Syrian troops advance in Homs

DAMASCUS: The Syrian army recaptured a town and village in the central province of Homs from the Islamic State group on Monday, state media and a monitoring group said.
"The army in cooperation with popular defence groups (pro-regime militias) took control of Maheen and Hawareen in the southeast of Homs province after inflicting heavy losses on Daesh," state television said, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
Britain-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the army’s advance, which it said had been backed by Russian warplanes and military helicopters.
The recapture of Maheen comes after it was overrun by IS on November 1.
Previously, a ceasefire had been in force under which rebel factions remained inside the town but government forces manned checkpoints around it.
IS forces launched their assault on Maheen from neighbouring al-Qaryatain, which the group captured earlier this year, kidnapping hundreds of civilians and destroying ancient sites.
The army advance now puts al-Qaryatain, which is just 15 kilometres from Maheen, in their sights.
Elsewhere in Homs province, the Observatory said government forces were advancing on the outskirts of the ancient city of Palmyra, which IS captured in May.
Since seizing the famed city, IS has destroyed many of its Unesco World Heritage sites, including ancient temples, drawing international condemnation.
The latest advances come nearly two months into a Russian air campaign in support of President Bashar.
Moscow says its air strikes target IS and other "terrorists," but rebels and their backers say moderate and Islamist opposition fighters have borne the brunt of them.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday argued that the terror attacks in Paris have bolstered the case for Britain to join air strikes in Syria, as the government unveiled an increase in defence spending.
Cameron is to make his case for strikes to parliament this week and the indications are that dozens of opposition Labour MPs rebelling against their party leader could swing a subsequent vote in his favour.
"What’s going on in the world matters to the United Kingdom, so we should be helping to shape it and with today’s announcement we can do just that," Cameron said during a visit to a Royal Air Force base in west London, referring to a boost in military budgets.
"I’ll be making a statement in parliament later this week where I will set out in full our strategy for combatting ISIL, both in Iraq and Syria," he said, using a term for the Islamic State group, which has claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks.
Cameron earlier on Monday visited Paris, where he met President Francois Hollande and paid homage to the 130 victims of the November 13 shootings and bombings outside the Bataclan concert venue where 90 of them died.
In a speech to parliament later on Monday, Cameron is expected to pledge an extra £12 billion ($18.2 billion, 17.1 billion euros) for the military to act against threats including the Islamic State group.
The five-year Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) will include measures such as the creation of two new 5,000-strong rapid reaction strike brigades which will be available for global deployment at short notice by 2025, officials said.
Writing in Monday’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, the prime minister said: "As the murders on the streets of Paris reminded us so starkly, Islamic State is not some remote problem thousands of miles away; it is a direct threat to our security."
While British forces are taking part in air strikes on IS targets in Iraq, they are not involved in the international effort targeting Syria due to resistance from opposition parties still mindful of unpopular interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan.