Yahoo: Assad predicts disaster if West meddles in Syria

[twa]

Panetta: We’ve Lost Track of Some Syrian Chemical Weapons
http://e-ring.foreignpolicy.com/post...emical_weapons

no worries, it is probably just in the rebels control

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...88J0X720120929

Ancient souk burns as fighting rages in Syria's Aleppo

Hundreds of shops were burning in the ancient covered market in Aleppo on Saturday as fighting between rebels and state forces in Syria's largest city threatened to destroy a UNESCO world heritage site.

The uprising-turned-civil war that is now raging across Syria has killed more than 30,000 people, according to activist groups like the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

But beyond the dramatic human cost, many of Syria's historic treasures have also fallen victim to an 18-month-old conflict that has reduced parts of some cities to ruins.

Rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad announced a new offensive in Aleppo, Syria's commercial hub of 2.5 million people, on Thursday, but neither side has appeared to make significant gains.

In Aleppo, activists speaking via Skype said army snipers were making it difficult to approach the Souk al-Madina, the medieval market of vaulted stone alleyways and carved wooden facades in the Old City, once a major tourist attraction.

Videos uploaded to YouTube showed dark black clouds hanging over the city skyline.

Activists said the fire might have been started by shelling and gunfire on Friday and estimated that between 700 and 1,000 shops had been destroyed so far. The accounts were difficult to verify because of government restricts on foreign media.

Activists also reported heavy clashes at Bab Antakya, a stone gateway to Aleppo's Old City, which sits on ancient trade routes and survived a parade of rulers throughout its construction between the 12th and 17th century.

Rebels said they had taken the gate, but some activists said the fighting continued and neither side was truly in control.

An advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he was confident Syria's government would beat the rebels.

"The victory of the government of Syria against internal opponents, America, and their other Western and Arab supporters, is counted as a victory of the Islamic Republic of Iran," said Ali Akbar Velayati, according to state news agency IRNA.

"The victory of the Syrian government is certain.

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

about 6 hours ago
Mohamed Farouq Tayfour, a Syrian National Counsel deputy, has told Al Jazeera that a new counsel, comprised in part by the leadership of 80 per cent of the Syrian opposition, is a "first of its kind step in the history of the Syrian revolution in which all participants in revolution connects at political, revolutionary, and military levels”.

Tayfour says the new counsel was the result of a "tireless effort".

The joint leadership for the military revolutionary counsels was first announced in the suburbs of northwestern Idlib on Friday.

https://twitter.com/7__r

Assad's forces left my house while ago. They checked IDs, searched the rooms and stole some money, not much though.
5:35 AM Sep 28

They are still outside however. There are hundreds all over Barzeh, on every corner there are few soldiers. Damascus
5:41 AM Sep 28

Just got this about the explosion I heard minutes ago: Assad's forces blew up a water well nearby.
5:47 AM Sep 28

Shelling on Barzeh intensifies, my building is shaking.
10:01 AM Sep 28

Two tanks just arrived to Barzeh with donzes of soldiers. Gunfire by heavy machine-guns can be heard in the neighborhood.
1:40 AM

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

Russia is realizing: Assad can't liberate border crossings anymore, has had most of N. Syria out of reach for months now...Supply routes cut
4:38 AM

In areas where they cnt resupply w/ weapons, he is filling barrels with nuts, bolts, shrapnel & TNT thn dropping from planes. Desperation
4:45 AM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

Regime forces in JisrAlshughoor Idlib arrest 10s of young men who are wanted for military duty.
6:03 AM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Large fire in Idlib reaching all the way to Turkish border.
2:20 AM

Columns of smoke over western Harasta after regime forces set fire to structures in the area. Residents fleeing neighborhood. Damascus
6:02 AM

https://twitter.com/javierespinosa2

Turkey sends diplomatic note to Syria over mortar bomb that hit turkish territory http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/tur...&NewsCatID=338 …
6:04 AM

https://twitter.com/Turk4Syria

Good news: Saudi Relief Communities & Campaigns will build a container camp for about 10 000 Syrian refugees in Kilis, Turkey.
6:07 AM

Saudi Relief Communities & Campaigns, which gets most of its donations from the Saudi people, will also build a prefab hospital for Syrians.
6:19 AM

The number of registered Syrian refugees in Turkey is now at 91 219.
6:20 AM

https://twitter.com/MidaniSpeaks

Really got nothin for you guys today. People dying. Half my neighborhood destroyed. Half my country destroyed. What can you say?
9:55 AM

https://twitter.com/DavidKenner

Al Arabiya docs alleges pilots in Turkish jet that was shot down were executed by Syrian military. http://english.alarabiya.net/article...0805.html12:56 PM

Having a hard time believing the Turkish army (or especially Erdogan) would cover up the execution of the pilots.
12:59 PM

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

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The number of martyrs in Syria has risen to 94 thus far, among them 7 women and 5 children. 49 were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs, among them 8 field-executed in Qudsaya, 15 field-executed in Tal Al-Mastaba, 7 slaughtered in Barzeh and 5 field-executed in Maaraba; 17 in Aleppo; 11 in Deir Ezzor; 4 in Hama; 3 in Homs; 2 in Daraa; and 1 in Idlib

[visionary]

http://www.egyptindependent.com/news...ally-displaced

Aleppo dispatch: Among Syria's internally displaced

The distant thud of an artillery strike breaks the illusion of tranquility in a small village several kilometers to the north of Aleppo, Syria. There is little else to hear except children in the distance and a light breeze blowing through the dry and dusty roads.

The children are amusing themselves outside a small hut in the village, which used to be a school. Its two small rooms are now home to 30 people from four families who have fled the violent battle that has engulfed Aleppo. “The situation here is absolutely desperate; there is no electricity, or bread or drinking water,” says Abu Tariq, a father of one of the families in the hut.

Abu Tariq, his wife and their three young children are among the 1.2 million internally displaced people within Syria, according to a recent estimate by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The eruption of fighting between the opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the forces of Bashar al-Assad's regime in late July caused hundreds of thousands of people to flee the city, compounding the dislocation of Syria’s people.

“I made the decision to move as soon as they started bombing with the airplanes. At the beginning of Ramadan the FSA entered Aleppo and there were clashes for a few days before the government started bombing from the sky,” says Abu Tariq. While the FSA has managed to take control of over half of the territory within the city, the government has unleashed a ferocious campaign of aerial bombardment from fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery. The destruction it has meted out on the city has been extensive and arbitrary. Homes, schools, factories and hospitals have all fallen victim.

The countryside only offers partial protection. Two hundred meters from the families’ hut there is a small store, which was hit by an artillery strike only weeks before. By an ironic stroke of good luck, the store was closed owing to the bad economy and hence nobody was inside when the shell smashed through the roof.

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

about 6 hours ago
Opposition fighters from the Tawhid brigade and other northern brigades announce that they have partially taken over the Jandoul roundabout in Aleppo.

Fighters also say 15 government soldiers were killed and three tanks were destroyed.

