Yahoo: Assad predicts disaster if West meddles in Syria

[djbubba4life]

Something needs to be done to help the civilians, other then that I say we have no business to intervene with the violent parties

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...87C0OR20120813

Syrian diplomat in Geneva defects: Swiss ministry

A junior Syrian diplomat to the United Nations in Geneva has defected, the Swiss foreign ministry said on Monday, the latest member of Syria's establishment known to have turned against President Bashar al-Assad.

Dany Al Ba'aj served as third secretary at the Syrian mission to the U.N. in Geneva, where he was part of its delegation to the Human Rights Council.

"The Swiss foreign ministry has been informed that this Syrian diplomat to the U.N. in Geneva has defected and has contacted authorities in Geneva about getting a humanitarian permit," spokesman Raphael Saborit told Reuters.

"I announced my resignation on Friday on a Syrian web site and informed the Syrian charge d'affaires in Geneva," the Swiss news agency ATS quoted him as saying.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...87C0C120120813

Doctors in Syria war zones risk all to treat wounded

A week ago, British-Syrian doctor known as Abu Shamel was playing with his young son at home in Manchester.

Now he is crouching on a street corner in Syria's Aleppo, picking a sniper bullet out of a confused and screaming man as gunfire whizzes overhead and explosions echo in the background.

Fighters had dragged the victim from the shattered district of Salaheddine. They lay him down a few meters away on a black mattress and exposed his buttocks. Abu Shamel quickly pulls out the bullet, dresses the wound, and sends the man to a secret field hospital, still undetected by state forces.

Rebels in Syria's largest city badly need men like Abu Shamel since fighting began here more than two weeks ago. In the war zone much of this city has become, the opposition's medical supplies are scarce and casualties are mounting.

"Doctors don't refer civilians or fighters to public hospitals and civilians don't dare go there themselves. If you show up with a shrapnel or bullet wound, it means you are coming from Salaheddine or nearby neighborhoods, and that means you are a 'terrorist'," Abu Shamal says.

"We are all terrorists," he laughs darkly.

As mortar bombs explode nearby, Abu Shamel sits with six rebels wearing camouflage fatigues and holding assault rifles. He teaches them first-aid basics and then hands out packs of tourniquets and bandages.

"We prepared dozens of these bags to give away and funded them completely using donations we collected from colleagues and friends in Manchester," he says.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-midd...08#TWEET193825

Meanwhile, activists say government forces have begun a new advance against rebels in Aleppo, Syria's largest city. Aleppo has seen fierce clashes between the two sides in recent weeks.

Government forces entered the Saif al-Dawla neighbourhood with tanks and armoured vehicles, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The strategic northern district of Salah al-Din had been coming under bombardment since the morning, the Observatory said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...798445dee2d98f

Mona also spoke to Lieutenant Abu al-Abbas al-Sabawi, commander of the Othman Ben Affan battalion in the Ahfad Muhammed brigade.

I defected from Brigade 15 in Homs city and joined the FSA a few months ago. The warplanes have been firing on Muhassan district for three days. We prepared an ambush for these planes by using guns loaded on cars, but they changed their movements. They used to target places where they suspected FSA men were gathering, but they stopped doing that.

Today, we prepared another ambush among trees and bushes and we used all sorts of camouflage. These MiGs used to shoot and then fly at low altitude.

Today, the first target the plane hit was a mosque – it was completely levelled. As the plane was flying low, I and a guy beside me named Muhammed Allawi, started to fire at the plane and we were able to shoot it down. A flame of fire came out of the plane, it seems the engine was hit. The pilot lost control and the plane started to go left and right.

We guessed that the pilot was going to throw himself out of the plane so we chased him in our car until we captured him. There were explosions in plane because it was full of ammunition, but we got the pilot.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153

about 4 hours ago
Kurds in the northeastern province of al-Hasakeh are working to ensure a future in the new Syria, as battles rage in different parts of country.

While the government is still strong in Hasakeh's city of Qamishli, it is granting more freedom to Kurds.

In their crackdown on protests Security forces reportedly refrained from using excessive force against people in Qamishli, and went as far as allowing the Kurdish flag to fly high over the city.

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid is the first international journalist to reach Qamishli.

about 3 hours ago
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Tehran opposed foreign intervention in the Syrian conflict, in particular the establishment of any no-fly zone.

"The Syrians are looking for a way out of this crisis without any foreign interference, of course we do not agree to any foreign intervention in the Syrian crisis, including the no fly zone," he said.

He was speaking a day after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said her country and Turkey would study a range of possible measures to help Assad's foes, including a no-fly zone.

about an hour ago
Rebels in the town of Ariha are stepping up efforts to block a main artery to Aleppo, a key route due to its proximity to the Aleppo-Latakia highway that connects Syria's largest city with the Mediterranean coast.

Al Jazeera's Khadija Magardie has this exclusive report.

about an hour ago
The AFP reports:
The secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, has said that war-ravaged Syria will not be represented in the summit.

But foreign ministers gathered Monday to prepare the meeting were expected to "announce the suspension of Syria's membership as recommended by member states," Ihsanoglu said.

On Monday, he told the meeting that he was "sorry Syria has entered a dark tunnel which has no clear end." adding that this "is the expected outcome of
ignoring the demands of the people."

Syria is "living the horrors of a grinding war from which the OIC has repeatedly warned," he said.

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

FSA begins the operation to break the siege of Homs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZOb_MSTdJw&feature=plcp
7:36 AM

FSA shoots down a fighter jet in Deir Ezzor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSyTcvkvD_o
7:45 AM

Another angle of the MIG being shot down in Deir Ezzor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fyQF6zmtvc
7:51 AM

Farouk Battalion shelling Assad forces with a tank in the operation to break the 3 month siege on Homs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8dn0...ature=youtu.be
7:57 AM

Deir Ezzor military council says the fighter jet was shot down with machineguns, deny they have AA missiles or such weapons.
8:31 AM

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

Kurds form a battalion in Qamishli http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOMWVsQS7kk I wonder if they are also trained and supplied in Kurdistan like YPG forces.
8:38 AM

It wont lead to anything, but still a nice milestone. Speaking of Libyans shooting planes, remember when they shot down a Syrian?
9:19 AM

Air strike from a jet on Deir Ezzor today http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_PD_...ature=youtu.be
9:55 AM

****ing snakes and scorpions in a refugee camp in the middle of the desert, after months of Jordan gov treating us like ****.
9:58 AM

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

Pilot of the downed MIG-23 fighter jet captured by FSA in Deir Ezzor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98T0gytt04Y
10:08 AM

Just says he was sent to shell Mohassan. They say he'll be treated according to international laws.
He did say it was shot down, and the scars/bruises on his face is from ejecting.
He advises Assad soldiers to defect.

