Region

BEIRUT — Lebanese lawmakers failed to elect a president on Wednesday, for the eighth time, to succeed Michel Sleiman whose term ended in May, prolonging a political vacuum as the country struggles with violence, economic decline and an influx of Syrian refugees.

The civil war in neighbouring Syria has aggravated long-standing rivalries in Lebanon, where political power is divided among religious communities — the presidency goes to a Maronite Christian, the parliament speaker is a Shiite Muslim and the prime minister a Sunni.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said he would postpone a vote for a new president until July 23 because not enough parliamentarians turned up to the assembly on Wednesday. Political groups have boycotted sessions in recent weeks and blamed each other for the deadlock.

Some of Lebanon’s deepest political divisions come over the handling of the Syrian crisis, which has driven around 1 million refugees into Lebanon.

Politicians from the March 8 coalition, which includes Shiite Muslim group Hizbollah, support Syrian President Bashar Assad. The rival March 14 coalition backs Assad’s opponents.

The two blocs were formed after the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. March 14 accused Syria and Hizbollah of responsibility, a charge they deny.

Regional powerbrokers Saudi Arabia and Iran support March 14 and March 8 respectively, complicating efforts to agree on a presidential candidate.

The deadlock comes at a time of worsening security. Three suicide bomb attacks late last month targeted Beirut and a checkpoint on the road to Syria. The Syrian crisis and the political stalemate have also hit the Lebanese economy, prompting the central bank to introduce stimulus packages.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam’s government has taken over some presidential duties until a new president is chosen.

The presidency was once the leading political office in Lebanon, but that power was eroded under the agreement which ended the country’s civil war, handing greater influence to the government and prime minister.

BEIRUT — Rebels from northern and eastern Syria on Wednesday threatened to lay down their arms in a week if the country’s exiled opposition does not help them fight the jihadist Islamic State (IS).

“We, the leaders of the brigades and battalions... give the National Coalition, the [opposition] interim government, the [rebel] Supreme Military Council and all the leading bodies of the Syrian revolution a week to send reinforcements and complete aid,” the statement said.

“Should our call not be heard, we will lay down our weapons and pull out our fighters,” it added.

The statement comes three days after IS declared the establishment of a “caliphate” straddling Syria and Iraq, referring to an Islamic system of rule that was abolished nearly 100 years ago

“Our popular revolution [against Syrian President Bashar Assad]... is today under threat because of the [Islamic State], especially after it announced a caliphate,” said the statement.

The factions that signed the statement are local rebel groups based in Raqqa, Deir Ezzor and parts of Aleppo province where fighting against IS has been most intense, and which are now under IS control.

IS first appeared in Syria’s war in late spring 2013. It has since taken control of Raqqa in northern Syria, much of Deir Ezzor in the east, and parts of Aleppo province.

Rebel groups from those areas have frequently complained of being poorly funded even though they are leading the fight against IS, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

The statement comes days after US President Barack Obama called on Congress to approve $500 million to train and equip the moderate Syrian opposition.

It also follows a visit late last week by Secretary of State John Kerry to Saudi Arabia, during which he said: “The moderate Syrian opposition... has the ability to be a very important player in pushing back against [the jihadists’] presence.”

Some Syrian rebels seeking Assad’s ouster initially welcomed the war-hardened IS fighters among their ranks.

But their systematic abuses and quest for hegemony in opposition-held areas eventually turned the rebels against them and their project.

IS has kidnapped thousands of Syrians, many of them political activists and rebels, and carries out summary executions in areas under its control.

The group has been bolstered in recent weeks by an offensive it spearheaded in neighbouring Iraq, capturing large swathes of territory as well as heavy weapons seized from fleeing Iraqi troops.

Syria’s war began as a popular revolt demanding Assad’s ouster, but morphed into a war after his regime unleashed a brutal crackdown against dissent.

Many months into the fighting, jihadists started to pour into Syria, and in January 2014, the country’s rebels including Islamists launched a major offensive against IS.

