The White House is pushing back on a report in The Daily Beast that quotes top national-security official Ben Rhodes saying that he's "not proud" of US policy in Syria.

The Daily Beast quoted Rhodes as telling Syrian-American activists at an event on Wednesday that the US doesn't have "any good options" in Syria.

"We aren't proud of our Syria policy — but we don't have any good options ... nothing we could have done would have made things better," Rhodes reportedly said, according to three people present at the event who spoke to the publication.

He reportedly added, referring to Syrian President Bashar Assad: "We're not the ones killing Syrians. Assad is the one killing people."

Ned Price, spokesman for the White House's National Security Council, told Business Insider in a statement that Rhodes "in no way indicted or distanced himself from our Syria policy."

"He has consistently explained US policy toward the conflict, which is what he did in this case (as evidenced by the other quotes)," Price said. "What is true is that he lamented the level of suffering the Syrian people have endured."

The US has faced criticism over its Syria policy and its reluctance to try to force Assad, whose forces have massacred thousands of civilians, from power.

One activist at the event, Ibrahim Al-Assil, a fellow at the Middle East Institute, told The Daily Beast that he spoke to Rhodes at the event.

"I told him I'm disgusted with his policy and that he doesn't care about Syrian lives," Al-Assil said.

Here's Price's full statement:

Ben in no way indicted or distanced himself from our Syria policy. He has consistently explained U.S. policy toward the conflict, which is what he did in this case (as evidenced by the other quotes). What is true is that he lamented the level of suffering the Syrian people have endured.

Beyond that, we will not rebut point by point a secondhand account of an impromptu conversation that took place two days ago following an award ceremony honoring Ben. Ben has repeatedly made the point that the United States will continue to do everything we can, in concert with our international partners, to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people, who have been brutalized at the hands of the Assad regime and, in other regions, ISIL. He also explained, as he has done publicly many times before, why we have not pursued additional military action against Assad, including a no-fly zone; we see no military solution to the civil war. We all acknowledge the tremendous suffering of the Syrian people, and no one should be satisfied with the status quo. That's why we continue to work toward a transition away from Assad just as we prosecute a relentless campaign against ISIL.

Read the full story at The Daily Beast >>

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BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah said on Saturday "takfiri groups" were responsible for a blast which killed the group's top military commander Mustafa Badreddine.

"Takfiri" is a word used by the group to refer to hard-line, armed, Sunni Islamist groups.

Hezbollah announced Badreddine's death on Friday and a military funeral was held for him on the same day in the group's stronghold in southern Beirut. 

(Reporting by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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BEIRUT –  The Russian military is constructing a new army base in the central Syrian town of Palmyra, within the protected zone that holds the archaeological site listed by UNESCO as a world heritage site and without asking for permission from relevant authorities, an American heritage organization and a top Syrian archaeologist said Tuesday.

The American School of Oriental Research's Cultural Heritage Initiative posted pictures from the satellite imagery and analytics company DigitalGlobe that show the construction on the edge of the ancient site that was damaged by the Islamic State group, which held Palmyra for 10 months.

Syrian troops backed by Russian airstrikes captured Palmyra in March and fighting continues miles away until this day.

Russian demining experts have detonated hundreds of bombs left behind by the extremists at and near the site since the town was captured. A top Syrian archaeologist said the presence of Syrian and Russian troops in Palmyra is important to prevent ISIS from coming back.

Maamoun Abdulkarim, head of the Antiquities and Museums Department in Damascus, told The Associated Press that the Russians are building small barracks that includes offices and clinics.

Abdulkarim said his organization was not asked for permission but added that ISIS is close to the town and the presence of Russian and Syrian troops is important to ensure that the site remains in government hands.

"We refuse to give permission even if it was for a small room to be built inside the site whether it is for the Syrian army, Russian army or anyone else," Abudlkarim said by telephone from Damascus. "We will never give such permission because this will be in violation of the archaeology law."

Since Russia began launching airstrikes in Syria in September 2015, Moscow has tipped the balance of power in favor of President Bashar Assad's forces. Earlier this year Russia said it was scaling back its presence in Syria.

Before ISIS captured the town in May 2015, the Syrian army was known to have minor military presence inside the site.

During the Islamic State group's 10 months in Palmyra, the militants destroyed the Temple of Bel, which dated back to A.D. 32, the Temple of Baalshamin, which was several stories high and fronted by six towering columns, and the Arch of Triumph, which was built under the Roman emperor Septimius Severus between A.D. 193 and A.D. 211.

"During the time of war, sometimes archaeological authorities don't have a say but security decisions dictate the orders," AbdulKarim said. "Once the situation improves and peace is reached, then we will openly call for removing" the barracks.

Osama al-Khatib, a Syrian opposition activist from Palmyra who currently lives in Turkey, said the Russians are setting up prefabricated homes and tents on the northern edge of the archaeological site. He added that the site where the Russians are now based is hundreds of yards from the temples and the Arch of Triumph.

He said there are also some historical graves near where the Russians are setting up their barracks.

SEE ALSO: 'Al Qaeda has sealed its future': Syria's jihadists may be the biggest winners of Assad's 'victory' at Palmyra

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The Syrian civil war has been raging for more than four years, and while millions of refugees have fled the country, there are many young Syrians who are just trying to live normal lives. In Damascus' Old City, just a mile away from the war's front lines, young Syrians have started going to bars and clubs in an effort to experience normality. This is not something you would have seen two years ago — many of these bars have opened just over the past couple of months. Below, take a look at what nightlife is like in Damascus' Old City, as captured by Reuters photographer Omar Sanadiki:

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Security in Damascus improved in February, after Russia's intervention and a partial truce brought a sense of calm.

Source: Reuters

Locals started to go out and socialize a bit more.

"This is something you certainly wouldn't see two years ago, and it's picked up even more recently," 23-year-old Nicolas Rahal told Reuters. "I can now go to this pub or that nightclub. Places opened and people came."

Source: Reuters

US officials announced this week that ISIS has lost more territory in Iraq and Syria as the international effort to take back land the terrorist group seized continues.

Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Col. Steve Warren said during a Pentagon briefing on Wednesday that ISIS (also known as the Islamic State, ISIL, or Daesh) has lost 45% of the territory it once controlled in Iraq and 30-35% of the populated areas it once held across its "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria.

"This enemy has really suffered a string of defeats on the battlefield," Warren said. "Nothing they have done in the past few months has really been effective."

Losing territory goes against ISIS' message of "remaining and expanding," a platform that it has used to recruit thousands of foreign fighters to the Middle East. As ISIS loses ground, the flow of foreigners to its territory has slowed significantly and defections have increased.

