ISIS- SYRIA-THREAD

[Anthea]

Who controls Syrian borders:

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[Anthea]

ARA News

Kurdish fighters repel suicide attack by ISIS south of Kobane

On Sunday, the People’s Protection Units (YPG) repelled two suicide car bombs planned by extremists of the Islamic State (IS/ISIS) southeast of Kobane in the province of Aleppo, northern Syria.

Speaking to ARA News in Kobane, Noureddin Gaban, a fighter in the YPG ranks reported that the joint forces (YPG, FSA, and Peshmerga) destroyed two car bombs before they reached their targets in the village of Kok Tepe (40 km southeast of Kobane).

“The two car bombs were destroyed by the Peshmerga heavy weapons,” he added. “The huge explosions that followed the destruction of the cars indicated the existence of large amounts of explosive materials in them.”

“The Islamic State now pursues the strategy of targeting headquarters of the Kurdish forces in the countryside of Kobane with suicide bombings and improvised car bombs. We are aware of this strategy, that’s why the Peshmerga artillery observes targets any suspected vehicles before they approach the areas regained from the terrorist group,” the military source told ARA News.

In the meantime, a YPG source reported that the joint forces gained control of two armored vehicles loaded with a great deal of explosives in Tel Qarya, killing five members of the Islamic State (IS/ISIS), and seizing 120 mortars, ammunition, and several Katyusha rockets.

Friday, the joint forces seized the villages of Kok Tepe and Jalabiya southeast of Kobane following fierce clashes with IS militants.

http://aranews.net/2015/04/kurdish-figh ... of-kobane/

[Anthea]

People's Defense Units (YPG) – 2015 Media Center

Severe Blows Received by Daesh Terrorists in Kobanê and Cizîrê Regions

Kobanê, April 15, 2015 – The resistance against the occupation attempts of Daesh (ISIS) terrorists near the city of Kobanê continues on the 212th day.

In the evening hours of yesterday, April 14, our forces of the People's Defense Units (YPG) along with the Women's Defense Units (YPJ) launched yet another operation against the terrorist-occupied areas in the southeast of Kobanê. Members of the Burkan al-Firat Operations Room, formed of several FSA-affiliated forces (Free Syrian Army), also contributed to this Operation which has been initiated to remember Martyr Agirî and Martyr Herdem. At the very first levels of this campaign, our forces have been able to inflict significant blows to terrorist forces.

Until now the villages of Xan Memed, Hemdun, Xirab Bergîr, Saqê and Girêk have been liberated from terrorist forces in the course of this Operation in which 6 terrorist fighters were confirmed killed. Along with 2 of the enemy's dead, our units could seize a large number of weapons and ammunition.

Two members of the Burkan al-Firat forces who had fought alongside our units from the very beginning days of Kobanê Resistance were martyred as a result of heavy clashes that were experienced yesterday in the village of Hemdun.

In the meantime, terrorist groups last night carried out a fresh assault against the Goktepe village. This attack that was attempted using a car-bomb, was repelled by our forces after the VBIED was targeted and exploded among the attackers. As confirmed, 9 members of terrorist forces were killed during the heavy battles in this area.

Cizîrê Region, Til Temir - The fight between our units of the YPG/YPJ and terrorist groups of Daesh on the western borders of Cizîrê Canton, started on February 23, are continuing to this time.

Terrorist groups last night tried to carry out an attack against the small village of Ennabiya Sudan, 7 kilometers southeast Menacir village, Til Temir town. Facing our forces' swift response, this terrorist attack was failed after long, heavy clashes. According to what has been confirmed for this area, 4 terrorist fighters were killed and 5 others were wounded in these battles.