Airstrike on Mouhassan, Deir Ezzor where the MIG-23 jet was shot down http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSm9JNsFBUc&feature=plcp
10:49 AM

https://twitter.com/Reuters

Syria “will most likely” be suspended from OIC on Wednesday: diplomat at OIC summit in Saudi Arabia
12:12 PM

https://twitter.com/cjchivers

Photo: Spoils of War, From Many Wars Back. A cdr in FSA’s Tawhid Brigade examines an MP-43 captured last. http://tmblr.co/Z6JM8yRKdovn
10:27 AM

Syrian air force just did strike in N Syria, a single large bomb and a/c circling. But today has seen fewer a/c N of Aleppo - so far.
11:05 AM

Lone Syrian Air force Mi8/17 just flew overhead & landed at Minakh air base. FSA cdr: few weeks ago 20 helps flew there every day. Now, 1.
12:46 PM

After Mi8/17 landed, much gunfire came from base, w BMP or tank fire. Jumpy there. More firing now.
12:48 PM

Gunfire out from base. W a few HE shells. They shoot from there often. FSA pays it little mind. Base= island, kept alive by air
12:59 PM

https://twitter.com/columlynch

Still no announcement from UN about appointment of Lakhdar Brahimi as Syria envoy
12:40 PM

[visionary]

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2...lDGVyc.twitter

Will world inaction help al-Qaida gain foothold in Syria?

Al-Qaida units are already entering Syria.

Pickup trucks waving their black flags and carrying hard-looking men are increasingly evident on Syrian country roads.

It wasn't like this just a few weeks ago. A year-and-a-half ago, Syrian rebels started the fight to topple President Bashar Assad’s corrupt police state and end four decades of sectarian favoritism. The majority of Syrians are Sunni Muslims but they have been ruled by Assad’s Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

I have spoken with rebel units who told me they were offered large amounts of money, in exchange for pledging allegiance to al-Qaida. But it comes with a caveat: they can not leave. One rebel commander told me that one of his relatives had joined al-Qaida and tried to leave – but was executed for his apparent treason.

Still others are taking up the opportunity.

"I will go to [al-Qaida], and raise their flag if they give me support," one rebel told me.

"I'd take money from al-Qaida. What choice do I have? I can't defend myself or my family," another rebel commander said. "I'll take the al-Qaida support, and then deal with them later. Otherwise there won't be a later."

He's the most secular Syrian I know. He hates al-Qaida, but feels he may have to deal with the devil to save his family and village.

Even the most secular rebel groups say they're tempted, and no wonder. I've seen rebels at checkpoints with empty magazines in the rifles. They have homemade grenades in pipes and shaving cream cans.

So while the vast majority of rebels hate the idea of an al-Qaida base in Syria, they also don't want Assad to stay in power and continue his killing spree. And international inaction may give the United States' worst enemy a gift that it has always wanted – a base at the heart of the Middle East.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153

about 2 hours ago
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that several houses had been burned in Mezzah and that there were additional clashes in the outskirts of Damascus outskirts, where armed rebels were able to destroy some heavy military vehicles.

https://twitter.com/marioMondas

What happened in Al-Bab , the story of "post-office" pic.twitter.com/ecX04chu
3:33 PM

https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov

Foreign ministers at the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation agree to suspend Syria from the world's largest Islamic body.
3:45 PM

https://twitter.com/FoodAidWorker

More than 6,000 Syrian Refugees crossed into Turkey overnight to escape the escalating violence! This is new record, Crisis Getting Worse!
2:15 PM

https://twitter.com/NuffSilence

Breaking Al Jazeera: number of Syrian refugees in Turkey reached 60,000.
4:14 PM

https://twitter.com/hhassan140

Arm the rebels - and let them bring an end to Syria's regime. my column http://goo.gl/hLeQQ
3:12 PM

The MIG hunter, the man who shot at Syria regime fighter jet. Abu Allawi from Mu-Hassan pic.twitter.com/hBGzjgMZ
4:43 PM

https://twitter.com/BintAlRifai

Syrian TV journalist Saleh Al Omar defects http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCv1U4w1Xqc&sns=tw
5:07 PM

https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss

Turkey ready to impose buffer zones in n. Syria, to ask UNSC for no-fly zone, says Abdullah Bozkurt: http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist...-in-syria.html
5:25 PM

[visionary]

Apparently this guy proposed a few months ago that the best strategy is to bleed Iran by continuing and prolonging the Syrian conflict, without completely ending it.
Now he says that's exactly what we're doing.
http://drezner.foreignpolicy.com/pos...speak_its_name

The Syria policy that dare not speak its name

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/featur...adan-in-aleppo

Ramadan in Aleppo

My fixer, Mahmoud Elzour, shot me a wry smile from the corner of a rooftop patio in a safe house in al-Bab, a town about 27 miles north of Aleppo that was recently liberated by Syrian rebels. It was already two o'clock in the morning, and the predawn meal that was supposed to get us through the Ramadan day ahead was being served by our host, Abu Ali. With his large frame and close-cropped brown hair, he could easily have been mistaken for a defensive tackle for the Miami Dolphins.

We were surrounded by a gracious fraternity of activists, relatives of Abu Ali, and rebel fighters, among them one military defector and about four civilians. Earlier that evening, we had made a touch-and-go border crossing from Kilis, Turkey, and then drove for an hour along the completely quiet roadways leading from the border to al-Bab.

The only military presence we encountered was a single Free Syrian Army (FSA) checkpoint. So after all this, sleeping had never occurred to me. "We will go to Aleppo at four and leave at noon," Mahmoud said. Was it safe? "Of course. I would not take you there if it wasn't, habibi." Another smile.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinio...0a0_story.html

In Syria, it’s past time for the United States to act

The awful things that could have happened had the United States intervened in Syria are now happening anyway. The insurrection has become a civil war. Neighboring countries are being dragged in. A refugee crisis has been created. Jihadists have entered the fray, and the death toll has passed 20,000. The worst has happened — maybe because the best did nothing.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-e...ttack-1.458196

Report: Assad's brother 'fighting for his life,' month after Damascus bomb attack

Russian deputy foreign minister tells Saudi newspaper that Maher Assad, commander of the Fourth Armored Division, lost both his legs in an attack last July; report adds Bashar Assad signals he is willing to give up power.