ISIS has now realigned its strategy to focus on terror attacks rather than territory. The group has been carrying out attacks on the West — such as those in Brussels and Paris — as well as in places like Baghdad, where ISIS has claimed responsibility for a recent wave of suicide bombings.

"Because the [Iraqi Security Forces] are proving increasingly effective, ISIL wants to throw punches that land," Warren said. "To do this, they appear to have chosen to revert to some of their terrorist roots."

The bombings and other attacks allow ISIS to project an image of power even as the "caliphate," the name ISIS uses for its self-declared Islamic state, is shrinking.

But even as ISIS is on the defensive, the group isn't necessarily losing.

Tim Arango explained in The New York Times:

The situation in Baghdad and the territorial fight against the Islamic State in other provinces are related.

The reflex of the Shiite leadership is to protect Baghdad — to answer the agonized voices of victims of terrorism — and that is likely to prompt calls for military and police units to be pulled from the front lines to secure the capital. In that way, the resurgent terrorist threat in Baghdad could begin stalling the improving military pushes outside the city — including efforts to finally direct an offensive toward retaking Mosul, the main city in the north.

Warren tried to ease these fears by noting that the Iraqi government "has not redeployed any troops to Baghdad" in the aftermath of the bombings.

SEE ALSO: ISIS is increasingly relying on this brutal tactic as it loses territory in the Middle East

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Tens of thousands of refugees from all over the Middle East — countries like Syria, Iraq, Morocco, and Libya — have found an unlikely haven in the Netherlands.

Crime has been on the decline for the last decade, and dozens of Dutch prisons have been forced to close their doors as a result. To stay afloat, some have welcomed inmates from Belgium or Norway.

Now the Dutch government agency responsible for housing asylum seekers has opened the doors of prisons in 12 locations around the country, servicing hundreds of people in need, the AP reports.

Unlike American prisons, the facilities are uniquely suited to serve as temporary homes given their wide-open spaces and array of amenities.

Here's what life is like on the inside.

Last year, the Netherlands saw approximately 60,000 migrants enter the country.

While most were given help finding traditional shelter, the Dutch government called on its prison system to offer its increasingly vacant facilities.

In Haarlem, the former prison of De Koepel features layers of cells on the perimeters of a main courtyard.

On the second floor of an innocuous-looking little shop in Beirut's southern suburb of Dahiyeh, a Hezbollah commander holds court amid stored juice boxes and sacks of rice.

Cellphones are forbidden here and bags are searched before entering. His soldiers loiter watchfully outside.

The commander is tall, well-built, with eyes as hard and gray as granite. He sips from a small porcelain cup of thick, black coffee.

He doesn't want to be quoted by name; these days, being a Hezbollah commander is a dangerous occupation. His boss was assassinated just last week. 

"It is difficult to lose someone so devoted to the cause," the commander says. "Haj Murtada should have a statue made of gold. He's been in hiding for our mission since the 1980s. His family and friends would see him in secret; his life was a secret. Is this not a great sacrifice?"

To the rest of the world, Mustafa Badreddine, (a.k.a. Haj Murtada, Sami Issa, Zul Fikar, Elias Fouad Saab, and Safi Badr), was a terrorist. But to the people of Dahiyeh, the Shia neighborhood in which he grew up, he was many things: war hero, freedom fighter, friend, neighbor, relative. And like so many Dahiyeh boys these days, Badreddine became a martyr in Syria.

The head of Hezbollah's military wing was assassinated at one of the group's bases near the Damascus International Airport, in the heart of the country where the Iranian-backed group has been fighting for three years alongside president Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Badreddine's death was as shrouded in mystery as his life, which has already achieved mythological status for the Shia of Dahiyeh. Initial reports and statements by Hezbollah officials indicated that Israel, its longtime nemesis, was responsible; some Israeli media reports pointed to the Jewish state's involvement. But after an investigation, Hezbollah officially announced that Badreddine had been killed in a shelling by a Sunni group opposing Assad, despite reports that there hadn't been shelling in that area for over a week.

But who really was Mustafa Badreddine? Not even the people around him seem to know. He appears to have had as many personalities as he had aliases. Some say he was a playboy with dozens of girlfriends, others a pious man devoted to the cause. Did Badreddine ever evolve from terrorist into soldier, as some have claimed? And what is the significance of his death to Hezbollah and its efforts in Syria? Will his loss mobilize or discourage Hezbollah fighters and party supporters? 

What is clear is that Hezbollah will sorely miss Badreddine. Like his cousin, brother-in-law, and predecessor Imad Mughniyeh, he was renowned as a military commander.

Badreddine led Hezbollah in the Syrian war, which has claimed anywhere from 1, 000 to 1,400 of its fighters in the group's successful effort to keep the Assad regime in power.

Mughniyeh was assassinated, reportedly by a joint CIA-Mossad operation in 2008. Like Badreddine, he was wanted by many, and had killed a lot of people before he died.

With Mughniyeh and the rest of the Islamic Jihad Organization—the name used to claim their numerous acts of terror—Badreddine has been implicated in a laundry list of attacks including the 1983 bombings of the US Marines' barracks in Beirut and the French embassy in Kuwait.

After being caught in Kuwait, Badreddine was jailed and sentenced to death. Mughniyeh soon began kidnapping Westerners in order to pressure the United States to use its influence with Kuwait to free his best friend and right-hand-man, which ended up happening anyway when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990 and emptied its prisons.

Following his release, Badreddine is suspected to have participated in the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires as well as the 2005 assassination of Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, in which Hezbollah denies involvement. 

"Someone like Carlos the Jackal is more notorious, but doesn't hold a candle to someone like Badreddine," says Bruce Hoffman, director of Georgetown University's Center for Security Studies. "He was the one who mixed the fuel with the explosives for the Marine barracks bombs in order to enhance their explosive capabilities and enable the trucks to blast over a much larger distance to take down the building." 241 Marines died in the bombing; 9/11 is the only terror attack to have killed more Americans. 

Badreddine "was also one of the first architects or pioneers of mass casualty simultaneous suicide attacks, such as the December 1993 bombings in Kuwait," Hoffman says. "He's a legendary figure within Lebanon. But outside the Shia community and perhaps the Israelis, few people had heard about him, paid much attention to or really understood the significance of his death."

To the men who fought alongside him in Syria as well as the people close to him, Badreddine was more than a leader—he was their inspiration.

"I spent seven days fighting with him in Qusayr [a town on the Lebanese-Syrian border]," the Hezbollah commander says with pride. "Qusayr was freed because of him and the blood of the boys who fought with him." 

But not even he had a handle on the real Badreddine: "He was an educated person, never boring, always stylish, looking sharp," the commander says. "But no one knew him very well except for his close circle. He had many personalities, not just one." 

