Syrian Civil War: News

Syrian border guards foiled an attempt by an armed terrorist group to infiltrate from Jordan to Syria on Monday, SANA news agency reported.

The conflict took place close to Tal Shihab residential area in Daraa province. An official source in the province told SANA that authorities clashed with the group, killed and injured scores of them, adding that the others fled back to Jordanian territory.

There was no immediate confirmation to this information in other media.

Earlier reports said that on Monday militants sized a strategic checkpoint eight kilometers from the city of Aleppo, where the Syrian Army is conducting a counter-terrorist operation. However this information has yet not been officially confirmed.

Since March 2011, the Syrian conflict has claimed 14,000-20,000 lives, according to estimates by Syrian opposition groups. The West is pushing for Assad’s ouster, while Russia and China are trying to prevent outside interference in Syria saying the Assad regime and the opposition are both to blame for the bloodshed.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20120731/174879116.html

Syrian Troops Continue Crackdown on Aleppo Rebels

After regaining control of Damascus, the Syrian army has continued a large-scale offensive to force rebels out of the northern city of Aleppo, on the border with Turkey, Syrian and Lebanese media reported on Thursday.

Fierce clashes between government troops and Free Syrian Army rebels are taking place in many districts of Aleppo, including Sakhour, Bustan, Salaheddin, Maskin Hannanu, Tarik al-Bab and Shaar.

According to Lebanese satellite television channel Al Mayadeen, the Syrian army has so far only managed to regain control over one Aleppo district, Saif Al Dawla. Syrian state television claims most parts of Aleppo province have been returned to government control.

Aleppo has been the scene of heavy fighting since July 20, when rebel forces launched an all-out assault to overrun Syria's commercial hub. The rebels say their goal is to turn Aleppo into a “Syrian Benghazi,” a reference to an opposition stronghold in north-eastern Libya during last year’s uprising against Muammar Gaddafi.

Army units in Aleppo have been reinforced with troops from southern Syria, while the Free Syrian Army has moved more of its fighters from neighboring provinces to Aleppo, signalling preparations by both sides for major fighting, media reports said.

According to witness accounts, clashes also erupted on Thursday in the Palestinian Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, as government troops moved to mop up the last pockets of rebel resistance in the capital.

“Fighting began at 7.30 am and is still continuing on the central street of the refugee camp,” a Yarmouk resident told RIA Novosti by phone, adding that a local hospital had been hit by a shell.

Earlier this week, the Syrian government and activists said government troops had largely regained control of Damascus, after a week of fierce clashes with the Free Syrian Army.

But according to Al Mayadeen, fighting was still underway on Thursday in the Damascus districts of Meydan and Basatin Daraya, as well as in the Qadam, Qudsiya and Tel suburbs.

Government troops have also clashed with rebels in several districts in the western city of Homs, the television channel said.

The Syrian conflict has already claimed up to 17,000 lives since it broke out in March 2011, according to UN data based on activist accounts.

Last week, Russia and China vetoed a third UN Security Council resolution threatening Assad with sanctions, including a possible military intervention, if he fails to stop bloodshed in the country.

Russia says it has no special interest in seeing Assad remain in power, but stated that the “Syrian people” should decide his fate. Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed earlier this year not to allow a repeat of the “Libya scenario" which saw the ouster and murder of Gaddafi after a NATO military campaign.


http://en.rian.ru/world/20120726/174788614.html

Syrian rebel commanders say they have lost control of the strategic Salah al-Din district in the northern city of Aleppo after a government offensive.

The city has come under fresh bombardment, as the army attempts to recapture areas seized by rebels.

Iran called for dialogue between the government and opposition, at the start of a summit on the crisis in Tehran.

Meanwhile, Lebanese authorities have detained a former minister with close ties to Syria's President Assad.

Michel Samaha, who is known for his pro-Syrian views, was taken for questioning by the Lebanese Internal Security Forces over what were described as security reasons.

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) has confirmed it has retreated from Salah al-Din, a densely packed area of narrow streets on the south-west side of Aleppo, where rebel fighters had been heavily dug in.

