Syrian Kurdish leader denies PYD behind Ankara blast
Salih Muslim, the leader of the main Syrian Kurdish group the Democratic Union Party (PYD) has denied that his group is behind yesterday's deadly blast in Turkey and has warned Ankara against taking Syria ground action, The Associated Press reports.
Salih Muslim told The Associated Press from his base in Europe Thursday that the Turkish accusations are "totally rejected."
He also says that the blast in Ankara that killed around 28 people is similar to bombings carried out in the past by the Islamic State group.
"We have no link to these bombings and with what is happening inside Turkey," he says.
He says that any Turkish ground action in Syria will be confronted by a coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters
Aid reaches besieged Moadamiya al-Sham
How Russia uses Harry Potter, The Hobbit and Alice in Wonderland to slam UK criticism of Syria bombings
A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman has responded somewhat colorfully to comments from the UK's Defense Secretary Michael Fallon accusing Moscow of causing civilian casualties in Syria.
Igor Konashenkov talked about "intensified efforts by London to blame Russia for all the sins of the world."
Konashenkov went on to show his knowledge of British children's literature (though he seems not to recall the exact title of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings):
"When plausible details about the 'shelling' of Syrian cities gushes on a daily basis from London's Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, this is not a big surprise. After all, it's no coincidence that Alice in Wonderland and the saga of the misadventures of the Hobbit with the ring and even Harry Potter were born on the shores of Foggy Albion," Konashenkov said.
The Defense Ministry spokesman added: "when the Royal Minister of Defense starts to suddenly utter unsubstantiated pearls from "the Observatory" with a straight face, it is hard not to suspect some sort of plagiarism."
Konashenkov added some more criticism of the Observatory, suggesting that the UK Defense Ministry might actually be behind its reports:
"Really, it's not clear: does the British Defense Ministry always so plausibly write 'reports' of alleged shelling of Syrian 'mosques' and 'grocery stores' for the 'Observatory'? Or is the Observatory itself the author and the only source of information about Russian operations in Syria for the UK Defense Ministry?" he asked.
It is worth pointing out the irony of Konashenkov's hint that the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights -- which is based in the rather less glamorous Coventry rather than London -- is a UK propaganda tool. Pro-rebel and anti-Assad activists regularly slam the Observatory for what they claim is pro-Assad bias.
Hundreds of armed militants cross Turkey border into Syria: monitor
At least 500 armed militants crossed the Turkish border on Feb. 17, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said.
The fighters -- including rebels as well as Islamist militants -- are all armed and are headed for the Syrian border town of Azaz in northern Aleppo province where opposition forces have suffered setbacks at the hands of Kurdish fighters, SOHR said.
Another 350 militants were reported to have crossed the Atma border crossing on Feb. 14 armed with heavy and light weapons.
We are now closing the live blog for today. Join us again tomorrow for more coverage of Islamic State.
Reports of a major explosion in Ankara, possibly caused by a car bomb.
Syrian terrorist list produces 163 names -- but no agreement
There has been almost no progress made by major powers on overcoming one of the major stumbling blocks to ending the war in Syria -- agreeing on which groups in Syria are terrorists and which are not.
Everyone involved in the process agrees that two groups -- the IS group and Syrian Al-Qaeda affiliate the Al-Nusra Front -- are terrorists.
But disagreement rages over which of Syria's many other armed groups should also be considered terrorists.
"This list hasn't been touched since December," a senior European diplomat told Reuters.
"The difficulty we have is that there are hundreds of different groups on the ground, and groups can change names and affiliations every day."
United States wants NATO to step up fight against IS
The United States is pressing NATO to play a bigger role against the IS group in Syria and Iraq, putting Washington at odds with Germany and France which fear the strategy would risk confrontation with the alliance's old Cold War foe Russia, Reuters reports.
'Aleppo is dying,' locals say amid heavy fighting
Syria's largest city Aleppo has transformed into a battlefield amid clashes between government troops and militant groups.
“Air strikes are ongoing daily, sometimes several times a day. It is tough for the people, there has been a lot of fighting with government forces, with Isis and with members from the Kurds group and “moderate” rebels. It is really frustrating not to know what will happen in the city," the Telegraph quoted Anfal Seddik of Syria Charity, which has operated in the country since 2011, as saying.