Civilians in and around the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo are increasingly at risk from aerial attacks, artillery shelling and gunfire. Commanders of Syrian government forces and the opposition Free Syrian Army should ensure that their troops abide by the laws of war and never target civilians or conduct indiscriminate attacks.
Read more after the jump.
Scenes from a quickly-heating-up warzone.
He was given two options: to either take the office of prime minister or be killed. He had a third option in mind: to plan his own defection in order to direct a blow to the regime from within, and today, he is declaring his defection.A spokesman for Riyad Hijab, who defected today from his post as Syrian Prime Minister • Hijab, a former agricultural secretary, was named Prime Minister in June, but according to his spokesman, he’d planned his defection since before then. One thing to keep in mind: While it’s impossible to know for sure, many of these high-level Syrian defections are likely as much a result of pragmatism—that is, the recognition that the al-Assad regime will soon fall—as they are the result of moral objections to the regime’s actions. source (via • follow)
*THIS IMAGE IS NOT REAL*
Here’s a screenshot of the post allegedly put on Reuters’ site by hackers, a post that openly suggests Syrian rebels had pulled out of Aleppo. Reuters said they were compromised “and fabricated blog posts were falsely attributed to several Reuters journalists.” All in all, a scary incident for a trusted source.
The focus two weeks ago was on Damascus. The focus is now on Aleppo, where there has been a considerable build-up of military means, and where we have reason to believe that the main battle is about to start.UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous • Discussing the current military situation in Syria — suggesting a major battle in Aleppo is coming soon. In related news, three Russian landing ships, each carrying 120 marines, are heading to the Syrian port of Tartus to restock supplies for the base. Russia had previously offered to send ships to the base for protection purposes.
No more Annan: Kofi Annan, the diplomat tasked by both the United Nations and the Arab League with ending the violence in Syria, has decided to resign his post. Annan had proposed a peace plan for the country, but the first step of that plan—a ceasefire—fell apart within days, and his subsequent efforts to quell the violence failed. This departure may tarnish Annan’s legacy…but it shouldn’t. Absolutely nobody has been able to make any headway whatsoever in resolving the Syrian mess; the violence has perpetuated for sixteen months, and even seems to be getting worse as of late. Perhaps Annan could have come up with a different or better plan, but there’s little reason to expect that would have worked, either. When you can’t even get two sides of a conflict to stop shooting each other, it’s hard to expect a political dialogue to take hold. source
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sturmpony said: Not exactly secret though, is it?
jasonstiff said: Doesn’t appear very secret right now…
bobbycaputo said: Not so secret anymore is it. Thanks for letting the cat of of the bag ;)
» SFB says: Reuters’ words, not ours. (It was reported as an exclusive.) That said, good to see that three people made the same joke on that post. :) — Ernie @ SFB
Obama’s order, approved earlier this year and known as an intelligence “finding,” broadly permits the CIA and other U.S. agencies to provide support that could help the rebels oust Assad.
This and other developments signal a shift toward growing, albeit still circumscribed, support for Assad’s armed opponents - a shift that intensified following last month’s failure of the U.N. Security Council to agree on tougher sanctions against the Damascus government.
The order stops just short of having the U.S. give rebels weapons.
People are fleeing the city towards the countryside. I think they are sensing that a huge battle is about to take place, a decisive one.Free Syrian Army deputy commander Malik Kurdi • Regarding the quickly-escalating situation in Aleppo, which is being described as “nonstop shelling” by some activists. The battle over one of the world’s oldest cities has been increasingly violent, the worst in the city since the war began. The U.S. has increased its support of the rebels in the region of late, though not “lethal support.”
People are still in shock that this is happening — they thought it would be limited to one neighborhood, but it is growing in size to other neighborhoods. They are scared of chaos and lawlessness more than anything else.Syrian academic Fadi Salem • Discussing the fighting taking place in the city of Aleppo, one of the two main holdouts in the Syrian conflict, which has heated up in recent days. Pockets of the loosely-organized Free Syrian Army launched the attacks on both Aleppo and Damascus in in an effort to gain control over two of the oldest cities in the world — and the country’s two key power centers. Even if the rebel armies have to double back once the Syrian army comes in, they’ve made the point that no part of the country is safe.
The Daily Telegraph has acquired photos of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad with his family, taken five to seven years ago, when he was perceived as a different type of leader than people see him now. “Unseen by the photographer, and by most visitors to Syria,” writes reporter Nick Meo, “were the torture chambers, tanks and chemical weapons that the family relied on to maintain their brutal rule.” It’s unlikely Assad’s family life looks anything like this these days. (photo by Camera Press)
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A day after the bombing which claimed the lives of three top-level Syrian officials, including President Bashar al-Assad’s brother-in-law, the battle of Damascus continues unabated. Rebels and human rights organizations worry that the government is planning another civilian massacre after state television broadcast a warning that impostors in Republican Guard uniforms were roaming the city and killing residents. On the diplomatic front, China and Russia once again vetoed a UN resolution to place sanctions on the Syrian government; however, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia isn’t planning to offer asylum to Assad. (Photo via NewsPano) source
The Free Syrian Army carried out this attack in retaliation for the massacres committed by the regime and because of the international silence. We promised that we are going to hit the regime in its most sensitive axis. This was necessary for us.COL. MALIK KURDI, deputy commander of the Free Syrian Army, which claimed responsibility for an attack in Damascus that killed Syria’s defense and deputy defense ministers. (via the Washington Post)
Syria’s two top defense officials, Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha and Deputy Defense Minister Assef Shawkat (who was Bashar al-Assad’s brother-in-law) died in an attack on a national security building in central Damascus on Wednesday, according to Syrian state media. That would them the highest-ranking officials killed so far in the uprising — which in recent days the Red Cross has started calling a “civil war.” It’s worth noting that, as with all stories about Syria, journalists have been restricted in their ability to report on the region, so mainstream outlets often have difficulty verifying such reports, even those made by Sryian state media.
The least that can be said about this letter about what happened in Tremseh is that it did not rely on facts. As diplomatically as possible, we say that this letter was very rushed.Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jihad Makdissi • Disputing claims made by United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan that the country used heavy weaponry in an attack in Tremseh earlier this week. The casualty count in the attack also differs greatly — Syria says 37 of its fighters, along with two civilians, died. Meanwhile, activists claim the number is more likely 100 to 220. UN monitors confirmed heavy fighting took place in the village on Thursday.
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