They say the takeover is a bid to restore security to the area after the forces of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, were targeting civilians passing through.

The fighters also vow to continue their push in the coming days until they kick the Assad forces out of the entire city of Aleppo.

about 5 hours ago
The Iraqi government has said that Syria-bound flights departing from Iran and passing through their airspace will be asked to land for weapons inspections.

Sunday's call for random inspections comes after Washington said outbound flights from the Islamic Republic could be ferrying weapons to the forces of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president.

In an interview with the London-based al-Hayat newspaper, Hoshiyar Zebari, the Iraqi foreign minister, had said US cocnerns first came about on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York:

We have informed Mrs Clinton and US officials that the government plans to bring planes down and conduct random inspections

about 3 hours ago
At least eight members of forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, have been killed in a car bomb in north-eastern Syria.

Sunday's attack in al-Hasakah province has also wounded 15 of Assad's forces.

The blast occurred in al-Qameshli's al-Gharibi district, home to several branches of security forces.

A preliminary investigation indicates that the explosion mainly targeted the Political Security branch.

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

my boysss destroy a checkpoint! SuqoorAlsham Idlib JabalAlzawiyah http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVdmL...layer_embedded …
4:07 PM

no this is a different one. This is a 7ajiz at the electric company, the other one was in Jabal Alarb3een.
4:14 PM

https://twitter.com/KareemLailah

Armed operations in the old souk of Aleppo must stop. Assad doesn't care about our ruins but we should care.
5:43 PM

the need for peace keeper forces is becoming now urgent! Nothing else would stop Assad's canons.
6:14 PM

FYI: The 13 km long old souk being shelled in Aleppo now, is the oldest souk in history.
6:29 PM

https://twitter.com/Psypherize

Syria - 5:35 pm, 100 martyrs including an entire family that was field executed in Deir Ezzor.
10:37 AM

https://twitter.com/WilliamsJon

Free Syrian Army claims has captured three border posts with Jordan. Already control Turkey & Iraq crossings. If true, significant
10:56 AM

Yesterday:

http://www.lccsyria.org/10278

Local Coordination Committees in Syria:

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria documented 126 martyrs including 7 women and 5 children. 64 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs (8 were field-executed in Qudsaya, 15 were field-executed in Tal Al-Masbagha, 7 were stabbed to death in Barzeh and 5 were filed-executed in Ma’rba); 27 in Aleppo; 18 in Deir Ezzor; 6 in Idlib; 4 in Hama; 4 in Homs; 2 in Daraa; and 1 in Haskaa but was martyred in Damascus Suburbs

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
31,696 people killed so far in Syria



Today:

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

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The number of martyrs in Syria has risen to 115 martyrs, including women and children. 57 were reported in Damascus and its suburbs, including 30 field-executed in Assali and 8 field-executed in Barzeh; 34 martyrs in Deir Ezzor, including 9 due to aerial shelling and 8 from the same family were field-executed; 10 in Aleppo; 4 in Idlib; 3 in Homs; 2 in Hama; 2 in Daraa, one of whom was martyred in Damascus Suburbs; and one martyr in Hasakeh
10:58 AM

[visionary]

http://www.lccsyria.org/10282

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The LCC has managed to document 154 martyrs on Sunday, including women and children. 76 were reported in Damascus and its suburbs, including 30 field-executed in Assali, 8 field-executed in Barzeh and 10 in the shelling of Harasta; 41 martyrs in Deir Ezzor, including 9 due to aerial shelling and 8 from the same family were field-executed; 21 in Aleppo; 4 in Idlib; 3 in Homs; 2 in Hama; 3 in Daraa, one of whom was martyred in Damascus Suburbs; 3 in Raqqa; and 1 in Hasakeh

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
31,850 people killed so far in Syria




http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...e-8191522.html

Syrian rebels' backers block arms cache until bickering factions unite

Stockpiles of arms, including anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles, are being held in Turkey for use by rebels in Syria's civil war, but their distribution is being held up because of disunity and feuding between the different groups of fighters, The Independent has learned.

In high-level discussions, Qatari and Turkish suppliers told opposition representatives that heavy weapons would not be made available until the various factions agreed to form a coherent command structure.

After 18 months of fighting and an estimated 30,000 people dead, rebel fighters are convinced that the time for a negotiated end to the conflict is over. But they have been forced back from many areas by tanks, artillery and air strikes. The regime, meanwhile, has not faced any significant shortage of supplies, with US officials claiming that daily flights bearing arms are coming in from President Bashar al-Assad's ally, Iran.

One attempt to set up an arms supply chain took place in the Turkish capital, Ankara, in early August. Opposition representatives were seeking weapons for Aleppo where the regime forces were beginning to push forward and recapture areas held by the rebels. According to those present, the Turks were acting as facilitators while the Qataris controlled the flow of material. Both the Qataris and Turks are said to have stressed to the opposition emissaries that the revolutionaries in the main cities, starting with Aleppo, needed to form structured military councils and come up with co-ordinated operational plans.

"Instead of getting operational plans and what would be required to implement them, we were getting shopping lists from individual khatibas (battalions)," said a Turkish organiser of supplies of arms and communications equipment. "If you give to one khatiba, others get annoyed and ask why they are being left out."

https://twitter.com/ProfKahf

DrAbdulAziz Khayyir's arrest days ago ws scoffed atby some hardcore revvies, becz the Alawite activst is NCB, regarded as soft opp. However, Khayyer's arrest may be more signif than meets the eye.Seems to have domino'd a series of events in Qardaha, prez hometown. Reportedly,there are now anti-asaad protests in Qardaha, hometown& supposed stronghold of asaad fam. Maybe domino effect of Khayir arrest.
12:23 AM

Allegedly, a member of Khayir fam has killed key shabiha founder Mohamed Asad, a major regime financier w Rami Makhlouf &Mohamad Hamsho
12:32 AM

Reportedly, regime has closed roads to Qardaha as violent clashes have broken out among asaad, Othman, Abboud, & Khayir families there.
12:35 AM

To clarify, alleged clashes in Qardaha are between Othmans, Abbouds, Khayyirs on one side, vs bashar asaad family members on the other.
12:53 AM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

The number of martyrs in the Salqeen massacre has increased to 30. Idlib [LCC]
3:01 AM

11 of the 30 bodies in Salqeen have arrived to the mosque in the city completely burned.
3:07 AM

The massacre occurred when TNT Barrels were dropped on Saleen Idlib
3:14 AM

4 Turkish ambulance vehicle arrive into Salqeen Idlib which is near the border through Bab Alhawa to pick up the injured.
4:11 AM

[visionary]

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

Syrian forces shell rebels in east Damascus

Syrian government forces have shelled the eastern suburbs of Damascus and clashed with armed rebels there, activists and residents say.

Residents reported hearing heavy gunfire from about 6:00am local time (03:00 GMT) on Monday. They said the capital was shaken by several loud blasts, possibly artillery fire, two hours later.

