TODAY’S MESOP SYRIA INSIGHT
The Syrian government is expected to miss a major deadline next week to destroy its 12 nuclear weapons production facilities. An official from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said Thursday that none of the facilities had been destroyed yet.
In the city of Homs, a car bomb exploded in the Armenian district, killing at least 15 people and wounding 12 others Thursday. In the south, Syrian aircraft launched an attack near the Lebanese border on the rebel-held town of Yarboud, where at least 17 rebels were killed in fighting on Thursday. Increased Syrian aircraft activity near the Israel-Syria border Friday morning prompted the Israeli Air Force to scramble fighter jets four times, though it did not result in direct confrontation.