Syrian opposition not in Geneva on the day of peace talks
UN officials said Syrian peace talks will begin in Geneva as planned Friday, despite an ongoing boycott by the main Syrian opposition group, which continues to stay away pending assurances from the UN chief on the implementation of Security Council resolutions related to humanitarian issues. The opposition boycott is a blow to the UN’s first attempt in two years to bring representatives of President Bashar Assad’s government and his opponents together. Meanwhile, Syrian opposition members met for a fourth day in the Saudi Arabian capital on Friday, but had still not announced whether they would join peace talks beginning the same day in Geneva. The Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee (HNC) has said it will not attend the negotiations with the Syrian regime until an agreement is reached on aid entering besieged towns. Some opposition leaders have said they first want an end to air strikes and blockades by government forces. [AP, Reuters, 1/29/2016]

Starvation spreads before Syria peace talks
In the rebel held area of Moadamiya, a Damascus suburb, residents say there is a renewed Syrian government siege there. The neighboring town of Darayya has also been bombarded and cut off from the last food smuggling routes, forcing many to subsist on one meal a day. Similar humanitarian crises are playing out around Syria. Residents, rebels, and international aid agencies accuse the Assad regime of reinstating or tightening sieges on opposition held areas to subdue, reclaim, or hold strategic territory. The government’s siege tactics have become more systematic and have escalated over the past two months. Western diplomats, aid officials, and Syrian rebels say this is part of an overall military effort to secure more territory and strengthen the government’s hand ahead of UN brokered peace talks in Geneva. [WSJ, 1/29/2016]

Iran coerces Afghans to fight in Syria, according to Human Rights Watch
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has recruited thousands of Afghans, some by coercion, to fight in Syria’s war alongside forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Friday. “Iran has not just offered Afghan refugees and migrants incentives to fight in Syria, but several said they were threatened with deportation back to Afghanistan unless they did,” said HRW Emergencies Director Peter Bouckaert. “Faced with this bleak choice, some of these Afghan men and boys fled Iran for Europe.” But some reports say the Afghans have been offered residency and a monthly salary to fight for Iran. The Islamic republic denies having any boots on the ground and insists its commanders and generals act as “military advisers” in Syria and Iraq. [AFP, Al Arabiya, 1/29/2016]

Syrian Kurds plan attack to seal Turkish border
A member of the Syrian Kurdish YPG has revealed that the militia and its allies are planning to attack and seize the final stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border held by the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL). Such an offensive could deprive ISIS of a logistical route used by the group to bring in supplies and foreign recruits. The attack could lead to confrontation with Turkey, which is fighting against its own Kurdish insurgents and sees the Syrian Kurds as an enemy. On Thursday, Turkish soldiers clearing mines came under fire from ISIS-controlled territory across the Syrian border, Turkey’s Dogan news agency said. There were no casualties, but stray bullets hit buildings near the border. [Reuters, 1/29/2017]