Syria: Breaking News

[Khaled]

The last moments of a brother in Syria who was shot in the neck.. SubhaanAllaah look at the smile and contentment in his face.. He looks so peaceful

[Khaled]

*At a press conference in Qatar's capital Doha on Wednesday, a*group of leading Syrian businessmen pledged to provide $300m in aid to help fund the Syrian opposition.

"This fund has been established to support all components of*the revolution in Syria, and to establish a strong relationship*with businessmen inside and outside Syria and to protect*civilians," Wael Merza, secretary general of the opposition*Syrian National Council, told reporters in the Qatari capital.*

Merza said that half of the $300m had already been*spent, some of which were contributions to the rebel Free Syrian*Army.

"The majority of support given (to the rebels) will be on*the technical side," Merza said. "It's also logistical support*to our people on the ground."

"Yes, we supported the Free (Syrian) Army to protect*civilians," said Mustafa Sabbagh, president newly-formed Syrian*Business Forum of businessmen in exile.

The fund will be based in Doha, Merza said.

[Khaled]

Wednesday, a massacre of at least 86 people including more than 20 women and 20 children were slaughtered by Assaad troops in the villages of Qubair and Maarzaf in Hama. Many burnt bodies were found. The death toll for that day nationwide was 130. Read more about it here.

Also, UN observers were in my hometown of Al-Hisn. My cousin has just told me that they are currently being heavily bombed and that the town is currently surrounded. Please continue your du'as

[Khaled]

Al-jazeera has also reported it just 5 minutes ago -

لا حول ولا قوة الى بالله

Opposition activists in Syria say that Syrian security forces and pro-government armed groups have killed dozens of people in a village in Hama province.

An activist in Hama told Al Jazeera that at least 70 people had been killed in al-Qubayr village in the Marzaf area in shelling by government forces and execution-style killings.

The activist said that Syrian tanks and pro-government armed gangs began shelling and attacking the village on Wednesday afternoon, killing several people.

Armed gangs and Syrian soldiers drove into the village an hour later, executing some people in a manner similar to killings carried out in Houla last month.

Al Jazeera is unable to independently verify reports of killings.

The latest reported killings come as Syrian businessmen living abroad created a $300m fund to support rebels fighting forces of President Bashar al-Assad, opposition activists announced.

[shaquille20]

Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Ilahi Rajioon.... May Allah grant them all the best in the hereafter...

[Khaled]

Ameen.. Activists are saying that the Shabeeha took some of the bodies back to their villages, burnt them and starting singing and dancing around them.

How are we letting them do this to us?

[Khaled]

Maarzaf is a tiny village subhaanAllaah. It only has about 25 houses and the village is known for the high number of orphans it has. 35 people were killed from one family. Subhaanak Ya Rabb! Grant them martyrdom and grant those responsible the pits of hell!

[Khaled]

The following are details of the first UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs' Bulletin on Syria.

At least 1 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance inside Syria.

Over 78,000 Syrians are living as refugees in neighbouring countries.

Assistance is being provided but does not match the needs. WFP plans to reach 500,000 people with food assistance in June. The modalities for scaling-up the response have been agreed with the Syrian Government. Additional funding is urgently required for the response,both inside Syria and in neighbouring countries. Food assistance is stepped up; WFP aims to reach 500,000 people in June

Food prices have risen by 30 to 60 per cent over the past year and access to food in some areas has been severely reduced. In coordination with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), WFP has scaled-up its food assistance in Syria, reaching 110,000 people in March and 250,000 people in each of April and May.

In the first week of June, WFP will double its caseload to reach 500,000 people.

Over the past month, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), cooperation with SARC, has supplied 15,000 food parcels for 74,500 people in Hama, Homs, Idlib and Rural Damascus. As of June, ICRC is planning to provide food assistance to 100,000 people per month.

More than 50,000 people receive basic household items; more urgently require support

Families who have relocated as a result of the unrest are in urgent need of nonfood items (NFIs), including hygiene kits, kitchen sets, blankets and mattresses.

Host families are also experiencing shortages of NFIs due to limited livelihood opportunities. UN agencies have distributed NFIs to approximately 52,000 people since the beginning of 2012, including to 12,000 people in rural Damascus over the past month.