"Every one of them feels like an earthquake," a resident in the central district of Adawi told the Reuters news agency, in a telephone call punctuated by two loud explosions.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based anti-government rights group, said that government forces were targeting rural areas around the Zamalka and Ain Terma suburbs on the eastern fringes of Damascus, a rebel stronghold in recent months.

It said Monday's army offensive came after President Bashar al-Assad's forces suffered heavy losses in the area on Sunday, when several military checkpoints came under attack.

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

about 4 hours ago
The number of Syrians fleeing the conflict in their homeland and seeking refuge in Turkey has climbed close to the 100,000 threshold, Turkish authorities said.

Turkey is currently home to 93,576 refugees housed in several camps in the southeast along the Syrian border, the AFAD disaster agency said in a statement.

But 30,000 more Syrians are estimated to be unregistered and staying in hotels or apartments in the country.

Turkey, a fierce opponent of the Damascus regime, has said it can handle no more than 100,000 refugees and has called for safe zones to protect people on Syrian soil.
- Agence France Presse

32 minutes ago
Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons, reporting from Antakya, Turkey (near the Syrian border) said that the battle for control of a strategic area west of Aleppo has grown in ferocity.

"It is a colossal fight - it's an unusual one because it's not urban, like Aleppo. It's over open ground, open terrain, and, of course, despite the numbers, we're told that there are something like 1,500 rebel fighters on the ground, at any given time, matching up to around that same number in the Assad forces," said Simmons.

"The numbers might be the same, but of course, the military resources are totally different, because the Assad forces have heavy artillery, they have air cover, they have helicopters dropping bombs, so this is a really big fight. Big losses are being taken, we understand, from both sides."

Rebel fighters are attempting to take control of a base belonging to a government troop of fighters called Force 46.

http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/...llin.html#1546

One such report caught our eye today. According to a Lebanese news agency, a former Assad army officer reports that he defected after he was ordered by his superiors to rape girls.

A former Syrian Army special forces sergeant named Mohamed, 23, told the Beirut-based news site Ya Libnan that he defected after being ordered “to rape teenage girls in Homs at the end of last year.”

“Some of my friends who refused to rape were shot,” Mohamed said. “I managed to disobey, and fortunately, the officers got distracted,” he adds.

“The officers were mostly Alawite, and they would target the houses of [opposition] activists in Homs and gather the younger girls and rape them,” Mohamed said. “After they’d finished they’d tell the soldiers outside to come in and rape the girls, too. The girls would generally be shot when everyone had finished. They wanted it to be known in the neighborhoods that the girls had been raped, but they didn’t want the girls to survive and be able to identify them later.”

https://twitter.com/Reuters

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon criticizes Syrian government for killings, rights abuses, aerial and artillery attacks
11:55 AM

[visionary]

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

about 2 hours ago
The AFP reports:
In Homs province of central Syria, at least 18 soldiers were killed and more than 30 wounded "by improvised explosive devices in an ambush of their convoy on the highway linking Damascus to Palmyra," said the Britain-based group.

about an hour ago
The AFP reports:
Syrian rebels claimed on Monday to have seized an undisclosed number of missiles from the army's arsenal in the east of Damascus province.

"With the help and grace of God we overcame an air defence unit specialising in missiles," said a rebel commander, in a video posted on YouTube and publicised by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Eastern Ghuta area is home to some of the best-organised rebel Free Syrian Army groups. A number of high-profile operations in Syria's 18-month conflict have been claimed by battalions based in the area.

about an hour ago
There's a major battle taking place west of Aleppo near the city of al Atarib.

An alliance of rebel brigades started an offensive on a government battalion known as Force 46 more than a week ago.

Our correspondent Andrew Simmons gained exclusive access to the fighters and a field hospital near al Atarib.

GOOD.
Too bad she isn't in prison somewhere.
https://twitter.com/columlynch

Daughter of UN Syria ambassador defers start of Columbia University studies a year, due to "harassment." http://columbiacommunique.org/sheher...study-at-sipa/
3:48 PM

Weird joke by Syrian ambo's daughtr in interview w/ Columbia University journo "say something bad and I'll kill you."
3:54 PM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

BREAKING: The Syrian National Council has refused the proposal from the Assad regime to begin talks and negotiations.
4:10 PM

Not sure how much influence they have these days anyway.
Not that it matters, since it's a joke proposal in the first place.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...orld-headlines

Video emerges of Austin Tice, U.S. journalist who disappeared in Syria

Video footage has emerged showing U.S. freelance journalist Austin Tice being held by a group of masked men toting assault rifles in the first direct evidence of his condition since his disappearance in mid-August.

The video opens with shaky footage of a convoy of three vehicles moving through scrubby mountain terrain, before cutting to a small knot of armed men, faces obscured, leading Tice up a mountain path while calling “Allahu al-Akbar,” or “God is great.”

A blindfolded Tice is then pushed to his knees and filmed speaking a partially indecipherable prayer in Arabic. Tice, visibly distressed, cries out “Oh Jesus, oh Jesus” in English, before reverting to Arabic, seconds before the footage is cut.

The emergence of the video comes amid other reports suggesting Tice has been in the custody of the Syrian government. Experts on Monday cautioned against taking the apparent content of the video clip at face value because, they said, there are clear discrepancies between the footage of Tice and other videos released by Islamist extremist groups operating in Syria.

Those discrepancies included the clothing of Tice’s apparent captors, the production quality of the film, the means of distribution and other signs that cast doubt on whether Tice was actually being held by one of the extremist groups that has become active in battling Syria’s government. Assad’s government has been eager to portray the country’s conflict, which has claimed more than 30,000 lives to date, as a struggle against Islamic extremist groups within Syria.

In the video, the captors are wearing Afghan-style salwar khameez — tunic and pants — that appear to be freshly pressed and clean. The video would mark the first time Syrian rebels have been seen wearing such clothes, said Joseph Holliday, who researches Syrian rebel groups at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War.

Islamist extremists typically address the camera head-on with statements, but in this instance the film has been carefully edited to avoid displaying any faces, he said. And the only comments made are the phrases “Allahu al-Akbar” and “takhbir,” which means praise.

“It’s like a caricature of a jihadi group,” he said. “It looks like someone went to the Internet, watched pictures of Afghan

Activists and analysts alike across twitter have ridiculed the video.


http://cjchivers.com/post/3268438780...in-syria-shown

Austin Tice, Journalist Missing in Syria, Shown Alive in Video.

The McClatchy report is here. The video answers one question, but raises many more. No matter the answers to those questions, two senior executives at news organizations that published Austin’s work put the issues straight.

“Austin Tice is a journalist, risking his life to tell the story of what’s happening in Syria to the rest of the world,” McClatchy Vice President for News Anders Gyllenhaal said in a statement. “We ask in the strongest possible terms for his immediate release.”