UNITED NATIONS — With nearly 11 million Syrians in need of humanitarian help, UN Security Council members are pushing Russia and China to support a compromise draft resolution to boost cross-border access, and threaten sanctions on those that stand in the way.

After more than a month of negotiations, during which Islamist fighters have taken swathes of Iraq and Syria, the June 27 draft obtained by Reuters on Tuesday tries to win over Moscow and Beijing with language similar to that used in a unanimously adopted resolution on Syria’s chemical weapons.

It does not reference Chapter 7 of the UN charter, which covers the council’s authority to enforce decisions with economic sanctions or military force, though the language is the same as what would normally be in a Chapter 7 resolution.

Russia says it would veto a Chapter 7 resolution that would allow cross-border aid deliveries without Syrian government consent. In a letter to the Security Council last month, Syria warned that such deliveries would amount to an attack, suggesting it would have the right to retaliate.

Russia, supported by China, has already vetoed four resolutions threatening any action against its ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad, amid a 3-year civil war that has killed at least 150,000 people.

Russian Deputy UN Ambassador Alexander Pankin declined to comment on whether Moscow would support the compromise draft.

Australia, Luxembourg and Jordan drafted the stronger text as a follow-up to their unanimously adopted February resolution that demanded rapid, safe and unhindered aid access in Syria, but has failed to make a difference.

The three countries are continuing negotiations with Russia and China on the draft resolution this week.

The draft says the council is “deeply disturbed by the continued, arbitrary and unjustified withholding of consent to relief operations, and the persistence of conditions that impede the delivery of humanitarian supplies to destinations within Syria, in particular to besieged and hard-to-reach areas”.

The United Nations says some 10.8 million people in Syria need help, of which 4.7 million are in hard-to-reach areas, while another 3 million have fled the conflict.

The draft resolution “decides that the United Nations humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners are authorised to use any and all routes, including across conflict lines and across borders, in particular the border crossings of Bab Al Salam, Bab Al Hawa, Al Yarubiyah and Tal Shihab, in order to ensure that humanitarian assistance, including medical and surgical supplies, reaches people in need throughout Syria”.

Al Yarubiyah is on the border with Iraq and Tal Shihab is on the border with Jordan. Bab Al Salam and Bab Al Hawa cross into Turkey, and have fallen into the hands of Islamist fighters.

Russia said last month the Syrian government agreed to open the four crossings named in the draft, but Australian UN Ambassador Gary Quinlan said that plan was “not good enough” because the Syrian government wanted to impose restrictive conditions on the UN humanitarian operations.

The draft resolution “decides to establish a monitoring mechanism, under the authority of the United Nations Secretary-General, to monitor, with the consent of the relevant neighbouring countries of Syria, the loading of all humanitarian relief consignments” to be delivered across those four points.

It “also decides that all Syrian parties to the conflict shall enable the immediate and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance directly to people throughout Syria” and “decides in the event non-compliance... by any Syrian party to impose measures directed against that party”.

This would mean that for any action to be taken on non-compliance, such as imposing sanctions, the 15-member Security Council would need to agree on a second resolution.

UN aid chief Valerie Amos last week appealed to the Security Council to take action on the “inhuman” obstruction of humanitarian relief. Syrian UN Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari described the UN estimate of people in need as “exaggerated”.

WASHINGTON — Time is running short to reach a nuclear deal between world powers and Iran, and negotiations will not be extended merely as a foot-dragging ploy, top US diplomat John Kerry warned Tuesday.

On the eve of the most intensive round of talks yet, Kerry called on Iran to make the right choices and prove to the world its claims that its nuclear energy programme is peaceful by closing what he called “substantial gaps” in the negotiations.

“We have worked closely with Iran to design a pathway for a programme that meets all of the requirements for peaceful, civilian purposes,” Kerry wrote in an op-ed in The Washington Post.

“There remains a discrepancy, however, between Iran’s professed intent with respect to its nuclear programme and the actual content of that programme to date.”