One of Badreddine's childhood friends, a man we'll call Ali, talks about him while smoking a nargileh at a café on Beirut's seaside Corniche road. He's in his sixties, grizzled, with a calm demeanor and a patient smile.

"I've known Mustafa for a long time," Ali recalls through clouds of sweet smoke. "He was a simple man, very pious. ... Mustafa, God rest his soul, was a normal kid growing up. He was my friend. Before the '82 Israeli invasion, he just worked at his family's gas station and lived a regular life. When Israel invaded, he was wounded in his foot while fighting with the boys and was severely injured." That's what spurred his urge to join the resistance, Ali says. 

According to Bilal Saab, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, while Badreddine was a valuable member of Hezbollah's leadership, his loss will not affect the group's overall prospects very much.

"He masterminded major operations in Syria and commanded both Hezbollah and Syrian troops fighting the rebels," Saab explains in an email. "But contrary to almost all analysis on the man, he is replaceable, just as Mughniyeh was. I realize that competent and skilled commanders don't grow on trees, but if there's any organization that can inject new blood almost seamlessly into its structure, it is Hezbollah, thanks of course to Iranian tutelage."

Robert Baer, a retired CIA agent who was active in Lebanon at the time of Badreddine's emergence, agrees that Hezbollah will not allow Badreddine's death to deter its efforts in Syria.

"They're going to keep fighting," says Baer. "They simply cannot let in the Islamic State over the border, because that would be the end of Lebanon. The whole country would go down in a civil war; so they have to fight in Syria, and they'll produce people. I can't tell you who's going to win, but they will fight this right until the end."

But as one of Badreddine's neighbors and distant relatives explains at his restaurant in south Lebanon, not far from the Israeli border, there are some murmurs of discontent following the assassination.

"Most members of Hezbollah and their families are ready to die for [the Syrian war], because they believe in it," he says. "But the Shia who are a little farther from Hezbollah, they think differently. They say, 'Why doesn't Hezbollah come here to defend us if Daesh [ISIS] comes to Lebanon? Why should they go to Syria to die?' There is a split now. And every time one of these leaders is killed, the people think, 'What next?' They say to each other, 'When is it going to stop?'"

Badreddine's assassination could have other implications for the war in Syria. Rumors are spreading that his death may be exposing some friction between the Hezbollah leadership and the Syrian regime. Some are even blaming a member of the regime for Badreddine's death.

"Hezbollah always announces when it's Israel," Badreddine's relative says quietly, looking around his restaurant. "But this time they're taking their time and investigating, and they say it was the rebel terrorists, but I don't think that's true. I think someone from inside was involved." 

"It would have been someone in the Syrian regime," he continues. "Israel would be willing to pay someone millions to kill Mustafa Badreddine...but if the Hezbollah fighters in Syria knew this, it would affect their morale. They would not be as motivated to fight the rebels on behalf of the regime. They will stop trusting the Syrians. Hezbollah won't say this stuff on TV, but I'm sure they're fully investigating this. They probably know who killed him and have him in custody now."

Ali, too, mentions this tension between Hezbollah and some members of the regime, though he stops short of suggesting one of Badreddine's enemies in Damascus had a hand in his death.

"There's a lot of anxiety in Syria," says Ali. "Some Syrian officials fighting with Hezbollah are not that comfortable with their presence... The big shots who make the decisions in Syria are pro-resistance, but there are some people lower down on the ladder who are skeptical."

So, did he die a soldier, fighting in a war to support a sovereign government? Or did he leave this world still an unabashed terrorist? 

"He became something else," says Baer. "It's a very complicated situation, what Hezbollah evolved into, and what Badreddine evolved into. He started out as a revolutionary, and then, like Mughniyeh, just grew up. Well, maybe he didn't grow up, but the war changed, or the goals changed."

But Hoffman is adamant that Badreddine died as much a terrorist mastermind as he was when he started his career. 

"People are trying to graft the narrative for Hezbollah's trajectory onto an individual," he says. "I think that for Hezbollah, as for its patron Iran, terrorism is an instrument of statecraft and foreign policy and when its going to be useful, it's employed, but when its not going to be useful, it's not...Hezbollah can keep claiming they've made this transformation, but terrorism is in their DNA."

At his shop, the commander laughs when asked about Badreddine's role in terrorist acts. "We can't count the massacres of the US and Israel," he scoffs, repeating what is a standard line of reasoning for many in this part of the world. "We would need a month to talk about it. But he was the terrorist?"

The commander's eyes glint like chips of stone in the dim light of the store.

"His loss is mobilizing us greatly against the takfiri," he says, using the Arabic word for radical Islamists. "We don't have fighters who don't embrace death. Hezbollah is strengthened by blood."

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Russia has proposed to the Unites States and the U.S.-led coalition that they begin on May 25 joint air strikes in Syria, targeting the Nusra Front and other rebels who are not observing the ceasefire, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday.

Russia proposes that these strikes should also target convoys with weapons, including those crossing into Syria from Turkey. He said the proposal had been coordinated with Syria's government and discussed with U.S. military experts in Amman, Jordan.

Russia reserves the right to hit unilaterally those rebels in Syria who do not observe the ceasefire, state television showed Shoigu addressing a Defence Ministry meeting.

(Reporting by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Vladimir Soldatkin)

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The US-led coalition has begun a new "mess-with-them" campaign that involves dropping leaflets on ISIS' de facto capital of Raqqa, Syria, urging residents to leave the city, The Daily Beast's Nancy Youssef reported on Friday.

“The time … has arrived. It’s time to leave Raqqa,” read one of the leaflets, which was posted on Twitter by a Raqqa resident on Thursday.

The leaflets initially raised speculation that the US-led anti-ISIS coalition was planning an assault on Raqqa, which has served as the Islamic State's de facto capital in Syria since June 2014.

But Pentagon officials confirmed to The Daily Beast that there was no imminent, US-led offensive being planned: “It’s part of our mess-with-them campaign,” a Pentagon official told The Beast.

As the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) march toward Raqqa from northeastern Syria, the US is trying to exploit ISIS' paranoia about losing the city to Kurdish-dominated forces.

Adding to that paranoia is the amount of territory ISIS has apparently already lost. At a Pentagon briefing last Wednesday, Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Col. Steve Warren said the group has lost 45% of the territory it once controlled in Iraq and 30% to 35% of the populated areas it once held across its self-proclaimed "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria.

"This enemy has really suffered a string of defeats on the battlefield," Warren said. "Nothing they have done in the past few months has really been effective."

The Sunni extremist group has consequently begun using suicide bombings in predominantly Shiite areas — such as Shiite enclaves in Baghdad and Sayyidah Zaynab outside Damascus — with more frequency to project an image of strength and power.

