Signs of solutions loom in Syria with fresh int'l approach in Astana

A girl is seen wounded in a car bomb blast near the crossroad of Beit Jin village close to Sa'sa' town in the countryside of Damascus, capital of Syria, on Jan 8, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

The rebels who have alliances with the Nusra or the IS group will have to detach themselves from such links, to have a role in the future solution to the country, and that's what is happening now.

The Turkey-backed Ahrar al-Sham has already engaged in battles against Nusra and the allied Jund al-Aqsa group in the northwestern province of Idlib, a key bastion for Nusra.

In Idlib, there are plenty of declared, or undeclared allegiances with Nusra, which means that a wide-scale confrontation between this terror-designated group and other rebel groups is inevitable.

Opposition activists said Jund al-Aqsa group has also deserted from Nusra in the city of Kafr Zaita in the northern countryside of the central province of Hama and surrendered to Ahrar al-Sham.

Also, activists said a new rebel alliance has been formed to capture areas under the Jund al-Aqsa control in the Jabal al-Zawiyeh region in Idlib countryside.

The alliance includes Ahrar al-Sham, Suqor al-Sham, Jaish al-Islam, Jaish al-Mujahideen, the Free Syrian Army, and Istaqem Kama Umert group.

Aside from the rebel coalition against Nusra and Jund al-Aqsa, warplanes believed to be with the US-led anti-terror coalition has intensively targeted commanders of the Nusra Front and Jund al-Aqsa since the beginning of this month.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Right on Sunday placed the death toll of the slain commanders at 134, in another sign that the terror-designated group is losing and becoming more isolated.

In its first response to the Astana talks, Nusra issued a statement on Saturday, saying that the fact that "Russia being the political and diplomatic supervisor of the negotiations in Astana, is a flagrant humiliation to the sacrifices of the mujahideen and that going to Astana means one way or another the acceptance of (president Bashar) al-Assad being on top of his rule."

It urged other rebel groups to "not slide into the intrigues and conspiracies."

As for the Islamic State, the group is also being attack on several fronts, either by Russia or the US-led coalition.

The Russian warplanes have been heavily backing the Syrian ground forces in the battles against IS, either in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, or the eastern countryside of Homs, near the ancient city of Palmyra.

The Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army is also closing in on the IS strongholds in the northern countryside of the northern province of Aleppo, namely in the city of al-Bab, the last IS stronghold near the Turkish borders.

"Now the rebels who are part of the Astana talks will find themselves, willingly, or unwillingly, in the same trench with the Syrian army in the face of IS and Nusra as there is no other way around, as those who will not comply, will be counted with either one of the terrorist groups," Ahmad al-Ashqar, a political analyst, told Xinhua.