Yahoo: Assad predicts disaster if West meddles in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/25/wo...385454A27FCB7D

Cold Ravages Syria Refugees as Aid Falters

The winds spilling down off snow-covered Mount Hermon, bearing the first nip of winter, rattled the broken windows of an abandoned elementary school where Syrian refugees are huddled in this Bekaa Valley hamlet.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians displaced by the war, many of them stumbling out of Syria during the summer wearing little more than T-shirts and flip-flops, now face the onslaught of winter with inadequate shelter, senior government officials and aid organizations say.

“It will be winter outside and winter inside,” said Mohamed Khair al-Oraiby, a burly 27-year-old who fled here over the summer with his wife and two infants. “We already wake up early because it is so cold.”

With temperatures already plunging to zero overnight in the hills framing this valley, the humanitarian crisis facing millions of displaced Syrians is deepening. More than a million people in need of aid remain out of reach of international relief efforts, the United Nations says.

But efforts have also been hampered by lack of resources. The United Nations is seeking some $487 million for refugees across the region, of which about 35 percent has been collected.

“The capacity of the international donor community to support the crisis is not happening at the same speed at which the crisis is unfolding,” said Panos Moumtzis, the regional coordinator for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Neighboring countries coping with the influx are developing their own plans: Jordan is seeking about $700 million, and Turkey, which has spent $400 million of its own money on state-of-the-art camps with three hot meals daily, is also now seeking aid.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syr...how-deal-syria

Russia and France will tackle disagreements over how to deal with Syria

Russia and France will tackle disagreements over how to deal with the Syria conflict this week when Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visits Paris for talks.

Medvedev will head a delegation of ministers and meet French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday.

"It is an issue where, there can be no doubt, we have some disagreements with France, but also some common views. Russia like France wants to find a political solution, the disagreements are over how," said Russia's envoy to Paris, Alexander Orlov.

"There is a major disagreement," Orlov said. "The West says it (a solution) must start with the departure of Bashar al-Assad, and we say this is where it must end."

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middle...211204386.html

Syrian rebels 'capture air base near capital'

Syrian rebels have said they had captured a helicopter base near Damascus after a battle with government forces, the second military facility on the outskirts of the capital to fall to President Bashar al-Assad's opponents this month.

An Internet video which activists said was filmed on Saturday overnight at the Marj al-Sultan base, 15km east of the capital, showed rebel fighters carrying AK-47 rifles touring the facility. An anti-aircraft gun could be seen positioned on top of an empty bunker and a rebel commander was shown next to a helicopter.

"With God's help, the Marj al-Sultan airbase in eastern Ghouta has been liberated," the commander said in the video.

Eastern Ghouta, a mix of agricultural land and built-up urban areas, has been a rebel stronghold for months.

Activists said two helicopters were destroyed in the attack as well as a radar station, and that 15 personnel were taken
prisoner.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middl...-short-on-guns

Stalemate in Syria? Army short on loyalists, rebels short on guns

In many areas of Aleppo, the front lines are so close that FSA fighters and government forces can speak to one another through walls or by shouting. In a few areas, FSA soldiers say that government troops have told them they want to defect but the ways out are guarded by snipers who are known to shoot anyone caught trying to escape.

“All of the soldiers in the Assad army are really broken and their souls are crushed. Even when they’re fighting, they’re not fighting as good as they can. Some have families who are calling them and asking them to defect,” says Bassam Humidy, who defected to the FSA six months ago and is now recovering after being shot in the leg during battle.

Prior to defecting, Mr. Humidy served with a special forces unit in Homs. He says that those deemed most likely to defect were kept inside the city to man checkpoints in areas firmly under regime control where no fighting was taking place.

For the most part, however, those still fighting on the front lines of Aleppo for the Syrian government tend to be hardened loyalists more likely to trade insults than talk of defection, say most FSA fighters. Those most likely to defect remain far behind the front lines.

Despite the Assad regime's reported struggle to manage its defection concerns, opposition forces have struggled to capitalize on it, largely due to weapons shortages. The group lacks the equipment and supplies required to launch a major ground offensive and break the stalemate.

I don't think there is as much of a lack of weapons overall as there was a month or two ago.
I haven't seen as much complaining about it recently.
There have also been a lot of bases taken and lots of weapons and ammo captured.
I'm sure some groups/areas have less though, and those in constant clashes without much significant success may use theirs up more frequently.


https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters have besieged deirezzor airport
2:39 AM

resistance fighters attacked a military checkpoint near brigade 76 (near homs - damascus motorway).
2:59 AM

resistance fighters killed an assad sniper in al-zabadani
3:52 AM

resistance fighters have destroyed 2 warplanes in deirezzor airport
4:20 AM

resistance fighters killed 15 assad troops & destroyed 3 cars near the town of kassab in latakia countryside
7:45 AM

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

Operation of the storming of Marj al-Sultan airport in Damascus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqiu-jJJ-7M Announcement of victory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mxTzaTzrS0 …
6:27 AM

The helicopter field and the radar base north of it. There are some army storage sites next to it not taken yet.
6:36 AM

Yes, one [helicopter field] is not used. A reserve one but both are mainly broken helicopters like most bases in the country.
6:48 AM

Some of the gains from Marj al-Sultan military airport http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApSrqYL3m5k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDzuPXLrS9M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuv5Ihlof9Y Damascus
8:06 AM

https://twitter.com/CovertPolitics_

Members of the Muta7abeen Fillah Brigade targeted the el-Qarqour checkpoint in el-Zyara village yesterday. FSA Hama
8:28 AM

A large portion of a nearby building was destroyed, as well as a tank & a BMP. Light weapons were seized from the checkpoint.
8:30 AM

More than 25 regime forces were either wounded or killed, while others escaped.
8:31 AM

https://twitter.com/Avend93

TCK EXCLUSIVE interview with the Kurdish activist Serwet Eli who has been kidnapped, tortured & now released by PYD https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...73627862658879
8:15 AM

Activist Serwet Eli tells TCK that there were a lot of Kurdish activists with him in PYD prison. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...73627862658879
8:26 AM

Kidnapping of Kurdish activists is ongoing by PYD, they are being tortured brutally. TCK interview with 1 of them https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...73627862658879
8:29 AM

Btw, one of the main points that Erbil meetings have included was PYD kidnappings of Kurds, Barzani told them: this is unacceptable.
8:35 AM

[visionary]

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/62213

NGO: Syria Rebels Take Pro-Assad Palestinian Training Camp

Syrian rebels on Sunday seized the training camp of a pro-regime Palestinian faction near Damascus after fierce clashes, a watchdog reported.

"Rebels stormed a Popular Front-General Command (PFLP-GC) training camp in the Rihan area of Damascus province, after violent clashes with local fighters," according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

It said the rebels took full control of the camp after launching an attack on Saturday, with casualties suffered on both sides, including among the families of a number of the Palestinian militants.

The camp "functioned for over 30 years as a base of resistance, graduating thousands of Palestinian youth and hundreds of guerrillas who have humiliated the Zionist enemy with important operations," the PFLP-GC said in a statement condemning the attack on Saturday.

State news agency SANA quoted an official as saying that the attack was "carried out by armed terrorist groups... Mossad proxies working for the Zionist enemy in response to operations carried out by the Front against Tel Aviv."

The PFLP-GC on Wednesday claimed responsibility for a Tel Aviv bus bombing in which 29 Israelis were wounded.

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters have liberated al-rayhaniyah military compound in damascus countryside
11:42 AM

resistance fighters shot down a warplane in damascus countryside
11:52 AM

heavy clashes continue in kafr soseh countryside. many assad troops were killed
12:02 PM

resistance fighters killed 12 assad troops & destroyed 2 cars on kassab road in latakia countryside
12:14 PM

resistance fighters killed chief of state security branch in latakia
12:16 PM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

Capturing the Marj Alsultan military airport in Damascus, the FSA finds a nice surprise...they now own a helicopter! https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=xXjD9guXe0g
12:43 PM

Wanted: Helicopter Pilot - Sincerely, The FSA
12:55 PM

https://twitter.com/OnlySyrian

FSA s controlled Khan al-Wazier Post Office today in the Old City of Aleppo
1:17 PM

the building was a base for Assad's army & especially the snipers.
1:18 PM

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

Free Army captures a shilka storage site near recently liberated Marj al-Sultan air base in Damascus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOhbspTma0Q
12:27 PM

This is an air-defence storage site. It has anti-aircraft missiles too. This will make things much easier now in Damascus suburbs.
12:29 PM

Assad forces retreated from the Daraya front back to Mazzeh air base again today under the strikes of the Free Army. Damascus
12:50 PM

AJA: The Free Army captures the second largest air-defence base in Syria near Marj al-Sultan airport. Damascus pic.twitter.com/AGWXWfn1
12:58 PM

11 Shilka anti-aircraft guns have been captured by the Free Army in Damascus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R85iO3XTh4Q
1:28 PM

[visionary]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...680_story.html

Syrian rebels making advances

Syrian rebels are making significant advances in their battle against government forces, raising new questions about President Bashar al-Assad’s ability to hold onto power and adding urgency to the quest by the international community for a unified and effective political opposition that could take control should his regime collapse.

In the past week, the rebels have seized five important military facilities in the north, the east and near the capital, Damascus, capturing sizeable quantities of weaponry, further isolating remaining government positions and freeing up rebel forces to concentrate on attacking them.

None of the battles alone represented the kind of decisive military victory that the rebels need if they are to claim control of an entire city or province and prod the international community for greater support. The rebels, most of them grouped loosely under the umbrella of the Free Syrian Army, have not yet demonstrated the capacity to capture any of the country’s major cities, and whether they will ever be in a position to dislodge the regime from the heavily guarded capital without help is in question.

Taken together, however, the gains underscore both the steadily growing effectiveness of the rebel force and the accelerating erosion of what had once been one of the region’s most powerful armies, now severely depleted and on the defensive along almost all of the country’s many battlefronts.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsCont...ining-in-.aspx

Syrian opposition receiving 'democracy' training in Germany: Reports

Members of the Syrian opposition have recently received training in Berlin on 'democratic governance,' Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Sunday.

Around 40 Syrian nationals – including defected military personnel, lawyers and members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood – have been undergoing training in law, economics, security practices and other aspects of governance, Haaretz reported.

The project, dubbed "The day thereafter: Support for democratic transition in Syria," was funded by the Swiss Foreign Ministry, along with Dutch and Norwegian NGOs.

While the German and US governments were not directly involved in the meetings, which were held behind closed doors, the German government reportedly provided logistical support for the project, while the US State Department provided some additional funding for training sessions.

The training involved a visit to the German authority that administered the files for the Stasi, the infamous East German security organisation dissolved in 1990. The visit could be of value to the Syrian opposition, Russia Today reported, should it need to address Syria's existing security services.

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

Ahrar Alsham using a remote controlled vehicle destroy a checkpoint on the outskirts of Idlib City. https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=r8FhC8GYtD4 … HUUUGE BOOOOMM!!!
2:15 PM

https://twitter.com/lkh0ja

2 cluster bombs fell on a children’s playground in DeiralAsafeer today, killing 10 children. Damascus
2:20 PM

https://twitter.com/Turk4Syria

Small numbers of soldiers continue to desert to Turkey on a daily basis in the typical "one colonel here, one lieutenant there" fashion.
2:51 PM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

news confirm what i said earlier about the liberation of teshrin dam in aleppo countryside
3:07 PM

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

IMPORTANT: Unification of the all the officers of the five fronts into the Free Officers Congregation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjhPjdOqd6I
5:11 PM

All the officers have agreed to stay away from politics and are not allowed to join any political party.
5:13 PM

This is very important. Many weeks and hundreds of cigarettes were used to make this happen. Just read the statement in the description.
5:19 PM

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

Raqqa: Clashes between the Free Army and the regime's forces around the Mayor's Palace and Hajjanah Headquarters in the neighborhood of Thakanah were reported
5:40 PM

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

Local Coordination Committees in Syria
The number of martyrs in Syria has risen to 101, including 14 children and 2 women, distributed as follows: 51 martyrs in Damascus and its Suburbs (including 12 bodies of people from Darayya found in the Mouassat Hospital, and 10 martyred in the warplanes shelling of the town of Deir El-Asafeer); 15 martyrs in Aleppo; 16 martyrs in Daraa; 6 martyrs in Homs; 6 in Hama; 5 in Idlib and 2 in Deir Ezzor
4:54 PM

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/edwardedark

an activist(doctor) injured when Mustfa Karman was martyred needs urgent operation to save arm in Turkey if u can help plz contact me
4:12 PM

https://twitter.com/DamascusTribune

FSA say they took control completely over Teshreen dam in Aleppo. http://youtu.be/dorM9r3oG84
7:03 PM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Dozens of martyrs reported in Hajar al-Aswad following fierce shelling and rocket attacks on the city - [LCC] Damascus
7:05 PM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

liberation of the 4th brigade near the jordanian border http://youtu.be/xWwYZrUL41Y
3:33 PM

liberation of rahbat al-deir brigade in al-ghutah al-sharqiyah http://youtu.be/TOhbspTma0Q
3:26 PM

resistance fighters destroyed a military tank on ma`arrat al-nu`man motorway
8:16 PM

resistance fighters liberated a school (al-abaa) & al-ridwan hospital in darayya
8:17 PM

resistance fighters killed colonel mahmoud jamil safi in darayya
8:42 PM

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

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria

The LCC was able to document 117 martyrs by the end of Sunday; included in today's count are 2 women and 14 children. 55 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs, including 12 bodies from Daraya who were found in Mowasa Hospital and 10 martyrs as a result of aerial shelling in Dar Al-Asafeer. 16 martyrs were reported in Aleppo; 17 in Daraa; 7 in Homs; 6 in Deir Ezzor; 8 in Hama; 5 in Idlib; and 3 in Quneitra
7:41 PM

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
39,988 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.businessinsider.com/russi...f-cash-2012-11

Russia Has Been Sending Syria Huge Amounts Of Cash To Keep Assad's Regime Afloat

This past summer, as the Syrian economy began to unravel and the military pressed hard against an armed rebellion, a Syrian government plane ferried what flight records describe as more than 200 tons of “bank notes” from Moscow.

The records of overflight requests were obtained by ProPublica. The flights occurred during a period of escalating violence in a conflict that has left tens of thousands of people dead since fighting broke out in March 2011.

The regime of Bashar al-Assad is increasingly in need of cash to stay afloat and continue financing the military’s efforts to crush the uprising. U.S. and European sanctions, including a ban on minting Syrian currency, have damaged the country’s economy. As a result, Syria lost access to an Austrian bank that had printed its bank notes.

“Having currency that you can put into circulation is certainly something that is important in terms of running an economy and more so in an economy that is become more cash-based as things deteriorate,” said Daniel Glaser, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes. “It is certainly something the Syrian government wants to do, to pay soldiers or pay anybody anything."

According to the flight records, which are in English and Farsi, eight round-trip flights between Damascus International Airport and Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport each carried 30 tons of bank notes back to Syria.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syr...-days-violence

Syrian rebels and Kurdish fighters have reached an agreement on a truce, to end days of violence in a northern town

Syrian rebels and Kurdish fighters have reached an agreement on a truce, to end days of violence in the northern town of Ras al-Ayn near the border with Turkey that opposition forces entered earlier this month.

Rebel fighters welcomed news of the agreement, which was reached on Saturday, with celebratory gunfire and chanted slogans.

Nizzar Abu Akkar, Deputy Commander of the Syrian Ghuraba al-Sham group, the biggest rebel group in Ras al-Ayn, said members of the Democratic Union Party of Kurdistan (PYD) agreed to step aside and not fight anymore against Free Syrian Army rebels in the area.