Western nations have long accused Tehran of seeking to develop an atomic bomb — something the leaders of the Islamic republic have vehemently denied.

Talks between Iran and the so-called P5+1 group to strike a deal disabling any Iranian nuclear military programme will resume on Wednesday in Vienna and are set to last until July 20 — the deadline for reaching a full treaty.

Under an interim six-month deal struck in Geneva in November, cash-strapped Iran agreed to halt uranium enrichment and eliminate its stockpiles in return for limited sanctions relief.

The pact also contains a provision for a one-time six-month extension of the talks, if all sides agree. The P5+1 group includes the five permanent members of the UN — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — plus Germany.

“Our negotiators will be working constantly in Vienna between now and July 20,” Kerry vowed.

“There may be pressure to put more time on the clock. But no extension is possible unless all sides agree, and the United States and our partners will not consent to an extension merely to drag out negotiations,” he warned.

Substantial gaps 

“Now Iran must choose,” he said, adding that “time is running short”.

“What will Iran choose? Despite many months of discussion, we don’t know yet. We do know that substantial gaps still exist between what Iran’s negotiators say they are willing to do and what they must do to achieve a comprehensive agreement.”

The last round of talks in June were reportedly strained, and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has lashed out at world powers for making “excessive demands” on his country.

But Kerry countered that they had “proposed a series of reasonable, verifiable and easily achievable measures that would ensure Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon”, and in return the Islamic republic “would be granted phased relief from nuclear-related sanctions”.

“The world is simply asking Iran to demonstrate that its nuclear activities are what it claims them to be,” Kerry added.

He acknowledged that Iranian negotiators had been “serious” so far throughout the talks and that Iran had met obligations by working to eliminate its stockpiles of highly-enriched uranium, not installing additional centrifuges and allowing international inspections.

He argued there were not often chances to “make the world safer, ease regional tensions and enable greater prosperity”.

“We have such an opportunity and a historic breakthrough is possible. It’s a matter of political will and proving intentions, not of capacity. It’s a matter of choices. Let us all choose wisely.”

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has appointed Prince Khaled Bin Bandar as head of intelligence three months after his predecessor, who was in charge of efforts to support Syrian rebels against President Bashar Assad, was sacked.

It was unclear from the royal decree issued late on Monday whether Prince Khaled will have a similar brief on Syria.

A former soldier, he served during the last year as both deputy defence minister and governor of Riyadh, one of the most prominent roles occupied by senior ruling family members in the absolute monarchy.

Saudi Arabia has watched with increasing alarm in recent weeks as Sunni militants in Iraq, who count Saudi citizens in their number, have seized swathes of territory and declared the creation of an Islamic caliphate in that country and in Syria.

Riyadh’s policy in Syria is to back rebel groups it sees as moderate in an effort to bring down Assad, a close ally of its main regional enemy Iran, whose tactics in bombing urban centres have been described by Saudi officials as “genocide”.

But as young Saudis have gone to Syria to join the fight and as militant factions among the rebels have gained in strength, it has also grown concerned about eventual radicalisation among its own citizens prompting domestic attacks.

Those fears have been sharpened in recent weeks after the Islamic State, previously known as ISIL, seized swathes of territory including major towns and cities in the kingdom’s neighbour Iraq, where it also operates.

Last week King Abdullah ordered “all measures” to be taken to protect the country against militants and put the army on a higher state of alert.

Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, who was removed from his post in April after months abroad for medical treatment and who faced intense criticism for his handling of the Syria crisis, was made a special adviser to the king and a special envoy in the decree.

He retains his post as the secretary general of the National Security Council, state news agency SPA reported.

It was not clear if his new appointment means he will return to playing an active role in Saudi security and foreign policy.

CAIRO — An Egyptian militant group claimed responsibility for bomb blasts outside the presidential palace in Cairo that killed two senior police officers and wounded 10 other people, taunting authorities that it was able to strike even the most secure locations in a campaign of violence against police and the military.