After failing in their attempt, the attackers were forced to flee to the Derxam village, 1.5 kilometers Ennabiya Sudan village where they were targeted by airstrikes conducted by the Anti-ISIS Coalition. As a result of this attack 15 terrorist affiliates were killed. The Coalition forces on the same night targeted terrorist groups in the village of Lîlan, 6 kilometers southwest Menacir village. According to a field report, a DShK-mounted vehicle of the terrorists was destroyed consequent to the airstrikes in this area, also 3 Daesh fighters were killed.

People's Defense Units (YPG) – 2015 Media Center

http://ypgrojava.com/en/index.php/state ... re-regions

[Anthea]

ARA News

Syrian rebels attack regime positions in Aleppo

On Tuesday, clashes renewed between Syrian rebels and pro-regime forces in the Rashideen and Salahuddin districts of Aleppo in northern Syria, amid attempts by opposition fighters to advance in the strategic neighborhood of Rashideen which is considered a main supply line to the pro-regime forces in Aleppo.

Speaking to ARA News in Aleppo, documentation activist Mohammed al-Zahrawi said that the clashes began with the early morning hours in the southwestern part of the neighborhood of Rashideen and the opposition forces were able to seize new buildings in there following the partial withdrawal of pro-Assad forces.

At least two pro-regime solders were killed in the clashes, while the armed opposition lost four of its fighters in Tuesday’s operations.

In Salahuddin district, fierce clashes broke out Tuesday where the pro-regime forces tried to regain some of the buildings overlooking an intelligence unit.

“The clashes continued until midnight on Tuesday,” said al-Zahrawi.

In the meantime, media activist Mohammed Jamal stated to ARA News that regime-launched barrel bombs and rocket attacks continue on the opposition-held neighborhoods and some towns and villages in the countryside of Aleppo.

“A rocket landed in al-Mashhad neighborhood, while several shells dropped on both Shaar and Hulk neighborhoods, causing dozens of casualties among civilians,” Jamal reported.

“The Ansari neighborhood in Aleppo saw artillery shelling on Monday night, while the towns of Anadan, Huraytan and Hayan in the northern countryside witnessed barrel bombs’ attacks,” the source told ARA News, pointing out that the pro-regime warplanes targeted the outskirts of Kafr Hamra north of the city with machine guns.

ARA News couldn’t verify the numbers of casualties in the targeted areas.

The Syrian regime forces and warplanes launched an intensified bombing campaign on the neighborhoods and towns held by the armed opposition over the past ten days, causing dozens of casualties between dead and injured, most of them were reportedly civilians.

http://aranews.net/2015/04/syrian-rebel ... ce=twitter

[Anthea]

World Bulletin / News Desk

Syrian forces seize large parts of Syria's Jisr al-Shughour



Fighters have pushed inside the town of Jisr al-Shughour for the first time in the four year war

ISIL fighters including al-Qaeda's wing in Syria Nusra Front on Saturday captured large parts of the northwestern Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughour for the first time in the four year conflict.

Syrian activists and a violence monitoring group said that fighters have pushed inside the town which lies on a road between the coastal city of Latakia and Syria's second city of Aleppo, after days of heavy fighting.

Syrian state television said the army was engaged in "fierce battles in Jisr al-Shughour".

Syrian forces captured the town of Jisr al-Shughour in June 2011 when what the government described as armed gangs had killed more than 120 security personnel in the town after large demonstrations there.

A rebellion in Jisr al-Shughour, a town of 50,000, in 1980 against President Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father, was crushed with scores of deaths.

Last month groups seized the city of Idlib, the capital of the province of Idlib, after forming an alliance which includes Nusra, the hardline Ahrar al-Sham movement and Jund al-Aqsa, but not ISIL, their rival.

The alliance calls itself Army of Fatah, a reference to the conquests that spread Islam across the Middle East from the seventh century

They continued their assault to capture the few towns and villages which remained under the government forces in the province.

http://www.worldbulletin.net/haber/1583 ... l-shughour

[Anthea]

BBC News

Islamic State NHS-style hospital video posted



Islamic State appears to have released a promotional video for its own health service featuring NHS-style branding and an Australian doctor.

