– Syrian government says will attend peace talks starting March 14, opposition undecided
– Syrian army retakes village in Aleppo province from Nusra Front
– US denies building air bases in northern Syria
– One killed, another wounded as rocket projectiles from Syria hit Turkey
– EU, Turkey hope to get breakthrough migrant deal by March 17

Syrian government says will attend peace talks starting March 14, opposition undecided
Syria’s government said Monday it would attend renewed peace talks in Geneva starting March 14, but the opposition was still considering whether to go despite a major lull in fighting. A source close to the Syrian government delegation said it would attend the new round of talks, but the opposition has sent mixed signals on whether it will take part. High Negotiations Committee (HNC) Head Riad Hijab said Monday the Syrian government’s failure to release detainees and the inadequate flow of aid to besieged areas were among the main preconditions for the opposition to attend the indirect peace talks. Also on Monday, a Syrian or Russian air strike on a fuel market in Syria’s northern Idlib province reportedly killed 12 people. Hijab said such incidents would inform the HNC’s decision on whether to attend peace talks in Geneva, calling it a “massacre.” The UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said Tuesday substantive talks are scheduled to begin March 14. [AFP, WSJ, 3/8/2016]

Syrian army retakes village in Aleppo province from Nusra Front
The Syrian army backed by allied forces recaptured a village from Islamist insurgents hours after Nusra Front and others seized the area south of city of Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Tuesday. The Nusra Front and Islamist group Jund al-Aqsa and others took the village of al-Ais on Monday, in the first advance of the group this year but government forces quickly launched a counter assault and pushed them out, SOHR said. The Nusra Front is not covered by the US-Russia truce agreement to halt the fighting in Syria and Moscow and Damascus said they will continue fighting groups outside the deal. On Monday, anti-government protests in Idlib city ended abruptly when members of the Nusra Front threatened to fire on protesters if they did not leave the streets. [Reuters, 3/8/2016]

US denies building air bases in northern Syria
The Pentagon on Monday denied reports it is building two airfields in northern Syria as part of the battle against the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL). Syrian military and security officials have said the United States is expanding an airfield in Rmeilan, in Hasaka province, and new reports have surfaced of a base near the Kurdish city of Kobani. “We are not building or operating any air bases in Syria,” Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters. “That we have people there and that we have made deliveries there, and that they have to get there by some means should be no secret, but we are not going to comment on the means,” Davis said. [AFP, 3/7/2016]

One killed, another wounded as rocket projectiles from Syria hit Turkey
One person has been killed while three others wounded as five rocket projectiles from Syria hit Turkey’s southeastern border province of Kilis. The military reported that it fired back at the ISIS targets within the ‘rules of engagement,’ although it was not immediately clear which force was in control of the area in northern Syria the rockets were fired from. The attack comes after Turkish armed forces launched artillery strikes on repeated occasions in the last two weeks on ISIS positions in Syria. [Hurriyet, Naharnet, 3/8/2016]

EU, Turkey hope to get breakthrough migrant deal by March 17
European Union leaders hoped early Tuesday they reached the outlines for a possible deal with Ankara to return thousands of migrants to Turkey and said they were confident a full agreement could be reached at a summit next week. All eyes centered now on March 17 and the start of a two-day summit to finalize the commitment and clinch an iron-clad deal which the leaders hope would allow for a return to normalcy at their borders by the end of the year. Turkey, home to 2.75 million refugees chiefly from neighboring Syria, surprised EU counterparts Monday by demanding funding beyond the 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) already pledged. Meanwhile, many humanitarian organizations have expressed concerns over the proposals released, arguing that the new agreement will contravene international human rights law. [AP, NYT, 3/8/2016]