"The PKK [referring to Kurdistan Worker's Party] and the PYD promised that they are not going to be against our revolution. They promised also that they will not help the regime and its Shabiha, and not to be in the way [between us and the regime]," said Akkar.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syr...ter-days-heavy

Syrian rebels capture a hydroelectric dam on the Euphrates River in the country's north after days of heavy fighting

Syrian rebels on Monday captured a hydroelectric dam on the Euphrates River in the country's north after days of heavy fighting, seizing crates of ammunition from the government troops who were protecting the strategic facility in the latest battlefield success for opposition fighters, activists said.

Activists said rebel fighters overran regime defenses and captured the Tishrin Dam, near the town of Manbij, before dawn on Monday.

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters killed 7 assad troops & destroyed a military tank in darayya
4:10 AM

resistance fighters destroyed a military tank near ma`arrat al-nu`man city. ferocious clashes are going on now around the city
4:18 AM

resistance fighters destroyed a military checkpoint & killed +20 assad troops near the town of jabatha al-khashab in al-qunaytirah
4:44 AM

resistance fighters need to liberate the last military base in al-ghutah al-sharqiyah before they enter damascus city
4:49 AM

https://twitter.com/NuffSilence

The other side of leaked videos: an Assad officer in Bukamal gives orders to set the market on fire http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blcdq0jPZMQ
9:06 AM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

10,000 refuges at the Atmeh refuge camp in northern Idlib crossed into Turkey after today's airstrikes. 1000s more still at the border.
9:19 AM

https://twitter.com/arwaCNN

Atmah camp in syria close 2 turkey. smoke rising is ppl burning tires 2 try 2 block jets view http://yfrog.com/nzt8ndqgj
9:37 AM

Already displaced and living in camp inside syria close 2 border w/turkey, airstrike close 2 camp sends ppl running http://bit.ly/TZCMDx
5:19 PM

http://edition.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp...order-flee.cnn

November 26, 2012

Syrian airstrikes send panicked civilians running for cover near Turkish refugee camp. CNN's Arwa Damon reports.

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

Sukhoi jets bombing Bab al-Hawa with a new type of weapon. Many glowing things dropped from the jet, big white explosion. Idlib
9:51 AM

Don't pray for us, pray for the many tanks and armored cars taken from regiment 46 left behind near there.
9:52 AM

Daret ezza, harem, atmeh, maraat al numan and more places in north syria being shelled now. turks cannot deal with amount of fleeing to them. Most from atmeh refugee camp trying to go to turkey. that camp is horrible, the facilities in it are not good but turks said it would b safe
10:12 AM

the regiment 46 display was supposed to show off the weapons but it made the regime angry so the area it is in got shelled
10:15 AM

refugee camp near bab al hawa is mainly destroyed, it was nearly finished. thankfully not used yet so no injury or death. atmeh camp is fine
10:32 AM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

defection of 15 troops in deirezzor countryside http://youtu.be/L7ypf5jK-MQ
10:59 AM

resistance fighters have repulsed another attack on darayya
11:13 AM

resistance fighters have liberated the town of al-karamah (al-raqqah eastern countryside)
11:36 AM

resistance fighters attacked the military headquarters in the town of al-tabqa. heavy clashes continue
11:38 AM

this is walid saffour, syria's new (anti - assad) ambassador in england: http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...97551752_n.jpg
11:51 AM

https://twitter.com/javierespinosa2

France will give 1.2 million euros to the Syrian National Coalition (Fabius)
11:32 AM

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middle...469990730.html

Syrian warplanes 'bombard rebel HQ'

Syrian warplanes have bombed a rebel headquarters near the Turkish border, missing their target but sending hundreds of Syrians fleeing across the frontier.

Monday’s attack on the Free Syrian Army (FSA) base in Atima, two kilometres from the border, came a day before Turkish and NATO officials were due to start assessing where to station surface-to-air missiles close to the 900km border.

Ahmed, an opposition activist who lives within a few blocks of the base, said: "Two Syrian fighter jets came and fired five rockets. Three have hit farm areas and another two hit buildings near the base."

Ahmed said it was the first time they targeted the FSA base set up by senior rebel Mustafa al-Sheikh when he crossed over to Syria from Turkey two months ago.

The strike was one of the closest to the Turkish border carried out by Syrian jets.

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters say they have entered the infantry school in aleppo countryside
12:07 PM

resistance fighters have liberated the town of al-joumaqliyah in the southern countryside of hama. many assad troops were killed
12:17 PM

a report says many assad troops have defected in the town of al-tabqa in al-raqqah. details later
12:42 PM

from ansar al-sham brigades: resistance fighters liberated ain al-bayda police station near the turkish border http://youtu.be/LDyqAYyjAbA
1:24 PM

https://twitter.com/And_Harper

Just left the border where another 300 hve x'd the desert 2 jordan. It is very cold & the refugees r traumatized frm the violence.
5:06 PM

A mother w/ 2 small girls who x'd tonite 2 jordan kept repeating that in her village in Daara Syria people were being killed everywhere.
5:27 PM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

ahrar al-sham brigades have destroyed a military tower & a tank on turkman mount in latakia countryside
5:37 PM

resistance fighters blew up a military checkpoint in jadidat artouz (damascus countryside)
5:45 PM

resistance fighters attacked the civil defense headquarters in hama city
5:58 PM

resistance fighters have entered the artillery brigade in the town of al-sahwah in daraa
6:09 PM

resistance fighters have liberated al-ruwwad military school near the infantry school in aleppo countryside. +10 troops were killed
7:20 PM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

