The leader of the Syrian National Coalition said the SNC will not engage in peace talks until “the Free Army and revolutionary forces” regain ground lost over the past eight months. Two al Qaeda affiliates, the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, are fighting along with allied groups simultaneously in the northern provinces of Raqqah; Hasakah; and Aleppo, where they have kidnapped over 200 civilians from two towns. Regime forces are fighting to regain the town of Khan al-Assal, the site of alleged chemical weapons use by rebels. Iran signed a deal to supply Syria with $3.6bn in oil in exchange for the right to invest in Syria.