SEE ALSO: ISIS is losing more territory in the Middle East

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After a week of rumblings that the US was preparing to arm and deploy Special Forces to Libya, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, said on Thursday that a military deployment to Libya could happen "any day."

Speaking to journalists after returning from a NATO meeting in Brussels, as The Washington Post notes, Dunford outlined a "period of intense dialogue" between the US and Libya's UN-recognized Government of National Accord, who seek to rid the country of a recent but pronounced ISIS presence.

The terrorist group ISIS has been gaining ground in Libya even as their so-called caliphate shrinks in Iraq and Syria as a US-led coalition and various regional forces attack the group from every angle.

For ISIS, branching out into Libya provides it a potential "back-up capital" in case the terrorist group is driven out of its main base in Syria.

"There's a lot of activity going on underneath the surface," said Dunford. "We're just not ready to deploy capabilities yet because there hasn't been an agreement. And frankly, any day that could happen."

"There will be a long-term mission in Libya," said Dunford.

In fact, US Special Forces have been on the ground in an advisory role since late last year.

But by backing the fledgling GNA, the US makes a risky political move. Despite being supported by the UN, neither the Libyan House of Representatives nor the General National Congress in Tripoli have fully accepted the GNA.

Additionally, US arms sent to Libya could eventually end up in the hands of the very terrorists they were meant to fight, as has happened in Syria and Iraq.

Currently, the UN has embargoed the shipment of weapons to Libya as they wrestle with an increasingly prominent ISIS presence, but the UN Security Council and more than 15 other nations recently said that they would approve exemptions to the embargo to back the GNA.

Should, or more likely when, the US deploys to Libya, it will likely be Special Forces that advise and assist local forces in reclaiming their country from ISIS, much like the Special Forces in Iraq and Syria.

But despite their nominal support roles, the recent death of US Navy SEAL Charlie Keating IV by ISIS fire in Iraq shows just how quickly the "advising and assisting" can crossover into full-on combat.

The US isn't alone in seeking intervention in Libya. Specifically, Italy, just across the Mediterranean, has expressed interest in supporting the GNA against ISIS and other Islamist militias gaining ground in North Africa.

The US-led coalition against ISIS has already carried out airstrikes against ISIS targets in Libya.

SEE ALSO: See how US-led airstrikes are crippling ISIS infrastructure in Iraq and Syria

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Two Syrian Kurds were shot dead by a former member of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) last weekend, in what the executioner said was a response to an incident last month in which the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) killed around 50 FSA fighters and transported them back to Kurdish territory in an open-top trailer.

Tensions have flared as images of both incidents — which could not be independently verified — circulated on social media over the weekend and into Monday, until the FSA-aligned rebel group Jaysh al-Thuwar disavowed the alleged murder of the Kurdish civilians as a "crime" by a disgruntled former FSA fighter.

"The offender was fired by the rebels a month ago," the group said in a statement published on its website, calling the incident "a false military operation."

The incident is symbolic, however, of the mutual distrust that continues to cast a shadow over the Kurdish-Arab relationship in northern Syria.

"I think this is an individual act by the perpetrator. However some groups want to take credit for it and present as a revenge act for killing their members last month,"Mutlu Civiroglu, a Syria and Kurdish affairs analyst, told Business Insider last week.

The incident comes as the US has tried to bring Arab and Kurdish forces together to fight the Islamic State, threatening to add new complications to that all-important battle.

"Amnesty International has in seven months issued two major reports highlighting allegations of war crimes by rebel and Kurdish forces in northern Syria,"Hassan Hassan, a Syrian journalist and resident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, wrote earlier this week in The National.

He continued: "The two reports are related to a secondary conflict brewing between Arabs and Kurds from Hasakah to Qamashli to Aleppo, which could easily spin out of control and add to the many conflicts that already plague the country."

Kurdish and Arab fighters have a long history of mutual distrust that peaked between 2012 and 2013, when the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) battled FSA-aligned rebel groups for control over the Syrian city of Ras al-Ayn.

Those tensions have reemerged over the past eight months. The YPG-controlled neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsood has come under siege by both Syrian government forces and the rebels, with reports emerging that the rebels have committed war crimes against the neighborhood's Kurds.

In March, an intense battle between Kurds and rebels in Aleppo punctured the relative calm that had been forged by the cessation-of-hostilities agreement brokered by the US and Russia one month earlier.

The rivalry has put the US in a difficult position. The YPG has proven to be the most effective force fighting ISIS on the ground in northern Syria, but the territorial expansion their victories have afforded them is vehemently opposed by Turkey, an important US ally and member of NATO.

Ankara views Kurdish demands for autonomy as a threat to Turkey's sovereignty. It backs many of the rebel groups that have clashed with the YPG.

Complicating the situation further is the High Negotiations Committee's (HNC) insistence that it should be the only opposition group represented at peace talks in Geneva, where multiple attempts to forge a political solution to the more than five-year war have failed. The HNC is a Saudi-backed coalition of Syrian opposition groups created in Riyadh in December 2015.

Turkey has also objected, citing the Kurdish insurgency it is battling in its southeast.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were supposed to alleviate Turkey's anxiety by incorporating some Arab and Turkmen groups to offset Kurdish influence. But the SDF was established by members of Euphrates Volcano — a coalition that included certain FSA factions but was dominated by the Kurdish YPG — and has since clashed with the FSA's 13th division near the strategically important Azaz corridor.

"The US may not want to jeopardise its relationship with a force that has helped it win key tactical battles against ISIL in Syria, but the unconditional support for the YPG is irresponsible because it creates unnecessary conflicts and undermines the long-term war against extremists,"said Hassan, who cowrote "ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror."

Not everyone would agree that the US's support for the YPG is "unconditional." And the case could be made that the US decision to gamble its relationship with Turkey — which has been accused repeatedly of turning a blind eye to ISIS' illicit activities — in favor of a closer relationship with the fiercely anti-ISIS YPG was a strategic move.

Still, Washington's insistence that supporting the group is key to defeating ISIS was complicated in February, when YPG forces further west appeared to be actively coordinating with Russia to recapture territory taken by anti-Assad rebels near Azaz.

As Hassan noted, because one of the YPG's primary goals is to expand its territory in northern Syria by linking its Afrin canton with Jarabulus — and because it is more "anti-ISIS" than "anti-Assad"— the group is viewed suspiciously by Turkey and Sunni opposition groups in Syria.

"I’ve argued all along that empowering the YPG without doing the same for the Sunni Arab opposition would create an acute power imbalance in northern Syria," Middle East expert Charles Lister wrote on Twitter last week, noting that the "imbalance may spark a conflict that could outlast" the one between the regime and the opposition.