BREAKING: FSA have destroyed a regime military checkpoint in the neighborhood of Rukneddine, central Damascus. -
9:03 PM

Clashes in the heart of Damascus in Rukneddine after FSA destroyed a military checkpoint with explosives. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMnAVukcGDg
9:30 PM

Aleppo: Deir Hafer: Fierce aerial bombardment reported on the city, at least ten 'barrel bombs' have been dropped on the city so far. [LCC]
12:42 AM

Tanks are moving towards Kafarsouseh Groves, area in control of the FSA. - Damascus. [LCC]
2:50 AM

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

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria

By the end of Monday, the LCC was able to document 168 martyrs, among them 6 women and 5 children. 90 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs, among them 28 martyrs who died under torture in Daraya and 6 martyrs in Dahadeel. 35 martyrs were reported in Aleppo; 11 in Hama; 10 in Homs; 8 in Daraa; 7 in Idlib; 4 in Quneitra; 2 in Deir Ezzor; and 1 in Raqqa
6:37 PM

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
40,156 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters destroyed a military tank in khan al-wazir in aleppo city
4:18 AM

resistance fighters liberated a center for assad troops in al-aqabah neighborhood in aleppo city
4:19 AM

resistance fighters arrested 2 officers & 2 troops north of damascus. a video later
4:50 AM

resistance fighters destroyed a military checkpoint & 2 tanks on aleppo - damascus motorway
4:52 AM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters have liberated a military base near the town of al-safirah in aleppo countryside
5:56 AM

resistance fighters killed & arrested +70 troops near the town of al-safirah in aleppo countryside
6:13 AM

resistance fighters blew up an ammunition depot & destroyed military equipments near al-qaboun neighborhood (damascus)
6:58 AM

update: resistance fighters destroyed 8 tanks & 2 military trucks today in darayya. many assad troops were killed & injured
7:40 AM

https://twitter.com/OmarShakir91

Damascus FSA heroes control on the Battalion 666 near of Zainab destrict
8:09 AM

FSA heroes have declares full control over air defense battalion in countryside of Aleppo
8:15 AM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

Details of the Massacre west of Idlib city have just been released. A regime air strike at a olive factory west of the city resulted in at least 8 martyrs and 10s of injuries, all from civilians working at the factory. A second air strike in the fields near by resulted in at least 13 martyrs, several of which were women. Many of the injured were taken to the national hospital in the city. There are reports that soldiers at the hospital are killing the injured and arresting others.
8:13 AM

Video of the helicopter that wast just shot down west of Aleppo Syria! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iflPhAsk5Lg
8:57 AM

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syr...jordan-prevent

UN humanitarian chief accuses Syria of firing mortar bombs near the border with Jordan to prevent refugees from fleeing

The United Nations humanitarian chief accused Syria on Tuesday of firing mortar bombs near the border with Jordan to prevent refugees from fleeing a civil war that she says is "getting worse day by day".

In an interview with Reuters news agency at the Jordanian refugee camp of Zaatari on Tuesday, Valerie Amos said that during a visit to the border the night before she was able to see "what was definitely mortar fire on the Syrian side of the border to try to prevent people from crossing."

Opposition activists say 40,000 people have been killed in the revolt against the rule of Bashar al-Assad, which started out as peaceful protests 20 months ago only to descend into full civil war.

Almost half a million refugees have fled into Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq as the fighting has spread and more are expected as winter approaches.
"We need the agreement by all those involved in the conflict to ensure they will not in any way bomb or shell or fight (refugees)," Amos said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8AQ0UK20121127

Insight: Rebels seizing initiative in long war for Syria

Rebel strikes against military bases across Syria have exposed President Bashar al-Assad's weakening grip in the north and east of the country and left his power base in Damascus vulnerable to the increasingly potent opposition forces.

Rebel fighters, who have taken at least five army and air installations in the last 10 days, are still waging an asymmetrical war against a powerful army backed by devastating air power, and predict months of conflict still lie ahead.

Their tactics are gradually choking off Assad's forces in the northern provinces of Aleppo and Idlib, as well as the eastern oil region of Deir al-Zor, while in Damascus "there is a sense that the flames are licking at the door", a diplomat in the capital said.

The steady capture of military installations and arsenals is sapping the morale of Assad's forces and also ensuring a modest supply of new weapons to relatively ill-equipped rebels whose calls for a no-fly zone -- which proved crucial in the Libyan uprising -- have been ignored.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8AJ1FK20121127

Syria launches air strikes as combat rages in Damascus

Syrian war planes attacked towns in the country's north and east and killed at least five civilians in a strike on an olive oil press as fighting raged in the capital Damascus on Tuesday, opposition activists said.

Rebels have captured at least five army and air force installations in the past 10 days, putting pressure on Assad's forces in Aleppo and Idlib and the eastern oil region of Deir al-Zor.

The opposition are calling for international military aid, particularly against air attacks, but Western powers who support the uprising are wary of radical Islamist units among the rebels. However, some anti-aircraft equipment has been seized from captured army bases.

The government also launched air strikes on Deir al-Zor city and on the strategic town of Maraat al-Numan in Idlib province on Tuesday.

http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticl...aspx?ID=461177

North Lebanon border town under Syrian shelling

North Lebanon’s Wadi Khaled area came under shelling originating from the Syrian side of both countries’ border since Tuesday evening.

