Syrian civil war

An Egyptian man has delivered a financial blow to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), after reportedly becoming the ?emir? of its alms department before fleeing to Turkey with almost $1 million.

The European Union should reboot its approach to the Syrian refugee crisis to include sharing the burden of resettling refugees, a Council of Europe official says, accusing the top European countries of neglecting one of the worst humanitarian crises of recent history.

Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. envoy to Syria, has said a solution to the conflict is impossible without the inclusion of Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Russia in talks to end the war.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has repeated his call for reform of the United Nations, saying the U.N., which remains deadlocked over how to respond to the crisis in Syria, is no ?longer capable of showing global leadership.?

?The world is bigger than five. You cannot reduce 196 states to five countries,? Erdo?an said in a speech at Turkey's Justice Academy on Feb. 2.

Syrian Kurdish militias, who drove out Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants from the center of Kobane after 134 days of battle, are launching operations into the villages surrounding the Syrian border town in a bid to clear the last frontiers of the battle from the Islamists.

A rare explosion in central Damascus targeted a bus believed to be carrying Lebanese Shiite Muslim pilgrims on Jan. 31, killing at least six people and wounding more than 20, a Reuters witness and local media said. 
A social media account linked to al Qaeda's Nusra Front said the hardline Sunni group was behind the attack on the bus near a market place in the capital. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Lebanon?s Hezbollah it will pay the ?full price? after missiles killed two Israeli soldiers Jan. 28 in an attack that raised fears of another all-out war.

A Spanish U.N. peacekeeper was killed as Israel and Hezbollah exchanged artillery fire -the most serious clashes between the bitter enemies in years - following the attack by the Hezbollah.

Kurdish fighters' expulsion of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) forces from the  Syrian town of Kobane helped stop the momentum of the Islamist group but is not a significant turning point in the overall campaign, a senior State Department official said on Jan. 27.
   

Israel carried out overnight raids against Syrian army targets, the military said Jan. 28, saying Damascus was responsible for rocket fire that hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
      
"Earlier today (Tuesday), rockets hit the Golan Heights," the Israel Defence Forces said.
      

Mete Yarar is a former member of the Turkish armed forces. As a member of the Special Forces Command, he was last on duty in Iraq, before leaving the army of his own will in 2004. Ever since, he has been working as a security consultant, and he frequently appears on television as a political and security expert.