The video has not been verified but was being circulated by IS-affiliated social media accounts and bears all the hallmarks of previous IS productions.

Using an NHS-style logo, it introduces the "ISHS" - or IS Health Service.

It appears to have been filmed in Raqqa General Hospital in the Syrian IS stronghold of Raqqa.

The first doctor in the video talks about the establishment of a health ministry that regulates medical facilities across IS territory, including the Raqqa hospital, which he says has been refurbished.

A second doctor introduces the intensive care unit, which he says treats victims of military conflict and car accidents. A third speaks about the X-ray department, which includes a women-only unit.

The Australian doctor, who calls himself Abu Yusuf, says he travelled from his home country to join IS and is using his medical skills "as part of my jihad for Islam".

He is shown treating newborn babies in incubators, in a section of the video set in the hospital's apparently well-equipped paediatric ward.

Speaking directly to camera, he says he wished he had joined IS sooner. He calls on doctors and other medical professionals in the West to join the group.

The video also includes commentary on the hospital's physiotherapy and dialysis services.

Analysis: Gordon Corera, security correspondent, BBC News

Amidst the growing tide of IS propaganda videos, this is one of the more striking. The production values are - as we have now come to expect - high-end and glossy. The opening titles look more like a TV drama about life in a hospital than a documentary from a war zone.

But while some IS videos - notably those featuring the beheading of hostages - are aimed at spreading terror, this one is clearly designed to encourage recruitment. The idea is to present IS as something akin to a normal state, with a health service like that of Britain's NHS - even with a similar logo.

The film also carefully focuses on some of the technology available in the hospital - dialysis, X-ray and ultrasound machines.

The ability of IS to upload such videos remains a real source of concern to western governments who fear that many are still trying to go out to IS territory in Syria or Iraq - even if some are stopped.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-32456789

[Anthea]

BBC News

Syria conflict: Islamists capture Jisr al-Shughur

Islamist rebels in Syria have taken over the key north-western town of Jisr al-Shughur, activists say.

It was the last major town under government control in Idlib province. Correspondents say it may give rebels a route to the ruling elite's heartland.

The Islamist forces, including the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front, began the assault on Thursday.

State media said the army had redeployed outside the town "to avoid civilian casualties".

They quoted a military official as saying that, before withdrawing, troops had engaged in fierce fighting with "armed terrorist groups" who arrived in large numbers from the Turkish border.



Activists from the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government forces had fled.

The bodies of at least 60 pro-government fighters were lying in the streets, the observatory added.

Before the rise of Islamic State, the Nusra Front was seen as the strongest and most militant rebel force.

The city of Idlib was overrun by the rebel groups last month.


Residents of the town have been fleeing the fighting

Since then, government forces have been trying to protect their supply route between Aleppo and Hama province on one side and Latakia on the other.

Latakia is home to the core of the Alawite minority to which the family of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad belongs and is so far largely untouched by the war.

BBC World Service Middle East analyst Sebastian Usher says that if the rebels can drive the government completely out of Idlib province, they would open the way to Latakia.

The town of Jisr al-Shughur has been under government control since the early stages of the conflict. In June 2011, large protests against the regime led to the deaths of 120 troops in circumstances disputed by the government and its opponents.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-32461693

[Anthea]

Independent

Syria conflict: The illicit art trade that is a major source of income for today's terror groups is nothing new

Exclusive: While posing as a buyer's agent in a Turkish border town, Isabel Hunter is offered looted antiquities which look destined for Europe

“I’ve taken this out so many times,” said Hani, as he deftly unzips a black laptop case. From two side pockets the Syrian remove a statue, some beads and an assortment of stones and arrange them for viewing.

Nestled in the bag is an intricately carved 4,000-year-old limestone tablet covered in hieroglyphics. The markings record the success of two Mesopotamian kings, and were carved a stone’s throw from Babylon, the cradle of civilisation.