The attack outside the Ittihadiya palace, where newly elected President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi holds office, raised alarm among officials Tuesday over the security breach. Militants were able to carry out the attack despite multiple closed-circuit security cameras in the area and warnings from the militant group that it planted bombs at the palace.

Even worse, the deaths of the police officers came when they were trying to defuse the explosives, raising questions about the efficiency and preparedness of the force to deal with such a threat.

Egyptian militants have carried out scores of attacks, mainly targeting security forces, in retaliation for the fierce crackdown on Islamists since Sisi — then the army chief — ousted President Mohamed Morsi almost exactly one year ago. The government says 250 policemen have been killed since August last year in targeted attacks.

In a strongly worded statement, a coalition led by Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood called for mass street protests on the one-year anniversary of his ouster on Thursday, warning it will be a day of “monumental anger”, and urging its supporters to rally in 35 mosques in Cairo ahead of street rallies.

Hundreds of Morsi supporters have been killed and thousands arrested in the crackdown. The government accuses the Brotherhood of orchestrating the militant attacks. The group, which refuses to recognise the new government, denies the charges, and it and its allies accuse the government of staging the attacks to lay the blame on Morsi supporters.

Ajnad Misr, or Soldiers of Egypt, which has claimed previous attacks on police, said it carried out Monday’s bombing at the palace in a statement that evening. It said it set a trap for guards at the Ittihadiya palace using new explosive devices that cannot be detected by ordinary equipment.

The group said its experts spent months studying police procedures for handling explosives in order to develop the bombs.

It said targeting the Ittihadiya palace was to “show that the less important government headquarters and personnel are much easier to reach”.

On Tuesday, Sisi met with his security chiefs to come up with a comprehensive strategy to “meet security challenges”, his spokesman Ihab Badawi said. They also discussed upgrading security capabilities, including training in police academies in Egypt and abroad to raise awareness about the dangers of the job and the use of new technology in investigation and evidence collection, Bedawy said.

The most recent attack carried out by Ajnad Misr was in late April, when it killed Brig. Gen. Ahmed Zaki, a commander in the riot police, by detonating a bomb under his car.

In apparent response to the Islamist call for protests Thursday, four members of the Brotherhood-led coalition were arrested. Among them was Nasr Abdel-Salam, the acting head of the Islamist Construction and Development Party, the political arm of the Gamaa Islamiyah, a former militant group that waged an anti-government insurgency in 1990s before joining the political arena in 2011. The group’s leader is currently on the run and is wanted in Egypt for trial on charges of inciting violence.

Also among those arrested was prominent Islamist politician Magdy Hussein, a Morsi ally.

In a statement Tuesday, the pro-Morsi coalition known as the National Alliance for the Defence of Legitimacy, said the new arrests are an attempt by the government to drag the group towards “direct confrontation.”

The group renewed its calls for protests on Thursday calling them “an important and different station”.

BEIRUT — The Al Qaeda breakaway Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) captured a key Syrian town near the Iraq border from other rebels on Tuesday and advanced towards a stronghold of its main jihadi rivals, an activist group said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Boukamal fell to the militants early Tuesday following days of battles between the group and other factions led by the Nusra Front, Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate.

Activists in the area could not immediately be reached and calls to Boukamal and nearby areas were not going through.

The observatory, which has a network of activists around Syria, said the group brought in reinforcements from Iraq during the fighting.

The latest victory by the jihadi group, which controls parts of Syria and Iraq, came two days after it declared the establishment of a transnational Islamic caliphate.

The group says its Islamic state stretches from northern Syria to the Iraqi province of Diyala northeast of Baghdad, and has called on all Muslims worldwide to pledge allegiance to it.

The Observatory said ISIL released more than 100 detainees it was holding in the northern Syrian town of Al Bab after the group’s leader, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, issued an amnesty on the occasion of establishing the self-styled caliphate.

