Syrian government forces advance as rebel infighting rages

The Syrian government has retaken territory around the northern city of Aleppo, the military said on Tuesday, after two weeks of rebel infighting that has weakened the insurgency against President Bashar al-Assad.                

The internecine conflict among some within the chaotic plethora of rebel groups will allow Assad to portray himself as the only secular alternative in Syria to a radical Islamist regime when peace talks begin in Switzerland on Jan. 22.             

His military advances will give the Syrian government delegation greater leverage at the negotiating table.              

An army statement said government forces had pushed out from their base at Aleppo's international airport, southeast of the city, and were moving towards an industrial complex used as a rebel base and the al-Bab road, urgently needed by insurgents to supply the half of Aleppo under their control.
     
It said that government forces, along with militia loyal to Assad, were in "complete control" of the Naqareen, Zarzour, Taaneh and Subeihieh areas along the eastern side of Aleppo, which was the major Arab country's commercial hub and most populous city before the conflict erupted in 2011.

Fighting between the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and rival Islamists and more moderate rebels have killed hundreds of people over two weeks and shaken ISIL, a militant faction led by foreign jihadists.

But ISIL regrouped and retook much of its stronghold in the eastern city of Raqqa on Sunday from remnants of the Nusra Front, another al Qaeda affiliate although much more Syrian in makeup, and Islamist units called the Islamic Front.

Turkish police:  

Turkish media said police have carried out raids in six Turkish cities, detaining several people allegedly linked to al-Qaeda, including an employee of a prominent Islamic charity.

The aid organization, IHH, confirmed Tuesday that its storage facility near the Syrian border was searched and an employee was detained. It; however, rejected any ties to al-Qaeda and denounced the police raid as an attempt to discredit the organization.

The Dogan news agency said police launched anti-terrorism raids in Istanbul and five other cities. It said at least two senior al-Qaeda suspects were detained.

The IHH had organized a Gaza-bound aid flotilla which was raided by Israel in 2010. Last week, the group rejected some news reports claiming that it was involved in the shipment of arms to Syria.

Charities pledge $400 million to Syria aid:

Non-governmental organizations have promised to donate a combined $400 million for humanitarian aid for Syria ahead of an international donor conference to be held in Kuwait, the Gulf state's official news agency KUNA said on Tuesday.

The donor conference, which opens on Wednesday, aims to help the United Nations raise $6.5 billion for Syria and neighboring countries in 2014, the biggest humanitarian aid appeal in the organization's history.

A similar donor conference held in Kuwait last year pledged $1.5 billion, mainly from Gulf Arab governments, to help provide food, drinking water, medicine and shelter for Syrians inside and outside of the country.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who will chair the Kuwait conference, has expressed regret that not all of the money has been received, KUNA said last week.

The United Nations is experiencing "serious funding gaps," he told KUNA in an interview about the nearly three-year conflict which has inflamed regional tensions.

"There seems to be some fatigue among donor countries because of this continuing violence," he said.


REUTERS/AP