Syria: Breaking News

[At-Ta'if]

Not really news-worthy, but for your information.

Annan quits as Syria peace envoy

[falah]

Not really news-worthy, but for your information.

Annan quits as Syria peace envoy

Pathetic! He is to the Syrians what Tony Blair is to the Palestinians; a pathetic fool employed by the oppressors. At least Annan realised how foolish he looked, Blair still claims to be Middle East "peace" envoy.

[falah]

Rebels use tanks to attack air base



NEAR ALEPPO, Syria/WASHINGTON: Syrian rebels used tanks to attack a military airport northwest of Aleppo on Thursday, a rebel commander said, as a human rights group reported 67 people killed in violence nationwide.

“We had already attacked the airport several times, but this was the first time we used heavy weapons,” which were “four tanks taken from Anadan,” rebel commander Abdel Aziz Salameh told AFP, referring to a strategic military checkpoint outside Aleppo that the rebels captured on Monday.

“The destruction was greater than the time before,” he added.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights earlier reported the rebel attack on Menagh military airport, 30 kilometres northwest of the commercial capital.

An AFP reporter who heard and saw the bombardment said rebels told him it was “an attack to take this airport being used by helicopters and planes that are firing on Aleppo.

The rebel Free Syrian Army has said it now controls “50 percent” of Aleppo, where the army is bombarding rebel-held areas, notably Salaheddin in the southwest, but has yet to advance on the ground.

Questioned about the lack of retaliation by the army, which is massed around Aleppo, a security source said that “the regime is testing the terrorists’ defences in order to uncover their hiding places before annihilating them in a major surgical operation.”

Mobile phone and Internet services, cut since Wednesday night, were being gradually restored in Aleppo by Thursday afternoon.

In the capital Damascus, heavy fighting erupted in the southern Tadamun district, the Syrian Observatory said.

“Syrian troops withdrew from the neighbourhood following heavy clashes with rebel battalions, which resulted in the killing of four rebels and at least three soldiers,” the Britain-based watchdog added.

And for the first time, regime forces raided the exclusive Muhajireen neighbourhood of north Damascus, arresting about 20 young men.

At least 67 people — 36 civilians, 16 soldiers and 15 rebels — were killed across the country Thursday, according to the Observatory.

It remains very difficult to get a clear picture of the situation on the ground in Syria, due to a scarcity of independent sources and heavy restrictions on the press.

Meanwhile, the United States on Thursday blamed the resignation of UN peace envoy Kofi Annan on the refusal of Russia and China to back resolutions targeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

White House spokesman Jay Carney, speaking aboard Air Force One, said that Annan’s departure also underscored the refusal of the Assad regime to halt murderous attacks against its own people.

“Annan’s resignation highlights the failure at the United Nations Security Council of Russia and China to support meaningful resolutions against Assad that would have held Assad accountable,” Carney said.

Carney also said that Obama appreciated the former UN secretary general’s willingness to serve as envoy to Syria and for his efforts to bring about a peaceful transition amid a bitter fighting between Assad’s forces and rebels.

Annan said he quit as UN-Arab League envoy for Syria Thursday because of a lack of support and the increasing militarization of the conflict. “I did not receive all the support that the cause deserved,” Annan told a hastily scheduled press conference in Geneva.

He added that “continuous finger-pointing and name-calling” in the UN Security Council had hindered his attempts to implement the so-called six-point peace plan.

Russia and China have three times blocked possible sanctions against Syria, triggering outrage from the United States and its allies.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-New...ttack-air-base

[fatma_said]

Can we also make a thread for the Muslims in burma. The world has turned their backs on the

[fatima_43]

yes fatma we can so why don't you make it

[falah]

Kidnapped Iranians are Revolutionary Guards

Syrian rebels claim that the 48 Iranians it kidnapped on Saturday are members of the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guards and not pilgrims as Iran alleges, in footage aired exclusively by Al Arabiya TV.

The rebels “captured 48 of the Shabiha (militiamen) of Iran who were on a reconnaissance mission in Damascus,” said a man dressed as an officer of the Free Syrian Army, in the video aired by Al Arabiya.

