| Dear Readers,
Welcome to the weekly Syria Deeply newsletter. We’ve rounded up the most important stories and developments about Syria and the Syrians in order to bring you valuable news and analysis. But first, here is a brief overview of what happened this week:
On Saturday, Free Syrian Army rebels gave the regime a 48-hour deadline to halt the attacks against the group’s strongholds of Daraya and Eastern Ghouta in the suburbs of Damascus, or they would abandon the “cessation of hostilities.”
The FSA successfully seized the town of Deir Khaiba in rural Damascus on Thursday following clashes with regime forces. The opposition described the fighting as a “precautionary battle” to prevent the Syrian regime, which has sent reinforcements into the area, from besieging the towns of Khan and Zakia.
On Monday, Russia called for a temporary truce in the same areas, following deadly attacks by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) on the government-controlled coastal cities of Tartous and Jableh.
ISIS launched a coordinated attack on the two cities, killing nearly 150 civilians and wounding 200. The militant group claimed responsibility for the attacks, which involved suicide bombers and cars filled with explosives.
Later in the week, Russia’s defense ministry announced that it had agreed to hold back targeted airstrikes on the al-Qaida-backed al-Nusra Front positions in Aleppo and Damascus, in an attempt to give other armed rebel groups time to distance themselves from al-Nusra Front positions.
In northern Syria, the new commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, Gen. Joseph Votel, made a secret visit to Kurdish-controlled areas on Saturday to assess U.S. troops and the organization of local Arab and Kurd fighters in combating ISIS. On Tuesday, following the visit, reports surfaced of an upcoming attack on the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, by the U.S.-trained Syrian Democratic Forces.
A few days later, on Thursday, photographs surfaced of U.S. special operations forces aiding the main Syrian Kurdish militia, and wearing YPG patches, as they advanced toward Raqqa.
In other news, warring rebel factions Jaish al-Islam and Failaq al-Rahman in Eastern Ghouta finally agreed to a truce after a round of negotiations in Qatar on Tuesday. Around 500 people have been killed since April, when fighting broke out between rival factions.
A new report released by the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights revealed that at least 60,000 people have died in regime detention facilities since the beginning of the conflict. The figure was calculated by adding up numbers provided by sources inside government jails and security services.
On an international level, a statement by U.N. special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, following a round of consultation with the Security Council, said there would be no talks on Syria for at least two or three weeks. The envoy said he is waiting for progress on the ground regarding the cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access.
Weekly Highlights:
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