"This position has nothing to do with being pro or anti anyone," Lister said. "It’s merely the result of assessing broader dynamics in Syria's north."

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Experts have been warning for a while now that Al Qaeda is still very much a presence as a jihadist group, posing perhaps an even bigger long-term threat than ISIS.

And now, Al Qaeda is planning to challenge ISIS in its stronghold — Syria.

American and European officials told The New York Times recently that Al Qaeda has started moving veteran operatives to Syria as the group plans to escalate its fight with ISIS (also known as the Islamic State, ISIL, or Daesh), which operated under the Al Qaeda umbrella until the two groups split off and became rivals.

And though ISIS has been grabbing most headlines with its gruesome propaganda machine and bold proclamations about building a "caliphate" that will take over the world, Al Qaeda has been quietly focusing on its strategy to be the last group standing when the dust settles.

Al Qaeda is now "taking an opportunity off of what ISIS did" to make itself a main focus of the West's fight against terror, Ali Soufan, the CEO of strategic security firm The Soufan Group, said earlier this month at a national-security conference at Fordham University in New York.

"What ISIS did made so many people in the Muslim world think, 'Al Qaeda are the good guys, ISIS are the bad guys,'" said Soufan, a former FBI special agent who has investigated high-profile terror cases.

"Even when you hear some people testifying on Capitol Hill that, 'It's OK, let's support al-Nusra or let's support Ahrar al-Sham because they probably will fight ISIS' — well al-Nusra is … an official affiliate of Al Qaeda in Syria," he continued, referencing the group Jabhat al-Nusra, which is fighting ISIS for control of territory in Syria.

While ISIS has made a show of its excessive violence — through beheading videos and other propaganda distributed online in several languages — Al Qaeda has been more cautious. The group holds the same brutal ideology to which ISIS subscribes, but it's been more patient with winning over the Syrian population.

"You can see Al Qaeda taking advantage thinking strategically," Soufan said. "ISIS is not thinking strategically. ISIS is just doing crazy stuff, a lot of violence, trying to bring a lot of people in."

And while ISIS has lured thousands to its territory with its violent advertising and declaration of the "caliphate," or pseudo-state ruled by a strict interpretation of Islamic law, recent reports indicate that fighter defections within the group are increasing and the flow of foreign fighters to ISIS territory has slowed. On top of that, the group has been losing territory without gaining much new land.

"ISIS is becoming like a smoke screen. We’re all looking at ISIS all the time. 'Oh, look, ISIS, they did a video, or they put out another thing of Dabiq,'" Soufan said, referring to the group's English-language online propaganda magazine.

He added: "They are technically more advanced than Al Qaeda, but I think Al Qaeda is looking into the long term."

Al Qaeda's strategy seems to be predicated on waiting for Syrians to slowly come around to the idea of Islamic rule. That lowers the chance of a successful uprising if Jabhat al-Nusra is able to establish Syria as an Islamic "emirate"— land that would be controlled by the group and run under strict Islamic law, similar to ISIS' so-called caliphate.

Charles Lister, a fellow at the Middle East Institute who has written a book on the insurgency in Syria, said at a recent event in Washington, DC, that Al Qaeda has sought to grow not just acceptance of its rule in Syria, but also support from the general population. He also assessed that Al Qaeda is playing a long game.

"This is an organization that has spent the last five years growing durable, deep roots in Syrian opposition and revolutionary society," Lister said. "ISIS, on the other hand, has shallow roots. It hasn’t deigned to acquire popular support — it controls populations."

Al Qaeda's emirate might now come sooner rather than later — The Times reported that the Al Qaeda operatives being funneled into Syria have been told to start creating a headquarters in Syria and to lay the groundwork for establishing an emirate. The emirate would be in direct competition with ISIS.

Eric Schmitt wrote in The Times that Al Qaeda establishing an emirate in Syria would mark a "significant shift." Al Qaeda has so far resisted declaring an emirate — it's part of the group's long-term strategy to avoid acting too hastily before leaders feel confident that fighters could hold the territory they seize.

Syrians on the ground seem to have been expecting this for a while.

Ahmad al-Soud, the commander and founder of the Syrian rebel group Division 13, told Business Insider earlier this year that "Nusra's stated goal throughout all of Syria from when they first started until today is to turn Syria into an Islamic emirate."

"They don't want any other armed group in Syria except for them, and they want to turn it into kind of what Afghanistan was under the Taliban," al-Soud said. "Once they ... get rid of all the other groups, [Jabhat al-Nusra] can finally duke it out between them and ISIS for who's the worst."

Schmitt notes in the Times that "establishing a more enduring presence in Syria would present the group with an invaluable opportunity" because it would "not only be within closer striking distance of Europe but also benefit from the recruiting and logistical support of fighters from Iraq, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon."

With the collapse of the ceasefire in Syria, the timing might be good for Al Qaeda to increase its presence there. The ceasefire — between the regime of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the rebels who oppose his rule — never applied to terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS, but it allowed the Syrian government and its allies to focus its fire on jihadists rather than moderate rebels.

Additionally, the West seems to have focused mostly on hitting ISIS in Syria — US officials are emphasizing operations to drive ISIS out of its strongholds in Syria and Iraq and deprive them of more territory.

The dysfunction in Syria provides the perfect vacuum for Al Qaeda to move in and exploit.

Soufan explained:

Al Qaeda's position is, "Let's create a lot of these vacuums where there is no strong government, and let's operate under a different name." Bin Laden actually, before he died, in his letters, he was telling Al Qaeda, "Do not use Al Qaeda's name. I do not want anyone to use Al Qaeda's name, because the moment you use Al Qaeda's name, the West and the locals are going to come and they’re going to beat you up."

Al Qaeda has done this in Syria with Jabhat al-Nusra, which is always referred to as such rather than simply "Al Qaeda."

SEE ALSO: Al Qaeda is revealing its long game in Syria

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NORTHERN SYRIA (AP) -- On a secret trip to Syria, the new commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East said Saturday he felt a moral obligation to enter a war zone to check on his troops and make his own assessment of progress in organizing local Arab and Kurd fighters for what has been a slow campaign to push the Islamic State out of Syria.

"I have responsibility for this mission, and I have responsibility for the people that we put here," Army Gen. Joseph Votel said in an interview as dusk fell on the remote outpost where he had arrived 11 hours earlier. "So it's imperative for me to come and see what they're dealing with - to share the risk they are dealing with."

Votel, who has headed U.S. Central Command for just seven weeks, became the highest-ranking U.S. military officer known to have entered Syria since the U.S. began its campaign to counter the Islamic State in 2014. The circumstance was exceptional because the U.S. has no combat units in Syria, no diplomatic relations with Syria and for much of the past two years has enveloped much of its Syria military mission in secrecy.