“We call on those who are holding Austin to release him promptly, unharmed,” Marcus Brauchili, executive editor of The Washington Post, said in a statement. “Austin is a journalist who was doing his job. He should be allowed to return to his family.”

https://twitter.com/Brown_Moses

Okay Twitter hive mind, time to figure out as much as possible from this video of @Austin_Tice https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=dNdA0q9j040
3:12 PM

I can't ever remember seeing a group of rebels dressed like the ones in the Austin Tice video in the region he was in
3:23 PM

Anyone know if Youtube can be contacted for more information on the Austin Tice video, like the IP it was uploaded from?
3:31 PM

I've watched hundreds of videos from Syria, and that Austin Tice video just seems off to me, like it's from a different conflict.
3:58 PM

I've never seen so many people agree one video is so obviously staged.
4:33 PM

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

STAAAAAGED!!! Even the Arab actors pretending to be Islamists don't sound like it. STAAAAAGED!
3:19 PM

Idiots could have just grabbed a few captured FSA soldiers and forced them to act the role.. But this?
3:29 PM

Poor Austin Tice. Poor man.. So sorry
3:30 PM

These are the worst acting, non Islamic sounding, impostors I have ever seen since Waleed Muallem's first press conf.
3:40 PM

Heartbreaking and sickening to see Austin Tice being used by the Syrian Gov to prove a point.. Like they used the lives of +30k Syrians. This gov has no regard 4 life.. They will kill him to prove a point.. Just like how they killed thousands of other Syrians. This video is bad news... I hope I am wrong. But it is bad news.. The Gov will use his life to make a point
3:51 PM

https://twitter.com/MajdArar

certainly you can't find such terrain in south of Damascus where he was captured.
3:49 PM

The men pronounce Arabic very well, they must be Arabs if not Syrians. But why to wear Afghan outfit!?
4:06 PM

https://twitter.com/jenanmoussa

After seeing vid of Austin Tice I can only think of Bashar Fahmi, Alhurra reporter, kidnapped in Syria. Pls get out soon 4 ur wife & kids.
3:54 PM

I'm still watching vid of Austin Tice. I want to note that Jabhat Al Nusra guys I saw when I was in Syria didn't wear Afghan outfits.
4:12 PM

Jabhat AlNusra fighters I saw w/ @HaraldDoornbos in Syria had military fatigue. Few fighters had long Dashdasha, not afghan Shalwar Kameez.
4:15 PM

Is it selfish to say that I am so so so grateful I got out of Syria safe?
4:47 PM

https://twitter.com/vvanwilgenburg

Spoke with PYD spokesperson. He said FSA helped out PYD when their funeral convoy from Aleppo to Efrin was bombed by airplanes
6:40 AM

[visionary]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/01/world/...ood/index.html

Thousands displaced as Syrian authorities demolish Hama neighborhood

Syrian forces are uprooting thousands of people and then demolishing their homes in part of a flashpoint city that has been the center of an anti-government rebellion, according to residents there.

Tanks and bulldozers have been tearing down houses in the Mesha Alarbeen district of the city of Hama, the site of intense fighting during an uprising against the Syrian government.

The displacement and demolition has conjured fears of something that happened in the western city 30 years ago.

The Hama Massacre of 1982 is fresh in the minds of Syrians. Acting under orders from Hafez Assad -- the father of the current Syrian president -- the Syrian military brutally suppressed a revolt in Hama. Estimates of the number of casualties vary from 3,000 to 40,000. A 1983 Amnesty International report put the death toll on both sides as between 10,000 and 25,000.

http://www.npr.org/2012/10/01/162102...sc=tw&cc=share

Turkey Pushes Syrians Into Limbo Across Border

Long before the Syrian uprising, Antakya, Turkey, was a storied place. Once known as Antioch, the city was home to Greeks, some of the earliest Christians, Jews and Armenians. It once was a major stop on the Silk Road.

Most recently, the Turkish city became a hub for the Syrian rebellion. For many months, Turkish authorities tolerated Antakya's status, and even encouraged it. Turkey built refugee camps for tens of thousands of Syrians, and even one for officers who defected from the Syrian army to join the rebel cause.

That support, however, is starting to fade.

At a recent protest, Turkish citizens living in Antakya called for the rebels to be expelled. At the same time, Turkish authorities began knocking on doors of Syrians who rent apartments in Antakya, telling them they have only a few days to get out of town.

The refugee camps have also stopped taking new arrivals, meaning desperate Syrians trying to get into Turkey are stuck in limbo.

Just across the border into Syria from Turkey, groups of families have taken up shelter in an olive grove. Underneath rows of olive trees, families have built their own tents out of carpets; they're just living out under the sun, and on the dusty, rocky ground.

Em Abdo is one of 3,000 people living there. She says she left her nearby town when the shelling seemed like it would never stop. For now, she says she feels safer under the trees.

In the grove, the branches provide shade and blankets make walls. Many of the children have sores on their faces and are covered in flies. Abdo says she has no idea when the family might be able to leave.

http://www.strescom.org/briefings/da...b01102012.html

Rebels seize control of air defence base in Damascus

Syrian rebels seized control of an air defence base that contains surface-to-air missiles in the Eastern Ghuta district of Damascus province. The rebels captured big quantities of ammunition and arms including missiles after fierce shelling and clashes that left scores of regime troops dead while destroying a big part of the site.

Heavy fighting continued for the 4th consecutive day throughout the city of Aleppo and its suburbs, whereby regime forces killed scores of civilians and wounded many more as they resumed their indiscriminate and fierce shelling using artillery and fighter jets resulting in the death of at least 11 civilians in the neighbourhood of Masaken Hanano and 16 more in the neighbourhood of Karm Jabal. Dozens more people were also killed due to the fierce shelling in the neighbourhoods of Maharqa, Sheikh Maqsoud, Ameriya and Bab Janin.

In the meantime, regime forces resumed their fierce and indiscriminate shelling of densely populated areas throughout the country, leaving scores of civilians dead and wounded while destroying dozens of houses. They shelled a number of neighbourhoods in the city of Daraa as well as its provincial towns of Wadi Yarmouk, Tal Shihab, Mzereib, Yadouda, Um Mahathen, Ghariya Ghabiya, Ghariya Sharqiya, Mahajeh and the Lajat discrtict. They also shelled the neighbourhoods of Ommal, Hamidiya and Sheikh Yasin in the city of Deir Azzour in addition to its provincial town of Boukamal. They bombarded the Raqa suburb of Tal Abyad and a number of villages in the suburbs of Latakia as well as the Homs suburbs of Rastan, Houleh, Hosh Hajo and Abel.

https://twitter.com/AmalHanano

We know US gov doesn't care about Syrians, but what about US citizens? Or must we wait until after elections to #FreeAustinTice?
3:28 PM Sep 1

https://twitter.com/Mou2amara

Going to answer the question about going to Syria & fighting: if you can't buy your own weapon & ur bullets then NO you shouldn't go.
12:52 AM

