Breaking news: Major city falls as Middle East conflict map changes again
Syrian rebel group takes control of strategic city while government forces prepare counter-attack. International community watches closely as power balance shifts in long-running middle-eastern conflict
The middle-eastern conflict map changed dramatically this week when a jihadi group seized control of a major syrian city. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militants launched a multi-front attack capturing Aleppos airport and military academy: the first opposition success in the area since about 8 years ago
The group which broke ties with al-Qaeda has controlled north-western parts of syria for years (they dont plan to enforce islamic law in newly-taken areas). Before this take-over Bashar al-Assadʼs forces held around 70% of the country
The long-running conflict which started in early 2010s has seen many ups-and-downs:
- US involvement with non-lethal aid at first
- Russian air-power support for government
- Iranian-backed groups joining the fight
- Turkish intervention supporting anti-Assad forces
With Assadʼs international supporters busy elsewhere - Russia in Ukraine Iran in gaza conflict - rebels found an opening for their push. Around 900 US troops remain in-country while over half-a-million people died in recent clashes and 45000 got displaced
We have real concerns about HTS designs and objectives; at the same time we dont cry over Assad governments problems
In other global developments Georgian leader Salome Zourabichvili asked EU for help after her countrys ruling party suspended membership talks. The decision sparked street protests while US froze its partnership with tbilisi
Meanwhile US tightened tech-export rules targeting about 140 chinese chip-makers to limit military modernization. Chinese embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu promised resolute measures against these restrictions
A tragic soccer game in guinea led to 56 deaths when crowd control went wrong - tear gas caused panic at stadium exits
