Nearly 50,000 displaced as Iran, Turkey, and Russia FM to discuss Syria

Bashar al-Assad, head of the Syrian regime, continued his counter-offensive after insurgents’ captured Aleppo last week, vowing to carry on towards the country’s capital of Damascus. Both Iran and Russia said they would help al-Assad’s government fight back against the Islamist-led offensive, while Turkey said the flare-up in the country’s civil war was due to the Syrian regime’s failure to engage in dialogue with opposition groups.