The National News Agency reported that the shelling created a panic among residents of the area.

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters captured the head of information department (state security) in homs countryside http://youtu.be/s3l4okHvt1I
11:01 AM

you should see this. resistance fighters liberated a military base in al-ghutah http://youtu.be/0ArziKSolZA
11:05 AM

heavy clashes are going on now near the town of al-janoudiyah (jisr al-shughour, idlib)
11:20 AM

ahrar al-sham brigades say they shot down a mig warplane near the town of al-safirah in aleppo countryside
2:29 PM

resistance fighters blew up a tank in tafas (daraa) http://youtu.be/YEbQ3trB-K8
3:08 PM

https://twitter.com/RafifJ

Assad is responsible for the deaths of refugees, including the three kids who froze to death in Jordan today.
10:06 PM

https://twitter.com/AmalHanano

A judge defects in Aleppo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZ_AG...ature=youtu.be …. One word to the man of justice: bakkkkeeeeer.
10:19 PM

https://twitter.com/And_Harper

Another 203 x'd last nite to safety of Jordan. Many fleeing violence in Tafs Daara.
11:01 PM

https://twitter.com/martinchulov

FSA says it used SAMs looted from regime base to down helicopter and jet today. Online vid supports first claim.
11:09 AM

https://twitter.com/DamascusTribune

The FSA took control over Air Force Battalion 666 in Sayeda Zainab, Damascus Suburbs , LCC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EfF...ature=youtu.be
11:26 AM

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

The Local Coordination Commitees in Syria

By the end of Tuesday, the LCC was able to document 131[3] martyrs in Syria, including 5 women and 12 children. 48 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its suburbs; 28 in Idlib; 17 in Homs, including 8 as a result of shelling, for the first time, in the village of Al-Fayeza; 15 in Aleppo; 11 in Daraa; 9 in Hama; 2 in Hasakeh; 2 in Deir Ezzor; 1 who was from Qamishly and martyred in Idlib
6:21 PM

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
40,289 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syr...eeing-conflict

Lebanon asked the UN and international donors for new funds to support refugees fleeing from the conflict

Lebanon on Wednesday asked the United Nations and international donors for new funds to support refugees fleeing from the conflict in neighbouring Syria, officials said.

The government took the opportunity to ask for "true aid for Lebanon on the financial level" at a Beirut meeting between Prime Minister Najib Mikati and UN humanitarian affairs chief Valerie Amos, Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour said.

"The meeting was an opportunity to stress on the commitment of the Lebanese government to provide aid, shelter and protection to Syrian refugees who are in Lebanon," Abu Faour told a news conference.

"But what we truly lack are the financial needs."

More than 125,000 Syrian refugees are registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon, but activists say the actual number of
people is much higher.

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters have liberated the main road between maliha & jisrin (damascus countryside)
2:46 AM

ansar al-koran brigade says it attacked a military convoy & killed assad troops on damascus airport road
3:37 AM

resistance fighters shot down a warplane (aleppo) http://youtu.be/Flt_IG-9LJ0
5:35 AM

resistance fighters shot down a warplane near bab al-hawa (near the turkish border, idlib)
5:46 AM

resistance fighters killed 9 assad troops & destroyed a tank in darayya
9:35 AM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

Germany pledges 50 million euros in aid to Syrian refugees in Jordan.
9:21 AM

After taking down his fighter jet, FSA treat wounded captured pilot in the same facilities he was bombing. Aleppo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17k-FDLa5So …
9:47 AM

[visionary]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/29/wo...lict.html?_r=0

U.S. Weighs Bolder Effort to Intervene in Syria’s Conflict

The Obama administration, hoping that the conflict in Syria has reached a turning point, is considering deeper intervention to help push President Bashar al-Assad from power, according to government officials involved in the discussions.

While no decisions have been made, the administration is considering several alternatives, including directly providing arms to some opposition fighters.

The most urgent decision, likely to come next week, is whether NATO should deploy surface-to-air missiles in Turkey, ostensibly to protect that country from Syrian missiles that could carry chemical weapons. The State Department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, said Wednesday that the Patriot missile system would not be “for use beyond the Turkish border.”

But some strategists and administration officials believe that Syrian Air Force pilots might fear how else the missile batteries could be used. If so, they could be intimidated from bombing the northern Syrian border towns where the rebels control considerable territory. A NATO survey team is in Turkey, examining possible sites for the batteries.

Other, more distant options include directly providing arms to opposition fighters rather than only continuing to use other countries, especially Qatar, to do so. A riskier course would be to insert C.I.A. officers or allied intelligence services on the ground in Syria, to work more closely with opposition fighters in areas that they now largely control.

https://twitter.com/yasmeenmobayed

FSA downed 4 warplanes, 2 in Aleppo and 2 in Idlib, a helicopter in the Damascus Suburbs. || Syria LCC
1:06 PM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