State media had reported the army was in full control of the district, saying it had inflicted heavy losses on hundreds of "terrorist mercenaries".

"We have staged a tactical withdrawal from Salah al-Din," rebel commander Hossam Abu Mohammed of the Dara al-Shahbaa Brigade in Aleppo told the AFP news agency by phone.

"The district is completely empty of rebel fighters. Regime forces are now advancing into Salah al-Din."
Fresh shelling
Syrian Health Minister Wael al-Halqi sits at his office in Damascus, April 3, 2012 Wael al-Halqi, a Baath party loyalist from Deraa, was named as the new prime minister

The rebels still control several other districts, including some in the east of the city which activists say are coming under very heavy bombardment, according to the BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon.

State television reported clashes there too, in the Hananu quarter. It said dozens of rebels had been killed or wounded, while others had thrown down their weapons and fled.

On Wednesday, Syria's state military launched a large operation to retake Aleppo from rebel fighters, who overran some areas three weeks ago.

Aleppo is Syria's largest city, and Salah al-Din is considered a vital supply route for government troops coming from the south.

The Syrian Observatory said at least 26 people were killed in Aleppo on Wednesday - it said they were among 130 people killed across the country.

Meanwhile, three days after Prime Minister Riad Hijab defected to the opposition, the health minister Wael al-Halqi has been named as his replacement.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

The detention of a well-known Lebanese political figure has underlined the explosive potential of the Syrian crisis and how it stretches into the heart of Lebanese politics ”

image of Jim Muir Jim Muir BBC News, Beirut

Lebanese detention highlights Syria faultlines

Mr Halqi is a Baath Party loyalist from Deraa in the south of the country, where the uprising began in March last year, and where violence is still raging, our correspondent says.

Riad Hijab, whose defection was considered the most significant since the revolt began, was said to have crossed into Jordan on Wednesday.

Also on Thursday, Lebanese sources confirmed the detention of Assad ally Michel Samaha, who is being questioned over alleged plans to cause instability in Lebanon.

A senior official cited by AFP news agency said his arrest was connected to the discovery of explosives in northern Lebanon.

Mr Samaha was information minister for more than a decade, serving under the assassinated Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.
Iran mediation

Opening a 29-nation conference in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said dialogue between both sides was the only solution to crisis.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran firmly believes that the Syrian crisis can only be resolved through serious and inclusive talks between the government and opposition groups that enjoy popular support in Syria," Mr Salehi said in a speech broadcast on TV.

Western governments, which are not taking part, have expressed scepticism that Tehran can mediate, given its recent strong commitments to the survival of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is a staunch ally of the Assad regime, said the summit would be a gathering of countries with "a correct and realistic position" on the Syrian conflict.

Our correspondent says it is a meeting of people who are already close to Tehran and to the Syrian regime. Those sending representatives include Russia, China, Iraq, Pakistan, Jordan and India.

On Tuesday, Iranian security chief Saeed Jalili expressed strong support for President Assad during a visit to Damascus, describing Syria as a crucial part of a regional "axis of resistance".

Kuwait's foreign ministry told al-Seyassah newspaper it would not be sending a representative. Lebanon also said it would not attend while Moscow sent its ambassador and not its foreign minister.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19192413

UK and German spies feed intelligence to Syrian rebels - reports


British and German spy intelligence on Syrian government troop movement has been shared with rebels to aid attacks on pro-Assad forces, UK and German newspapers revealed on Sunday.

­An unnamed Syrian opposition official admitted that British intelligence is covertly aiding antigovernment forces in Syria, UK weekly newspaper the Sunday Times reported.

British authorities "know about and approve 100%" of intelligence from their Cyprus military bases being passed through Turkey to the troops of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA), the official said.

The UK owns two military bases on the island of Cyprus, one at Dhekelia and another at Akrotiri. The bases monitor regional airwaves and report to the GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters), Britain’s national electronic surveillance center in Cheltenham, the report said.