Votel said he brought reporters with him because, "We don't have anything to hide. I don't want people guessing about what we're doing here. The American people should have the right to see what we're doing here."

Votel flew into northern Syria from Iraq, where he had conferred on Friday with U.S. and Iraqi military commanders. In Syria he met with U.S. military advisers working with Syrian Arab fighters and consulted with leaders of the Syrian Democratic Forces, an umbrella group of Kurdish and Arab fighters supported by the U.S.

A small group of reporters accompanied Votel under ground rules that, for security reasons, prohibited disclosing his visit until after he had left Syria. After landing at a remote camp where American military advisers are training Syrian Arab troops in basic soldiering skills, Votel split off from the reporters who flew in with him; he then visited several other undisclosed locations in Syria before returning to the camp.

Syria is a raging war zone, torn by multiple conflicts that have created severe human suffering across much of the country. But on Saturday the U.S. advisers camp that Votel visited was quiet. Situated about 50 miles from the nearest fighting, it was remarkably quiet. The sharpest sound was a month-old puppy's yapping as he ran between visitors' legs. A light breeze nudged several bright-yellow flags of the Syrian Democratic Forces attached to small bushes and atop a post buried in an earthen berm beside a shooting range.

Aides said Votel's flight into Syria was the first made in daylight by U.S. forces, who have about 200 advisers on the ground. Military ground rules for the trip prohibited reporting the kind of aircraft Votel used, the exact location of where he landed and the names and images of the U.S. military advisers, who said they have been operating from the camp since January.

An Associated Press reporter and journalists from two other news organizations were the first Western media to visit the secretive operation.

The last known high-level U.S. official to visit Syria was Brett McGurk, Obama's envoy to the coalition fighting the Islamic State. He spent two days in Syria in late January, including a tour of Kobani, the small town near the Turkish border where Kurdish fighters backed by U.S. airstrikes had expelled an entrenched group of Islamic State fighters a year earlier.

In the interview, Votel said his visit had hardened his belief that the U.S. is taking the right approach to developing local forces to fight IS, an acronym for the Islamic State.

"I left with increased confidence in their capabilities and our ability to support them," he said. "I think that model is working and working well."

The U.S. has struggled to find an effective ground force to take on IS in Syria, where President Barack Obama has ruled out a U.S. ground combat role. This presents a different problem than in Iraq, where the U.S. at least has a government to partner with.

The problem in Syria is complicated by the fractured nature of the opposition to the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The U.S. is trying to develop credible Arab fighters to retake Raqqa, the Islamic State's self-declared capital, while Syrian Kurds have retaken territory from IS in other parts of northern Syria.

The U.S. is supporting what it calls the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is predominantly comprised of Syrian Kurds, numbering at least 25,000 fighters, with a smaller element of Syrian Arabs, numbering perhaps 5,000 to 6,000. The U.S. is trying to increase the Arab numbers.

Syrian Arab commanders who were made available for interviews at the U.S. camp Saturday said their forces are gaining battlefield momentum but also need a lot more help. They were quick to say the U.S.-led coalition should pitch in more.

Qarhaman Hasan, the deputy commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, said he has given the Americans a list of his most pressing needs. Atop his list: armored vehicles, heavy weapons like machine guns, as well as rocket launchers and mortars.

"We're creating an army," he said through an interpreter, and have had to rely on smuggling to get weapons.

"You can't run an army on smuggling," he said.

Tribal leaders said in interviews that they also want to see the U.S. do more, both militarily and with humanitarian aid.

"America has the capabilities," said Sheik Abu Khalid as he puffed on a cigarette under the shade of pomegranate and pine trees.

Talal Selo, spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, was especially strong in his criticism of the U.S. for providing too little assistance and for giving the SDF "very useless" support. He said that if this continued the Syrians opposing the Islamic State will have to fight for another 50 years.

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NORTHERN SYRIA (AP) — On a secret trip to Syria, the new commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East said he felt a moral obligation to enter a war zone to check on his troops and make his own assessment of progress in organizing local Arab and Kurd fighters for what has been a slow campaign to push the Islamic State group out of Syria.

"I have responsibility for this mission, and I have responsibility for the people that we put here," Army Gen. Joseph Votel said in an interview as dusk fell Saturday on the remote outpost where he had arrived 11 hours earlier.

"So it's imperative for me to come and see what they're dealing with — to share the risk they are dealing with."

Votel, who has headed U.S. Central Command for just seven weeks, became the highest-ranking U.S. military officer known to have entered Syria since the U.S. began its campaign to counter the Islamic State group in 2014. The circumstance was exceptional because the U.S. has no combat units in Syria, no diplomatic relations with Syria and for much of the past two years has enveloped much of its Syria military mission in secrecy.

Votel said he brought reporters with him because, "We don't have anything to hide. I don't want people guessing about what we're doing here. The American people should have the right to see what we're doing here."

Votel flew into northern Syria from Iraq, where he had conferred on Friday with U.S. and Iraqi military commanders. In Syria he met with U.S. military advisers working with Syrian Arab fighters and consulted with leaders of the Syrian Democratic Forces, an umbrella group of Kurdish and Arab fighters supported by the U.S.

A small group of reporters accompanied Votel under ground rules that, for security reasons, prohibited disclosing his visit until after he had left Syria. After landing at a remote camp where American military advisers are training Syrian Arab troops in basic soldiering skills, Votel split off from the reporters who flew in with him; he then visited several other undisclosed locations in Syria before returning to the camp.

Syria is a raging war zone, torn by multiple conflicts that have created severe human suffering across much of the country. But on Saturday the U.S. advisers camp that Votel visited was quiet. Situated about 50 miles from the nearest fighting, it was remarkably quiet. The sharpest sound was a month-old puppy's yapping as he ran between visitors' legs. A light breeze nudged several bright-yellow flags of the Syrian Democratic Forces attached to small bushes and atop a post buried in an earthen berm beside a shooting range.

Aides said Votel's flight into Syria was the first made in daylight by U.S. forces, who have about 200 advisers on the ground. Military ground rules for the trip prohibited reporting the kind of aircraft Votel used, the exact location of where he landed and the names and images of the U.S. military advisers, who said they have been operating from the camp since January.

An Associated Press reporter and journalists from two other news organizations were the first Western media to visit the secretive operation.

The last known high-level U.S. official to visit Syria was Brett McGurk, Obama's envoy to the coalition fighting Islamic State militants. He spent two days in Syria in late January, including a tour of Kobani, the small town near the Turkish border where Kurdish fighters backed by U.S. airstrikes had expelled an entrenched group of Islamic State fighters a year earlier.