[Precious_Diamond]

Looks interesting: http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story.../Helping-Hands

[Khaled]

General Robert Mood, the head of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria, says UN obsevers have been prevented from reaching the village in Hama province where activists report a 'massacre'. He says in a statement:

"UNSMIS dispatched UN Observers to Mazraat al-Qubeir, early Thursday morning, to verify reports of large-scale killings in the village. The observers have not yet been able to reach the village. Their mission is being obstructed by three factors:

1. They are being stopped at Syrian Army checkpoints and in some cases turned back.

2. Some of our patrols are being stopped by civilians in the area.

3. We are receiving information from residents of the area that the safety of our observers is at risk if we enter village of Mazraat al-Qubeir.

Despite these challenges, the observers are still working to get into the village to try to establish the facts on the ground. UNSMIS is concerned about the restriction imposed on its movement as it will impede our ability to monitor, observe and report.

[Ahmad]

[Khaled]

It looks like the next massacre will be in Talbisah. How pathetic are we to allow this to continue?

[*saRah*]

La hawla walaquwata illa billah I have no words!

[Ahmad]

[Ahmad]

[Khaled]

They are only getting worse.

This just in -

Report of a plane flew over the mountain and dropped an unknown substance onto the mountain. It resembles smoke, but is pure white and is moving very slowly towards the ground. It is believed to be a phosphorus bomb similar to those used by Israel against the people of Gaza.


DARAA: Dara'a coordination: LAJAT area: aircraft, belonging to the Syrian are force are spraying white substances in the sky of the area, which has now become like it is full of white clouds, it is believed the substance has germs in it. A heavy situation of panic and fear is spreading between the people. We will let you know of any updates as soon as we get them.

We look to the monitors, and ask them to head to the area immediately to inspect the substance in the area, we look to them to take the right actions to stop a dsaster from happening.

NOTE; Lajat is a designated UNESCO Biosphere Site

[falah]

UN monitors arrive to gruesome scene of massacre

UN monitors have arrived at the gruesome scene of a massacre in the Syrian village Kubeir, where militia loyal to the government are said to have slaughtered at least 78 people on Wednesday.

The UN observers are trying to verify the details of the massacre, but were yesterday stopped from entering the village and were fired upon by small arms and turned back by both security forces and residents of the area.

Activists say government forces removed many of the bodies while the UN observers were being hindered from reaching the site.

The opposition has blamed the killings on militia loyal to president Bashar al-Assad...

Activists say army tanks shelled Kubeir before storming in with plainclothes gunmen, killing more than half of the village's 150 residents and burning many of their bodies.

The BBC's Paul Danahar, who is travelling with the main UN convoy, has described a hellish scene at the village.

He says houses in the area have been burnt out and body parts lie on the ground.

Danahar says he is sickened by what he has seen and the stench of burning flesh in the village is still strong.

"We can see that some of the houses have been burnt out - one of them looks to have an RPG hole blown out the side of it," he said.

"There is no-one alive from this village to tell us what happened at the moment. We've been led up here by some nearby villagers, they say it was Shahiba - militia from another village that have come and done this.

"It is a appalling scene here."...

...Russia, with support from China, has refused US calls to put greater pressure on Mr Assad, whose family's four-decade regime has been a key ally of Moscow since the Cold War era.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says 1.5 million in Syria are in need of relief aid because of the conflict.

The figure is half a million more than the UN's estimate.

The Red Cross says more people are being driven from their homes, and there is a critical shortage of food, medical care, and shelter.

"Currently the situation is extremely tense, not only in Houla and in Hama but in many, many places around the country," said spokesman Hicham Hassan.

"I refer to rural Idlib, rural Damascus, Hama, to a lesser extent rural Aleppo, Daraa, Deir Azzor and even Latakia in the coastal area," he said.

"The fighting is ongoing between the Syrian army and armed groups of opposition over control of mainly rural areas or neighbourhoods within cities and towns."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/justin/

[Khaled]

There has been a steady flow of defections to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) which have been documented in defection videos.

Western intelligence reports indicate that as many as half the army conscripts did not report to army duty in the last three call-ups, and that lower-level officers are deserting in large numbers.

Many of the FSA fighters are now being trained in makeshift military camps in Idlib province in the north of the country.

[Ahmad]

New massacre in Daraa

[Ahmad]

A mother and her children killed by shelling in Dar`al Balad. At the end the brother said, "This is all because we do not bow down to anyone except Allah `azza wa jal and we WILL NOT bow down to anyone except Allah `azza wa jal!"