ICEJ NEWS REPORTS: In a dramatic development of the ongoing multi-dimensional war in Syria, the US announced on Sunday that it will begin targeting any forces which attack the rebel factions it supports in the conflict, including loyalists of the Assad regime. The announcement came after US-trained and supported factions were deployed in northern Syria Friday with the intent that they fight the Islamic State (IS) terror militia. But they quickly came under attack by rival rebel factions, necessitating US airstrikes and leading to a re-evaluation of Washington’s plans. Meanwhile, the Assad regime, assisted by forces from the Lebanese Shi’ite terror militia Hezbollah, took back some ground from rebel and jihadist factions in fierce fighting around central Hama province over the weekend. Elsewhere, the war-within-a-war between Turkey and the Kurdish PKK faction also intensified in northern Iraq over the weekend, with both sides taking heavy casualties as Turkey also struck IS in Syria.