In the interview, Votel said his visit had hardened his belief that the U.S. is taking the right approach to developing local forces to fight IS, an acronym for the Islamic State group.

"I left with increased confidence in their capabilities and our ability to support them," he said. "I think that model is working and working well."

The U.S. has struggled to find an effective ground force to take on IS in Syria, where President Barack Obama has ruled out a U.S. ground combat role. This presents a different problem than in Iraq, where the U.S. at least has a government to partner with.

The problem in Syria is complicated by the fractured nature of the opposition to the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The U.S. is trying to develop credible Arab fighters to retake Raqqa, the Islamic State group's self-declared capital, while Syrian Kurds have retaken territory from IS in other parts of northern Syria.

The U.S. is supporting what it calls the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is predominantly comprised of Syrian Kurds, numbering at least 25,000 fighters, with a smaller element of Syrian Arabs, numbering perhaps 5,000 to 6,000. The U.S. is trying to increase the Arab numbers.

Syrian Arab commanders who were made available for interviews at the U.S. camp Saturday said their forces are gaining battlefield momentum but also need a lot more help. They were quick to say the U.S.-led coalition should pitch in more.

Qarhaman Hasan, the deputy commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, said he has given the Americans a list of his most pressing needs. Atop his list: armored vehicles, heavy weapons like machine guns, as well as rocket launchers and mortars.

"We're creating an army," he said through an interpreter, and have had to rely on smuggling to get weapons.

"You can't run an army on smuggling," he said.

Tribal leaders said in interviews that they also want to see the U.S. do more, both militarily and with humanitarian aid.

"America has the capabilities," said Sheik Abu Khalid as he puffed on a cigarette under the shade of pomegranate and pine trees.

Talal Selo, spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, was especially strong in his criticism of the U.S. for providing too little assistance and for giving the SDF "very useless" support. He said that if this continued, the Syrians opposing the Islamic State group will have to fight for another 50 years.

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NOW WATCH: Adam Savage reveals why he and 'MythBusters' cohost Jamie Hyneman won't be working together anymore

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Bomb blasts killed scores of people in the Syrian coastal cities of Jableh and Tartous on Monday, and wounded many others in the government-controlled territory that hosts Russian military bases, monitors and state media said.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks in the Mediterranean cites that have up to now escaped the worst of the conflict, saying it was targetting members of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite minority.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 120 people were killed. State media said 78 people died in the attacks on Assad's coastal heartland.

Attackers set off at least five suicide bombs and two devices planted in cars, the Observatory said, the first assaults of their kind in Tartous, where government ally Russia maintains a naval facility, and Jableh in Latakia province, near a Russian-operated air base.

Fighting has increased in other parts of Syria in recent weeks as world powers struggle to revive a threadbare ceasefire and resurrect peace talks that collapsed in Geneva this year.

One of the four blasts in Jableh hit near a hospital and another at a bus station, while the Tartous explosions also targeted a bus station, the Observatory and state media reported.

Footage broadcast by the state-run Ikhbariya news channel of what it said were scenes of the blasts in Jableh showed several twisted and incinerated cars and minivans.

"Alawites targeted"

Pictures circulated by pro-Damascus social media users showed dead bodies in the back of pick-up vans and charred body parts on the ground.

The Observatory said 53 people were killed in Jableh, and gave an earlier toll of more than 48 in Tartous.

State media put the total death toll at 78.

Islamic State claimed the attacks in a statement posted online by the group's Amaq news agency, saying its fighters had targeted "gatherings of Alawites".

Syria's Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said in an interview with Ikhbariya that terrorists were resorting to bomb attacks against civilians instead of fighting on the frontlines, and vowed to keep battling them.

Damascus refers to all insurgents fighting against it in the five-year conflict as terrorists.

Bombings in the capital Damascus and western city Homs earlier this year killed scores and were claimed by Islamic State, which is fighting against government forces and their allies in some areas, and separately against its jihadist rival al Qaeda and other insurgent groups.

Latakia city, which is north of Jableh and capital of the province, has been targeted on a number of occasions by bombings and insurgent rocket attacks, including late last year.

Government forces and their allies have recently stepped up bombardment of areas in Aleppo province in the north, which has become a focal point for the escalating violence. Insurgents have also launched heavy attacks in that area.

(Reporting by John Davison; additional reporting by Kinda Makieh in Damascus; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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BEIRUT – The head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force has delivered a bombastic speech in which he claimed that Tehran has “triumphed” over its enemies in the Middle East.

“It is certain that Iran has triumphed in all arenas in the region,” General Qassem Soleimani said during a conference Monday in Qom, one of the preeminent centers for Shiite theological work in the world.

The Iranian military heavyweight claimed that without Tehran’s support “ISIS would have imposed [itself] across all of Syria,” while adding that his country’s efforts have foiled all of Washington’s goals in the war-torn country.

“Iran relied on logic during its confrontation with US and benefited from its enemies’ mistakes,” he added, according to an Arabic-language translation of his speech prepared by Al-Mayadeen television, which has an editorial line closely supportive of Tehran.

“The US worked to ignite wars in the region by supporting terrorists, but victory was on our side,” the Iranian general also said.

Despite his proclamation of victories, Soleimani cautioned that Washington would continue to aim to “destabilize Iranian power.”

“The US seeks to [achieve] a political, security and military presence as it believes that the Islamic Revolution was and still is the cause of the collapse of their abilities in the region.”

“We should be on alert for this,” he warned. 

NOW's English news desk editor Albin Szakola (@AlbinSzakola) wrote this report. Amin Nasr translated the Arabic-language source material.

SEE ALSO: Hezbollah's top commander in Syria has been killed

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Isis will not be defeated without the deployment of ground forces against them, Tony Blair has said.

Speaking at an event hosted by Prospect magazine, the mastermind of Britain’s involvement in 2003 invasion of Iraq reiterated his call for greater military involvement in the conflict.

"If you want to defeat these people, you're going to have to go and wage a proper ground war against them," he said.

The former Labour prime minister said it was important that Libya was not ceded to the militant group, and that if they were not dealt with "they will come and attack us here."

"We cannot afford to have Isis govern a large part of Libya—we shouldn't be in any doubt they need to be taken on on the ground," he said.

Ground forces currently fighting Isis in the Levant are mostly Kurdish, Iraqi government, Syrian government, and other militant groups.

In Libya, where the group controls the central port city of Sirte, domestic Libyan forces have contained its advances beyond that area.

The UK is currently involved in a coalition of nations conducting airstrikes against the so-called Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

Isis has been losing ground in the Levant in recent months, with Iraqi government forces now advancing on the city of Fallujah, which the group holds.

