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

Art, #Syria: Red line, Red blood by ‘promise2smile4ever’

05/11/2013 - #Syria - Dar’aa - FSA deny regime control of Kherbet Ghazali: 

We deny all the rumors that Assad’s forces took control of Kerbet Ghazali, or that the FSA has withdrawn from the area.

Where are we guys? Kherbet Ghazali!

05/11/2013 - #Syria - 13 dead in #Turkey car bombings near Syria border Reyhanli

05/07/2013 - Syria’s War - The View From Turkey - #Syria

Erdogan says Assad government’s alleged use of chemical arms means it crossed Obama’s red line “a long time ago”.

Turkey will support a US-enforced no-fly zone in Syria, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told a US television station.

In an interview with NBC News on Thursday, the Turkish prime minister said that President Bashar al-Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons against his opponents meant that the Syrian regime had already crossed US President Barack Obama’s so-called red line “a long time ago”.

“Right from the beginning … we would say ‘yes’,” Erdogan told NBC when asked if Turkey, a NATO member that shares its longest border with Syria, would support a no-fly zone or American soldiers on the ground.

A no-fly zone to prohibit Syrian military aircraft from hitting rebel targets has been previously mentioned by US politicians as one of the options the US could utilise in a bid to put pressure on Assad.

But setting up a no-fly zone would require US air raids and possibly ground forces, heightening the risk of casualties.

There is little chance the US would undertake that anytime soon, US security officials have said.

Erdogan’s comments are likely to add further pressure on the US to take action in a nearly two-year conflict that has already killed more than 70,000 people and further destabilised a volatile region.

Wary of the false intelligence used to justify the 2003 war in Iraq, the US says it wants proof before taking any action.

“It is clear that the regime has used chemical weapons and missiles. They used about 200 missiles, according to our intelligence,” Erdogan said.

He did not make clear whether his country believed that all 200 missiles carried chemical weapons, adding his government had not determined whether sarin gas was used.

“There are different sizes missiles. And then there are deaths caused by these missiles. And there are burns, you know, serious burns and chemical reactions,” Erdogan said when asked what evidence Turkey had.

“And there are patients who are brought to our hospitals who were wounded by these chemical weapons.”

“You can see who is affected by chemical missiles by their burns.”

Erdogan said Turkey would share intelligence with the UN Security Council in the matter.

Britain said on Thursday it believed it was “very likely” that the Syrian government had used chemical arms but that it had “no evidence to date” that the rebels had done so.

Assad’s forces and rebels fighters have accused each other of using chemical weapons.

Erdogan said in the interview that he doubted Assad’s opponents had used such weapons because they lacked access to them.

“But if it exists, we are against this … we are against whoever holds the weapons.” he said.

Last week a UN war crimes investigator said testimony from Syrian casualties and medical staff indicated that rebels had used the banned nerve agent sarin, although other investigators later played down those suggestions.

Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkish foreign minister, criticised what he called declarations made without evidence to support them.

He had raised the issue with Jan Eliasson, UN Deputy Secretary-General, in London this week, and said that as a Syrian neighbour, Turkey had the right to know if the UN had evidence of poison gas use by rebels.

AJE - 05/10/2013

Syria will “respond immediately” to any new Israeli attack against its territory, its deputy foreign minister told AFP on Thursday, after two reported Israeli strikes on military targets last week.

“The instruction has been made to respond immediately to any new Israeli attack without [additional] instruction from any higher leadership, and our retaliation will be strong and will be painful against Israel,” Faisal Muqdad said.

He spoke in an interview with AFP in the Syrian capital.

Senior Israeli sources said the strikes targeted weapons bound for the powerful Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, a close ally of Damascus.

Muqdad denied that.

“They absolutely did not achieve their objective and they lied when they said they are targeting Hezbollah,” he said.

There is “no way Syria will allow this to happen again,” he added.

Israel reportedly targeted military sites near the capital Damascus early on Friday morning and again early on Sunday morning, with at least 42 soldiers reported dead in the second strike.

The Jewish state has repeatedly warned it will intervene to prevent the transfer of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah, with which it fought the devastating 2006 Summer War.

The strikes last week were the third time Israel is thought to have hit sites inside Syria since the beginning of an uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011. That first was in January of this year.

The uprising, which began with peaceful protests, has devolved into a bloody conflict that has killed more than 70,000 people, according to the UN, and displaced millions of Syrians.

AFP - 05/09/2013

05/05/2013 - #Syria - Damascus- Massive explosion hits Damascus outskirts

A senior US administration official said Thursday that “all options are on the table” if it can be confirmed that Syria has used chemical weapons against opposition forces.

