Syrian government forces have ambushed rebel fighters in a strategic suburb of the capital Damascus, killing at least 49 people, activists said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Tuesday reported that the opposition fighters were killed near Adra, a town which saw heavy fighting when Assad's forces recaptured it from the rebels a few months ago.
The town is located on a route that rebels have been using to smuggle weapons into Damascus.
The latest violence came amid reports that rebels have taken over the village of Khan al-Assal in Aleppo province, the site of an alleged deadly chemical attack last March.
The seizure of the village near the northern city of Aleppo followed three days of intense clashes between rebels and government forces.
The Syrian government and the opposition have accused each other of using chemical weapons in a missile attack that killed at least 25 people in Khan al-Assal, one of the last villages in the western part of Aleppo province that was held by Assad's forces.
On Tuesday, Robert Serry, a UN envoy on the Middle East peace process, said that his organisation had been told of 13 alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria.
The allegations came as the head of a UN investigation into the use of chemical arms in Syria, Ake Sellstrom, and the UN disarmament chief, Angela Kane, arrived in Beirut.
There's a neat little interactive picture on Aftenposten today, showing the difference between the Zaatari refugee camp almost a year ago and today. It has grown to become Jordan's "fourth largest city" with 132 000 refugees. There's a blue slider in the middle of the picture; click and drag to compare the satellite image from those two dates. http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/verden/1.11146122
Syrian rebels claim they have captured the entire western area of Aleppo, a northern province that has seen harsh clashes between the forces of President Bashar al-Assad and opposition fighters for months.
“We managed to liberate the western entry point to Aleppo. We achieved this victory against the Assad forces and Iranian Revolutionary Guards, along with some forces from Hezbollah,” rebels said in a video shared on the Internet on Tuesday.
“At this point, we can say that Khan al-Assal has been liberated entirely and is in our control, which means that Aleppo’s countryside is in our control.”
Khan al-Assal was the last regime bastion in the western part of Aleppo province, which lies on the Turkish border, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based NGO monitoring developments in Syria through intelligence from activists in the country.
The rebels also seized the villages of Obeida and Hajireh, southeast of Aleppo city on Monday, the group said.
The Syrian government and the opposition have accused each other of being behind a chemical missile attack that killed at least 25 people in Khan al-Assal.
On Tuesday, Robert Serry, a UN envoy on the Middle East peace process, said that his organisation had been told of 13 alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria.
More than 100,000 people have now been killed in more than two years of conflict in Syria, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said, as he appealed for new efforts to convene a peace conference.
Ban on Thursday called on the Syrian government and opposition to halt the violence, saying it was "imperative to have a peace conference in Geneva as soon as possible".
The secretary-general spoke before talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry, who stood nearby.
"There is no military solution to Syria,'' Kerry then told reporters. "There is only a political solution, and that will require leadership in order to bring people to the table."
Last month, the UN increased the overall death toll in the conflict to nearly 93,000, with civilians bearing the brunt of the attacks.
In this Channel 4 News exclusive, British and other western jihadi fighters are shown in Syria as never before - fighting and killing, shopping and preparing for a wedding.
(Reuters) - Syrian rebels say they have overrun army positions in the north and south of the country this week, including an offensive in which a rights monitoring group said 51 soldiers were executed.
Insurgents have focused on taking isolated army outposts, mostly in rural areas while forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have made gains in recent months around the capital Damascus and the central city of Homs.
One video, posted on YouTube on Wednesday by a rebel group calling itself the Supporters of the Islamic Caliphate, shows around 30 bodies of young men piled up against a wall. Blood is splattered on the wall and one corpse is smoldering.
"Tens of Assad's (militia) killed," says a man off camera. He said the footage was filmed in the area of the northern town of Khan al-Assal which was taken by rebels last week.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an anti-Assad monitoring group, cited activists on Friday in Khan al-Assal who said that more than 150 soldiers were killed on Monday and Tuesday in and around the town.