"British intelligence is observing things closely from Cyprus. It's very useful because they find out a great deal," the official said. "The British are giving the information to the Turks and the Americans and we are getting it from the Turks."

According to the source, the most valuable intelligence has been about the movements of troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad towards the city of Aleppo, which has recently become the ground for fierce clashes between the government and the rebels.

"The British monitor communications about movements of the government army and we got information about reinforcements being on their way to Aleppo," the official told the newspaper. "We hit at the government troops in Idlib and Saraqib [southwest of Aleppo], with success."

The official claimed that early in August, FSA fighters were given advance warning of two large columns of government troops advancing on Aleppo. One was from Latakia on the Mediterranean coast, and the other from the capital Damascus.

"We ambushed troops and a column of more than 40 tanks in a valley near Saraqib," the official said. "We cut them off and destroyed many of them with repeat attacks with rocket-propelled grenades."

German newspaper Bild also revealed on Sunday that Germany is much more active in Syria than was previously believed. German spies, stationed on ships off the Syrian coast, are transmitting intelligence to the FSA to aid in their campaign against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, Bild reported.

Agents from Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND) are equipped with high-tech spy technology, allowing them to observe troop movements as far inland as 600 kilometers (400 miles). The spies pass their findings onto US and British officers, who then pass the intelligence along to the FSA, Bild said.

The newspaper also claims that BND agents are currently operating at a NATO base in Adana, Turkey, where they eavesdrop on phone calls and radio traffic within Syria.

"No Western intelligence service has such good sources inside Syria" as Germany's BND, Bild quoted an unnamed US intelligence official as saying.

http://rt.com/news/uk-germany-intelligence-syria-054/

Sounds like the Syrians need to wake up and start giving false information and screw their plans... and start setting up traps of their own.

U.S threatens force


and here is a video of opposition that can't be authenticated

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX46rux2Hyo&feature=colike

and Al Qaeda helping rebels:

More Threats by U.S





Also :

Syria conflict: 'Scores of bodies found' near Damascus

Syrian opposition activists say scores of bodies have been found in a town near the capital, Damascus, accusing government troops of a "massacre".

Many of those killed in the town of Darayya were victims of execution-style killings, the activists said.

According to unconfirmed reports, 200 bodies were discovered in houses and basement shelters.

Without commenting on the activists' claim, Syrian state TV said Darayya was being "cleansed of terrorist remnants".

The UK said that if the reports were confirmed, the killings would "be an atrocity on a new scale".

Meanwhile, Syrian Vice-President Farouq al-Shara has greeted an Iranian delegation in Damascus, quashing weeks of speculation that he had defected to the opposition.

President Bashar al-Assad, who also met the Iranian delegation, said Syria would continue its current policy "whatever the cost" and accused Western nations of a regional conspiracy.
'House-to-house' raids

The forces of President Assad launched an assault on Darayya on Saturday, after days of heavy bombardment.

The BBC's Barbara Plett in Beirut says the attack was part of a wider campaign to reclaim the southern outskirts of Damascus, where rebels have been regrouping since being driven out a month ago.

Activists say many of the dead were victims of execution-style killings

Activists on the ground later posted unverified video footage on the internet, which shows rows of bodies side by side in the Abu Auleiman al-Darani mosque.

The activists say that many of the victims had gunshot wounds to the head and chest and were killed during house-to-house raids by government troops.

"Assad's army has committed a massacre in Darayya," an opposition member told Reuters.

The activist added that most of the victims had been killed at close range, and some died from sniper fire.

The UK Foreign Office said it had opposition reports that "300 people, including women and children, were killed and that some were shot at close range".

Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt said that, if confirmed, the killings would require "unequivocal condemnation from the entire international community".

Mr Burt added: "It would make [Saturday] the bloodiest day since the unrest in Syria began in March 2011, with over 400 killed across the country."

The opposition Local Coordination Committees group put the death toll for Saturday at 440 across Syria.
Syrian Vice-President Farouq al-Shara Vice-President Farouq al-Shara appeared on Sunday, ending speculation he had defected

Another opposition group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says 320 people were killed in Darayya over five days, not on Saturday alone.

