“We will target you, we will find you, and we will kill you,” is the warning from Britain’s top commander in Iraq and Syria to any foreign fighters travelling to join so-called Islamic State in the region, like reported by itv.com.

Major General Rupert Jones added it did not matter where people came from, as they would all be treated the same.

“If you come to Iraq, if you come to Syria, and you bear arms against the people of Iraq and the people of Syria, against the sovereign forces of this country in Iraq, we will target you.

“It does not matter where you are from, we will target you under the laws of armed conflict, and it does not matter whether you come from London or Rome, we will target you, we will find you, and we will kill you.”

The deputy commander of the international anti-IS coalition shared similar sentiments about the leader of the “evil organisation”, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

“If we knew where he was hiding, his life would not last long,” Maj Gen Jones said, predicting he would not come to “a pretty end” and that he was “confident he would be found”.

“The point that is important is that the vast majority of his loyal lieutenants are already in graves,” he said, adding: “He and what is left of his leadership structure is in hiding. They are skulking and they are hiding for their lives.”

This hiding was not credible leadership Maj Gen Jones said, adding al-Baghdadi had deserted the terror organisation’s fighters.

The “liberation” of Mosul would mean the defeat of so-called Islamic State in Iraq, he added.

The city of 1.5 million people has been a so-called Islamic State – also known as Daesh – stronghold for two-and-a-half years, but coalition forces are edging closer to recapturing it.

While in Syria the focus is on Raqqa, “the self-proclaimed capital of what they like to call the caliphate”.

The international coalition’s mission it to liberate the people of Iraq and Syria from so-called Islamic State.

British troops are not involved in combat missions in either of the countries, but they are helping to train Iraqi security forces.

While Maj Gen Jones said he was “confident” so-called Islamic State would be defeated, he added that they “are highly determined fighters and we should assume that they will adjust and that they will try and continue to spread their message of hatred within Iraq and elsewhere”.

“And we see that day in day out, in all of the towns and cities that Daesh control.

Maj Gen Jones said he was both surprised and not surprised but what he had seen.

“Nothing surprises me about Daesh. They are capable of anything – we have all seen that.

“We should never wake up one morning and go ‘oh look, it’s another beheading’, or ‘oh look they’ve just executed more people’, that should always be shocking. But regrettably there is no surprise in it.

“Seeing what Daesh do to innocent people, that has no humanity. What we are here to do is to clear the enemy so that people can live their lives again.”

Russia’s military will train Kurdish forces in Syria, a spokesman said Monday, in the first agreement of its kind with the militia that controls large parts of the country’s north, like reported by digitaljournal.com.

The move by Russia, a longtime ally of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, is likely to anger Turkey, which considers the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) to be a “terrorist” group.

“An agreement was signed between our units and Russian forces operating in Syria that will train us in modern military tactics,” YPG spokesman Redur Xelil said.

“This is the first agreement of its kind, although we have had previous cooperation (with the Russians) in Aleppo city,” he said.

Russian forces were already present at the training camp in the Afrin region, one of the three “autonomous” cantons that Kurdish authorities manage in northern Syria, Xelil told AFP.

The deal, which Xelil said was part “of the framework of the fight against terrorism,” was signed on Sunday and came into force on Monday.

The YPG makes up the bulk of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters that has seized swathes of territory from the Islamic State group in northern Syria.

The SDF receives equipment, weapons and air support from the US-led coalition, and is backed by several hundred Western special operations forces in an advisory role.

Russia, meanwhile, is a long-term backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but had recently worked closely with rebel supporter Turkey to try to end the six-year war in Syria.

An Israeli aircraft reportedly launched a strike into Syria on Sunday that left one person dead, in what appeared to be the second cross-border attack in three days as tensions between the neighbours escalated over the weekend, like reported by scmp.com .

The latest Israeli attack was reported by the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which said that the strike targeted a car travelling on a road between Damascus and Quneitra, a town in the Golan Heights near the border with Israel. An Israeli army spokesman declined to comment on the report.