I kind of doubt it. to be honest.



http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/wor...-of-aleppo.cnn

CNN crew sneaks in and out of Aleppo

Added on August 13, 2012
Watch CNN's Ben Wedeman and crew sneak into Aleppo, Syria, to report on the conflict and how they get back out

https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov

Syria's defected PM: I assure you from my experience that the regime is collapsing, spiritually and financially, as it escalates militarily.
7:24 AM

Turkish tanks, armored vehicles and Stingers staged war games in Kilis on the Syrian border today. http://yfrog.com/ocnsshulj
7:43 AM

Turkey sends military reinforcements from Gaziantep to Kilis on the Syrian border http://yfrog.com/odafvujyj http://yfrog.com/esncrpyj
7:51 AM

Three Syrian colonels, one lt. colonel, two captains, eight soldiers are among 359 who crossed into Turkey today.
8:03 AM

Theoretically at this point Turkey might be able to set up their own no-fly-zone by moving a bunch of troops and anti-aircraft stuff over the border into Syria.
If they really want to.


Yesterday:

http://www.lccsyria.org/9859

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The Coordinating Committees was able to document 114 martyrs in Syria on Monday, 66 martyrs in Damascus and its suburb, including 18 martyrs in Tall, and 10 martyrs in Jedaide Artouz, 15 martyrs in a Daraa, 17 martyrs in Homs, 9 martyrs in Deir Zour, 3 Martyrs in Idlib, 2 martyrs in Hama, and 1 martyr in kenitra and 1 martyr in Latakia

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...75#post9046975
23,379 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://syriasurvey.blogspot.com/2012....html?spref=tw

The Rebels Return to Idlib City

The Shuhada Idlib Brigade reported the destruction of a checkpoint in western Idlib city today in an operation carried out in conjunction with two other rebel groups. While multiple checkpoints were attacked in northern Syria today, this attack is particularly significant because it confirms the return of the Syrian rebels to Idlib city. In late 2011-early 2012, Idlib city was a significant center of rebel activity, but the fighters were poorly organized, allowing the regime to clear the city in three short days in March 2012.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...962055348.html

Syria's Russian Connection

Regime Attempts to Sidestep Sanctions by Using Foreign Banks in Oil Sales

http://www.thenational.ae/news/world...f-country-boys

Aleppo battle led by ragtag bunch of 'country boys'

Syria's most successful rebel force is being led by a honey trader, an agricultural merchant and the manager of a mini-market.

They head a ragtag collection of farmers and labourers from the countryside north of Aleppo known as the Tawhid, or Unity, Brigade, who have dealt the Assad regime its biggest setback since the uprising erupted 17 months ago.

Tawhid fighters launched an audacious assault on Aleppo last month, which threatens to wrest it from regime control.

The group has drawn suspicion, in part because of its conservative religious views and executions of Assad loyalists, but admirers regard it as the most disciplined of the disorganised mishmash of rebel fighting groups

.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...285_story.html

Jordan squeezed as Syrian conflict rages next door

MAFRAQ, Jordan — Hundreds of Syrian refugees slip across the border near here each night with little more than harrowing tales and occasionally grave wounds. For this landlocked and resource-poor kingdom, the newcomers are fueling new economic burdens and worries that the war next door might spread beyond its own frontiers.

Throughout much of the conflict in Syria, Jordan has hewed toward neutrality to avoid antagonizing a powerful neighbor that has long been an important trading partner and transit route for Jordanian goods. But the accelerating refugee flow and protracted war have complicated that stance, and the kingdom is raising alarm about the potential for regional instability and increasingly siding with the Syrian regime’s opponents.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inp...b9Y1j0.twitter

In Pictures: One week in Aleppo

Goran Tomasevic photographs clashes between opposition fighters and government troops in Syria's most populous city.

http://www.thenation.com/slideshow/1...ty-under-siege

Slide Show: Syria's Zabadani, A City Under Siege

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/wor...ded-family.cnn

Shelling haunts Syrian family
Added on August 13, 2012

A Syrian family of six struggles to survive after a shell slams into their home. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh reports.

https://twitter.com/LBCI_News_EN

FPM leader Michel Aoun: We will not interfere with the Judiciary’s work regarding former Minister Michel Samaha’s case Lebanon
10:06 AM

https://twitter.com/columlynch

It's looking like BKmoon's office will today announce Lakdhar Brahimi's appointment as special envoy for Syria
10:31 AM

https://twitter.com/BreakingNews

Switzerland widens sanctions on Syria, banning 3 Syrian firms, including national airline, cotton marketing organization - @Reuters
11:39 AM

https://twitter.com/KetyDC

Watching @bencnn report from Syria, drinking tea & mentioning that even under shelling Syrian hospitality is still there. Priceless
10:40 AM

https://twitter.com/HalaGorani

US Treasury Dept says it's lifting sanctions against former Syria Prime Minister Riyad Hijab.
11:47 AM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

Idlib is really getting hit hard today really really hard...but I don't see anyone reporting anything...
11:01 AM

5000 civilians fled to the village of Atmeh in Northern #Idlib after an INTENSE day of shelling all over the province.
11:05 AM

A convoy headed twds Bab Alhawa was attacked at several cities along its way in Idlib. Nothing of it was left..it was completely destroyed. Destroyed, many soldiers killed, and they have some prisoners as well.
11:14 AM

The Syrian army's last large base in the north near the Turkish border is in Bab Alhawa. It sent a large convoy there.
11:14 AM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

Video showing the FSA forcing the convoy to stop on its way to Bab Alhawa by destroying a tank. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdcE...layer_embedded
11:24 AM

Clashes between the FSA in Sarmada and the regime convoy that was headed towards Bab Alhawa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUgQ...layer_embedded
11:28 AM

21 martyrs in Idlib as of now including 6 children and a woman.
11:50 AM

[visionary]

http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/p...-of-the-regime

Syria's Summer War and the Fate of the Regime

Interesting analysis of how things are going for the regime in different parts of Syria.