Mr Blair has previously called for Western ground forces to be used against Islamist militant groups. In an article for the Sunday Times newspaper in March he said they were "necessary" to beat Isis.

"We must build military capability able to confront and defeat the terrorists wherever they try to hold territory," he wrote at the time.

"This is not just about local forces. It is a challenge for the west. Ground forces are necessary to win this fight and ours are the most capable."

Mr Blair is reportedly expected to be criticised in the Chilcot Report into the events of Iraq War, which is due out in July after years of preparation and analysis.

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BEIRUT – The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) led by Kurdish troops have launched a widely-anticipated offensive north of ISIS’s de-facto capital of Raqqa, days after Washington’s top military official region visited northern Syria.

The SDF on Monday afternoon announced the start of the campaign, under the banner “Liberation of Northern Raqqa,” but cautioned that the offensive does not immediately aim to capture the city itself.

“The campaign is aimed at repelling terrorist attacks on Shaddadi, Tel Abyad and Kobane, ensuring the security of our people,” the coalition said on its official Twitter account.

The SDF added that the campaign will “focus on the liberation of Syrians” in northern Raqqa from “Daesh (ISIS) oppression.”

The ANHA news agency—which is close to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG)—heralded the start of the campaign, saying it would be a three-pronged offensive launched from Ain Aissa, a desert town approximately 50-kilometers north of Raqqa.

According to the outlet, the YPG’s ethnic Arab allies in the SDF “will be at the vanguard of the forces participating in the campaign.”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights tracking developments in the war-torn country reported that ongoing fighting has been raging since the morning north of Raqqa between the SDF and ISIS amid heavy coalition airstrikes.

At least 22 ISIS members have been killed in the bombing runs targeting the extremist group’s positions, according to the monitoring NGO.

The SOHR said earlier in the day that offensive aims to control a stretch of territory to the north and northwest of the de-facto ISIS capital, where coalition jets in recent days have been dropping leaflets calling on residents to flee.

Sources told the Observatory that the campaign, for now, does not have the objective of driving into Raqqa. 

“Kurdish YPG units agreed to start the operation after they received promises from US [CENCTOM chief] Joseph Votel during his visit to the visit… and after promises received by the [Kurdish] Democratic Union Party during their [recent] visit to Washington DC,” the NGO’s report added.  

The ANHA, for its part, claimed that 250 US special forces operators arrived in Syria overnight Monday to take part in the campaign.

Votel, the top US military official responsible for his country’s Middle East operations, visited northern Syria over the weekend where he met with top Kurdish leaders.

Brett McGurk, Washington’s point-man for the coalition fighting ISIS, said that Votel was in Syria “preparing the push on Raqqa.” 

NOW's English news desk editor Albin Szakola (@AlbinSzakola) wrote this report. Amin Nasr translated the Arabic-language source material.

SEE ALSO: The US-led coalition is dropping these leaflets on ISIS' capital in Syria to 'mess with them'

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NOW WATCH: A Russian orchestra threw a surprise concert in the ancient city of Palmyra

In war, even the most advanced aircraft can be shot down, special operations forces can be ambushed, and well-defended airports and army bases can be shelled and weakened from afar by simple, indirect-fire weapons. Such was the case in an attack claimed by the Islamic State on a strategic loyalist air base in central Syria.

Satellite imagery acquired by Stratfor in partnership with AllSource Analysis verifies that the T4 air base was severely damaged by an Islamic State artillery attack. In particular, four Russian Mi-24 attack helicopters appear to have been destroyed.

The T4 air base, one of the most important Syrian bases in the country, is located in Homs province near the city of Palmyra and near a strategic crossroads of routes that lead to Deir el-Zour, Raqqa, Damascus and other crucial areas. It houses two fixed-wing attack squadrons, one composed of Su-24 aircraft and the other of Su-22 aircraft.

These aircraft have carried out ground-attack missions across Syria, including the operations that eventually forced Islamic State militants out of Palmyra. In addition, the Syrian air force maintains six L-39 trainer aircraft and a few Mi-8/17 transport helicopters at the base.

Moreover, Russian forces have deployed a contingent of attack helicopters to the T4 air base at least since March 2016, supporting the loyalist offensive to retake Palmyra that same month. Based on satellite imagery as well as video of the base, the Russian force consisted of approximately four Mi-24P gunships. So at least according to these open sources, no Syrian Mi-24 helicopters operated from the T4 air base in recent months.

In early May, the Islamic State launched an operation to capture the Shaer natural gas field northeast of the air base. After doing so, the group advanced south, seeking to cut off loyalist forces in Palmyra by severing a road that leads west from Palmyra, passes by the T4 air base, and continues toward Homs city.

Though the Islamic State failed to cut off the road for any extended amount of time, it did move artillery within range of the base, which it subsequently shelled.

Late May 14, the Islamic State claimed that four Russian attack helicopters and 20 trucks loaded with ammunition were destroyed in the attack. Around the same time, loyalist forces reported that an accidental explosion had taken place in an ammunition storage area at the air base.

Working with AllSource, Stratfor has discerned what occurred by looking at satellite imagery of the air base from that time period.

It is clear from the imagery that the northeastern part of the T4 air base, the section of the airport where helicopter use is concentrated, sustained considerable damage. Ordnance impact points are visible, especially around the structurally reinforced aircraft shelter and the cargo truck marshaling area.

The imagery strongly suggests that the explosions that destroyed approximately 20 vehicles and four Russian attack helicopters were not accidental but were related to Islamic State artillery fire. In addition, a Syrian MiG-25 aircraft that was likely already out of commission appears to have been damaged.

The destruction of four Russian attack helicopters at the base is a stark reminder of the constant threat that Russia faces in its mission in Syria. The Russian contribution to the Syrian government has been notable in defending loyalist positions and driving back not only rebel but also jihadist forces in the Syrian conflict.

But it has come with a cost. Even as Russia continues to rely on aviation and artillery power to support government troops, its forces are not outside harm's way.

SEE ALSO: Iranian military mastermind: 'Iran has triumphed in all arenas' in the Middle East

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AMMAN (Reuters) - An alliance of Kurdish-led armed groups fighting Islamic State in northern Syria said they had launched an offensive on Tuesday to seize countryside north of the militants' de facto capital Raqqa, their spokesman said.

Talal Silo, spokesman for the U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), whose main component is the powerful Kurdish YPG militia, told Reuters that the campaign at this stage did not include an assault on Raqqa itself.

An unspecified number of SDF fighters were seen moving south from their stronghold of Tel Abyad near the Turkish border toward Ain Issa, a town about 60 km north west of Raqqa, and clashes were reported nearby, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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