The Observatory said that figure included 51 soldiers and officers who were executed.
Another video, posted by a rebel group in the village of Hara in the southern province of Deraa, shows several dead soldiers in a room, lying in a pool of blood with head injuries.
"These are Assad's dogs," says a voice off screen.
Saudi Arabia is recruiting Yemenite mercenaries and sending them to help opposition forces fighting to unseat Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Western intelligence sources say the operation is being organized by the Kingdom’s general intelligence service, headed by the former Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin-Sultan.
The Paris-based Intelligence on Line reports that in its latest internet posting.
According to the story, hundreds of Yemenite migrant workers (in Saudi Arabia), whose visas have expired, are being offered military training and pay in order to help out the rebels in the Free Syrian Army. They are also being promised that upon their return from Syria, they will be allowed to work in Saudi Arabia once again.
Their training is being provided by army and intelligence officers of the Pakistani intelligence service, SIS, which is known to have good ties with Saudi intelligence. The operation is being coordinated with the CIA, and American intelligence officers are also involved in training members of the Free Syrian Army in camps in Jordan.
The Yemenite mercenaries are crossing into Syria from Turkey, whose intelligence services are also privy to the clandestine operation. The recruitment of the Yemenites is intended to provide a counterweight to the assistance that the Syrian regime is getting from Iran, Shiite militias in Iraq, and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters.
Saudi Arabia is the leading provider of aid to the opposition in Syria, sending weapons and money. While Saudi authorities are comfortable with religious Muslim fighters, the Saudis — like the Americans and their partners — are trying not to strengthen extremists who were sent or financed by al-Qaeda.
The Khan al-Assal Massacre makes UN's CW investigation impossible. Khan al Assal is the town where Chemical Weapons, as proved by international accredited and fully recognized Russian Investigators, were used against Civilians and Syrian Soldiers. Now the UN claims it can no longer perform their own investigation since the evidence is 'tainted' and the area is 'unsafe' because it's not in the control of the Syrian Arab Army.
DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrian government troops gained ground in clashes Friday in two rebel-held neighborhoods in the central city of Homs, edging closer to a historic mosque and closing in on opposition fighters in the area, state television and activists said.
The advance came amid a wide offensive by President Bashar Assad's forces and as Syria's Western-backed opposition group met for the first time with the U.N. Security Council.
With about 1 million residents, Homs lies along a main artery linking the capital, Damascus, with regime strongholds on the Mediterranean coast to the west. Homs has played a key role in the country's civil war, now in its third year, and the struggle for control of the city also has underscored the conflict's increasingly sectarian undertones.
Activists, who consider Homs "the capital of the revolution," say the regime wants to capture the entire city to include it in a future Alawite state – stretching from Homs to the coast – where Assad could possibly make his last stand. Assad is a member of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, while most of the rebels fighting to topple his regime are Sunnis.
In recent weeks, Assad's troops have captured several nearby rebel-held areas, including the towns of Qusair and Talkalkh near the border with Lebanon.
State TV said Friday that troops advanced in Homs' northern neighborhoods of Khaldiyeh and Jouret el-Shayah.
It seems like Homs is liberated soon and the Kurds are making huge progress at the Turkish border. Keeping the border area is essential for the FSA, as most of their fighters, weapons and supplies come into the country from Turkey.
Hope the Syrian government can prevail against these extremists... disgusting what happened in Libya, no sane person would ever hand their country to a bunch of animals. Assad has stated time and time again that he will step down 'in civilized manner' once the country is safe, even if he stays in power anything will be better than the backwards tribal extremist shithole Libya became after Gaddafi, people need to be brought before an international tribunal for even thinking about giving these people (if you can call them that) weapons. Thank god for Russia and China
On July 29 2013 01:13 Zeo wrote: Hope the Syrian government can prevail against these extremists... disgusting what happened in Libya, no sane person would ever hand their country to a bunch of animals. Assad has stated time and time again that he will step down 'in civilized manner' once the country is safe, even if he stays in power anything will be better than the backwards tribal extremist shithole Libya became after Gaddafi, people need to be brought before an international tribunal for even thinking about giving these people (if you can call them that) weapons. Thank god for Russia and China
I'm sorry, I must have missed this, can you post a reference to a respectable newssource?