The claims by the activists have not been independently verified because of restrictions placed on foreign media across Syria.

The official Syrian state news agency said: "Our heroic armed forces cleansed Darayya from remnants of armed terrorist groups who committed crimes against the sons of the town and scared them and sabotaged and destroyed public and private property."

Meanwhile Vice-President Shara was seen entering his office for a meeting with an Iranian delegation, following weeks of rumours that he had defected.

State media said a "fake" email had been sent out saying Mr Shara had been sacked and that this was "completely wrong".

After welcoming the Iranian team, President Assad accused some Western and regional countries of trying to "deviate Syria from its stance".

State news agency Sana quoted him as saying: "Because Syria is the cornerstone, foreign powers are targeting it so their conspiracy succeeds across the entire region."
Failed ceasefire

Local activists say the type of mass killing reportedly carried out in Darayya, with dozens of bodies being discovered following government raids, has increased in recent months.
Rebel fighters in Aleppo, northern Syria, 24 August Heavy fighting is continuing in Aleppo in the north

Human Rights Watch said it was not a new pattern, but was now happening in more areas and in greater numbers.

An earlier report from United Nations observers found that both sides had carried out massacres, but the Syrian army was responsible for a far greater number of deaths.

Fighting continued in other parts of Syria on Sunday, including in the second city of Aleppo, where fighter jets dropped bombs on rebel-held positions in what was described as the fiercest fighting there in the past week.

In a separate development, the head of the UN mission to Syria left the country after the mission had been wound up.

Senegalese Lt Gen Babacar Gaye joined a UN convoy to Lebanon on Saturday.

Last week, the UN decided against extending the mission, which was originally part of a six-point peace plan for Syria.

However, the ceasefire mandated by the plan never took hold and rising violence forced the UN monitors to be confined to their hotels since June.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19383333

Footage from the commander seat of a Syrian Army T-72. I think this is the first time I have ever seen an actual video of an autoloader used in aggression.

other perspective

and



France and UK don't rule out No fly zones in Syria, sounds familiar?

Former Syrian regimes have not been proved stronger and honourable. I think Russia needs not cling to Bashar al Assad and make some approach to the opposition also. The tide reveals that B.A.Asad will leave one day and the country will fell to western interests who are in haste to aid Syria.

The opposition seem to be unorganised rabble, that will not likely form a real government and the resulting chaos will only be good for orgs like Al Quada.

This is not a rebellion against Assad, it is an attempted Sunni take over that will result in something like the Taleban in charge eventually.

This would be bad for Syria and the Syrian people and Russia should not support this no matter how much the west would like them to.

The west doesn't care about Syria, just like it really doesn't care about Libya.

Sure seems like it started as a rebellion against Assad....it was after all the government crackdown of protests that led to the whole mess.
Now both sides have blood on their hands, and the end does not seem close.

Assad hasn't done anything the government of Bahrain hasn't done.

The difference is how it is shown in western media.

Just because you get some riots and protesting is not a sign that there should be regime change via the UN... otherwise the UK would have needed some regime change medicine itself a few months ago... but people seem to forget that already.

Egyptians and Syrians are Arabised Non-Arab races. Syrians are a formidable race in Asia. The real power of Syria is the Sunni mass. Shiites have never been successful in Islamic history. Their scope of vision has been always more narrow.

Many people oppose balkanization, in nearly all cases, however, after the al Assad regime loses control of the country, what other outcome can there be, but partition of Syria into a majority Sunni and minority Alawite states? There's too much mutual hatred, for the two sides to ever be able to live together again.
I won't be sorry to see al Assad go. His regime has never been a friend to my country. But I don't want to see the Alawite people massacred after he falls, either. Former regime figures suspected of having commited war crimes should be arrested and tried fairly, but no one deserves to die merely for being a member of the Alawite sect, or for having supported the previous government.
I believe the creation of a Latakia statelet will be the only way to safeguard the Alawites from vengeful Sunni elements.