The White House said earlier in the day that Syria had likely used chemical weapons against rebel fighters on a “small scale,” but emphasized that US intelligence agencies are still not 100 percent sure of the assessment.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington wants to be absolutely sure that Syria has used chemical weapons before concluding that Damascus has crossed a “red line,” triggering possible military action.

“What we will be doing is consulting closely with our friends and allies and the international community more broadly as well as the Syrian opposition to determine what the best course of action is,” he told reporters.

“I don’t want to go to hypotheticals at this juncture,” the official added.

“But suffice to say, all options are on the table, in terms of our response, and it could run a broad spectrum of activity across our various types of efforts in Syria.”

The official recalled that the United States is already engaged in “diplomatic initiatives [and] assistance to the opposition” in Syria, where the US says a grinding civil war has left more than 70,000 dead since March 2011.

“But again, at the president’s direction, there are additional options and contingencies that we prepare for, that we would have to consider as we make our determination about chemical weapon use.”

Speaking earlier Thursday, National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said US intelligence services have assessed “with varying degrees of confidence” that Syria has used chemical weapons “on a small scale.”

The assessment, based in part on what Hayden called “physiological samples,” points to the possible use of sarin, a man-made nerve agent used in two attacks in Japan in the 1990s.

Hayden warned, however, the chain of custody of the weapons was “not clear, so we cannot confirm how the exposure occurred and under what conditions.”

“Given the stakes involved, and what we have learned from our own recent experience, intelligence assessments alone are not sufficient,” she said.

Mounting evidence of chemical weapons attacks on fighters battling Assad’s regime could increase the pressure on Obama — who has sought to avoid any US military role in the conflict — to intervene.

On Capitol Hill, members of Congress urged Obama to take action to “secure” Syria’s chemical weapons.

“I think it’s pretty obvious that a red line has been crossed,” Senator John McCain told reporters, adding that there is a danger of chemical weapons falling into the hands of extremists.

“We have to have operational capability to secure these chemical weapon stocks. We do not want them to fall into the wrong hands, and the wrong hands are a number of participants in the struggle that’s taking place in Syria.”

04/25/2013 - AFP

Syria’s opposition on Friday urged the UN Security Council to take immediate action after the United States said for the first time the regime probably used chemical weapons.

The call came as British Prime Minister David Cameron said that growing evidence of the use of chemical weapons by President Bashar al-Assad was “extremely serious” and called for increased foreign pressure on the Syrian regime.

“It is time for the UN Security Council to act” on Syria, an official from the main opposition National Coalition told AFP on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

The UN Security Council has been stalled over Syria for more than two years, with members Russia and China backing Assad and vetoing several draft resolutions that would have imposed sanctions on the regime.

“This is a massive issue, and the Security Council’s paralysis over Syria is no excuse,” the Coalition official said.

“The UN needs to immediately investigate the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Should it find the regime used such weapons, it must act immediately, at least by imposing a no-fly zone,” he added.

“If the Security Council cannot break its paralysis, proof of the use of chemical weapons by the regime would open the way for others, such as NATO, to act.”

The National Coalition has accused the regime of using chemical weapons in the northern province of Aleppo, in Homs in the center of Syria and in rebel-held areas near Damascus.

04/26/2013 - AFP/NOW

04/25/2013 - #Syria - Aleppo - Children in Aleppo..

Growing speculation that the Syrian regime is using chemical weapons is turning up the heat on President Barack Obama, who has warned such a move would be a game changer.

The US administration, both in public and in private, says it has not concluded that such arms — of which President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has a large stockpile — have been employed in the bloody civil war.

But “it’s important that we do whatever we can to monitor, investigate and verify any credible allegations, given the enormous consequences for the Syrian people and given the President’s clear statement that chemical weapons use is unacceptable,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday.

On March 20, during a historic visit to Israel, Obama said the use of such weapons would be a “grave and tragic” mistake on Assad’s behalf and that it would be a “game changer.”

Washington has also warned that any use or transfer of chemical weapons would cross a “red line” and possibly trigger military action.

Recent statements from US allies seem to suggest such arms — illegal under international law — may already have been unleashed.

The latest came Tuesday when Israeli Brigadier General Itai Brun, head of the research and analysis division of military intelligence, alleged Assad’s regime had used chemical agents — mostly likely sarin gas — more than once.

“To the best of our professional understanding, the [Assad] regime has made use of deadly chemical weapons against the rebels in a number of incidents in the last few months,” Brun told a security conference in Tel Aviv.

His comments come on the heels of similar assessments reported to the United Nations by France and Britain last month.