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org...cat=field-news

Medical Needs Increasing Among Syrian Refugees in Lebanon

As the crisis in Syria continues to intensify, the humanitarian needs—both in Syria and in surrounding countries—are increasing significantly. Many people have been killed and wounded and tens of thousands have fled their homes, leaving behind everything they own. Medical and humanitarian assistance within Syria is extremely limited, and aid from international organizations, including Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), has been severely restricted. In neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq, MSF has therefore augmented its work with the growing numbers of Syrian refugees flowing across the borders.

"In Lebanon, the Syrian refugees we are assisting are not in a position financially to afford medical treatment,” says Fabio Forgione, MSF’s head of mission in Lebanon. “Although aid was quickly deployed at the start of the crisis, and many organizations are still present, it needs to be maintained. Free access to health care and humanitarian assistance must be reinforced for Syrian refugees."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,4861280.story

Syria: Some in opposition fear rebels miscalculated in Aleppo

"The military campaign for Aleppo came too, too early," said Marcell Shehwaro, a dentistry graduate and a prominent activist. "Because people here didn't see the government violence that would make them believe the Free Syrian Army was needed."

Abdulaziz "Abu Jumuah" Salameh, who heads a coalition of dozens of militias called the Al Tawheed Brigade, acknowledged that the city may not have wanted the rebel offensive to begin so soon. But that didn't matter: The revolution has its own timing.

"Other provinces finished their revolution, and Aleppo hadn't started yet," he said, speaking from his headquarters in Tal Rifaat, a town north of the city. "You could wait 100 years, and Aleppo still won't be ready."

Even as rebels continue to stream into Aleppo, there is bitter disagreement over whether they can win over its residents.

Dormitories at Aleppo University, stormed not long ago by security officers who killed several students, also were crammed with families. In the courtyard where students and faculty were assaulted by shabiha militiamen, children played games.

Tony al Taieb, a law school student and media activist, said he and many others in the opposition resented not being given at least a warning of the rebels' impending offensive. They might have at least had a chance to better prepare for the humanitarian crisis, he said.

It's too late to worry about that. He now works alongside the newly formed Aleppo Military Council, which is coordinating the rebel offensive.

"Once the Free Syrian Army came in, I left the computer, and my work became on the ground," he said. "There's no point to going out and protesting anymore; who's going to come out and protest under this shelling?"

But he said he fears a repeat of what happened in Damascus, where rebels withdrew from neighborhoods after announcing a push to liberate the capital.

"It's done, we've come in, so we can't destroy the city and leave, it will ruin our reputation," he said. "We have to stay or else it's suicide.

"If we leave Aleppo, the revolution will fall apart."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...b19_story.html

Sanctions aimed at Syria and Iran are hindering opposition, activists say

U.S. sanctions targeting Syria and Iran have inadvertently undermined the opposition movements they are intended to help, making it more difficult for those groups to access technologies that can evade electronic surveillance and censorship, according to security experts and activists.

The economic sanctions imposed by the Obama administration have forced many Western companies, including technology firms, to sever relationships with Syria and Iran. The measures have helped to isolate those governments internationally.

https://twitter.com/ZainSyr

The regime arrested 10s of Alwite Homsi ppl who where trying to sneak some food 2 their besieged Sunni neighbourhoods! this z syria we know
2:18 AM

https://twitter.com/NuffSilence

FSA seized a tank after destroying and neutralizing the convoy headed to Bab Al Hawa today: http://fb.me/1YXMvlt6i
2:25 PM

FSA hospitalizing an injured Assad soldier today after Bab Al Hawa convoy clashes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHczq...&feature=share … of course this video won't get viral
2:52 PM

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

Gaddafi style - Assad captain pulled out of a drain pipe after his convoy heading to Bab al-Hawa was destroyed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbL9bzzvLfA
1:31 PM

Nice sight - the free Bab al-Salameh border crossing with Turkey http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja_TJN3G20w
3:00 PM

Orient TV report on the Syrian refugee "camp" in Jordan… At least there's no shelling, but there are scorpions instead!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPzDx6Ksqq0
3:23 PM

Where are the millions raised for Syrian refugees in the Gulf? Where the the millions promised for refugees by our "friends"?
3:25 PM

https://twitter.com/KarimLebhour

UN mission to Syria will expire on Monday w/o renewal. BKM will set up a political liaison office in Damascus but no more observers
4:25 PM

https://twitter.com/HalaGorani

US Defense Sec Leon Panetta says signs Iran "trying to train a militia within Syria to fight on behalf of the regime.” http://wtim.es/PaRGcb
4:42 PM

https://twitter.com/DamascusSYR

Unconfirmed reports saying that there are ongoing battles between the Jordanian and Syria'n armies at the border AGAIN.
4:46 PM

EXCLUSIVE: BREAKING: There are indeed battles happening at the moment between the Jordanian and Syria'n armies.
4:49 PM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

ANOTHER massacre in Ariha! 10s of martyrs! They have confirmed the names of 5 as of now.
5:15 PM

NEW massacre in Ariha as Assad forces shell at the Mosque-goers as they left the mosque.
5:16 PM

Follow @SyrianOrphans. They are an org. dedicated to supporting the orphans of this Syrian revolution. Also they have some awesome swag!
5:26 PM

Suqoor Alsham attack the Jabal Arba`een checkpoint in Ariha to avenge MohamadAssi. They destroy 5 tanks and drive a BMP back home!
5:39 PM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Video showing members of FSA capturing a Syrian Army Captain that was hiding in the sewers. Remind you of anyone? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbL9bzzvLfA
6:13 PM

The best thing is - they tell him "Come out, you are protected by us" They give them their hand to help him out, promising he wont be hurt.
6:14 PM

He gives himself up peacefully and is taken by members of the #FSA who promise that he will not be harmed and will be treated as prisoner.
6:15 PM

This is the kind of video from the FSA that shows who they really are. People with honor and a sense of responsibility.
6:17 PM

[visionary]

http://www.voanews.com/content/panet...e/1485709.html

Panetta: No Plans for Syria No-Fly Zone

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday that the United States has no plans for imposing a no-fly zone over Syria as the government of Bashar al-Assad steps up air attacks on the city of Aleppo.

