Syria Talks in Geneva Postponed

UN-hosted negotiations on the Syrian conflict planned for February 8 in Geneva, Switzerland, have been postponed until the end of that month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

“The date of February 8 has been put back until the end of next month,” Lavrov told a meeting with minor Syrian opposition representatives in Moscow to discuss peace talks in Kazakhstan that ended on Tuesday, AFP reported.

There was no confirmation from the United Nations on the latest plans for the next round of talks between the Syrian government and opposition.

Key players Russia, Turkey and Iran backed the talks and the main result was an agreement by the three sides to try to shore up the current ceasefire on the ground in the war-torn country.

The latest peace initiative to halt fighting that has killed over 310,000 people since 2011 comes after the Syrian government, with the help of Russian firepower, dealt militants a crushing blow by ousting the militants from eastern Aleppo last month.

Twenty-two IS terrorists were “neutralized” in northern Syria over the last 24 hours as part of Turkish-backed Operation Euphrates Shield, the Turkish military said on Friday.

Turkish authorities use the word “neutralized” in their statements to imply the terrorists in question were killed, captured or surrounded.

The Turkish Armed Forces also hit 272 IS targets, including command and control facilities, defense points, shelters, vehicles and weapons used by the self-styled Islamic State terrorists in northern Syria, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement on the 157th day of the operation.

Turkish jets also hit 21 buildings used as shelters, two headquarters, one weapons depot and four bomb-laden vehicles.