An inspection of the tablet, gingerly touching the rough stone, is paused as a fresh break becomes evident – a crack splitting the plaque in two. Sheepishly, Hani and his colleague admit that they broke it last year. The handle of the laptop case wasn’t strong enough, they explain, and had sent thousands of years of history – an object of huge value – crashing to the floor.

Link to Full Interesting Article:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 04285.html

[Anthea]

Mail Online
By Sara Malm

'Takeaway food... now I wanna behead some kafirs': Tower Hamlets schoolgirls who travelled to Syria to become jihadi brides tweet about their new lives with ISIS

Amira Abase, 15, left UK for Syria with two classmates in February
Tweeted about enjoying a takeaway in Islamic State 'capital' Raqqa
Also shows life pre-ISIS with tweets about shoes, waffles and Chelsea FC
Amira, Shamima Begum and Kadiza Sultana aimed to be 'jihadi brides'
Before departing, Amira tweeted a picture of the three in a London park

One of the three East London schoolgirls who left the UK to become 'jihadi brides' in Syria has confirmed that she is now living in the Islamic State - by tweeting a picture of chicken and chips.

Amira Abase, 15, left Bethnal Green with Shamima Begum 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, in February, and is believed to be living in the Syrian city of Raqqa.

Now, nearly two months after her departure, Amira has shared a snippet of life in the Islamic State - posting an online photo of her enjoying a takeaway dinner with another teenage 'jihadi bride'.


ISIS spread: London schoolgirl Amira Abase, 15, has tweeted from inside the Islamic State for the first time (above), bragging about a Western-style takeaway dinner of fried chicken, chips, pizza and kebab meat

Until recently, the Twitter account of 15-year-old Amira was set to private. The recent public tweet from the radicalised teenager gives a unique insight into the life of the British runaways.

It shows a huge Western-style takeaway, including fried chicken, chips, pizza and kebab meat.

Amira - tweeting under the name Bintt Abbas - captioned the photograph 'dawla takeaway w/ @um_ayoub12'. 'Dawla' is another name for the Islamic State, which is also known as Isis.

'Um-ayoub12' is the name of another Twitter user, who describes herself as a '16-year-old muhajirah'. She believed to be another of the dozens of western teenagers who have travelled from Europe to join Isis.

Amira's dinner companion uses the same profile picture as the 15-year-old from Bethnal Green. Earlier this year the older girl tweeted: 'uh wanna behead some kafirs [non-Muslims] now'.



Link to Full Article and VERY Interesting Comments:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -Isis.html

[Anthea]

Washington Post

Assad’s hold on power looks shakier than ever as rebels advance in Syria


Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaks during an interview with France 2 television in Damascus, the Syrian capital, on April 19, 2015

A surge of rebel gains in Syria is overturning long-held assumptions about the durability of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which now appears in greater peril than at any time in the past three years.

The capture Saturday of the town of Jisr al-Shughour in northern Idlib province was just the latest in a string of battlefield victories by rebel forces, which have made significant advances in both the north and the south of the country.

As was the case in the capital of Idlib province last month, government defenses in Jisr al-Shughour crumbled after just a few days of fighting, pointing as much to the growing weakness of regime forces as the revival of the opposition.

The battlefield shifts come at a time when the Obama administration has set aside the crisis in Syria to focus on its chief priorities: defeating the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and concluding a nuclear deal with Iran.

Yet the pace of events in Syria may force the United States to refocus on the unresolved war, which remains at the heart of the turmoil engulfing the Middle East, analysts say. Iran backs ­Assad, Saudi Arabia backs the rebels, and a shift in the balance of power in Syria could have profound repercussions for the conflicts in Iraq and Yemen.

“We’re seeing a game changer right now in Syria,” said Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi journalist. “I think we are going to see an end to the Assad regime, and we have to think now about what will happen the day after, because the day after is near.”