“During the investigation, we found that some of them were officers of the Revolutionary Guards,” he said, showing ID documents taken from one of the men, who appeared in the background with a large Syrian independence flag held by two armed men behind them.

Abdel Nasser Shmeir, interviewed later by Al Arabiya and presented as the commander of Al-Baraa Brigade, gave similar details.

“They are 48, in addition to an Afghani interpreter,” he said, claiming that the captives were members of a 150-strong group sent by Iran for “reconnaissance on the ground.”

Iran has appealed to Turkey and Qatar, both with close relations with the Syrian opposition, for help in securing the release of the hostages it claims were pilgrims visiting the Sayyida Zeinab shrine, a Shiite pilgrimage site in the southeastern suburbs of Damascus.

Shmeir said his men “have not yet entered into any contacts” about the hostages.

http://english.alarabiya.net/article...05/230496.html

[falah]

Iran backs Assad as Syrian forces choke off Aleppo

ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) – Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad won a pledge of support on Tuesday from regional ally Iran as his forces tried to choke off rebels in the northern city of Aleppo.

Seeking to restore his authority after suffering the gravest setbacks so far in the 17-month-old uprising, culminating in the defection of his prime minister on Monday, Assad was shown on television meeting a senior Iranian official.

It was the first footage broadcast of the 46-year-old leader for two weeks, and came a day after Syria’s new caretaker prime minister was televised chairing a hastily called cabinet session, possibly to rebut reports that other ministers had deserted along with premier Riyad Hijab.

Saeed Jalili, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Iran would not let its close partnership with the Syrian leadership to be shaken by the uprising or external foes.

“Iran will not allow the axis of resistance, of which it considers Syria to be an essential part, to be broken in any way,” Syrian television quoted Jalili as saying.

The “axis of resistance” refers to Shi’ite Iran’s anti-Israel alliance with Syria’s rulers – from the Alawite faith which is an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam – and the Lebanese Shi’ite militant group Hezbollah, which fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006, with Iranian and Syrian support.

Damascus and Tehran have held Sunni Muslim Gulf Arab states and Turkey, all allies of the United States and European powers, responsible for the bloodshed in Syria by supporting the overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim rebels. Western powers sympathetic to the rebels are concerned that anti-Western Sunni Islamists could benefit from a victory for the anti-Assad forces.

Iran’s Fars news agency reported that Jalili told Assad that Iran was prepared to provide humanitarian aid to Syria.

On a visit to Turkey, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said he wanted to work with Ankara to resolve the crisis.

Iran has also expressed worry about the fate of more than 40 Iranians it says are religious pilgrims kidnapped by rebels from a bus in Damascus while visiting Shi’ite shrines.

Rebels say they suspect the captives were troops sent to help Assad. A rebel spokesman in the Damascus area said on Monday three of the Iranians had been killed by government shelling. He initially said the rest would be executed if the shelling did not stop but later said they were being questioned.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, without naming Iran or Sunni powers, warned against a descent into “sectarian warfare” and said Washington would not tolerate “sending in proxies or terrorist fighters” to “exploit” Syria’s conflict.

REBEL AMMUNITION

In Aleppo, rebels trying to fight off an army offensive said they were running low on ammunition as Assad’s forces tried to encircle their stronghold in the southern approaches to the country’s biggest city.

Assad has reinforced his troops in preparation for an assault to recapture rebel-held districts of Aleppo after repelling fighters from most of Damascus.

“The Syrian army is trying to encircle us from two sides of Salaheddine,” said Sheikh Tawfiq, one of the rebel commanders, referring to the southwestern Aleppo neighbourhood which has seen heavy fighting over the last week.

Mortar fire and tank shells exploded across the district early on Tuesday, forcing rebel fighters to take cover in crumbling buildings and rubble-strewn alleyways.

Tanks have entered parts of Salaheddine and army snipers, using the cover of heavy bombardment, deployed on rooftops, hindering rebel movements.

Another rebel commander, Abu Ali, said snipers at the main Saleheddine traffic roundabout were preventing the rebels from bringing in reinforcements and supplies. He said five of his fighters were killed on Monday and 20 wounded.

But rebels said they were still holding the main streets of Salaheddine.

A fighter jet pounded targets in the eastern districts of Aleppo and shelling could be heard in the early morning, an activist in Aleppo said.

