Syrian Freedom

05/19/2013 - #Syria - Al Qusayr - Video compilation of shelling...

Sun, 19 May 2013 21:50:52 +0100

05/19/2013 - #Syria - Al Qusayr - Video compilation of shelling and clashed in Qusayr, Homs

05/19/2013 - #Syria - Al Qusayr - Assad jet bombing the city

Sun, 19 May 2013 19:04:43 +0100

05/19/2013 - #Syria - Al Qusayr - Assad jet bombing the city

Syrian army storms rebel stronghold Al-Qusayr - #Syria

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:48:41 +0100

Syrian troops backed by Lebanon’s Hezbollah on Sunday entered Al-Qusayr, a strategic rebel stronghold linking Damascus to the coast, a day after President Bashar al-Assad insisted he would not quit.

The advance came as Assad’s opponents warned his regime’s “barbaric and destructive” assault on Al-Qusayr could torpedo US-Russian attempts to organize a conference on ending two years of bloodshed in the country.

The Arab League called an emergency meeting for Thursday, ahead of the conference, as the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) demanded it meet and “stop the massacre in Al-Qusayr.”

Forces loyal to Assad launched Sunday’s offensive by heavily bombarding Al-Qusayr with artillery and warplanes early in the morning.

Hours later, a military source told AFP that government forces entered the center of the town, with troops raising the Syrian flag over the recaptured municipality building.

“The Syrian army controls Al-Qusayr’s main square in the center of the city, and the surrounding buildings, including the municipality building,” said the source.

State television said: “Our valiant troops have restored security and stability to the Al-Qusayr municipality building and surrounding buildings and are continuing to hunt down terrorists in the town.”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said regime troops began carrying out air strikes backed by artillery fire against the town early on Sunday, before the group operation started.

“The assault on Al-Qusayr has started. There is fierce fighting between rebels and the army around the entrances to the town,” Observator director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Troops were entering from the south, and fighters from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a key ally of the Syrian regime, were “playing a central role,” he added.

“If the army manages to take control of Al-Qusayr, the whole province of Homs will fall,” he said.

The group said the army carried out additional air strikes on Sunday afternoon, and that at least 40 people were killed throughout the day, including 21 rebel fighters.

The regime has made recapturing Al-Qusayr and the surrounding district of Homs province a key objective, and fierce fighting has raged in the vicinity for months.

In recent weeks, government troops backed by Hezbollah and members of the National Defense Forces, a pro-regime militia, have taken a string of villages and reportedly surrounded Al-Qusayr on three sides.

The fighting has spilled over into Lebanon, and on Sunday the country’s National News Agency said eight rockets fired from Syria landed in Lebanese territory, without causing any damage or injuries.

Responding to news of the assault on the city, the SNC, a key component of the main opposition National Coalition, denounced the “barbaric and destructive bombing” of Al-Qusayr.

It accused the regime of working with Hezbollah to “invade the town and wipe it and its residents off the map,” and called for “an urgent meeting of the Arab League to stop the massacre in Al-Qusayr.”

“We say to the countries that are working for a political solution in Syria that allowing this invasion to go ahead in silence… will render any conference and any peace effort meaningless.”

The Syrian military was also advancing on other fronts, taking control of the rebel-held village of Halfaya in Hama province, the Observatory said.

State television reported the army “killed numerous terrorists from Al-Nusra Front in Halfaya” and destroyed weaponry.

In Damascus, a military source said troops were advancing in Barzeh district on the northern outskirts of the city.

The Observatory estimates at least 94,000 people have been killed since the anti-Assad uprising began in March 2011.

AFP - 05/19/2013

05/18/2013 - #Syria - Aleppo - Plane drops ammunition in hands...

Sat, 18 May 2013 15:39:57 +0100

05/18/2013 - #Syria - Aleppo - Plane drops ammunition in hands of rebels instead of Assad’s forces

05/18/2013 - #Syria - Aleppo - Ahrar al-Sham brigade fires...

Sat, 18 May 2013 15:36:37 +0100

05/18/2013 - #Syria - Aleppo - Ahrar al-Sham brigade fires rockets at Aleppo’s central prison

#Syria - Baby in shock of her martyred father

Sat, 18 May 2013 15:28:49 +0100

#Syria - Baby in shock of her martyred father

05/18/2013 - #Syria - The Times: “Israel says Assad must...

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:56:49 +0100

05/18/2013 - #Syria - The Times: “Israel says Assad must stay”

05/18/2013 - #Syria - Damascus - Barzeh - Demonstration in...

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:09:21 +0100

05/18/2013 - #Syria - Damascus - Barzeh - Demonstration in support of Aleppo

05/18/2013 - #Syria - Homs, Al Qusayr - Regime jet air raid on...

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:00:40 +0100

05/18/2013 - #Syria - Homs, Al Qusayr - Regime jet air raid on Qusayr

05/18/2013 - #Syria - Damascus - Douma - Smoke rising as result...

Sat, 18 May 2013 13:47:53 +0100

05/18/2013 - #Syria - Damascus - Douma - Smoke rising as result of shelling by regime

05/17/2013 - #Syria - Hama Outskirts - FSA captures ammunition...

