Opposition fighters from the Free Syrian Army load a home-made rocket launcher connected to a tractor in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo yesterday.

AFP
Beirut


The Islamic State militant group released a video yesterday purporting to show the execution of an alleged Russian spy in Syria.
The video, which was circulated on social media, showed a prisoner wearing the orange tunic and trousers often seen on captives in IS’s videos.
It is the first video from the group to show the apparent execution of a Russian since Moscow began air strikes in support of Syria’s government on September 30.
Speaking in Russian, the detainee allegedly confesses to being recruited by Russian intelligence to gather information on IS and its members from the Caucasus.
A Russian-speaking fighter then addresses Moscow directly, warning that its forces will be defeated and its troops killed.
The video, which bears the logo of the group’s media office in the Syrian province of Raqa, ends with the beheading of the detainee.
IS has claimed the execution before of alleged Russian spies.
In January, it released a video purporting to show a young boy shooting dead two men accused of working for Russian intelligence services.
lRussian and Syrian forces have been holding joint training exercises in Syria’s Latakia province for the past fortnight to prepare for fighting in neighbouring rebel-held Idlib, a security source said yesterday.
“The joint Russian-Syrian training began two weeks ago in the north of Latakia province,” a regime stronghold on the country’s coast, the source said.
The exercises were being conducted in an area of Latakia with similar terrain to Idlib province, which is held by a coalition of rebels known as the Army of Conquest.
“In the next stage, Idlib will become the major destination and most important target of joint Russian-Syrian military operations,” the source said.