Russia wants powerful Syrian opposition groups listed as ‘terrorists’

Doing so would exclude Jaish Al Islam and Ahrar Al Sham from the protections of any ceasefire deals between the opposition and government and could potentially bar them from participation in any peace talks.

UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, centre, during negotiations between the Syria's regime-tolerated opposition and the UN, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, on Show more

BEIRUT // Russia requested that two of the most powerful Syrian rebel groups be labelled terrorist organisations by the United Nations Security Council in a move that threatened to further derail peace talks.

Moscow’s ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Chukrin, said on Tuesday that Russia has requested the UN put the hardline Salafi Jaish Al Islam and Ahrar Al Sham factions on the same blacklist that includes ISIL and Syria’s Al Qaeda branch Jabhat Al Nusra.

Doing so would exclude the groups from the protections of any ceasefires between the opposition and government and potentially bar them from participation in any peace talks determining the country’s future.

In announcing Moscow’s request, Mr Churkin said that Ahrar Al Sham and Jaish Al Islam have “close links” with ISIL and Al Nusra, receiving financial, logistical and military support from them, the state-run news agency Tass reported

Both Ahrar Al Sham and Jaish Al Islam are at war with ISIL, but Ahrar Al Sham maintains an alliance with Al Nusra. Jaish Al Islam has also fought alongside Jabhat Al Nusra in the past, but their relationship is more distant.

Since Russia intervened in Syria’s civil war in September, Russian jets have at times targeted rebel units claiming they were ISIL or Al Nusra targets.

Jaish Al Islam and Ahrar Al Sham are of huge military significance to the rebels, but there is evidence they have been involved in war crimes and have extremist tendencies. Jaish Al Islam, for example, has used captured Alawites – including civilians – as human shields and its former leader called for cleansing Syria of Alawites and Shiites.

As the Jaish Al Islam leader Mohammed Alloush is the opposition’s chief negotiator in stalled peace talks in Geneva, Russia’s more aggressive stance on the group could further complicate efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Both Russia and Syria have continually accused Jaish Al Islam and Ahrar Al Sham of being terrorist organisations, but Damascus still took part in peace talks despite Jaish Al Islam’s prominent role.

The future of negotiations has been in question since the opposition’s delegation walked out of the talks on April 18 to protest against ongoing violence. That same day, Ahrar Al Sham and Mr Alloush’s Jaish Al Islam declared they were joining eight other rebel groups in a new campaign against government forces despite a truce in place since late February.

Despite optimism created by the ceasefire and a partial withdrawal of Russian forces, negotiations this year have made little progress with the Syrian government refusing to discuss the political future of president Bashar Al Assad and the opposition demanding he be removed from power.

On Wednesday, the opposition’s negotiators told Reuters that no new date for peace talks had been set.

With the resumption of peace talks uncertain and the temporary truce between government forces and rebels largely degraded as violence intensifies, there is growing concern that the government is planning to launch a major assault on rebel-held parts of Aleppo.

In the weeks ahead of the February truce, pro-government forces backed by Russian air strikes had made major gains around Aleppo and were threatening to completely encircle rebels in the city. The truce halted that momentum and was seen as giving a new lease on life for the rebels in and around the city.

But with the talks in Geneva seemingly done for now and the truce in tatters, there is a fear that a siege is imminent.

“It seems Aleppo will be surrounded, and then squeezed,” said Andrew Tabler a Syria expert with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Thousands will be displaced and humanitarian suffering will increase dramatically.”

Between April 22 and April 26, more than 100 civilians were killed by fighting in Aleppo, according to Agence France-Presse.

Yesterday, Syrian rebels north of Aleppo suffered further setbacks as ISIL captured five villages from them near the Turkish border.

Cut off from fighters in Aleppo, rebels north of the city were stuck in a shrinking pocket between ISIL, Kurdish YPG fighters and the Turkish border.

* With additional reporting from Associated Press and Agence-France Presse​