– Arab-Kurd fighters kill 16 ISIS militants near Raqqa
– French military says air strikes destroy ISIS missile factory; French jets strike ISIS oil sites
– Attack on Iraqi military base kills at least 12; ISIS attacks Ramadi as security forces extend control
– Turkey, Israel need each other, Erdogan says

Arab-Kurd fighters kill 16 ISIS militants near Raqqa
Arab and Kurdish forces have killed at least 16 fighters from the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) during fierce clashes north of the jihadists’ stronghold of Raqqa, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said Sunday. ISIS launched an offensive last Wednesday against areas held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition near to Ain Issa, a town held by the SDF some 50 kilometers from Raqqa, killing 21 Kurdish fighters. The SDF also recaptured an area seized by ISIS a few days earlier, SOHR said. The alliance, made up of units from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Arab fighters, has carried out several major operations against ISIS. In related news, the SDF also advanced against Islamist insurgents in Aleppo province on Friday, capturing at least one village. [AFP, 1/3/2016]

French military says air strikes destroy ISIS missile factory; French jets strike ISIS oil sites
The French military says its warplanes have destroyed a site in Syria used by ISIS to produce missiles and store weapons. The French Defense Ministry said in a statement Sunday that the overnight air strikes targeted a site east of Aleppo, in an operation conducted by Rafale fighter jets using SCALP cruise missiles. Also on Friday, French warplanes bombed ISIS oil installationsclose to its Syrian stronghold of Raqqa, as France’s Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian visited the Jordanian air base where the jets took off. “I have been informed of the operations which took place overnight against oil sites. We must continue with this logic,” Le Drian said during a New Year trip to the base, where around 250 French personnel are deployed. [AP, 1/3/2016]

Attack on Iraqi military base kills at least 12; ISIS attacks Ramadi as security forces extend control
ISIS suicide attackers killed at least 12 Iraqi forces Sunday in an attack on police training at a military base. Fighters equipped with rifles and suicide vests snuck into Speicher base, near the city of Tikrit, in the middle of the night to attack a large group of police forces from Nineveh, a northern province of which Mosul is the capital, who were undergoing training. “Under the cover of fog, they broke into Speicher,” said Mahmud al-Sorchi, spokesman for the paramilitary force being set up to take back ISIS-held Nineveh. “Nineveh police managed to kill seven attackers but three were able to detonate their suicide vests,” he said, adding that three officers were among the 12 policemen killed. He also said 20 policemen were wounded in the attack. Several other security sources in the region confirmed the attack, which was claimed by ISIS. In Ramadi on Friday, ISIS also attacked security forces with seven suicide car bombs on the outskirts of the city while security forces attempt to extend their control of the city.  [AFP, BBC, 1/3/2016]

Turkey, Israel need each other, Erdogan says
Turkey must accept that it needs Israel, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday, as the two countries seek to thrash out a deal on normalizing ties. NATO member Turkey was a key regional ally of Israel until the two countries fell out over the deadly storming by Israeli commandos in 2010 of a Turkish aid ship, the Mavi Marmara, bound for Gaza. Erdogan further ignites tension with Israel with his sometimes inflammatory rhetoric toward the Jewish state. But the atmosphere was transformed following the revelation last month the two sides were making progress in secret talks to seek a rapprochement. “Israel is in need of a country like Turkey in the region,” Erdogan said in remarks to Turkish reporters published in leading dailies Saturday. “And we too must accept that we need Israel. This is a reality in the region … If mutual steps are implemented based on sincerity, then normalization will follow.” [AFP, 1/4/2016]