Other observers say the prospect of a government collapse in Damascus is still remote. The capital is well defended, and the rebels’ gains have come mostly on the periphery of the country, where the regime’s supply lines are stretched.

But perceptions that Assad will survive indefinitely or serve at least as an interim counterbalance to the Islamic State and its strongholds in northeastern Syria are in doubt, said Emile Hokayem of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

The growing strains on Assad’s manpower and resources “are becoming extremely obvious, and the magnitude of his losses are now too big to hide,” Hokayem said.

“This destroys the narrative that he is winning, which he was counting on, and also the argument that he is the best option against ISIS,” the analyst added, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State. “If he’s not able to take on or even defend against the rebels, he’s going to have a hard time presenting himself as able to fight ISIS.”

The revival of rebel fortunes is attributed to a large degree to the recent rapprochement between a newly assertive Saudi Arabia and its erstwhile rivals for influence over the rebels — Turkey and Qatar.

Since inheriting the throne in January, Saudi King Salman has moved forcefully to challenge the expanding regional influence of Iran, Saudi Arabia’s biggest foe, most publicly by embarking on an air war against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. He has also acted to shore up the flagging and deeply divided rebels in Syria, in coordination with Qatar and Turkey, Khashoggi said.

The result has been an unexpectedly cohesive rebel coalition called the Army of Conquest that is made up of al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, an assortment of mostly Islamist brigades and a small number of more moderate battalions. The coalition, which launched last month, has proved more effective than expected.

After seizing most of Idlib province in recent weeks, the rebels are pressing south toward the government strongholds of Hama and Homs and are threatening the ­Assad family’s coastal heartland of Latakia. A separate, more moderate rebel coalition has been making swift advances in the south, challenging government control over the key provincial capital of Daraa and making progress north toward Damascus.

Just as significantly, government forces have been proving increasingly ineffective. The collapse of two much-trumpeted offensives earlier this year, in southern Syria and in Aleppo, presaged the success of the recent rebel offensives, suggesting that even if the government can remain in control in Damascus, its chances of regaining the rest of the country are slipping.

There are signs that the regime itself is fraying under the strain of the four-year-old war. On Friday, pro-government news outlets reported the death of political security director Rustom Ghazaleh, a longtime Assad stalwart, after months of rumors that he had fallen out with the regime, had been badly beaten up by a rival and was languishing in a hospital.

The reports followed the firing last month of the military intelligence chief, Rafiq Shehadeh, another inner-circle loyalist. Western diplomats monitoring events in Syria from Beirut say the two men appear to have clashed with the Assad family over the growing battlefield role played by Iran.

The tensions are reaching into the heart of the Assad family, whose four-decade-old rule had seemed unshakeable until the revolt erupted in 2011.

Hafez Makhlouf, Assad’s cousin, was fired late last year as head of security in the province of Damascus and has since fled the country, the diplomats say. Another cousin, Munzer al-Assad, was detained this month amid rumors that he had been plotting a coup.

“It looks like there are major rifts going on inside the Assad regime,” one of the diplomats said. “A military collapse on the regime side is not impossible.”

Much will depend on Iran, which has stepped up in the past to dispatch men, money and arms whenever Assad seemed to be faltering. But Iran is stretched, too, by the economic effects of continued international sanctions and by the competing demands of the war next door in Iraq, which has diverted some of the Iraqi Shiite militias that had been fighting for the regime in Syria.

In a commentary for the Middle East Institute in the past week, Robert S. Ford, a former U.S. envoy to Syria, said a regime collapse cannot be ruled out. The regime’s schisms, its battlefield setbacks and its manpower shortages “are all signs of weakness,” he wrote. “We may be seeing signs of the beginning of their end.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/mid ... story.html

[Anthea]

ARA News

Islamic State has “Turkish-made weapons and ammunition”

After several consecutive days of offensives by the Islamic State group (IS/ISIS) against various locations of Syrian regime forces in the countryside of Hasakah, pro-regime security forces seized a large mount of weapons and ammunition in the Geweran neighborhood south of the city, a military personnel reported.