Last week, beleaguered Nusra Front fighters defected and joined their rivals in Boukamal — effectively handing over the town to the powerful group, which controls the Iraqi side of the crossing.

The observatory said Al Qaeda breakaway group is advancing towards the town of Shuheil, northwest of Boukamal, a Nusra Front stronghold believed to be the hometown of its leader, a Syrian known as Abu Muhammed Al Golani. As fighting between rival groups intensified later Tuesday, thousands of Shuheil’s inhabitants were seen fleeing the town, the Observatory said.

Up to 7,000 people, the majority of them fighters, have been killed in the rebel-on-rebel violence across the opposition-held territory in northern and eastern Syria since January, according to the observatory’s tally, which is compiled by its activists on the ground.

ISIL has acted with brutal efficiency in territory under its control in Iraq and in Syria, fighting its armed rivals for control of strategic facilities, including oilfields. It also intimidates civilians, captures those who dare to speak up against it, and executes its armed rivals.

In the northern Aleppo province, it has been holding 133 boys from the predominantly Kurdish town of Ayn Al Arab, according to a statement Tuesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW). The New York-based group demanded the militants immediately release the boys, aged 13 to 14.

The group had abducted 153 children on May 29 as they were returning home from their exams in the city of Aleppo, HRW said. To reach Aleppo, Syria’s largest city located about 110 kilometres north of Ayn Al Arab, the bus carrying the children had to drive across territory controlled by the ISIL.

Five boys escaped their captors, and 15 others were released on Saturday in exchange for three of the group’s militants held by Kurdish rebels, the watchdog said in the statement, which was based on interviews with fathers of three abducted children and three officials from the ruling Kurdish Democratic Union Party in Ayn Al Arab.

MODI’IN, Israel — Tens of thousands of mourners joined in an outpouring of national grief on Tuesday at the burial of the three Israeli teenagers whose kidnapping and killing Israel blamed on the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

In his eulogy at the cemetery in the centre of the country, President Shimon Peres, a usually dovish elder statesman, echoed official vows to punish Hamas.

“I know that the murderers will be found. Israel will act with a heavy hand until terror is uprooted,” he said at the ceremony in Modi’in, a town between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Israel bombed dozens of sites in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, wounding two Palestinians, as it struck at Hamas a day after finding the bodies of the three youths in the occupied West Bank, not far from where they went missing while hitchhiking on June 12.

After the funeral, Israel’s Security Cabinet convened for a second time in as many days. Officials said ministers were split on Monday on the scope of any further action in the coastal enclave or in the West Bank. The United States and regional power-broker Egypt urged restraint.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged Hamas would pay for the slayings and reiterated before Tuesday’s meeting that Israel “must strike hard at Hamas people and infrastructure in the West Bank” and would weigh further attacks to prevent rocket fire from Gaza on southern Israel.

Netanyahu vowed to strike at anyone involved in the kidnappings. “We will get them, even if it takes time,” he said.

Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said “Hamas’ leaders and members should know that the blood of whoever dares strike at the citizens of Israel is forfeit. They should know that we will pursue them wherever they are and hit them hard.”

Just before the funeral, a recording of a furtive cellphone call one of the abducted teens made to a police emergency number was broadcast on Israeli television stations.

“They’ve kidnapped me,” the youngster said. Shouted orders in Arabic-accented Hebrew — “head down, head down” — and the sound of what appeared to be muffled gunfire followed before the call ended.

Attacks on Gaza

The military said aircraft attacked 34 targets in Gaza, mostly belonging to Hamas, but did not link the strikes to the abductions. The military cited 18 Palestinian rockets launched against Israel from Gaza in the past two days.

Palestinian medics said two people were slightly wounded.

The Islamist group has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the disappearance of the students nor in the cross-border rocket salvoes from Gaza.

Two more rockets fired from Gaza struck inside Israel on Tuesday evening, causing no casualties, the military said.