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

Anyway, back 2 regular programming: here's a vid of FSA ambushing a convoy of Assad troops in Ghouta, Damascus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydjSlttqYoU
2:59 AM

https://twitter.com/LccSy

The Free Syrian Army Puts Out a Fire in Bab Al-Naser, Aleppo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VObTQRj6iFc
3:31 AM

https://twitter.com/damspleet

I was in a small village in the Jebel Zawiya. The army occupied the place for 9 months and was pushed out mid-summer.
3:11 AM

The army used to dump the bodies of the one it killed, in the fields, where those bodies where eaten by dogs.
3:12 AM

This was so frequent that dogs started proliferating. Nowadays they are moving in pack around the villages, attacking the livings.
3:13 AM

For a week, I followed an insurgent who was looking for a weapon both reliable and affordable. He didn't find any.
3:15 AM

All he could buy, eventually, were shotgun shells to hunt the dogs down. Those dogs had eaten the body of one of his cousins.
3:16 AM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

45 martyrs in Idlib today...forty five...
7:43 PM

Intense clashes now in Idlib city at the checkpoint located at the southern entrance to the city.
4:35 AM

FSA in Idlib City destroy a checkpoint. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HKI...layer_embedded It was a coordinated effort between Tawheed brigade and Ahrar Alsham.
6:10 AM

FSA in Albab, Aleppo suburbs shoots down a military aircraft. Type of aircraft hasn't been reported yet.
6:28 AM

https://twitter.com/janearraf

Journalists barred from entering Jordan's Zaatari Syrian refugee camp today after angry protests over living conditions.
9:04 AM

Rumors sweep Syria refugee camp in Jordan of dead child, fuel protests. UNICEF says it checked and not true. But still no access to camp
9:15 AM

Allowed in to Jordan's Syria refugee camp after riots earlier in day. Trailer burned, fence torn down - it was like a war, 1 official says
12:44 PM

https://twitter.com/martinchulov

Lebanese press (Arabic) says senior Hezbollah man, Ali Hussein Nassif, killed 'on operational activity'. Buried in Baalbek y'day
6:00 AM

2nd acknowledgement 2day of Hezbollah member dying in 'jihad'. Syria not mentioned. New candour interesting http://www.jebchit.com/article.php?arid=10947
12:49 PM

http://www.lccsyria.org/10286

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The LCC managed to document 183 martyrs in Syria for Monday, including more than 30 people who were martyred due to aerial shelling, women and children. 55 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs (including 13 in Douma and 10 in Harasta), 48 in Aleppo (including 11 martyrs in Masaken Hanano, and 12 in Karm Al-Jabal), 42 in Idlib (30 of them were martyred in a massacre in Seqlein), 20 in Daraa, 10 in Deir Ezzor, 4 in Homs, 2 in Hama and 2 in Lattakia

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
32,033 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-e...egime-1.467904

As civil war rages across Syria, Assad's own community may pose new challenge for regime

Are the battles in Syria closing in on President Bashar Assad's lion's den? According to recent reports in the country, in the past few days violence has been raging among different Alawite "clans" in the city of Kardaha, located in the Alawite mountains in the country's northwest. Assad is of Alawite descent.

According to the reports, Mohammad al-Assad, leader of the regime's Shabiha organization, was killed in the gunfire that erupted in Kardaha.

The reports added that fighting began following an argument in a coffee shop in the city, when Alawite youth openly criticized Assad. A firefight then ensued.

Syrian television channel Addounia – owned by businessman Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of Assad – confirmed the reports of a firefight but insisted that the event was a local one, having no effect on the nationwide situation.

On the other hand, some see the incident as the catalyst for a rebellion within the Alawite community against Assad and the families who support him – citing as evidence some families' announcements that they now support the rebels. Critics also point to the regime's heavy hand against its citizens, namely by means of arrests and torture.

http://www.aljazeera.com/video/middl...=MasterAccount

Syrian opposition takes Homs hospital

Opposition fighters in Syria have taken over a hospital in the town of al-Qousair in the central province of Homs.

The fighters claim that the forces of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, had turned the facility into barracks.

Al Jazeera has gained exclusive access to the unit involved in the three-day battle for the hospital turned military base.

Imran Khan reports.

http://www.aljazeera.com/video/middl...395058626.html

Civilians plead with Syrian fighters

More than 500,000 people are estimated to have fled to the northern city of al-Raqqa over the year-and-a-half long conflict in Syria.

That influx of internally displaced Syrians has doubled al-Raqqa's population.

Now, as opposition fighters say they plan to take the city from the forces of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, civilians are pleading with the fighters to spare them the violence that would ensue.

Al Jazeera's Andrew simmons reports exclusively from Tal Abyad on the Turkish border, from where the opposition forces are trying to advance.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...medium=twitter

Syria's Kurds Build Enclaves as War Rages

DERIK, Syria—A teacher's request sends a dozen young arms skyward, with high-pitched pleas to showcase new skills. One by one, the excited pupils walk to the front of their dusty classroom to recite or write in Kurdish—a language outlawed from public life in Syria.

While civil war has shut many schools across the country, here in the Kurdish-dominated northeast, education is expanding into new territory—just one way in which the Assad regime's focus on fighting rebels in the biggest cities has allowed the emergence of autonomous Kurdish enclaves.

https://twitter.com/Raniaab

Was in Syria so just seeing Austin Tice video. If those dudes r Jihadis, I'm Queen Elizabeth II
1:44 PM

https://twitter.com/ruslantrad

My friend escape Syrian violence. He is in Turkey, depressed, "All doors are closed for Syrians", he said me. "We are absolutely alone".
1:57 PM

https://twitter.com/nicholas_seeley

last night there was a dust/rain storm in camp, refugees were breaking into offices for shelter, climbing over fences. UN staff had to pull out because refugees youth fighting with Jordanian security again; camp lost power and water.
1:37 PM

UN now saying it needs another USD20 million just for basic housing in #refugees camp to end of year; money just isn't coming
1:41 PM

Jordan I'd say is trying very hard to keep FSA from using jrdn camps or cities for R&R, smuggling or fundraising. Desire to keep FSA from coming and going is probably reason for heavily military presence/movement restrictions on refugees.
1:47 PM

A major push to improve camp facilities, and less ostentatious policing might help, but too much openness increases the chance camp could be used by fighters rather than refugees. Jordan between rock and hard place... again.
2:01 PM

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

Aleppo: Heavy artillery shelling of Saif Al-Dawleh and Itha'aa neighborhoods is reported, with columns of smoke rising from the buildings
5:32 PM

Aleppo: Fierce clashes between the Free Syrian Army and the regime's army are reported next to Nairab Airport, accompanied by large explosions which shook the area
6:51 PM

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

Raqqa: Tabaqa: Fierce clashes between the Free Syrian Army and the regime's army are reported inside the town
5:34 PM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...17848338242310
Raqqa: Tabaqa: Artillery shelling of Souk Al-Hal area in the city is reported
5:35 PM

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...17848338242310
Raqqa: Tabaqa: Several wounded were reported due to shelling of the town with warplanes and heavy artillery
5:53 PM

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

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

By the end of Tuesday in Syria the LCC managed to document 160 martyrs, among them women and children. 54 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs (most of them in Eastern Ghota and 17 in the shelling of Harasta); 30 in Aleppo (most were field-executed in Jami'yat Al-Zahra neighborhood); 29 in Daraa; 21 in Deir Ezzor; 18 in Homs; 5 in Idlib; and 3 in Hama (one of them was martyred in Aleppo)
5:30 PM

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
32,193 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...ria?CMP=twt_gu

Syria bomb blast kills Hezbollah operative

One of Hezbollah's most senior operatives has been killed in Syria and buried in his home village in Lebanon's Bekaa valley, the militant group has confirmed.