The source told ARA News, on the condition of anonymity, that the regime forces seized “Turkish-made weapons and ammunition” in Geweran neighborhood located in the southern outskirts of Hasakah, northeastern Syria.

“The seized weapons included Turkish-made automatic rifles, “suicide” belts and a large amount of ammunition and hand grenades,” the source added.

Speaking to ARA News in Hasakah, civil rights activist Dilovan Mohammed said that clashes broke out between the pro-regime army backed by allied militias (National Defense Army) and IS militants on the road to the villages of Shaqra, Abyad, Sabaa Suqur and Dawoodiya.

“The clashes caused casualties on both sides,” he added, without specifying figures, pointing out that the pro-regime forces gained control of the petroleum junction in the countryside of Hasakah.

Since Sunday morning, the southern and western countryside of Hasakah has been experiencing clashes between IS jihadists and the pro-regime forces, coinciding with artillery and missile shelling by the pro-regime forces on locations of the radical group in the area.

Reporting by: Muhammad Dilshad

http://aranews.net/2015/04/syrian-army- ... with-isis/

[Anthea]

ARA News

Rebel group pledges allegiance to ISIS southern Syria

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the rebel Brigade of the Yarmouk Martyrs (part of the Army of Islam force) in southern Syria announced allegiance to the Islamic State group (IS/ISIS).

“After we expelled the al-Nusra Front (Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) in the town of Saham al-Jawlan, we of the Yarmouk Martyrs are determined to advance towards the town of Hait to go after them,” the brigade’s statement read.

The brigade announced that the areas extending from Hiran highway to Beriqa in Quneitra province as a military zone, vowing to target any group in the area.

Conversely, speaking to ARA News, a fighter from the Islamic Movement of Ahrar al-Sham said (under the condition of anonymity) that the movement will take action and fight against the Yarmouk brigade after it pledged allegiance to the IS, considering the brigade “has betrayed the rebellion”.

“We will also defend al-Nusra Front against any attacks. The Front’s rebels have been fighting side by side with our fighters against Assad force and IS militants,” he said.

The clashes took place between members of the Yarmouk Martyrs brigade and militants of the al-Nusra Front on Wednesday morning in Saham al-Jawlan area in the western countryside of Daraa adjacent to Quneitra, causing casualties on both sides, local activists told ARA News.

http://aranews.net/2015/04/rebel-group- ... ern-syria/

[Anthea]

1 May 2015



https://pietervanostaeyen.wordpress.com ... ay-1-2015/

[Anthea]

ARA News

Syrian rebels approach Assad’s hometown

Activists reported Saturday that the regular Syrian army is now seeking to advance in the countryside of Latakia, especially toward the village of Salma to eliminate opposition fighters in the areas.

Speaking to ARA News in Latakia, media activists said that on Saturday pro-Assad forces launched what they called “battle for liberating the Latakia countryside”, in an attempt to repel opposition fighters from areas of control in the countryside of Latakia.

“The Syrian army’s aim during these operations is to strengthen its grip on the mountains around the province.”

On the other hand, the armed opposition denied any progress by the Syrian army toward the mountains of Latakia.

“Our fighters (rebels of the Free Syrian Army) are now on the outskirts of Latakia, which is considered the main stronghold of Bashar al-Assad and his Alawite sect, after advancing in the countryside of the province and pushing back the regime forces to the hills near the city,” a military source reported.

According to military sources, battles in Latakia started on Thursday by the regime’s army, backed by local militias, in order to expel the opposition forces from the province and regain control of the areas held by opposition fighters in the nearby province of Idlib, northwestern Syria.

Speaking to ARA News, media activist Ali Owaid said that the armed opposition supported by al-Fath Army (extended umbrella for rebel factions) is currently engaged in battles to control Idlib completely. On the other hand, the opposition fighters are locked in fierce battles in Sahl al-Ghab in the northern countryside of Hama.

“The armed opposition aspires to control Latakia, however the regime strives to keep the province away from the opposition fire,” the source added.

Opposition sources reported Friday that four members of the pro-Assad Lebanese Hezbollah militia were killed during clashes in the countryside of Latakia, as a result of artillery shelling by the opposition forces.

http://aranews.net/2015/05/syrian-rebel ... ce=twitter

[Anthea]

Reuters

Exclusive: Weapons inspectors find undeclared sarin and VX traces in Syria
By Anthony Deutsch

International inspectors have found traces of sarin and VX nerve agent at a military research site in Syria that had not been declared to the global chemical weapons watchdog, diplomatic sources said on Friday.

Samples taken by experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition and Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in December and January tested positive for chemical precursors needed to make the toxic agents, the sources told Reuters on the condition of anonymity because the information is confidential.

"This is a pretty strong indication they have been lying about what they did with sarin," one diplomatic source said. "They have so far been unable to give a satisfactory explanation about this finding."

In 2013, the United States threatened military intervention against Syria's government after sarin gas attacks in August of that year killed hundreds of residents in Ghouta, a rebel-controlled suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus.

But the Damascus government forestalled foreign intervention by agreeing to a U.S.- and Russian-brokered deal under which it joined the OPCW, admitting to having a chemicals weapons program and promising to eliminate it.

The government of President Bashar al-Assad last year handed over 1,300 tonnes of chemical arms to a joint U.N.-OPCW mission for destruction. But Damascus has denied using sarin or any chemical weapons in battle during Syria's continuing civil war.

The diplomatic sources said the sarin and VX nerve samples were taken from the Scientific Studies and Research Centre, a government agency where Western intelligence agencies say Syria developed biological and chemical weapons.

Asked about the diplomats' account, OPCW spokesman Peter Sawczak said: "Obviously we are working to clarify Syria's declaration. I cannot discuss any details of that process, but in due course the assessment team will issue a report."

CHLORINE GAS ATTACKS

An OPCW fact-finding mission has been investigating allegations of dozens of recent chlorine gas attacks in Syrian villages but is being refused access to the sites by the Assad government, the diplomatic sources said.

The finding of VX and sarin supports assertions by Western governments that Assad withheld some of his stockpile, or did not disclose the full extent of Syria's chemical capability or arsenal to the OPCW, according to diplomats and analysts.

OPCW inspectors have been to Syria eight times to verify the accuracy of the details of the chemical weapons program provided in an initial report, but keep returning with more questions than answers, the diplomats said.

Under the deal with Washington and Moscow, Syria agreed to permanently and completely destroy its chemical weapons program and cannot use poison gas in warfare.

But the OPCW, which is not mandated to assign blame, said chlorine has been used "systematically and repeatedly" as a weapon in Syria after Damascus handed over its declared toxic stockpile.

Syria has begun destroying a dozen chemical weapons production and storage sites, but also last year added several new facilities it had not initially disclosed to the OPCW.

The United States wants a team of United Nations investigators to determine who is to blame for the more recent chlorine attacks in a bid to pave the way for U.N. Security Council action against those responsible.

"We believe - and it’s clear that many Council members agree - that we have got to have a means of establishing who is carrying out these chlorine attacks," Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters on Friday.

"We hope that we can make progress on a resolution to ensure that there is a mechanism that will not only establish chlorine use, but establish who carried out that use," she said.

Power said Washington believes the facts indicate that the Syrian government is responsible.

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a British expert on biological and chemical weapons, said Syrian government forces appeared to be the only party that could have carried out the Aug. 21, 2013 sarin attacks in Ghouta because they were mounted on a large scale and professionally executed.

"This unequivocally proves there was sarin in Syria. If the OPCW possesses this evidence, it is absolutely another nail in this coffin," he said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/ ... YR20150508