On July 29 2013 01:13 Zeo wrote: Hope the Syrian government can prevail against these extremists... disgusting what happened in Libya, no sane person would ever hand their country to a bunch of animals. Assad has stated time and time again that he will step down 'in civilized manner' once the country is safe, even if he stays in power anything will be better than the backwards tribal extremist shithole Libya became after Gaddafi, people need to be brought before an international tribunal for even thinking about giving these people (if you can call them that) weapons. Thank god for Russia and China
I'm sorry, I must have missed this, can you post a reference to a respectable newssource?
He said it himself
At about 3:55
There will be an election in 2014. Previous elections weren't really democratic, but the Syrian constitution got changed some time ago so that all kinds of parties and people are allowed to compete in the election.
I doubt a democratic election is forthcoming in Syria, even if Assad wins. But lets be honest here, a huge portion of the people want an islamist state, and a huge portion of the people want an authoritarian state of possibly a non islamist bent---democracy isnt really going to help things, at all. It really shouldnt be a goal for anyone here. A stable evolutionary regime is what we should want, for the people of Syria, because it takes decades or even centuries for gradual cultural change, to where liberty and *real* democracy is actually attainable.
On July 29 2013 01:13 Zeo wrote: Hope the Syrian government can prevail against these extremists... disgusting what happened in Libya, no sane person would ever hand their country to a bunch of animals. Assad has stated time and time again that he will step down 'in civilized manner' once the country is safe, even if he stays in power anything will be better than the backwards tribal extremist shithole Libya became after Gaddafi, people need to be brought before an international tribunal for even thinking about giving these people (if you can call them that) weapons. Thank god for Russia and China
It is much more complicated than you think. Firstly not all those fighting against Assad are Islamist. Sizeable numbers are not, they just want Assad out because he is a tyrant who tortured Children who wrote anti-Assad Graffiti.. Secondly, Assad has extremists fighting for him as well. Hezbollah and Iranian Revolutionary Guards are Shi'a extremists (from Lebanon and Iran respectively), are allied with Assad in the fighting. Thirdly, Saudi Arabia is training and funding Yemenese mercenaries to help overthrow Assad, these are not Sunni extremists but straight up mercenaries fighting for money (and Saudi favours). The Kurds are aiming to carve out territory for themselves, independent of Turkey, Iraq or Assad. Also some Lebanese are fighting against Assad because they oppose Syrian's domination of Lebanon. There is almost a virtual civil war happening in Lebanon over the past year and a half between factions who support and oppose Assad.
Essentially we are seeing a proxy war in Syria, where all the neighbouring countries are intervening in the fighting in order to get an outcome most beneficial to themselves. This is exactly what happened in Afghanistan in the 90's when the US lost interest because the Soviets had pulled out, and then you had a civil war in Afghanistan as Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan all backed various factions in an effort to establish an ally Government in Kabul.
God knows what Israel thinks of all this. I guess if Al Quaeda and Hezbollah kill each other, they are fine with it.
On July 29 2013 03:28 Dazed_Spy wrote: I doubt a democratic election is forthcoming in Syria, even if Assad wins. But lets be honest here, a huge portion of the people want an islamist state, and a huge portion of the people want an authoritarian state of possibly a non islamist bent---democracy isnt really going to help things, at all. It really shouldnt be a goal for anyone here. A stable evolutionary regime is what we should want, for the people of Syria, because it takes decades or even centuries for gradual cultural change, to where liberty and *real* democracy is actually attainable.
According to surveys the majority of Syrian population wants Assad to stay as their president right now.
He stands for peace, unity and a secular Syria. I think that's still the best solution, as the other option would be a Muslim Brotherhood-led government similar to the one that just failed in Egypt.