“Two families, about 14 people in total, were believed killed when a shell hit their home and it collapsed this morning,” the activist said. The house was one street away from a school being used as a base by rebels, he said...

http://www.firstpost.com/world/iran-...po-409508.html

[falah]

Survivor tells of Syria massacre at Aleppo by Assad forces

[Khaled]

Assalaamu Alaikum,

Please make a special dua for the Muslims in Syria and Burma and all around the world who are suffering at the hands of tyrants when you are breaking your fast in these past 10 nights of Ramadan and also during your Quyaam al-Layl inshaAllaah. And also watch this please. It's a very good short video by Shaykh Mohammed Al Shareef about "upgrading your dua"

[falah]

Muslims look search for bodies under rubble of a house in Aleppo after Alawi aerial bombardment:

[falah]

Muslim homes destroyed by Alawi airstrikes in Aleppo

[falah]

Mujahideen survey damage after Alawi airstrikes

[falah]

Syria rebels claim upper hand as battle for Aleppo grinds towards stalemate

Despite forces massed on both sides, neither seems willing or able to make decisive move on Salahedin neighbourhood




The day started in Salahedin just as it had for the past fortnight, with rebels under fierce assault from a nearby ring road and the Syrian Air Force blitzing them from the skies.

Just before daybreak, however, the frontline – thus far seemingly solid – began to wobble. Rebels briefly withdrew as the regime pushed forward with men and tanks. This, it seemed, was the start of the battle for Aleppo, an inexorable showdown for which the whole city had been nervously preparing.

Then, only several hours after daybreak, the regime retreated and the weary guerillas returned to their sandbags. Government claims to have conquered the enemy stronghold were false, as were the rebels' later claims to have breached regime lines. Nothing seems to be going to script in this war.

All the might that the forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad can muster is now camped just over a large bank of land to the east of Salahedin, the suburb of Aleppo that has become the focal point of the conflict. All the men the guerrilla force can assemble are holed up in crumbling buildings, the closest of them only 200m from the nearest regime tank.

Yet the decisive battle that most in Aleppo seemed to have feared is slowly giving way to another – even more dreaded – reality. Stalemate, with neither side willing or able to advance. A new sense is beginning to settle in that neither Salahedin, nor the rest of Syria's second city, will see an end to the fighting any time soon.

Despite its superior numbers and weaponry, the army appears in no hurry to bring the uprising here to an end. The siege that has crippled the city is likely to get far worse.

"This will be a second Baba Amr," said Sheikh Salim al-Hoss, as he rested under a mulberry tree in a commandeered schoolyard just outside Aleppo. "They are going to wear us down. They think they have time on their side."

Hoss was sitting with members of a military council, who were all breaking their daily Ramadan fast on Tuesday night, largely in silence. Snipers had killed two young rebels from their unit in the late afternoon and the rush to bury them before sunset seemed to have numbed the men.

The effect on one of the dead men's fathers was more profound. He stood trembling and bewildered later in the evening as he received condolences in a hastily erected mourning tent. A tear ran down his face as lines of wellwishers reached for his hand.

Just before noon he had spoken to his 24-year-old son, Ala'a Tamur, by phone in between battles on Salahedin's main frontline. Just before dinner he buried him.

"Be proud you have a martyr, uncle," one of the men's colleagues told the boy's bereft father. The 73-year-old stared and nodded.

Street 15 in Salahedin now resembles Leningrad in its darkest days, and the suburb itself is in far worse shape than when the Guardian last visited on Saturday. Most streets on the eastern side are now impassable by car. Broken sewage and water pipes and food leftovers have formed a festering stew over the few surfaces that aren't littered with the flotsam and jetsam of war. And Salahedin has a new arrival – flies, which swarm around anything organic. They are so thick in some parts that rebels look for detours to avoid them. As they do they need to avoid trampling on the only other thing that seems to be living at ground zero of the battle for Syria – kittens.

Rebels have taken in many of them, and it's not uncommon to find a gnarled, sweaty guerrilla sleeping on the floor of a commandeered flat with an abandoned kitten asleep on his chest.