Ali Hussein Nassif, a founding member of the organisation, was killed near Homs over the weekend in what is believed to have been a roadside bomb explosion. A Lebanese government official confirmed on Tuesday that his body had been transferred from Syria through the Masnaa border crossing.

Media outlets loyal to Hezbollah, including al-Manar television and the moqawama.org website both carried stories acknowledging Nassif's death, which they said had happened as he "carried out his jihadi duties". The reports did not specify where he had been killed.

Officials in Nassif's home village of Buday suggested that seven other Hezbollah members had recently been wounded in Syria. A separate report claimed that a second Hezbollah member, Zain al-Abidin Mustafa had also been killed "while carring out his obligation". Senior party officials are reported to have traveled from Beirut to attend his funeral in the party's heartland of Baalbek.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middle...748476383.html

Deadly explosions hit central Aleppo

A Syrian government official says at least 25 people have been killed and more than 70 people wounded in a series of bombings that struck the northern city of Aleppo.

The official also says that scores of people were wounded in the explosions, which went off Wednesday in a main square in the city, near an officers' club.

Aleppo-based activists also reported on the bombings, saying they went off minutes apart.

The blasts occurred at Saadallah al-Jabiri Square near a military officers' club and a hotel, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that there were "dozens of dead and wounded."

The Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, reported that most of them members of the regime forces.

https://twitter.com/And_Harper

171 arrived @ nite. increase in no. wounded, in need of medical attention. Return today after Excom. Jordan thanked 4 refugee efforts.
1:39 AM

https://twitter.com/THE_47th

In the coming days it seems, the world will have a crash course in the various locations in the Governorate of Latakia.
2:41 AM

Formation video of the First Battalion of the Free Syrian Army, named "Sham Falcons" http://youtu.be/pDWMpRaPEdg
2:54 AM

https://twitter.com/OrozcoSpeaks

After an artillery shell fell on this baby's house & killed his family, a FSA fighter carries him to safety: pic.twitter.com/uWslH64I
3:14 AM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Close up photo of damage to buildings following explosion in Saad Allah Square - Aleppo pic.twitter.com/soZqXce8
3:08 AM

What's left of the hotel on Saad Allah Square following huge explosion earlier this morning. via @Syria_Horra Aleppo pic.twitter.com/zvGJ4sBF
3:13 AM

With all this rubble and mangled steel, there must be tens of bodies buried. Aleppo pic.twitter.com/wePkBGfV
3:31 AM

Damage caused to buildings adjacent to square. Aleppo pic.twitter.com/ezwaIeMi
3:29 AM

Civil defense workers trying to uncover bodies, dead or alive, trapped under rubble. Aleppo pic.twitter.com/wFDgK3FE
3:35 AM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

There is an extremely large convoy of military vehicles and tanks heading towards Qudsaya, Damascus.
4:00 AM

Large number of troops heading up through Dumar towards Qudsaya in Damascus. pic.twitter.com/0OvIHqJz
4:02 AM

Mounted machine gun on Island 16 in Dumar protecting the military convoy from above. Damascus pic.twitter.com/Q8ogwkn7
4:04 AM

Qudsaya is being shelled by mortar fire and a large military convoy is on its way to the suburb. Damascus
4:05 AM

https://twitter.com/Brown_Moses

Map of Saad Allah Square with effected buildings and bomb locations marked https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid...02143,0.005262 Aleppo
4:32 AM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Abu Firas al-Halabi - spokesman for Revolution Military Council for Aleppo and suburbs on this morning's bombings. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr-Cp...ature=youtu.be
5:09 AM

Spokesman: "Three explosions took place inside Saad Allah Square in Aleppo"
5:10 AM

Spokesman claims bombing as a great victory, targeting buildings housing "hundreds" of Assad thugs.
5:10 AM

Spokesman: Violent clashes between FSA and regime forces near Military Airport in Aleppo along with Aleppo International Airport.
5:11 AM

Stupid spokesman couldn't bring it to himself to mention that PERHAPS MAYBE POSSIBLY civilians were killed in the bombings.
5:13 AM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

FSA in JisrAlshughoor Idlib destroy 2 checkpoints in a huge attack over the course of many hours. http://youtu.be/-yHqTzlxuW4
5:01 AM

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middle...222861555.html

Deaths reported in Lebanon explosions

Several blasts have struck the Hezbollah-controlled Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon, killing at least nine people and wounded seven more, according to a Lebanese security official quoted by AFP news agency.

Among the wounded in Wednesday's explosions were four Syrian workers, the official said.

Another security official said the cause of the explosions, near the city of Baalbek, was not immediately clear, but that the nature of the blasts suggested there were explosives or weapons stored inside the building.

He said the force of the blasts destroyed the house, which appeared to be under construction.

The Associated Press news agency said three explosions killed two people and wounded two others.

Local residents confirmed that the blasts hit an arms stockpile in a building under construction, in an uninhabited area between the villages of Nabi**** and Khodr.

http://www.egyptindependent.com/news...d-forces-syria

FM: Egypt will never send forces to Syria

Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr has asserted that Egypt has not, and will never, send military forces to Syria to intervene in the conflict between government troops and rebel forces seeking to oust President Bashar al-Assad.

While in Peru attending the South American-Arab Summit , Amr told state-run news agency MENA that Egypt is seeking a solution that preserves Syria’s regional integrity and its position in the Arab system.

Amr said that, more than any other country, Egypt is communicating with all facets of the Syrian opposition. He said Egypt had told opposition groups that they would not be treated seriously unless they unite and form an alternative for countries that are anxious to maintain their interests should Assad’s regime fall.