Pentagon officials have noted what they describe as a troubling increase in air attacks on Aleppo that are claiming civilian lives daily, raising questions of whether the United States will move beyond its current policy of providing only non-lethal aid to the Syrian opposition.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters Tuesday that Washington will also continue to provide humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees fleeing to Turkey and Jordan, and monitor Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles.

“With regard to the no-fly zone, that is not a front-burner issue for us,” Panetta said.

But U.S. Army General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Jordan and Turkey might be considering imposing a no-fly zone.

“We have been in discussion with Jordanians and the Turks, and they’re both interested mostly in the effects that could spill over from Syria into their countries. Both have examined the possibility of a safe haven. And with a safe haven would probably come some form of no-fly zone, but we’re not planning anything unilaterally,” Dempsey said.

Not sure what he means by unilaterally....
US, US and Turkey/Jordan, Turkey/Jordan on their own, anything outside the UN?


http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetai...?newsId=289416

Turkey finalizes plans for safe haven to manage refugee crisis

As the revolt in Syria against the embattled Bashar al-Assad regime has dragged on for far longer than any other Arab Spring uprising, Turkey has drawn up plans for establishing a “safe haven” inside Syria to protect refugees fleeing to Turkey, whose numbers have reached 55,000 during the 17-month-long crisis.

Orhan said that it was unlikely Turkey would create a safe haven in the Syrian province of Latakia, where the Syrian regime is strong and Nusayris are the majority. “Although there are Turkmens living on the border of Latakia, it is risky to create a safe haven in Latakia, which has strategic importance for the regime,” said Orhan.

However, Orhan states that it would be possible to create a safe haven in the province of Idlib, where the majority of the population is composed of Sunni Arabs, besides a small number of Turkmen. “Almost the whole population in the province is in the opposition camp. It can be considered a relatively safe zone in terms of being one of the most powerful provinces of the opposition. The Sunni Arab population living on the border would lean towards the establishment of a safe haven,” said Orhan.

Aleppo, a province under daily bombardment by Syrian government forces, is another area where the creation of a safe haven is being considered. “Except the Afrin, which is located in the northwestern part of the Aleppo province and where the Kurdish population is the majority, there could be a safe haven along the borderline of Aleppo. The reason why the Afrin is excluded is that the Kurdish population would perceive the safe haven as a threat, which is very risky for Turkey,” said Orhan.

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

Mixed-sect, mixed-gender National Unity battalion formed in Salamiyeh, Hama http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAZkoSdQXDs
8:52 PM August 13

Another mixed-sect battalion formed in Salamiyeh, Hama, part of the National Unity battalions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOkUTsiYbew&feature=plcp
8:56 PM August 13

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

The Syrian Revolution flag flying high next to the Turkish flag on the Syria- Turkey border. Nice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDBDu...&feature=share
6:51 PM

https://twitter.com/Basma_

Reporters Without Borders' letter to Syria opposition about attacks on pro-government media. http://en.rsf.org/syria-open-letter-...012,43223.html
7:11 PM

Reporters Without Borders addresses letter to head SNC and FSA leader. These people have no control whatsoever on those committing the acts.
7:13 PM

https://twitter.com/LyConstitution

Big news coming from Syria in the next few hours.
9:09 PM

https://twitter.com/itsEnas

Reports say a massacre just occurred in Tafs, Daraa. Assad forces invaded & death toll is still not determined.Many killed though.
9:32 PM

Activists in Daraa just confirmed the news.+15 found dead, some under rubble of shelled houses,others executed after Assad invasion.
9:41 PM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

The martyrs and the injured in the hospital in Ariha were evacuated due to fears of the hospital being shelled for the 3rd time.
6:27 PM

There were 41 martyrs in Idlib today after several massacres occurred During Taraweeh.
9:22 PM

There are 4 families now living in my aunt's house in Damascus. Everyone in Syria is a refuge.
9:47 PM

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

2 trucks full of dead Assad forces next to Aleppo University Hospital.
6:37 PM

previoustweet They posted it reluctantly since it's unsettling, don't suggest you look at it unless you really want to.
6:38 PM

Regime doesnt publish death statistics anymore, and people were skeptical when residents said there were trucks of dead soldiers
6:41 PM

Agreed. It's not a nice thing to document, but it will be useful to find out the total death toll and confirm reports.
6:48 PM

Lt. Colonel defects and forms the big "Shield of the Euphrates" Brigade in Deir Ezzor, combining several units http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuRHoo_lTVE
6:54 PM

http://www.lccsyria.org/9877

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The number of martyrs has risen to 100 thus far, among them more than 10 children and 4 women. There are 23 martyrs in Damascus and its Suburbs; 20 in Daraa; 16 in Idlib;16 in Aleppo; 10 in Deir Ezzor; 8 in Homs, two of whom were martyred in Aleppo; 2 in Hama and 1 in Lattakia.

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...75#post9046975
23,479 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153

about 9 hours ago
Mazen Ibrahim, an Al Jazeera correspondent in Aleppo, said heavy fighting between government forces and rebels raged in several districts on Tuesday.

"Government forces tried to overtake a new area in Saleheddin but Free Syrian Army fighters stopped them," he said, adding that the regime forces then used air force to bombard Salaheddin, Saif al-Dawla and Shaar.

"In Shaar, four people were killed and more than 20 civilians injured after a MiG-21 jet targeted a street with two missiles," he said.

"During my stay in the area, I saw many people, maybe hundreds, were trying to escape to go inside Aleppo searching for a safe zone to stay in."

He said the situation is "kind of static" between the two sides, with neither side able to make a breakthrough.

"The Free Syrian Army doesn't have any heavy weapons and the government forces don't want to go into a street war that could cost the lives of hundreds of people."

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middle...451195915.html

Explosion near UN hotel in Damascus

A bomb exploded in central Damascus near the hotel used by the UN observer mission in Syria, wounding three people, Syrian state television reported.

It said the blast, in the Abu Remanih area near a military depot and the trade union headquarters, was caused by a bomb planted on a fuel truck on Wednesday morning.

Several ambulances rushed to the scene and a security cordon was set up, according to witnesses.

Activists said massive explosions echoed across much of the city and a video released by one opposition group showed a vast plume of smoke billowing into the sky.

A spokesperson for the opposition Local Co-ordination Committees spokesperson in Damascus said in an interview with Al Jazeera there was a big explosion followed by a series of smaller explosions. There is no confirmation that the Free Syrian Army is responsible.