At Monday’s security Cabinet meeting, the army proposed “considered and moderate actions” against militants in the West Bank, officials said. Any sustained campaign there could undermine US-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

But the Cabinet did not agree on a future course of action at that session, officials said.

In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri warned Israel against going too far.

“The response of the resistance has been limited, and Netanyahu must not test Hamas’ patience,” said Abu Zuhri, whose group’s arsenal includes rockets that can reach Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu seized on the abduction to demand Abbas annul a reconciliation deal he reached with Hamas, his long-time rival, in April that led to a unity Palestinian government on June 2.

An Arab diplomat familiar with Egyptian mediation between Israelis and the Palestinians said Cairo, echoing Washington, expected the Netanyahu government to tread carefully.

“I don’t believe Israel is ready, just yet, to change the status quo,” he told Reuters on condition of anonymity. “It can punish those who did the crime, but should not get out of control with civilians who had nothing to do with the crime.”

In the West Bank on Tuesday, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian who a military spokeswoman said threw a grenade at soldiers attempting to detain a militant. A Palestinian witness said the 19-year-old killed by the troops was a passerby.

The men Israel has accused of carrying out the abductions are still at large.

House demolitions

Troops set off explosions late on Monday in the family homes of the alleged abductors in the West Bank town of Hebron, blowing open a doorway in one, an army spokeswoman said. The other property was on fire after the blast. Soldiers who arrested one of the suspect’s father and brothers ordered the inhabitants of the dwellings to leave before the detonations.

“This kind of act is a sin, whether you’re a Muslim or Jew. They’ve scared the kids so much,” Um Sharif, the mother of one of the alleged kidnappers, said about the damage to her home.

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s new parliament broke up in chaos Tuesday, with lawmakers threatening each other or walking out despite global calls for fractious politicians to form a government needed to face a Sunni militant onslaught.

After a break called to calm soaring tempers, so many Sunni and Kurdish deputies stayed away that the quorum was lost, so a speaker could not be elected as was constitutionally required, and the session ended in disarray.

Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s bid for a third term has been battered by the jihadist-led offensive that has seized large chunks of five provinces, adding fuel to dissatisfaction over persistent allegations of sectarianism and monopolising power.

The latest crisis has alarmed world leaders, displaced hundreds of thousands of people and polarised Iraq’s Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish populations.

The disunity quickly manifested itself in what was the opening session of a parliament elected in April, which included walkouts, threats and confusion over the constitution.

Kurdish lawmaker Najiba Najib initially interrupted efforts to select a new parliament speaker, calling on the federal government to “end the blockade” and send withheld budget funds to Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region.

‘Crush heads of Kurds’

Kadhim Al Sayadi, a lawmaker in Shiite premier Maliki’s bloc, responded by threatening to “crush the heads” of the country’s autonomous Kurds, who look increasingly likely to push for independence.

That was reinforced when their leader, Massoud Barzani, told the BBC they would hold a referendum within months on independence.

Some Sunni MPs walked out of the chamber when mention was made of the Islamic State (IS), the jihadist group leading the anti-government offensive, and enough Sunnis and Kurds did not return following a break that Tuesday’s session was without a quorum.

Presiding MP Mahdi Hafez said the legislature would reconvene July 8 if political leaders are able to reach a deal on senior posts.

Under a de facto agreement, the prime minister is chosen from among Shiite Arabs, the speaker from Sunni Arabs and the president is a Kurd. All three posts are typically chosen in tandem.

End for Maliki? 

It increasingly looks as if Maliki is on the way out.

The premier faces criticism from senior leaders in all three major communities over allegations of sectarianism, sidelining partners and a marked deterioration in security that culminated in the June 9 launch of the militant offensive.

Even so, Maliki’s bloc won by far the most seats in April.

“This has become a much more competitive race for the premiership,” said Ayham Kamel, Middle East and North Africa director for the Eurasia Group consultancy.

“The broad direction here is to be more inclusive, at least when it comes to the Sunni community, and figure out a power-sharing deal.”