“The British and French submitted a letter to the UN Secretary General on March 21st to ‘bring attention to recent allegations from various sources that chemical weapons have been used in Syria,’” a senior administration official told AFP.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official added that the use of chemical weapons in an environment like Syria was very difficult to confirm.

“Given the stakes involved, low confidence assessments by foreign governments cannot be the basis for US action,” the official said.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, on a visit to Cairo Wednesday, said any evidence had to be weighed carefully.

“This is serious business and you want to be as sure as you can be on these kind of things,” Hagel said, adding the United States ultimately had to rely “on its own intelligence.”

Gregory Koblentz of the Council on Foreign Relations underscored it was important that the evidence was highly reliable, “ideally from two or more independent sources, or types of analyses that can give you that type of confidence.”

And that’s not currently the case in Syria, where access is tough and evidence transmission chains are weak.

“It’s very difficult to make that assessment, unless you have trained experts who are on the ground immediately after an attack, or able to collect samples, interview victims, interview witnesses and move about freely,” Koblentz said.

“It’s not surprising to me that different countries are coming up with different assessments because the evidence isn’t probably as strong and conclusive.”

Aram Nerguizian of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said “it would take a lot more than a low grade assessment from the French and the British to trigger a major escalation here in Washington.”

“Does that mean that there’s not going to be pressure to do something? No. There will certainly be pressure in the US, pressure in the Gulf, pressure in Syria, pressure in Europe,” he told AFP.

Nerguizian also noted that Obama was cautious in formulating his warnings to Damascus, saying his statement on red lines “has always had some inbuilt ambiguity.”

“An ambiguity can be an asset, and it can be a liability, if it’s viewed as the ladder to something that puts the administration in a difficult position,” Nerguizian said. “And it has to resist the urge for a major and uncalculated response.”

04/25/2013 - AFP

Syria rebels were early Wednesday battling regime troops inside the Minnigh military airport in the north of the country for the first time, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

“The rebels, who have laid siege to the airport for months now, entered it for the first time around dawn,” Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

“Heavy fighting is still taking place this morning inside the grounds of the airport,” he said.

The rebels on Tuesday took a key military position outside the airport, in Aleppo province, which allowed them to launch a raid on the facility.

A group of regime-allied fighters who attempted to reach the airport to boost government troops there were intercepted by Kurdish fighters who killed nine of them, the Observatory said.

Rebel fighters have tried multiple times to take the Minnigh airport, a key military facility in Aleppo province.

Since the beginning of the year, rebel forces have been fighting what they call the “battle of the airports in Aleppo” in a bid to deprive the regime of a key supply route.

Rebels have set their sights on the Aleppo international airport, along with the Jarrah, Kwiyres, Minnigh and Nayrab military airports. They took the Jarrah military airport on February 12.

04/24/2013 - NOW

Opposition fighters say they overran army garrison that defends the country’s main southern border crossing into Jordan.

Syrian rebels say they have overrun an army garrison that defends the main southern border crossing with Jordan on Friday and vowed to press on to take control of the major transit route.

Fighters from the Free Syrian Army said on Friday that they captured the Um al-Mayathen post on the main Damascus-Jordan highway in heavy fighting overnight that ended a more than week-long siege.

Dozens died in the clashes, they added.

“It [the garrison] is a major defence and now we will lay siege to the border crossing and cut their [the government’s] supply lines,” Abu Omar, commander of the Lions of the Sunna Brigade, told the Reuters news agency by phone.

Confirming the development, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said: “Rebel fighters took control of the Um al-Mayathen military checkpoint … in Deraa province in clashes with regime forces.

“Two fighters were killed and others wounded.”

The UK-based watchdog group said there was no immediate word on any army casualties.

The army post is several miles from Syria’s Nasib border crossing which, before the two-year-old civil war broke out, handled billions of dollars of trade between Gulf countries, Turkey and Europe.

Deraa has seen fierce fighting throughout the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

04/05/2013

A large explosion has hit a mosque in the centre of Damascus, killing Dr Mohammed Saeed Ramadan al-Bouti, a senior pro-regime Sunni cleric, state television has said.

Syria TV said on Thursday that a “terrorist suicide blast” had hit the Iman mosque in central Damascus.

“Senior cleric Dr Mohammed Saeed Ramadan al-Bouti was martyred in a terrorist suicide attack at the Iman Mosque in Mazraa in Damascus,” the station said, adding that there were reports of more dead and wounded.

Residents contacted in the area said they believed the explosion may have been caused by a mortar bomb which exploded near a political party office.

03/21/2013