The Anti-ISIL coalition is cracking to the advantage of jihadists

The Syrian unrest will reach its sixth year in mid-March with no sound projection how long it will last and how many more civilians will be killed or will be forced to leave their homes. More than 400,000 Syrians are believed to have been killed in clashes since 2011, while half of the country's 24 million Syrians have been displaced with around six million of them seeking refuge in neighboring countries. 

The figures are getting worse every day, already making the Syrian conflict one of the ugliest wars of the 21st century. The Syrian theater has now been occupied by so many state and non-state actors that have been engaged in both symmetric and asymmetric warfare at the expense of committing war crimes. 

The Syrian and Russian army have jointly intensified their military campaign on the Free Syrian Army (FSA) positions in the northern part of the country in an effort to re-capture strategically important Aleppo, only 50 kilometers away from the Turkish border. To this end, the Syrian-Russian duo is also in close alliance with the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in order to cut the corridor between Turkey and Aleppo, a life line for FSA troops. Closure of this supply line will surely ease the hands of Syrian-Russian armies in seizing the control of Aleppo. 

That was the point when the Turkish army started to shell the PYD positions around the Azaz region with a clear warning that it will continue to pound them if PYD forces try to get closer to Azaz. Turkey shelled the area Feb. 13 and Feb. 14 and we have observed a clear Russian reaction to Turkey's acts as its troops hit hospitals and schools in Azaz on Feb. 15, spreading fear among locals and eventually sparking a fresh refugee influx in Turkey. 

It was because of this intensified...