Though the vast majority of Iraq’s Sunni Arab minority do not actively support the militants, analysts say their anger over alleged mistreatment by the Shiite-led authorities means they are less likely to cooperate with the security forces, fostering an environment in which militancy can flourish.

Kamel noted that any military successes could boost Maliki’s chances, with thousands of troops taking part in an ambitious operation aimed at retaking the city of Tikrit, which fell on June 11.

Performing better 

Iraqi forces initially wilted in the face of the onslaught but have since performed more capably, with officials touting apparent progress towards recapturing the city.

However, the cost has been high. Nearly 900 security personnel were among the 2,400 people killed in June, the highest figure in years, according to the UN.

Loyalists are battling militants led by the IS, which Sunday declared a “caliphate”, an Islamic form of government last seen under the Ottoman Empire, and ordered Muslims worldwide to pledge allegiance to their chief.

Though that may not have significant immediate effect on the ground, it is an indicator of the group’s confidence and marks a move against Al Qaeda, from which it broke away.

Iraq has appealed for the US to carry out air strikes against the jihadists. Washington, which further bolstered security at its embassy on Monday, has so far not acceded, and said planned deliveries of F-16 fighter jets could even be delayed.

Meanwhile, Baghdad has recently purchased more than a dozen Russian warplanes to bolster its fledgling air force as it takes the fight to militants holding a string of towns and cities.

State TV quoted Maliki’s security spokesman Tuesday as saying the newly arrived Sukhoi ground attack jets, which are expected to be pressed into service as soon as possible, have already flown over Iraqi territory.

BEIRUT — Rebel mortar shells pounded Syria’s northwestern city of Idlib on Monday, killing 14 people, state television said, a day after 27 people died in regime air raids on a nearby opposition-held area.

“Fourteen people were killed and more than 50 others wounded by mortars launched by the terrorists [rebels] on several areas of Idlib city,” said the state channel.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the attack, but gave a higher toll of 15 civilians, and said an unknown number of children were among the dead.

The report comes a day after at least 27 people, including two rebel fighters and four children, were killed in regime air strikes on the rebel-held area of Silqin in Idlib province, according to the observatory.

Fresh air strikes were launched on Monday in the province, according to activists who have reported an escalation of violence in the area, which is important because it borders Turkey.

Most of Idlib province is in rebel control, though the provincial capital is still firmly in government hands.

Rights groups have frequently denounced the regime’s daily air raids on opposition areas across the country, as well as the rebels’ use of mortars and rockets, for failing to discriminate between civilians and combatants.

Elsewhere in Syria, the observatory said fierce clashes raged in Albu Kamal, on the Iraq border, pitting the jihadist Islamic State (IS) against local rebels allied to Al Qaeda affiliate Al Nusra Front, a day after IS announced the establishment of a “caliphate”.

Though IS fighters were initially welcomed in Syria by some opponents seeking President Bashar Assad’s ouster, the group’s abuses and quest for hegemony quickly turned the opposition against it.

IS — formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant — has been fighting Syria’s rebels since January.

Fighting has raged in Albu Kamal for several days. The town is strategic because it lies on the border with Iraq, where IS has spearheaded a Sunni militant offensive that has seen several areas in northern and western Iraq fall from government control.

On Monday, the observatory said “reinforcements redeployed to Albu Kamal to strengthen IS’ forces”.

It also said the regime air force targeted an IS position in Buseira town, also in the oil-rich Deir Ezzor province.

The regime has rarely targeted IS positions, except in recent days since the jihadist group started making gains in Iraq.

The Iraq offensive has bolstered IS’ confidence, partly because its jihadists have captured heavy weapons from fleeing Iraqi forces, including US-made armoured vehicles.

Syria’s war has killed more than 162,000 people and forced nearly half the population to flee their homes.

It began as a peaceful movement inspired by the Arab Spring demanding Assad’s ouster, but morphed into an insurgency after the regime unleashed a brutal crackdown against dissent.