syria Direct that the reports were not true.
Abdullah says that some 20 families, numbering about 60 people, who tried to escape the fighting were captured and sent to Raqqa, IS's Syrian stronghold.
Damascus Says Turkey, Saudi Arabia Responsible For IS 'Massacre' In Deir Al-Zor
The Syrian government has accused Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey of funding and supporting "armed terrorist groups" in Syria and said that an alleged "massacre" in the eastern Syrian town of Deir al-Zor was "a continuation of a series of barbaric and methodical terrorist acts" by such groups.
In a letter sent today to the UN Secretary General and the UN Security Council, Syria's Foreign Ministry said that IS "hordes" had killed over 280 people in al-Baghiliya and abducted 400 more people.
However, there have been conflicting reports about mass casualties and abductions in the January 16 attack by the IS group on Deir al-Zor, most of which is under IS control.
Syrian state media said that hundreds of people had been killed in an attack on the village of al-Baghiliya on the northwestern outskirts of the city.
But rebel activists say there has been no "massacre" or large-scale abductions. The opposition DeirEzzor24 news website said that there is "no evidence" that IS carried out a mass killing in al-Baghaliya.
Belgian Directly Linked To Paris Attacks Arrested In Morocco
ITV News has a couple more details about the breaking story that a Belgian man with direct links to the November 13 attacks in Paris has been arrested in Morocco.
According to ITV, the Moroccan Interior Ministry said the man is a Belgian national of Moroccan descent. The Ministry have only disclosed an initial in Arabic and said the suspect allegedly fought with the Al Nusra Front -- Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate -- in Syria before joining the IS group.