On July 29 2013 03:28 Dazed_Spy wrote: I doubt a democratic election is forthcoming in Syria, even if Assad wins. But lets be honest here, a huge portion of the people want an islamist state, and a huge portion of the people want an authoritarian state of possibly a non islamist bent---democracy isnt really going to help things, at all. It really shouldnt be a goal for anyone here. A stable evolutionary regime is what we should want, for the people of Syria, because it takes decades or even centuries for gradual cultural change, to where liberty and *real* democracy is actually attainable.
According to surveys the majority of Syrian population wants Assad to stay as their president right now.
He stands for peace, unity and a secular Syria. I think that's still the best solution, as the other option would be a Muslim Brotherhood-led government similar to the one that just failed in Egypt.
I'm not sure how reliable polls can be in this situation, and given theres a civil war going on obviously Assad fails on the 'unity' front. But at least he symbolizes continuity and a kind of soft authoritarianism. If his regime survives, I do think it can slowly, even if unintentionally, foster a more western esque culture where eventually a genuine democratic government can arise. But your right, the alternative is obviously theocratic despotism.
Forty people were killed and at least 160 people were wounded in explosions at a weapons cache in the central Syrian city of Homs, an activist group opposed to President Bashar al-Assad said.
The blast occurred in the south-eastern district of Wadi al-Dhahab on Thursday, which the army has taken over, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The group has a network of sources in the opposition and state security forces.
The Observatory said the casualties were soldiers and civilians and that some of the wounded were in a critical condition.
Activists told Al Jazeera that the explosions were a result of rebel shelling of the Wadi al-Dahab area. One activist said the blasts were "massive" and were heard from kilometres away. He could not confirm the target was the city's arms depot.
Accounts of Belgian youths joining the rebel forces in Syria have raised questions about the radicalization process in the country. RT has interviewed one father who driven by love placed his life at risk to find his son.
Dimitri Bontinck is on a crusade to find his son Jejoen and return with him to Belgium, after the teenager fled to fight with the jihadists against government forces. The last time the father saw his son was in March when Jejoen informed him that he was going to study in Egypt.
Bontinck claims that his son underwent an Islamic radicalization process which took approximately two years. Prior to Jejoen’s conversion to Islam, his father said he was raised Catholic. Jejoen lived with his Belgian father and Nigerian mother in Antwerp, Belgium's second largest city.
“Two years ago he was a western child, who had the best education you can ever imagine. He was a Jesuit. He went to elite schools in Belgium. He had a Catholic education. I’m an atheist, his mother is Catholic,” Bontinck told RT.
Bontinck believes that his teenage son embarked on the path of Islam after a failed teenage love affair, after which Jejoen became involved with a “Moroccan girlfriend who changed his mind to become Muslim.”
His father claimed that the new convert started going to a local Mosque where he was “converted by Sharia4Belgium,” a radical Salafist organisation which denounces democracy and calls for the creation of an Islamic state in Belgium. Sharia4Belgium was officially disbanded, but the organisation claims to continue to have influence.
Syrian rebels have captured an ammunition depot north of Damascus from government forces, activists said, seizing a hoard of anti-tank missiles and rockets which could strengthen their firepower after a string of defeats.
Video footage of the raid published on Saturday showed delighted rebel fighters carrying out boxes of weapons from the arms cache in Denha, near the town of Yabroud, following an overnight attack.
Still largely outgunned by Assad's forces, who have gained ground around the capital Damascus and Syria's third largest city Homs, the rebels have sought arms to tip the balance of power in the two-year conflict that has killed at least 100,000.
Saturday's raid yielded French-made Milan anti-tank missiles, Russian Konkurs missiles and Grad rockets, according to video footage which showed the rebels carrying off their haul through the dark corridors of the captured complex.
"Our return to Qusayr just got closer," shouted one fighter, referring to the former rebel stronghold and border town which was captured two months ago by Assad forces backed by the Lebanon's Hezbollah.
EPT