Concerning the inclusion of Iran in a four-country initiative previously proposed by Egypt to help resolve the Syrian conflict, Amr said Egypt had decided that Iran should not be bypassed, though some believe it should be excluded from negotiations because of its support for Assad. The initiative also includes Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

The minister said Cairo had stressed to Tehran that it would remain a part of the crisis if it maintains its support for the Syrian regime.

http://amjadofarabia.wordpress.com/2...-a-revolution/

How to Advocate the Capitulation of a Revolution Without Actually Using the Word “Surrender”

https://twitter.com/OnlySyrian

I've been to SalahAddin neighbrhood in Aleppo today Just a few meters away from SalahAddin Square (dowar).
12:11 PM

Yes in Aleppo now. well I'll DM u
12:11 PM

FSA is controlling most of SalahAddin neighborhood in Aleppo including SalahAddin Square (Dowar)
12:28 PM

FSA is attacking not defensing in SalahAddin neighborhood in Aleppo
12:30 PM

https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov

Syrian mortar shells hit Turkey's Akçakale district on the Syrian border, injuring nine people, including two police officers.
9:45 AM

Death toll in Syrian mortar shelling that hit Turkey's district rises to five -- a Turkish mother and her four children.
10:29 AM

Turkish foreign minister holds an emergency meeting with ministry officials after talking to Turkish army chief, UN Syria envoy Brahimi.
10:40 AM

Turkish FM Davutoglu calls UN chief Ban Ki-moon, briefing on Syria mortar shelling that killed five Turks.
11:26 AM

UN chief Ban Ki-moon urges Turkey to keep all channels of communication open with Syria to avoid tension over mortar bomb.
12:19 PM

https://twitter.com/WashingtonPoint

Spox Nuland @StateDept : Condemns the mortar attack in the Turkish town Akcakale, sends condolences to the families!
12:30 PM

https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov

Turkish deputy PM: Turkey is a sovereign nation. It has been attacked. It absolutely has a response within international law.
12:25 PM

Turkish deputy PM: Turkey is a NATO member country. Gov't is closely monitoring developments. I hope this would be Syria's last madness.
12:27 PM

Turkish deputy PM on Syrian mortars that killed five Turks: Syria will answer to this.
12:27 PM

Turkish deputy PM: Syrian bomb that killed five Turks is the last straw.
12:31 PM

https://twitter.com/DSyrer

More progress on the Raqqa front, with the police station in the town of Tabaqa captured by revolutionaries - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui0sbFqzHyE
12:31 PM

I think Tabaqa will fall out of regime control soon. The Raqqa offensive is progressing nicely, even though it's a bit underreported.
12:34 PM

FSA flips the tank in al-Aqroub, Aleppo - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkbdW...ature=youtu.be
12:36 PM

[visionary]

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/po...oups_in_aleppo

Memo: State to expand assistance to opposition groups in Aleppo

As the battle for Aleppo intensifies, the U.S. State Department is trying to direct more non-lethal aid to opposition groups inside the strategic Syrian city, according to a memorandum by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton obtained by The Cable.

At least 40 residents of Aleppo were killed when a series of bombs exploded in a government-controlled area Wednesday. The government blamed rebel groups, and the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said most of the deaths were caused by regime security forces during a gun battle that preceded the explosions.

Clinton announced Sept. 28 that the State Department would give an additional $45 million to the effort to bring non-lethal assistance to thsoe Syrian opposition members who can get to Istanbul, Turkey, to get it. In a memorandum to relevant congressional committees, she explained that the goal was to expand the assistance to reach new opposition groups in Aleppo and other areas of Syria that have not yet gotten U.S. assistance

The new assistance will include communications gear, radio broadcast equipment, the training required to use it, and workshops on issues such as civil administration, leadership, human rights, and mitigating sectarian strife, with a focus on the revolutionary councils, Clinton wrote.

"While U.S. assistance alone is not a silver bullet, it remains a crucial component of our multidimensional campaign to support a peaceful political transition in Syria, an end to the Assad regime, and the emergence of a stable, responsible government," she wrote. "Our assistance has helped the opposition to organize and communicate, but additional support to emerging civilian leadership is needed to forestall the chaos that could emerge in a power vacuum and to help prevent conditions that might promote the interests of extremist elements, threatening our vital national security interests."

According to the memo, State wants to take $15 million away from the Pakistani Counterinsurgency Capability Fund (PCCF) and use that money to aid the Syrian opposition.

OH ****....

https://twitter.com/mpoppel

REU: NATO SECTY GENL RASMUSSEN VOICES STRONG CONDEMNATION OF MORTAR STRIKE IN SOUTHEASTERN TURKEY -NATO SPOKESWOMAN
1:48 PM

https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov

Turkey's second army chief came to Akcakale district on the Syria border where Syrian mortar bombs killed five Turks.
1:18 PM

NATO statement on Syria's bombing of Turkey: NATO is following the developments and the issue is on the alliance's agenda.
1:19 PM

EU external affairs rep. Ashton: EU is concerned over tensions between Turkey and Syria, calls on both countries to exercise restraint.
1:23 PM

[SIZE"4"]U.S. State Secretary Clinton says outraged over mortar fired from Syria into Turkey.[/SIZE]
2:14 PM

https://twitter.com/WashingtonPoint

According to the official statement by Ankara, the Turkish military shelled the Syrian targets in respond which were determined by radars.
2:57 PM

https://twitter.com/Reuters

TURKEY SAYS HAS STRUCK TARGETS IN SYRIA IN RESPONSE TO MORTAR STRIKE ACROSS BORDER - STATEMENT FROM PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE
2:57 PM

TURKEY SAYS HAS AGREED WITH NATO SECRETARY GENERAL TO CONVENE URGENT MEETING OF NATO MEMBERS
3:05 PM

U.N. CHIEF BAN KI-MOON URGES SYRIA'S GOVERNMENT TO RESPECT TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF ITS NEIGHBORS, END VIOLENCE AGAINST SYRIANS
3:12 PM

https://twitter.com/djfxtrader

Turkish Strike Came Immediately After Syrian Shells Hit Turkish Border Town, Says Turkey PM Statement [WSJ]
3:05 PM

Turkey Says it Will Hit More Targets if Syrian Attacks Are Repeated (WSJ)
3:05 PM

Haven't really seen any mention of what targets were hit specifically, or any response by the Syrian regime.

https://twitter.com/CBSWalsh

NATO spox: emergency NATO meeting in Brussels tonight, after reports Turkey has stuck Syria targets in response to mortar attacks
3:25 PM

Most folks seem to think this won't escalate though, that this was, "a slap for a slap".
Have to wonder what happens next time though, or the time after that...etc.
Will they keep with the same response?


