The members of several US-backed rebel groups, including Harakat Hazm and the Syrian Revolutionary Front, surrendered, fled, or defected over the weekend in the face of an offensive by the Al Nusrah Front in Idlib province. Bases and weapons, likely including US-supplied TOW missile systems, were seized by the jihadist group. The Islamic State has captured the Jahar gas field and large portions of the Shaer gas field in Homs over the past week. The Free Syrian Army “is coaxing Islamist opposition forces to leave the border area with Israel.” A diminished Syrian regime “carries on.” According to SOHR, the regime has dropped 401 barrel bombs in since Oct. 20, killing 232 civilians. The US conducted seven air strikes in Syria over the weekend, five of them near Kobane.