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

Syrian State TV: an explosive device tied to a diesel tank detonated behind Dama Rose Hotel (just by Air Force HQ), 3 injured.
1:57 AM

Now Syrian State TV changed the location of explosion, from behind Dama Rose Hotel to the parking lot of the Chief Of Staff HQ parking lot.
2:13 AM

Syrian State TV now showing recorded footage of Omayyad Sq in the background saying it is "live".
2:26 AM

https://twitter.com/ZeinakhodrAljaz

AP reporter at scene: Damascus blast went off inside parking belonging to military compound near Dama Rose Hotel popular w/ UN observers
2:38 AM

Syria state-run TV says a bomb exploded near a fuel truck outside a hotel where UN observers are staying in Damascus
2:40 AM

https://twitter.com/Stone_SkyNews

Follow Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor @Skytwitius who's back in Damascus to report on syria conflict. iPad app too: http://pic.twitter.com/SCyrn2Di
2:43 AM

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

Close-up of the Damascus explosion this morning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwSYz...&feature=share Took place in the green arrow: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.514716%2C36.284668
2:59 AM

https://twitter.com/AlexanderPageSY

BREAKING: Military Aircraft now opening direct fire above city of Damascus just one hour after explosion near Omayyad Sq
2:59 AM

https://twitter.com/mollymhunter

UN's @ValerieAmos tells @AJEnglish that her team is safe after this morning's blast. Says she is double checking with UNSMIS.
3:10 AM

https://twitter.com/LyConstitution

Syria an explosion in the Army General Staff building http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDFnG...layer_embedded
3:13 AM

AJA: FSA is claiming responsibility for the Damascus explosion and high ranking Bashar officials are among the dead and injured.
3:23 AM

AJA: 150 killed or injured in Damascus explosion.
3:24 AM

Seems like a pretty high number for this kind of explosion.
I'm fairly skeptical about this version of events.



https://twitter.com/farGar

According to an AP reporter at the scene, the fire was extinguished less than hour after the explosion
3:41 AM

[IONTOP]

Holy ****! Can we PLEASE get a new thread title? I've been seeing this in the tailgate for a year now and I highly doubt 1100 posts have been about the article...

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middle...451195915.html

Rebels claim responsibility for Syria blast

The main Syrian rebel group has claimed responsibilty for a series of explosions in central Damascus near the hotel used by the UN observer mission in Syria.

Abu al-Noor, a spokesperson for the Ahfad Al Rasoul Brigade that has claiming responsibility for the bombing attacks, told Al Jazeera that the Free Syrian Army (FSA) had been planning the attacks for a month.

"The operation was targeting the central security command in response to murders perpetrated by the security forces nationwide," he said in a phone interview from Damascus on Wednesday morning.

Syrian state television reported that the blast, in the Abu Remanih area near a military depot and the trade union headquarters, was caused by a bomb planted in a fuel vehicle on Wednesday morning.

Syrian state television reported that the attack wounded at least three people, but the rebels said they suspect many officers had been killed or injured.

The FSA planted eight explosive canisters in the vicinity of the Syrian military's Central Security Command, timed to explode during their daily meeting, Abu al-Noor of the Ahfad Al Rasoul Brigade said.

The FSA had intelligence suggesting some 150 high-ranking officers would be attending the meeting. He did not know how many casualties had occurred because the security forces had secured the area.

"We will continue to carry out similar operations in the capital until we reach him [Assad] in the presidential palace," Abu al-Noor said.

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

The entire regime army presence has left Bab Alhawa Idlib. They were headed towards Idlib city after the FSA in Sarmada hit them hard.
5:35 AM

New Suqoor Alsham battalion heads to Aleppo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W85d...layer_embedded
6:11 AM

Bab Alhawa square, which used to be a regime checkpoint, now in the FSA's control. Idlib https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSwG...layer_embedded
6:44 AM

More than 150 regime soldiers injured and in the hospitals in Idlib city after clashes with the FSA in Bab Alhawa, Sarmada etc.
6:48 AM

https://twitter.com/ValerieAmos

Waiting at checkpoint to get into Duma. Sounds of shelling. Could not enter.
http://twitpic.com/ajo7iz
6:50 AM

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

Fam of kidnapped Lebanese man in Syria (allegedly Hizbollah member) announce abduction of "FSA members" in Lebanon. Looks like a normal fam!
4:12 AM

I hold the Lebanese Gov responsible for the security of every Syrian in Lebanon. Injured FSA fighters r now being kidnapped from hosp. beds.
5:16 AM

Hospitals treating injured FSA fighters in Northern Lebanon are well known. Almeqdad clan is now kidnapping the injured, from their beds.
5:13 AM

Al Meqdad fam spks: "our family's military faction has taken some actions on the ground (agnst Syrians in Leb), footage will be shown soon"
6:09 AM

so a civilian fam of a "civilian" guy who was captured in Syria turns out 2 hav a "military wing"..launches an op & kidnap Syrians in return
6:17 AM

https://twitter.com/BSyria

The FSA should release all Lebanese hostages immediately. As for Hizbollah fighters, they should and must die in action.
6:58 AM

The kidnap of Lebanese civilians was such a dumb move to begin with (and I said so long ago). FSA gave the excuse. Dumb and criminal.
7:00 AM

https://twitter.com/Turk4Syria

@BSyria I disagree with you. FSA doesn't send Syrians to Lebanon to fight Lebanese people. Hizbullah sends people to Syria to kill Syrians.
7:55 AM

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

Al Miqdad Fam on New TV: about 20 FSA fighters kidnapped, many of which were injured being treated in hospitals in nothern Lebanon.
6:25 AM

To enter North Lebanon, kidnap injured FSA soldiers from their hospital beds, this operation screams Hizbollah ALL OVER.
6:27 AM

Al Meqdad family spksman to New TV: If Bashar Assad's gov falls, I tell Syrians all around Lebanon to watch over their backs.
6:51 AM

Breaking: Al Meqdad kidnap 3 more Syrians in Lebanon by Al Meqdad, confirmed by a fam spokesman to New TV. Number up to 23.
6:57 AM

Regardless of who started it, political leadership is now responsible to end this, Syrian leadership is nonexistent.
7:18 AM

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

Hassan Meqdad: We are scouting Lebanon for FSA, Turks, Qataris & Saudis..they are all targets, for our brother we will kidnap 10,000 & more.
7:37 AM

@Almayadeennews now reporting that another senior FSA officer is now kidnapped in Lebanon. That puts the number at 24.
7:47 AM

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

Damascus: Clashes between the FSA and Assad's forces near the Cabinet building and Iranian embassy. [via LCC]
7:49 AM

[martytheman]

why does this dude keep posting every twitter update and article he can find daily? probably 76 of the 77 pages in this thread look like this one.

