Los Angeles Times, 7 February 2016 – Riyadh has announced that it would consider sending ground troops to assist a U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State militant group, a suggestion welcomed by the Obama administration.
But Syria and its allies view any such move as a hostile act aimed at the Syrian government, not the extremist group that controls territory in Syria and neighboring Iraq.
Russia, which has provided massive air power in recent months to help turn the war in Damascus’ favor, warned last week that Turkey may be preparing “an armed invasion” of Syria — a suggestion later dismissed as “laughable” by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey shares a more than 500-mile border with Syria.
Ankara, like Riyadh, is a major supporter of mostly Islamist rebel groups fighting to
overturn government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The toll of Iranian forces killed in Syria has been steadily rising, with reports of funerals  from Syria now a regular item on Iranian news broadcasts.
Along the Syrian-Turkish border, tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing the latest fighting in the Aleppo area remained stuck in rough camps just outside the international gate as Ankara refused to let them in. Turkey, home to more than 2 million Syrian refugees, has tightened border controls with Syria amid security and other concerns. But Turkish officials told reporters Saturday that they were providing aid for more than 30,000 displaced Syrians on the Syrian side of the border.
In opposition-held eastern Aleppo, reportedly home to more than 200,000 people, a group of first-responder volunteers known as the Civil Defense Units of Aleppo issued a statement Saturday labeling as a “disaster area” the surrounding countryside, where most of the recent fighting has been taking place.
“We demand the international community and relevant national organizations … immediately and decisively intervene to stop the intentional killing and destitution,” the group said.