3 checkpts on the outskirts of Idlib city currently attacked by FSA. 1 was destroyed. the 2nd withdrew to the city. 3rd still surrounded.
1:05 PM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters destroyed 2 tanks & killed & injured +20 #assad troops near zamalka (damascus countryside)
12:06 PM

resistance fighters liberated a military base in aleppo countryside http://youtu.be/S3kog8iX6os
3:38 PM

resistance fighters have liberated a military checkpoint on salqin - idlib road
1:56 PM

defection of captain rabi` al-yunus http://youtu.be/fpVIrak6Jjo
4:07 PM

resistance fighters have liberated a small town & a police station 8 miles to the east of al-raqqah city
4:26 PM

https://twitter.com/And_Harper

271 refugees x'd 2 jordan @ nite. Youngest only 20 days old. Many reuniting w family already in Zaatri as situation deteriorates in Syria
11:32 PM

http://www.lccsyria.org/10571

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

By the end of Wednesday, LCC coud document 160 martyrs including 7 women and 8 children. 96 martyrs in Damascus and suburbs including 77 in Jaramana explosion, 21 in Aleppo including 7 in Manbej, 14 in Daraa, 11 in Idlib, 7 in Deir Ezzor, 6 in Homs, 3 in Hama, and a martyr in each Golan and Swaida

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
40,449 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/ElSkalla

An ASSad MiG warplane flew overhead and decided to drop some rockets on the funeral processions killing several members of my family
12:37 AM

Amongst the dead were some of my cousin's wives and their children, there are still some bodies under the rubble of the family mosque
12:39 AM

My uncle had no politicial affiliation and died in Germany away from anything in Syria , why the **** WOULD YOU BOMB HIS JANAZAH
12:40 AM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

It's poppin' in Idlib city these days...2 checkpoints liberated yesterday...more surrounded today...lets do this!
1:15 AM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

heavy clashes continue in deirezzor city (ghassan abboud square)
1:40 AM

2 lieutenants have defected in deirezzor
1:42 AM

resistance fighters destroyed a military tank in the town of tafas in daraa
1:47 AM

resistance fighters destroyed a bmp vehicle in the infantry school in aleppo countryside
2:10 AM

resistance fighters killed 6 assad troops & destroyed a tank & a truck in aleppo city (nile street)
2:14 AM

[wantarace17]

The internet has ceased to exist in Syria. It could be the start of something bad...

http://allthingsd.com/20121129/syria...-the-internet/

A few hours ago, Syria, the Middle Eastern country in the middle of an especially bloody civil war, disappeared from the Internet.
The research firm Renesys, which keeps track of the status and health of the technical underpinnings of the Internet around the world, just reported that at 10:26 UTC this morning — which, by my watch, would have been 5:26 am ET — effectively all of Syria’s international Internet connectivity shut down.
More technically, what happened was that within the global routing table, all 84 blocks of IP addresses assigned to Syria have gone unreachable. That means that Internet traffic destined for that country is going undelivered, and also that traffic coming from within it cannot get out to the world.
Renesys is still investigating what’s going on, but, as we’ve seen in other countries, cutting off the Internet is usually meant to try and control the flow of information to the world. It’s also a pretty sure sign that the regime of Bashar al-Assad is either getting nervous about how it is being perceived in the world, or that it is planning something unspeakably harsh in the coming days and wants as little information emerging from that country as possible.

[visionary]

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ap-so...ian-opposition

AP sources: US close to shift on Syrian opposition

The Obama administration is preparing to recognize Syria's new opposition council as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people in the coming weeks, paving the way for greater U.S. support for groups seeking to oust President Bashar Assad's regime, officials said Thursday.

Announcement of the move — which has already been taken by several U.S. allies — is planned on or around a conference of more than 70 nations in Marrakesh, Morocco, on Dec. 12. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is planning to attend the latest so-called Friends of Syria gathering.

The new status is expected to be accompanied by pledges of additional humanitarian and nonlethal logistical support for the opposition, but is unlikely to result in U.S. military assistance, at least in the short-term. Providing arms remains a matter of intense internal debate inside the administration, the officials said.

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

Yes, communications are shut down in most areas of Aleppo and Damascus now, only revolutionaries at good media centers can get online.
7:45 AM

Assad cut off all Syrian internet, all regime sites hosted in Syria are all down also inc. SANA. Only revolutionaries have internet now
9:22 AM

Syria will not "go offline", we have prepared for this since we saw what happened to Egypt. Revolutionary media centers will update as usual
9:32 AM

Here in Idlib no one even noticed, satellite internet is used and sometimes some revolutionaries even going near Turkish border for 3G.
2:10 PM

https://twitter.com/DanielePinto

EgyptAir cancels Friday flight to Damascus due to situation around Damascus airport, Cairo airport official tells @Reuters.
10:30 AM

Syria rebel fighters fired mortars at runways of Damascus airport today and are blocking road leading to capital - rebel tells @Reuters
11:03 AM

Syria rebels maintain they have gained control of access routes to and from Damascus international airport. Four airlines cancel flights.
11:05 AM

https://twitter.com/iyad_elbaghdadi

Heavy clashes are reported in Damascus, in Mezzeh and Kafar Souseh.
11:13 AM

Update: It seems that roads to/from Damascus have been cut by the FSA not by the regime, but no confirmation is possible yet.
11:15 AM

Pro-regime are talking about a major military operation by the regime underway in Damascus to regain ground.
11:33 AM

https://twitter.com/AlexanderPageSY

BREAKING: Daraya area of Damascus now witnessing mortar shelling from numerous directions
11:41 AM

CONFIRMED: full force military engage between regime forces and FSA militants now taking place in Chabaa Airport Rd. Damascus
11:45 AM

BREAKING: Opposition Battalions of Damascus & its suburbs declare Operation "LINE OF SUNRISE" has began
11:52 AM

