Syrian government forces made an incursion into Aleppo, managing to retake a major stronghold from the terrorists.
Turkey has changed its position toward Syria; the US is engaged in talks with Russia. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia turns out to be the only one continuing to press the precondition that Bashar Assad must fall, says Middle East affairs expert Ali Rizk.
"I think an important factor we have to bear in mind is that Saudi Arabia, in particular, is the biggest loser out of the latest developments witnessed in Syria. Turkey has changed its position quite a lot regarding its stance toward the Syrian government; the US is currently engaged in talks with Russia", Rizk continued.
series of explosions have rocked at least four government-held cities in Syria, including the capital, Damascus. Local media reports over 40 people have been killed and at least 60 injured in the blasts.
"One of terrorist groups, which one in particular we can’t be sure: ISIS, Jabhat Al-Nusra, Jaysh al-Islam could be perpetrators of attacks. All of these groups have a possibility now. If it is Saudi Arabia, or Saudi intelligence that is coordinated, one would lean toward the possibility of Jaysh al-Islam being behind it. It is one of the more pro-Saudi groups but it could be any of them. ISIS itself has lost a lot in Aleppo as too has Jabhat Al-Nusra… I myself would be very cautious in differentiating between ISIS and Al-Nusra and Jaysh al-Islam; in the end it is one common ideology. There might be some differences, but in the end we have the same Wahhabis extremist ideology among all of these groups", RT reported.
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