About 1,200 civilians and rebels, including fighters with the Al Nusrah Front and other Islamist groups, exited Homs in a deal with the Assad regime; each fighter was allowed to keep a rifle; and each of the buses evacuating them was allowed to take a rocket launcher and a machine gun. As part of the deal, the rebels agreed to allow aid into the pro-regime villages of Nubul and Zahra, which the rebels have besieged for over a year; and the Islamic Front released 45 hostages, including women and children, in Aleppo and Latakia who had been seized by the Islamic Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham in August 2013. The sharia council in Deraa published video of Ahmad al-Na'ma, a Free Syrian Army commander recently arrested by Al Nusrah, in which he said Jordanian authorities and other "supporting countries" feared Al Nusrah's popularity, controlled his group, and prevented Islamic goals. Also in Deraa, the Islamic Front and rebels battled regime forces, and an Islamic Front media activist was killed near Ankhel. Al Nusrah and the Islamic Front battled regime forces in Reef Dimashq and Hama. ISIS ordered the evacuation of homes in Raqqah for non-Syrian fighters, and clashed with Al Nusrah and the Islamic Front in Deir Izzour. The Islamic Front used a thermal rocket to target a regime tank in Idlib.
Bill Roggio is a regular guest on the John Batchelor Show from Monday through Friday to discuss the war. Check John's site for the time. Click here to listen live online at WABC.