Two men sleeping in what passes for a first aid clinic in one part of Salahedin had to throw their new pets aside late on Wednesday, when a wounded rebel appeared like a ghost in their darkened doorway. He fell on a foam mattress clutching his left side. "A sniper, haram," he said. "I was going to meet the defector."

"Press hard [on the wound], press until it hurts," one bystander said. The men instead offered caresses and comforting words, then bundled him into the back of a 4x4, which rushed him away.

Snipers continue to filter into Salahedin despite the almost impossible journey to get here. "We had four in this quarter alone today," said a rebel from Damascus, who himself defected three months ago. "There would be many more if they could find a way."

Recent senior defectors, among them two colonels from Aleppo who made their way to a nearby town on Tuesday, claimed that the fear of large numbers of defections if a ground attack was launched was shaping regime tactics.

"If they send the army in, they will throw off their clothes and leave," one of the men said. They want to sit back and bomb, just like they did in Homs."

The defectors also claimed that jets would bomb Aleppo and the eastern hinterland between 3am and 5am. On cue, the jets arrived. The fulfilled prediction means the two officers will now be asked to help devise tactics to repel the assault.

Whoever can prevail in a war of attrition will prevail in Aleppo and likely in the overall uprising. Though battle-weary and at times despairing, and still underprepared, the rebel forces appear to have the stamina to see the fight to a conclusion.

Whether the people of Aleppo share their commitment is yet to be determined. The few cars moving on the largely empty streets were mostly carrying refugees. Those who remain have little reason to fully embrace the uprising that is now affecting all of them.

As the Guardian left Aleppo late on Wednesday, our car was flagged down by a smiling rebel standing next to a thin 23-year-old. He had defected an hour before from the air force intelligence headquarters in the west of the city. Among Syria's pervasive security apparatus, none strike more fear into citizens.

The defector, Khaldoun al-Shabibi, said that the tables were, however, turning. "They are terrified in there," he said. "Every time there is gunfire anywhere near the building they shoot crazily at anything outside.

"It was never like that before. It's a sign that things are changing."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...?newsfeed=true

[fatima_43]

saw on Al-Jazeera before that the FSA are teaching Islam to the Shabiha prisoners and getting shuyukh to come and speak to them and also they are allowing them to contact their families to re-assure them that they are still alive..

[falah]

Kidnapped Iranians are Revolutionary Guards

Syrian rebels claim that the 48 Iranians it kidnapped on Saturday are members of the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guards and not pilgrims as Iran alleges, in footage aired exclusively by Al Arabiya TV.

The rebels “captured 48 of the Shabiha (militiamen) of Iran who were on a reconnaissance mission in Damascus,” said a man dressed as an officer of the Free Syrian Army, in the video aired by Al Arabiya.

“During the investigation, we found that some of them were officers of the Revolutionary Guards,” he said, showing ID documents taken from one of the men, who appeared in the background with a large Syrian independence flag held by two armed men behind them.

Abdel Nasser Shmeir, interviewed later by Al Arabiya and presented as the commander of Al-Baraa Brigade, gave similar details.

“They are 48, in addition to an Afghani interpreter,” he said, claiming that the captives were members of a 150-strong group sent by Iran for “reconnaissance on the ground.”...

http://english.alarabiya.net/article...05/230496.html

Iran backs Assad as Syrian forces choke off Aleppo

ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) – Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad won a pledge of support on Tuesday from regional ally Iran as his forces tried to choke off rebels in the northern city of Aleppo...

http://www.firstpost.com/world/iran-...po-409508.html

Hundreds dead as quakes strike Iran

At least 250 people have died and 1,800 more have been injured in north-west Iran after two earthquakes struck in quick succession.

The scale of the disaster is still emerging, and rescue teams are working to dig survivors out of the rubble in the devastated zone north-east of the city of Tabriz.

Rescue operations have been hindered by nightfall, and telephone communications were interrupted by the quakes.

The quakes, which the USGS put at magnitude 6.4 and 6.3 respectively, struck near the city of Tabriz on Saturday afternoon (local time).

Officials say they came within minutes of each other, followed by at least 40 aftershocks.

People rushed into the streets in panic, and many remained on the street as night fell, too afraid to return home...

[falah]

Syrian warplane crashes due to technical failure: SANA

A Syrian warplane has crashed east of the country after suffering technical problems, official news agency SANA reported.