*eta
I was wrong.. I picked about 8 pages at random and they all look like this... so it's probably all 77 pages.

[visionary]

Actually I spend a lot of time going through everything and posting a few things that I think best inform and give an idea of what is going on.

But I do apologize if it upsets you.
I'd suggest not reading past this point then.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19273284

Houla massacre: UN blames Syria troops and militia

Syrian troops and militia were behind the Houla massacre of 108 people in May, UN investigators have concluded.

Meanwhile, at least 30 people were killed when warplanes attacked the town of Azaz near Aleppo, activists say.

In Azaz, rescuers tried to pull survivors out of the rubble of collapsed houses and casualties were rushed to a nearby field hospital.

A large number of people were wounded and the number of dead was expected to rise.

Among those killed in the raid on Azaz were four Lebanese Shia Muslims taken hostage by rebel forces in May, according to unconfirmed reports.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com...on-u-s-action/

CNN Poll: Syria situation concerns Americans, who are split on U.S. action

The increasingly bloody civil war in Syria concerns Americans, a CNN/ORC poll released Wednesday showed, though the prospect of sending military assistance from the U.S. and other countries or using air power to assist rebels has Americans divided.

The poll showed 29% of Americans saying they're very concerned, and 43% saying they're somewhat concerned, about the situation in Syria. Twenty-six percent said the situation in Syria did not concern them.

In Wednesday's poll, Americans were largely split on whether or not the U.S. should partner with other countries to send military assistance to Syrian rebels. Forty-six percent favored the U.S. and other countries using air power to establish safe zones in Syria, compared to 49% who opposed taking that measure.

Sixty-four percent of Americans said they opposed sending U.S. and other countries' troops into Syria to establish safe zones for rebels. Thirty-two supported sending ground troops into the country.

Arming the Syrian opposition, a move the Obama administration has resisted in part because U.S. officials don't know enough about the rebels, also splits Americans. Forty-eight percent said in Wednesday's poll they favored sending weapons and other supplies to Syrian opposition forces, while 47% were opposed to taking that step.

https://twitter.com/WashingtonPoint

2 weeks ago walked 2gether into Syria from d Turkish city, Kilis.Brigade com Yusuf killed 2day in Selahaddine http://instagram.com/p/OWrUQWG6zU/
12:10 PM

The war planes actually targeted the hospital: ~15 killed in Azez, ~300 injured
12:11 PM

The Syrian airforce by targeting hospital near Turkish border also signals Turkey about its safe-zone plans http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetai...?newsId=289416 …
12:13 PM

https://twitter.com/Reuters

SAUDI ARABIA ORDERS CITIZENS TO LEAVE LEBANON "IMMEDIATELY" - SAUDI STATE NEWS AGENCY
12:19 PM

https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov

5 colonels, 3 lt. colonels, 4 majors, 3 captains, 2 lieutenants and 39 soldiers were among 1,199 Syrians who crossed into Turkey today.
10:27 AM

At least 100 Syrians were brought to Turkey's Hatay wounded in an air strike in a neighboring Syrian town.
12:33 PM

https://twitter.com/hadeelalsh

In Azaz, witnessed the damage to homes of civilians. The town is heart broken.
12:53 PM

Saw 3 babies being carried out, and half a man's body out of the rubble.
12:56 PM

At least 20-23 homes now leveled to the ground. Men falling to the ground crying, women wailing.
1:01 PM

Met one woman who went from hospital to hospital looking for her brother. found out he was being buried after dying in air strike
1:09 PM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...17848338242310

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The number of martyrs has risen to 178 thus far today, among them children and women. Of the martyrs, 90 were reported in Aleppo (most of them in Izzaz), 32 in Damascus and its Suburbs (including 6 who were field-executed in Douma, 11 who were also field- executed in the orchards of Razi and 6 in Qaboun), 26 in Idlib, 21 in Homs (including 6 members of the same family in Deir Baalba), 5 in Daraa, 2 in Hama, 1 in Deir Ezzor and 1 in Quneitra
12:44 PM

[Koala]

why does this dude keep posting every twitter update and article he can find daily? probably 76 of the 77 pages in this thread look like this one.

*eta
I was wrong.. I picked about 8 pages at random and they all look like this... so it's probably all 77 pages.

Cause unlike 99.9% of the population, he gives a **** that people are dying there EVERY DAY, for the crime of wanting democracy. This is his way of keeping attention to this human catastrophe. If you wanna ignore it, then go back to watching tv or whatever, but dont discourage people who realize there's more important **** going on in the world than the number of times RGIII farted today.

Also, for all the Orwellian revisionists who wanna claim the Syrian opposition are terrorists, going back through this thread is a nice reminder of what actually happened

As a quick timeline: some high school kids spray-painted a wall, Assad tortured and killed them, there was a peaceful revolt in solidarity for the murdered children, Assad's thugs murdered the protesters in cold blood, shot up their funerals, and tortured anybody related to the protesters. The protestors began demanding Assad step down and there be real elections, he obviously had forfeited his right to lead anybody, by murdering children. This continued for months without the peaceful protests turning violent in any way, hardly a shot fired in self defense. They begged the UN for help, and the UN proved just how worthless it is.

After a while, they realized nonviolent protest doesnt work with people like Assad. And it doesnt work when you're muslim country without major oil resources, and too many in the international community dont care, because you're muslim. So they picked up guns and began to defend themselves. Against all odds, they gave the syrian military all it could handle, but then the syrian military got really scared and started using artillery and tanks to level entire cities. Realizing that Assad wasnt gonna stop till they were all dead, the Syrian rebels again begged anybody and everybody for help. Noone responed, except jihadists from the gulf with Al-Qaeda links. The fact that the rebels were forced to accept help from the jihadists, because noone else offered help, should shame the rest of the world more than it does the rebels.