The huge irony is that the Assad regime was a moderate regime made up of the shia minority that protected the rights of all minorities.

When they fall there will be chaos because every group will have their own wants and needs... I am sure Turkey will be overjoyed when the Kurds in Syria decide to make a Kurdish state and start calling on Iranian and Turkish and northern Iraqi kurds to join them.

Americans will say that assad was bad and it will be good to see him go, but after a few months of fighting and chaos if his regime does fall will make it pretty clear to the people of Syria that they didn't realise how good they had things and they will never be able to get them back that way because a minority of armed men with outside international support.

Another Arab country moving towards blind stupid sharia law to become another cloned Saudi state.

GarryB wrote:The huge irony is that the Assad regime was a moderate regime made up of the shia minority that protected the rights of all minorities.

When they fall there will be chaos because every group will have their own wants and needs... I am sure Turkey will be overjoyed when the Kurds in Syria decide to make a Kurdish state and start calling on Iranian and Turkish and northern Iraqi kurds to join them.

Americans will say that assad was bad and it will be good to see him go, but after a few months of fighting and chaos if his regime does fall will make it pretty clear to the people of Syria that they didn't realise how good they had things and they will never be able to get them back that way because a minority of armed men with outside international support.

Another Arab country moving towards blind stupid sharia law to become another cloned Saudi state.

cant agree with u more

Draco wrote:.
I won't be sorry to see al Assad go. His regime has never been a friend to my country.

Dam, what country has Merika ever been a friend too??! Merika is hated universally for their constant meddling, bullying, killing and doing the Joo’s dirty work.

I don't really think the country is going to be partitioned.

TR1 wrote:Sure seems like it started as a rebellion against Assad....it was after all the government crackdown of protests that led to the whole mess.

What crap – you really need to stop watching CNN and PHOX News. All you seem to do is trumpet out the Merikan propaganda line that emanates directly for the best lair in the US Government – that sniper dogging Clinton.

Little wonder you have a narrow and warped view of events around the world.

Egyptians and Syrians are Arabised Non-Arab races. Syrians are a formidable race in Asia. The real power of Syria is the Sunni mass. Shiites have never been successful in Islamic history. Their scope of vision has been always more narrow.

It seems we disagree on what is meant by success.

A stable growing economy with good relations with ones neighbours, with peace, education, a functioning health service, and general protection for minority groups including women is what I would call a success in that region.

Saddam seemed to me to be after power, and it resulted in misery for many of his own countrymen and for many of his neighbours.

If you believe the western news agencies he became a threat to the whole world which of course he wasn't but his "power" extended well beyond the middle east only politically... in the resulting reaction he stepped on the wrong toes and was specifically targeted for elimination.

A new Syrian leader that seeks to oppose Iran would be a great friend of the west, but I suspect such a result will end in a restart for the Iranian nuclear weapons program, and much higher tensions in the region.

The western saying is that a cornered rat has nothing to lose, but in all honesty you corner any animal and they will find they have no choice but to fight... and it is actually easier to fight when no one can sneak up behind you.

Kysusha wrote:

TR1 wrote:Sure seems like it started as a rebellion against Assad....it was after all the government crackdown of protests that led to the whole mess.

What crap – you really need to stop watching CNN and PHOX News. All you seem to do is trumpet out the Merikan propaganda line that emanates directly for the best lair in the US Government – that sniper dogging Clinton.

Little wonder you have a narrow and warped view of events around the world.

Take that tinfoil hat off and smell the world.


Assad worship is pathetic; how can one live in such denial that the Assad family is oppressive, bloodthirsty scumbags?

Assad makes Kadyrov look like a benevolent do-gooder.


WHile you are at it why don't you go through my posts-just because I am not a rabbid Jew-hater and conspiracy-loving anti-American (Like yourself), does not make a trumpet for US media's interpretation of what is happening.

I don't usually like to comment on it, but the amount of crap we have on this forum towards the US is obnoxious and drives away potentially good posters.

Good day.