Peace talks that U.S. wasn't invited to are happening

Some armed Syrian opposition groups have decided to attend peace talks with the government next week in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, according to rebel officials.
The discussions, scheduled for January 23, intend to build on a nationwide ceasefire that has largely held despite escalating violence across several battlefronts in recent days.
Mohammad Alloush, a leading figure in the Jaish al-Islam group, said on Monday he would head the rebel delegation to the meeting...
The High Negotiations Committee, Syria's main opposition bloc, had also said previously that it would extend its support to an anti-government military delegation attending the talks.
But Shaam Network, an opposition news website, reported on Monday that a number of other rebel groups, including Ahrar al-Sham, one of the main fighting forces on the ground, had decided to stay away from the upcoming talks.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has already said his government is ready to attend the Astana meeting and "discuss everything".

Two important groups not attending

Turkey has expressed its anger with the US suggestion that the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) be invited to Syria peace talks as Ankara recognizes it as the Syrian wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which is listed as a terrorist group in the country.
Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu said that “the US should invite the terrorist group Daesh (ISIS), too” if the PYD are invited.
“If you invite a terrorist group, then you should also invite Al-Nusra, Daesh. This is nonsense,” Cavusoglu said, adding that Washington must end its cooperation with terrorist groups.

Meanwhile, Kurds are beating ISIS

Meanwhile, on the ground, the SDF continue to gain ground from ISIS and pledge to fight what it calls terrorists, especially ISIS, wherever they are. But for now “Tabqa Dam, Raqqa, and even Deir ez-Zoor are within our objectives, but one at a time,” the commander said on Monday.
In the ongoing second phase of the military offensive to isolate Raqqa, the SDF have liberated an area of 1480 square kilometers; that includes 196 villages and Jaabar citadel, Cihan Sheikh Ahmed, spokesperson for the operation, at the press conference on Monday
"With this, an area of 3200 square kilometers has been fully liberated since the beginning of the operation,” said Ahmed. “It includes 236 villages, and tens of hamlets. This means that Raqqa has been encircled from both north and west.”

But Deir Ezzor is in danger

The Syrian Arab Army's final pocket in the Deir Ezzor Governorate is in serious danger after the Islamic State (ISIS) launched another powerful attack this afternoon.
ISIS once again stormed the Syrian Arab Army's supply route to the Deir Ezzor Military Airport, imposing fire control over a part of this road after an intense battle with the government forces.

Blackwater mercs bomb Libya

On Jan. 11, 2017, Intelligence Online — a professional journal covering the world’s intelligence services — revealed that the pilots of Air Tractor attack planes flying from Al Khadim air base in Libya are private contractors working for Erik Prince, the founder of the company formerly known as Blackwater.
War Is Boring’s own sources in Libya confirmed the assertion. Our sources said that the pilots flying the United Arab Emirates Air Force IOMAX AT-802 Air Tractors — converted crop-dusters — are mercenaries and aren’t Arabs.

Eastern Mosul ready to fall

Iraqi special forces battled Islamic State militants in districts near the Tigris river in Mosul on Monday as they sought to bring more of the east of the city back under government control...
Iraqi forces, which have reached three of the five bridges, say they will soon fully control the eastern bank. They have already taken areas of the river bank further south.
Once the east bank is recaptured, they can begin attacks on western Mosul, which the Sunni Muslim extremist insurgents still hold.
Iraqi forces have seized most of the east in a 3-month-old U.S.-backed campaign to oust the militants from Iraq's second largest city, Islamic State's last major Iraqi stronghold. The Tigris bisects Mosul from north to south.