And yet, here we are, with many people gearing up to re-paint this conflict as Al-Qaeda v. Bashar Al Assad, and attack Obama for the limited aid that he is giving this "terrorist-loving" Syrian opposition. And some idiot will buy it. Thank God for the "visionaries" of the world have taken the time to document this tragedy or else more people would be fooled.

[Renegade7]

Keep doing your thing, Visionary. Half the battle is knowing...

[visionary]

SYRIA

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...-a-850002.html

Inside the Syrian Rebels' Fight For Aleppo

The black pickup truck races through the narrow streets of Aleppo's historic center. Old men are sitting in the shade in front of their houses as if it were peacetime. Yassin skillfully maneuvers the truck around them. The young fighter with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) is wiry, tall and has his head almost completely shaved.

He speeds through the Bab al-Nasr, a gate that was once part of the city wall of ancient Aleppo. "We just captured this area today," he shouts over the engine noise. "The government troops had to retreat toward the center of the city." Yassin comes to an abrupt stop in an arcade.

Driving any farther would be deadly. "Snipers can see into this arcade. They're just around the corner on the right, very close by," he says. A grenade coming from the Citadel, an imposing medieval fortress on a hill, hisses through the air above the neighborhood and lands farther back. "The soldiers up there won't be able to hold out much longer," Yassin says. "They're not getting any supplies. We have them surrounded."

Yassin is a member of the Liwa al-Tawhid, or Brigade of Unity, part of the FSA. The brigade operates primarily in the eastern and central sections of Aleppo. Like most of the fighters with Liwa al-Tawhid, Yassin is from the surrounding area and didn't know his way around the city when the FSA advanced into Syria's economic capital about three weeks ago.

The battle for Aleppo, Syria's largest city, is of critical importance for the Syrian rebellion -- as well as for the future of the country and possibly the region, as well. President Bashar Assad has declared the struggle for Aleppo the "mother of all battles," and his troops are fighting with everything they have.

The military controls the center of the city, the north and the far western section, while the rebels have taken hold of the other half. If Assad's troops do not drive them out, they could turn Aleppo into the seat of a rebel government.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middle...313836461.html

Syrian warplanes hammer rebel border town

Syrian fighter jets have conducted two devastating bombing runs on the rebel-held town of Azaz, flattening a string of houses and killing at least 20 people including children, activists said.

"Bashar did this. God help us, these animals will kill us all," said one man, hoisting a bloodied arm that had been piled up on the pavement outside the hospital in Azaz after the bombardment.

A correspondent with the AFP news agency said at least 10 houses had been flattened in the bombardment. Azaz, which lies just to the north of the main battleground city of Aleppo, is often used as a rear base by rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters.

"This was a civilian area. All these houses were packed with women and children sleeping during the fast," said witness Abu Omar, a civil engineer in his 50s, referring to the dawn-to-dusk fast Muslims observe during Ramadan.

Hundreds of people, most of them women and children, fled across the border to Turkey after the air strike, with families carrying bags of clothes and boxes of food on their heads, an AFP correspondent said.

"It was a massacre, an entire family like mine was exterminated," said one woman who refused to give her name.

In Aleppo itself, a new front had reportedly opened in the northeastern district of Baaideen, forcing residents to flee as regime forces pounded the area using tanks and warplanes.

Abu Ubayda, a local rebel commander, said regime forces were trying to encircle the FSA between Baaideen and southwestern district of Salaheddin which the government retook last week.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/rss/eo20...er_share=1e075

Spillover could force Washington to consider how to end Syria's war

https://twitter.com/malonebarry

Pics hitting Reuters wire from Syria Air force air strike in Azaz horrific - just awful. You can feel them in the pit of your stomach
2:03 PM

Reuters' @hadeelalsh tweeting from Azaz now.
2:04 PM

https://twitter.com/HalaGorani

(French) An AFP report published Sunday described Azaz as a rebel held town where daily life was returning to normal. http://www.lepoint.fr/t/1-1495356
3:04 PM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...17848338242310

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The number of martyrs has risen to 193 thus far today, among them children and women. Of the martyrs, 90 were reported in Aleppo (most of them in Izzaz), 41 in Damascus and its Suburbs (including 6 who were field-executed in Douma, 11 who were also field- executed in the orchards of Razi and 6 in Qaboun), 26 in Idlib, 24 in Homs (including 6 members of the same family in Deir Baalba), 7 in Daraa, 2 in Hama, 2 in Deir Ezzor and 1 in Quneitra
2:37 PM

LEBANON

https://twitter.com/dalalmawad

Reporting live from the Mokdad residence in Dahya lebanon
1:06 PM

I asked a masked armed man leaving the building where he was going he said "I'm going hunting"
1:42 PM

Hatem al Mokdad tells me they will kidnap Lebanese officials funding and protecting the Fsa
1:43 PM

Almokdad family claims it has now more than 33 Fsa hostages
1:44 PM

So everyone knows where these guys' residence is, but no one is stopping them?
Is the government supporting them?

https://twitter.com/rmslim

A plea to Lebanese media: Stop giving airtime to the thugs called a'l al Miqdad. They must be enjoying the visibility. Do not give it 2them
2:24 PM

https://twitter.com/hhassan140

UAE asks its nationals to refrain from traveling to Lebanon and those in Lebanon to leave "immediately", via @ABZayed.
2:31 PM

https://twitter.com/oh_bergine

BREAKING: Aljadeed: Lebanese prisoners in Roumieh prison are holding Syrian prisoners as hostages
2:36 PM

Just when you thought things in Lebanon couldn't get any crazier....

https://twitter.com/LeShaque

AlJadeed: Lebanese inmates in Roumieh prison (re-)imprison Syrian inmates.
2:35 PM

40 Syrians were kidnapped in Lebanon. KSA and UAE have alerted their citizens to leave promptly. No word from Syria embassy.
2:38 PM

Remember when esteemed diplomats argued that military intervention may cause the Syrian conflict to spill over?
3:25 PM

When will the conflict in Syria become such a bother to neighboring countries that they feel compelled to find solutions?
3:27 PM

https://twitter.com/BahjatNassif

Beirut Airport road now pic.twitter.com/OGBwVxWS
2:51 PM

The Lebanese kidnapping family and friends have blocked the airport road and threatened to kidnap any gulf nationals or syrians they see.


https://twitter.com/SultanAlQassemi

CNN: Qatar asks its citizens leave Lebanon immediately for their safety
3:15 PM