"A military plane encountered technical problems during a routine training mission in the east. The pilot ejected and searches are now under way to find him," SANA quoted a military sources as saying on Monday.

There were no immediate reports about the exact location of the crash.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/08...ashes-in-east/

[fatima_43]

I was told that the FSA downed the plane?

[falah]

Rebels parade captured pilot amid atrocity claims



Syrian rebels have released dramatic video they say proves they shot down a government fighter jet and captured the pilot.

The claims came as regime forces appeared to seize the upper hand in Aleppo and videos emerged showing alleged rebel atrocities in the Aleppo area.

The Free Syrian Army (FSA), which has been calling for the international community to arm it with anti-aircraft weapons as it battles escalating regime attacks from the sky, claimed it shot down the Russian-made MiG 23 in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.

Video shows a jet flying over rebel position while heavy gunfire is heard in the background. The jet appears to be hit and the footage shows a bright, yellowy orange point of flame almost immediately blossom into a huge ball of light as rebels on the ground yell in triumph.

The FSA says one member of the jet's two-man crew died, and the other was captured.

A group calling itself the Revolutionary Youth of the Land of the Euphrates distributed a video showing a man identified as pilot Mufid Mohammed Suleiman, surrounded by three armed men.

"My mission was to bomb the town of Muhasen," the purported pilot said.

FSA spokesman Kassem Saadeddine said he knew the pilot, and identified him as Colonel Mufid Mohammed Suleiman, a member of the Alawite minority community of president Bashar al-Assad and his inner circle.

"He is a member of a squadron I used to fly with ... before I defected," Mr Saadeddine said.

"I served with him for 15 years, and he is a staunch enemy of the revolution."

If confirmed, the attack would be the first time the rebels have succeeded in downing a Syrian plane since Mr Assad's regime launched an increasingly brutal crackdown on protests 17 months ago...

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-1...t-down/4196562

[falah]

Fierce fighting continues in Aleppo

Al Arabiya has heard from residents in Syria's second city of Aleppo, while taking a closer look into the situation and turmoil that has engulfed Syria.

Alia Ibrahim senior correspondent speaks to residents on their experiences and their thoughts on the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

Aleppo's infrastructure, now in ruins, displays the destruction of the commercial city following the crackdown on protestors by the Assad regime’s security forces.

Clashes between the Free Syrian Army and government forces are ongoing, with the exchange of gunfire and missile attacks.

“The number of Free Syrian Army members in Aleppo, is sufficient to fight against the regime’s army. Ammunition is provided by private sources, or are from the regime’s army remnants,” says an Aleppo resident.

The attacks have damaged schools, homes and markets leaving them in ruins forcing many residents to leave the city to seek shelter either across the border or in other Syrian towns.

More than 23,000 people have been killed in violence in Syria since the outbreak of a revolt in March last year, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday...

http://english.alarabiya.net/article...14/232238.html

[falah]

Fresh clashes erupt in Damascus and Aleppo

Government forces pound rebel-held districts in northern city, as heavy shelling and fierce battles reported in capital.



...In Aleppo, "fighting broke out between government forces and rebel fighters in the [southwestern] districts of Saif al-Dawla and Salaheddin", the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.

The army had advanced on Saif al-Dawla on Monday after last week retaking neighbouring Salaheddin, where small pockets of rebel fighters remain.

Government forces have also pounded the rebel-held districts of Sakhur, Hanano and Shaar in Aleppo's east, the UK-based SOHR said...


Damascus fighting

In the capital Damascus, residents fled the Qaboon neighbourhood, after security forces raided the Midan and Shaghur districts on Tuesday, the SOHR said.

According to a journalist with AFP news agency, security forces also swept the southeastern district of Tabbaleh, while the army set up checkpoints at the entrances to Midan and closed off streets to traffic.

Outside the city, government forces shelled the suburbs of Qudsaya and Daraya, while elsewhere in Damascus province, a civilian and a defecting soldier were killed in al-Tal town, the SOHR said.

The opposition Syrian National Council described al-Tal as a "disaster area" after five days of shelling and urged "all able citizens" to provide aid, especially food and medical supplies...

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middle...941863953.html