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:41:06 +0100

05/17/2013 - #Syria - Hama Outskirts - FSA captures ammunition from Assad forces

05/17/2013 - #Syria - Aleppo - Regime shells the outskirts of...

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:18:03 +0100

05/17/2013 - #Syria - Aleppo - Regime shells the outskirts of the prison with phosphorus (via @Syriansmurf)

05/17/2013 - #Syria - Yabroud, Damascus - Extraordinary footage...

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:09:03 +0100

05/17/2013 - #Syria - Yabroud, Damascus - Extraordinary footage of 6 missiles shot by regime jet #aviation

05/18/2013 - #Syria - Aleppo - Ahrar Al Sham brigade a few...

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:04:49 +0100

05/18/2013 - #Syria - Aleppo - Ahrar Al Sham brigade a few meters away from the central prison

05/17/2013 - #Syria - Palmyra - Syrian regime shelling heritage...

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:51:58 +0100

05/17/2013 - #Syria - Palmyra - Syrian regime shelling heritage site directly

10 dead in fuel tank explosion near Turkey-Syria border - #Syria

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:23:12 +0100

At least 10 people were killed on Friday in an explosion after alleged smugglers set a fuel depot on fire in response to a police crackdown, a local official said.

The suspects set ablaze an illegal fuel depot located in the basement of a three-story building in a small village near Turkey’s border with Syria, triggering a strong explosion that also wounded nine people.

Among the wounded were three suspected smugglers as well as several security officers, Anatolia news agency reported.

The suspects were trying to elude a crackdown by security forces who raided their shelter after a tip-off, Hatay city governor Celalettin Lekesiz was quoted as saying by Anatolia.

Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict, security along the lengthy border has weakened, with border towns becoming a hub for fuel smugglers, who can sell Syrian oil at a much higher price inside Turkey.

The explosion came days after twin car bombs rocked a border town in the same region on Saturday, killing 51 people. Official reports did not establish a connection between the incidents.

Those bombings were the deadliest case of what observers see as an increasing regionalization of the Syrian conflict that started in March 2011 and has taken 94,000 lives according to rights groups.

Ankara has sided with the rebels fighting to topple the Damascus regime and shelters around 400,000 refugees as well as army defectors along its frontier.

AFP - 05/17/2013

05/17/2013 - #Syria - Aleppo - Rebels attacking Shabiha in Khan...

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:31:24 +0100

05/17/2013 - #Syria - Aleppo - Rebels attacking Shabiha in Khan Asal

05/17/2013 - #Syria - Kafranbel - Demonstration against Assad...

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:29:06 +0100

05/17/2013 - #Syria - Kafranbel - Demonstration against Assad regime

#Syria refugee tally tops 1.5 million, UN says

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:21:54 +0100

More than 1.5 million Syrians have fled their conflict-ravaged homeland, the UN’s refugee agency said Friday, warning that the real figure could be even higher as the tally only reflected those who register with aid groups.

Dan McNorton, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told reporters that close to 250,000 Syrians were being registered each month.

“Refugees tell us the increased fighting and changing of control of towns and villages, in particular in conflict areas, results in more and more civilians deciding to leave,” McNorton said.

“Over the past four months we have seen a rapid deterioration when compared to the previous 20 months of this conflict,” he added.

McNorton underlined that the actual number of refugees was likely to be even higher than 1.5 million.

“This is due to concerns that some Syrians have regarding registration,” he said, explaining that rumors circulating among exiles about the supposed security risks of signing up for refugee status put some people off.

He said aid agencies were working to encourage waivers to register in order to be able to receive official help, even as UNHCR struggles to keep up with the rising numbers and needs.

“The increasingly widening gap between the needs and resources available is a growing challenge,” he said.

“UNHCR continues to respond to the emergency needs of those in desperate need inside Syria and neighboring countries,” he added.

Syrians have surged out of their country since March 2011, when a crackdown on protests against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad heralded the start of an armed rebellion.

Numbers ballooned as the conflict morphed into an increasingly sectarian civil war, and the total topped a million in March this year.

Most have fled to neighboring Jordan, where close to 474,000 have been registered by UNHCR or are waiting registration, and to Lebanon, with over 470,000.

Some 347,000 are in Turkey, over 147,000 in Iraq and close to 67,000 in Egypt, according to UNHCR’s latest data.

In addition to the refugees, the United Nations has said that more than 4.25 million Syrians are displaced within their homeland.

That means that, all told, over a quarter of Syria’s pre-war population of 22.5 million have been forced to quit their homes since the conflict began.

The death toll has surpassed 90,000, according to the UN.

AFP - 05/17/2013

#Syria opposition alleges new massacre, Homs

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:19:58 +0100

The Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition on Thursday said regime forces have attacked the village of Khirbet Suda in Homs province and murdered at least 18 people.

“Victims were either killed by execution at gunpoint, or slaughtered with knives,” a statement said.

There were concerns that President Bashar al-Assad’s forces “will re-enter the village in the coming hours, as Khirbet Suda remains under a crippling blockade,” the statement added.

It said reports from the area were scarce because of a “massive blackout.”

“We are especially concerned about isolated villages, surrounded by villages loyal to Assad,” the statement said.

The Coalition urged international rights groups to act to prevent what it called further massacres.

AFP - 05/17/2013