Then again there is this:

https://twitter.com/WashingtonPoint

Ankara adm bringing a resolution to Parliament tmrw to ask permission for cross-border operation, calling on NATO to convene
3:17 PM

and this (both from Turkish reporters):

https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov

Turkey says it will never leave similar provocations by Syria unanswered in line with its engagement rules and international law.
3:18 PM

Sources on the ground say Turkey is now deploying huge number of tanks, artillery and missile batteries to the Syria border.
3:24 PM

[visionary]

TURKEY

https://twitter.com/Reuters

NATO ambassadors to meet under NATO Article 4, for consultations when a member state feels territorial integrity under threat - official
3:35 PM

https://twitter.com/influxTR

Tomorrow's meeting of Turkish National Assembly is more important than Turkey striking Syria back, they will discuss military intervention [or cross border operations]
3:20 PM

For the record what's happening is not war but a retaliation.But it "can" be after Turkish Parliament's emergency meeting to be held at 10am
3:57 PM

https://twitter.com/NATOSource

Tonight's NATO meeting officially described as an Art 4 consultation. NATO unlikely to mention Art 5 publicly until after vote approving it
4:01 PM

I'm skeptical about this.


https://twitter.com/WashingtonPoint

don't think 'decision' is taken yet.It's gonna be a long night in Ankara&before Parliamentary mtg 3:49 PM

1)NATO ambs will convene @5pm EST/12am in Europe to discuss article 4th-when member state feels territorial integrity under threat
3:54 PM

2)Adm working on cross-border resolution 2 bring to parliament tmmrw 10am,first they'll consult w/oppositions tonight/early mornin [to allow cross border operations like in Iraq]
3:56 PM

Breaking: NATO already began its meeting at the level of Ambassadors in Brussels to discuss article 4 & shelling in the Turkish town
4:10 PM

https://twitter.com/Reuters

British U.N. envoy says U.N. Security Council discussed Syria, Turkey tensions, awaiting Turkish letter before considering possible moves
4:15 PM

NATO DEMANDS IMMEDIATE CESSATION OF AGGRESSIVE ACTS AGAINST NATO ALLY TURKEY - STATEMENT
4:37 PM

https://twitter.com/Mou2amara

NOW: Getting information from contact in Syria, Turkey is hitting Tal Abyad in Raqqa, an Assad air defenses center.
4:21 PM

Got confirmation on Tal Abyad & contacts say Turkey threatened other border posts w/in Syria,but haven't hit anything else yet
4:36 PM

https://twitter.com/WashingtonPoint

Breaking: NATO meeting concluded. And guess what! All members strongly condemned Syria's shelling and killing of 5 Turkish citizens!
4:33 PM

Pentagon: We are not expecting clashes CNNTurk btw Turkey and Syria bcs of the shelling
4:37 PM

https://twitter.com/Reuters

Update: NATO says it stands by Turkey, urges Syria to put an end to "flagrant violations of international law" - statement
4:40 PM

SYRIA

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

There is a massacre taking place in al-Hidariya, Aleppo. At least 20 killed.
3:51 PM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

At least 21 martyrs in a massacre in JisrAlshughoor Idlib...at least 10 of which were children.
4:08 PM

The massacre was in a small village called Alsahn. Idlib
4:17 PM

[Predicto]

Turkey going into Syria could be the final straw that brings Assad down.

Or maybe it could be Assad's last chance to use nationalism to rally the Syrian people back to his side.

So confusing.

[visionary]

Turkey going into Syria could be the final straw that brings Assad down.

Or maybe it could be Assad's last chance to use nationalism to rally the Syrian people back to his side.

So confusing.

I don't think Turkey is going to go into Syria in any major way...this time at least.
It seems they may be considering some actions around the border though.
I think if Turkey were to intervene completely I think the response from Syrians would depend on how they did it.
If they just started randomly shelling places there would be problems.
But people in Syria would most likely welcome targeted strikes on air bases or other such places.
(I think a lot of people in Aleppo would probably even welcome peace keeping forces at this point)

---------- Post added October-3rd-2012 at 05:18 PM ----------

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...t-feeling.html

Austin Tice, Believed Held by Assad Forces, Said Reporting in Syria Is ‘Greatest Feeling’

https://twitter.com/mpoppel

REU: SYRIA SAYS INVESTIGATING SOURCE OF SHELL THAT HIT TURKEY, EXTENDS CONDOLENCES TO TURKISH PEOPLE
4:53 PM

REU: SYRIA SAYS RESPECTS SOVEREIGNTY OF NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES, URGES "STATES AND GOVERNMENTS" TO ACT WISELY AND RATIONALLY
4:58 PM


REU: PENTAGON SAYS SYRIA MORTAR FIRE ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF REGIME'S DEPRAVED BEHAVIOR AND WHY IT MUST GO, MONITORING SITUATION CLOSELY
5:00 PM

REU: WHITE HOUSE URGES OTHER NATIONS TO PRESS ASSAD TO STEP ASIDE, DECLARE CEASEFIRE, BEGIN POLITICAL TRANSITION
5:09 PM

https://twitter.com/JShahryar

Turkey: "He hit me! " Nato: "Aw, it's okay. Who wants some meaningless condemnation?" Turkey: "Me, mommy, me!" Nato: "Good boy. "
5:04 PM

Nato: "We condemn Syria's attack on Turkey & warn Assad, if this ever happens again... we'll place an adjective before the word condemn!"
5:10 PM

https://twitter.com/WashingtonPoint

Acc CNNTurk resolution that authorizes the Parliamentary cross-border operation has opened to be signed by the MPs tonight.
5:21 PM

Acc local CNNTurk reporter reporting out of Akçakale, where shelling incident occurred, the shelling by Turkey continues in last half hour.
5:22 PM

https://twitter.com/iyad_elbaghdadi

Today's body count: 5 killed in Turkey and a world war almost starts. 122 killed in Syria and nobody cares.
5:30 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dM4o3rTh8KE

Anti Regime Protest in Tehran. Some Chants: "Let the Syrian people free (leave them alone), Think of us instead

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/OnlySyrian

Avoc. Mahmoud Hamam was arrested today in Aleppo by Air-force Intelligence.
4:40 PM

A canon's shelled just in the next street .. Damn you Assad! Aleppo
5:20 PM

WTF another shell just hit on the next! Aleppo
5:50 PM

https://twitter.com/Libyan4life

One of the injured thuwar in Germany I used to check up on just told me he's decided to go to Syria.
4:22 PM

What a mixed bag of emotions. I want to help Syria and liberate but at the same time, This guy already paid a price in Libya
4:23 PM

https://twitter.com/mpoppel

REU: TURKEY SAYS IN LETTER TO U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL THAT SYRIA MORTAR ATTACK WAS 'FLAGRANT VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW'
7:03 PM

REU: TURKEY ASKS U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL TO TAKE 'NECESSARY ACTION' TO STOP SUCH 'ACTS OF AGGRESSION' BY SYRIA
7:05 PM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Update: 200 were killed on Wednesday in Syria according to counts so far. I'd name all the massacres, but there's too many to recall.
7:10 PM

https://twitter.com/Mou2amara

200 Syrians dead today. 200. Dear God. It's just been a long day and for 200, their last.
7:12 PM

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

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The number of martyrs in Syria has risen to 200 thus far, including 15 children and 6 women; 67 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs, among them 16 field-executed in Douma and 19 martyrs in Qudsaya; 43 in Aleppo; 29 in Idlib including an entire family who were martyred due to the shelling on Sahen town; 27 in Hama most of them are children and women;16 in Daraa ; 8 in Homs; 7 in Deir Ezzor; and 3 in Raqqa
7:09 PM

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

Aleppo: The Free Syrian Army frees Seif Al-Dawla as the fierce clashes continue in order to free the rest of the district
7:55 PM

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
32,393 people killed so far in Syria