The Lebanese news service Al Mayadeen said the attack killed Yasser Hussein Asayeed, whom it described as a member of a militia aligned with the Syrian government. It said he was based in Golan.

Just two days earlier, Syrian forces shot several surface-to-air missiles at Israeli jets that were carrying out an attack in Syria against what Israel said was a weapons shipment bound for the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

Israel fired its Arrow interceptor missile to knock down one of the surface-to-air rockets headed for its territory, forcing the nation’s army to issue a rare confirmation that it had carried out an attack inside Syria. It marked the first time Israel had used the Arrow missile, which has been jointly developed with the US over years to defend against long-range missiles from Iran.

After the incident, Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Israeli ambassador to Moscow to protest the attack. Russia is a close ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, vowed to continue to carry out attacks in Syria against weapons shipments that it believes to be bound for Hezbollah.

On Sunday morning, Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman responded to the incident with a saber-rattling warning. “The next time that the Syrian air defences fire at us, we will destroy them completely without thinking twice,” he said in an interview with Israel Radio.

The heightened tension highlights how Russia’s assistance to Assad has raised the stakes along the border with Israel. For most of the Syrian civil war, Israel has watched from the sidelines, except for occasional strikes against Hezbollah weapons shipments that it says could be strategic game changers in the balance of power. Those attacks haven’t been challenged by Syria, for the most part.

Since Russia’s entry into the war, Israel and Moscow have come up with an understanding mechanism to avoid clashes between their militaries.

But as the fighting tips in the Assad government’s favour, Israeli officials have expressed concern that Iran and Hezbollah may gain a permanent foothold in Syria and possibly establish a presence along the border in the Golan Heights. This month, Netanyahu travelled to Moscow to try to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin that Iran shouldn’t be strengthened by the war.

Putin is unlikely to be persuaded by Israel’s entreaties to rein in one of his allies, said Eyal Zisser, a professor of political science at Tel Aviv University. The attacks over the weekend highlight the question of whether Moscow will continue to tolerate Israeli forays into Syria against its Shiite allies, he said.

“We need to ask: Will Russia accept the continuation of Israeli activity in Syria, or will it decide to put an end to it?” he said.

The Iraqi military said Sunday that six foreign members of the ISIS group were killed in airstrikes on western Mosul as security forces captured more areas, like reported by thepeninsulaqatar.com.

The statement by the service said the airstrike on Shaarin marketplace in western Mosul killed six foreign members.

The strike came as army forces recaptured more areas in western Mosul from ISIS militants, according to the Defense Ministry.

The forces took over a so-called “contaminated area”, a mill and a fuel station, it quoted Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarallah, field commander of the Joint Operations Command as saying.

Heavy clashes broke out on the eastern side of the Syrian capital, Damascus, following an attack by rebel-aligned forces early on March 19, state media and a monitoring group said.

The assault began with two car bombs and several suicide attackers on the Jobar district, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

Rebels then advanced into the nearby Abbasid Square area, seizing several buildings and firing rockets into multiple Damascus neighborhoods, Abdel Rahman added.

Syrian state media reported that the army had repelled an attack by an Al-Qaeda-linked group, saying “terrorists” had infiltrated Damascus through tunnels in the middle of the night.

State TV reported clashes in the city’s Qaboun and Jobar neighborhoods and ordered residents to stay inside.

The clashes come just days before a fresh round of UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva that aim to put an end to Syria’s six-year war, which has claimed more than 320,000 lives.

The leader of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (HTS), al Qaeda’s joint venture in Syria, has released a seven-plus minute message to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the Syrian uprising. The video was uploaded online late on Mar. 17 and then disseminated via social media channels the following day, like reported by longwarjournal.org.

Abu Jaber (also known as Hashem al Sheikh), the former head of Ahrar al Sham, was selected as the overall leader of HTS (“Assembly for the Liberation of Syria,” or the Levant) in January. He has long advocated for a strategy of “popular jihad.” [For more information on Abu Jaber and his population-centric approach to jihad, see FDD’s Long War Journal report: Hay’at Tahrir al Sham leader calls for ‘unity’ in Syrian insurgency.]

And Abu Jaber continues with that theme in his new message, as he seeks to portray HTS as the defender of the Syrian people in the face of Bashar al Assad’s murderous regime. Abu Jaber also tries to rally other rebel factions to his cause, arguing that HTS has a plan for the future that could succeed.

“We will escalate our operations in the coming days,” Abu Jaber promises, according to a translation obtained by FDD’s Long War Journal. “Our troops will reach the very heart of their fortifications. Let them not forget the recent operations in Homs and Damascus.”

In late February, an elite HTS team infiltrated the Assad regime’s defenses in the city of Homs and killed one of Assad’s most senior military intelligence officials. Earlier this month, HTS launched twin suicide bombings in Damascus, killing a number of civilians at Shiite shrines. (HTS denied responsibility for another recent suicide attack in the Syrian capital, but its denial may be a self-serving fiction.)

Along with its allies, HTS launched a new offensive in the Jobar district of Damascus just hours after Abu Jaber’s speech was released. Earlier today, the group quickly claimed credit for two “martyrdom” operations in the area. This is undoubtedly part of what Abu Jaber meant when he said they would “escalate” their operations.

Abu Jaber uses the war crimes of Bashar al Assad’s government as part of his appeal for popular support. He refers to Assad’s “criminal machine” and the trail of devastation it has left behind. Abu Jaber specifically mentions the homeless, widows, orphans and prisoners in Syria, saying many nations have turned a “blind eye” to their plight.

The Syrian “revolution” has now “entered its seventh year,” Abu Jaber notes, despite encountering many problems along the way. He underscores the fact that the Syrian people face overwhelming odds, especially in the face of the Assad regime, Russia and Iran. He uses the extensive Iranian presence in Syria as part of his appeal for more Sunni support for the jihadists’ cause.

HTS was announced in January, after much squabbling between jihadist, Islamist and other rebel factions delayed its formal establishment for many months. Abu Jaber appeals to the Syrian people by saying that they’ve had to suffer through the “plight” of “numerous factions” fighting and competing against one another. This circumstance “worsened” after Aleppo fell to the regime late last year, Abu Jaber says, because the war became a “military stalemate” and the “factions” were rendered “politically” incapable of serving the people’s interests.

Abu Jaber portrays HTS as a response to the people’s demand for an “alignment of the ranks” and an end of “titles,” especially in the wake of the insurgents’ failures in Aleppo. He claims that HTS’ constituents have dissolved into this “new body,” which is the “nucleus” for true “unity.”

Al Qaeda has consistently called for “unity” in Syria. It is a theme that Ayman al Zawahiri, his deputy Abu al Khayr al Masri (killed in a drone strike in Syria last month), Abu Jaber and others have repeatedly emphasized. In fact, Abu Jaber says in the new video that HTS’ unity is due to “our abdication,” which is likely a reference to the rebranding of al Qaeda’s guerrilla army in Syria last year.

Abu Jaber calls for even more rebel unity, saying the “blood of our martyrs” demands a “single leadership” for all of the factions. He urges every group to join HTS’ “caravan of unity” and claims that this would thwart the designs of the “enemies of our revolution,” who seek to divide and conquer the insurgents.

The HTS chief wants to reassure people that the revolution will continue, in spite of the problems of the past. Abu Jaber says that HTS has “control” over its “ranks,” meaning his group seeks to avoid infighting. And HTS believes in “partnership” between its constituents, having built a robust “organization and administration” for the future. Therefore, Abu Jaber argues, HTS is well-prepared to relaunch the battle for “liberation” and “revive the spirit of revolution and jihad.” He calls on rebels who have abandoned the cause to return to Syria, so that they can “start a new page in our revolution and history of jihad to protect and build our country,” according to a translation obtained by FDD’s Long War Journal.

Abu Jaber praises humanitarian workers, such as the White Helmets.

And he calls on Sunni “elites” and “scholars” to view HTS as their “vanguard,” which is fighting “the Persian [Iranian] tide that is invading” Syria. The Iranians have sent “thousands” to “fight us,” Abu Jaber says, so Sunni nations should do the same in order stymie the Iranians’ designs.

In a direct appeal to journalists, Abu Jaber says the international media should “visit the liberated areas,” so they can see the “truth” of Assad’s “crimes” for themselves.

Abu Jaber’s talk echoes the language contained in a statement issued by HTS in response to US Special Envoy Michael Ratney earlier this month. The two-page original was posted in Arabic and translated into English. Ratney wrote that HTS is just another front for al Qaeda. In its response, HTS said it does not “represent any foreign body or organization” (al Qaeda itself isn’t a foreign entity) and argued that its establishment “symbolizes a new phase of the Syrian revolution.”

“In late 2016” — that is, after the fall of Aleppo — “the Syrian people marched in massive protests demanding a merger of all revolutionary forces and a complete unity,” HTS claimed. “The decision to form HTS was a direct response to these demands and came after careful consideration of the sensitive phase that we are going through in this great revolution.” HTS said that it was a “new body” and the “collaborative nucleus” of a “unified project” that would “act as a shield for the revolution.”

Abu Jaber uses very similar language in his new message and he even repeats some of the same key phrases.

Al Qaeda will continue to portray itself as the vanguard of the Syrian revolution in the months to come. That has been the organization’s plan all along.

Bahrain yesterday welcomed the decision by the ‘United States Department of State’ to designate Bahraini individuals affiliated with ‘Al Ashtar Brigades’ group as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT), under Executive Order 13224, like reported by newsofbahrain.com.

“The decision reflects the positive stance of US to combat terrorism and to confront all those who commit terrorist acts,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The ministry also said that it is expecting a similar response from its international partners.

“The ministry calls for the adoption of a holistic strategy from the international community to eradicate the root causes of terrorism and drain its funding resources,” the statement added.

GCC backs US decision

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) also backed the US decision, noting that it reflects US administration’s firm supportive stance towards Bahrain’s efforts to combat terrorism in the region.

“The decision by the US  Department of State to designate Bahraini individuals affiliated with the terrorist  group as Specially Designated Global Terrorists proves the US administration’s support to the Kingdom’s efforts to suppress  terrorist organisations,” said Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani.

The GCC chief also lauded the successful efforts by Government to expose the conspiracies and campaigns targeting the security of the Kingdom.

GCC rejects Swiss statement

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Alzayani strongly condemned the statement by the Swiss representative regarding the situation of human rights in the Kingdom of Bahrain, before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

“The GCC member states reject the allegations cited in the Swiss statement, which disregarded Bahrain’s dedicated efforts to protect human rights in compliance with the international standards,” he said.

The GCC Secretary-General also called upon the Swiss Government to obtain information regarding human rights from credible, not suspicious sources.

He said that the GCC states look forward to meet the Swiss Government for reconsidering its allegations and rethink its repeated discrediting of Bahrain before the UNHRC.

Yemen’s official news agency says two missiles fired by Houthi rebels struck a mosque in an army camp, killing 22 troops and wounding several others, like reported by ap.org.

The SABA agency, under the control of the internationally recognized government, says the attack took place during Friday prayers in the Marib province, east of the rebel-held capital. It says the death toll is expected to rise.

The government, which is heavily backed by a Saudi-led coalition, is battling the Houthis and military units loyal to a former president.

The war in Yemen has killed more than 10,000 civilians and pushed the Arab world’s poorest nation to the brink of famine.

Foreign fighters from the Daesh terror group (banned in many countries) have been clashing with local jihadists from Iraq after receiving more power from their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Col. John Dorrian said in a briefing on Wednesday