Syria State TV: "Telecommunications malfunction is now being treated and will be back on soon"
11:57 AM

https://twitter.com/HannahAllam

State Dept: US recognition of Syria opp depends on progress in organizing, deepening contacts in Syria,"effective management" of free areas
1:16 PM

State Dept: Internet cutoffs in Syria speaks to the regime's "desperation" in clinging to power. US has provided >2,000 communications kits
1:17 PM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters shot down a military copter in idlib countryside (near the town of binnish)
11:56 AM

resistance fighters destroyed 3 bmp vehicles & seized one near deirezzor military airport
1:16 PM

resistance fighters destroyed a tank on tafas - daraa road http://youtu.be/U8Z0Hbjcv2Q
1:08 PM

resistance fighters are attacking assad's forces in deirezzor military airport
3:04 PM

5 troops have defected in deirezzor city
4:45 PM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

There were 2 different massacres in Aleppo today. Many of the victims were children.
3:30 PM

I dont think I can sleep from now on...the news is just too exciting...
4:31 PM

Aljazeera reporting that 75% of Damascus and its suburbs under FSA control. FSA is shelling the airports as we speak.
4:34 PM

The only thing that is confirmed at this point is that the airport has been shutdown and the FSA is shelling with mortars.
4:41 PM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

it would be hard for resistance fighters to liberate damascus before they control al-mazzeh airport [damascus main military airport] & qasioun [mountain artillery depot, source of most shelling on damascus]. remember aleppo
5:25 PM

resistance fighters destroyed 3 military cars & killed assad troops in deirezzor countryside
5:31 PM

[visionary]

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268743/con...tguid=8ce7ERJD

UN teams find desperate conditions in Syria's Homs

The U.N. refugee agency says it found desperate conditions in the Syrian city of Homs, where thousands of people are living in unheated shelters and quarter of million people displaced from their homes.

The agency's spokeswoman Melissa Fleming says an assessment team visiting this week saw half the city's hospitals shut down and "severe shortages of basic supplies ranging from medicine to blankets, winter clothes and children's shoes."

Fleming said Friday there were a quarter million people displaced in and around the city with thousands in unheated communal shelters and many children unable to attend school.

But she says the agency delivered nine trucks of quilts, blankets, mattresses and other supplies and more will be sent soon.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syr...fleeing-jordan

UN: Syrian refugees shot at while fleeing to Jordan

Syrian refugees are being shot at as they flee to neighbouring Jordan and many have to be treated in hospital on arrival, the United Nations said on Friday.

In its latest briefing on the Syria crisis, the UN refugee agency also said 250,000 people were living in temporary shelters in the flashpoint city of Homs, without adequate food, clothing or medicine as winter added to the misery of civil war.

"We have received very disturbing reports from Syrian refugees in Jordan who say they were targeted as they were fleeing.

UNHCR calls on all sides to ensure that at least civilians have access to safe passage outside the country," spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told a news briefing in Geneva.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syr...ions-east-deir

Syrian troops reportedly withdrew from Omar oil field, one of the last regime positions east of Deir Ezzor

Syrian troops withdrew from Omar oil field, one of the last regime positions east of Deir Ezzor city near the Iraqi border, a watchdog said Friday, adding that rebels now control the country's major fields.

"Government troops pulled back on Thursday from the Omar oil field north of the town of Mayadeen after having lost the Conoco gas reserve on November 27," the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Rebels last week seized the strategic town of Mayadeen, taking control of a huge stretch of territory east of Deir Ezzor city along the Iraqi border.

This area is now the largest outside regime control.

The insurgents took control of an oil field for the first time on November 4 when they overran Al-Ward, the most important in the province, the Observatory said.

After also losing control of Al-Jofra field also in November, the army now controls not more than five fields, all located to the west of Deir Ezzor city, the watchdog said.

https://twitter.com/WashingtonPoint

US Amb Ford also said his morning "US will not allow another Hama happen" #Iswearitistrue same as what Erdogan said more than a year ago
9:35 PM

https://twitter.com/RafifJ

@WashingtonPoint "Hama" is happening over and over, every day.
9:36 PM

https://twitter.com/HamaEcho

offline for a few days. How to stress this, Syria is getting very cold and there is oil shortage + homeless. Why is there not much help?
5:54 PM

https://twitter.com/T_Aldiery

19 soldiers from the 119 Brigade of the Assad army have defected in the DeirEzzor airport in the midst of the battle.
6:19 PM

The FSA in DeirEzzor are currently engaged in a fierce battle to capture the airport and base outside of the city. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...v=KKLWG4hNllo# …!
6:14 PM

https://twitter.com/And_Harper

334 x'd last nite 2 jordan. Youngest only 12 days old, oldest 90 yr woman. Arrivals incl. 2 yr old orphan brought by grand parents.
11:24 PM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

resistance fighters destroyed an armored vehicle & 2 tanks near the town of tafas in daraa
6:20 AM

http://www.lccsyria.org/10576

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

LCC has documented 96 martyrs on Thursday including 23 children and 4 women distributed as follows: 51 martyrs in Aleppo (most of whom were martyred in the massacre of Zibdiya and Ansari), 15 martyrs in Damascus and its Suburbs, 9 martyrs in Daraa, 7 martyrs in Idlib, 6 in Deir Ezzor, 4 in Hama, 3 in Homs and one martyr in Raqqa.

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
40,545 people killed so far in Syria

[visionary]

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/orig...pposition.html

US Still Wary of Sending Arms To Syrian Opposition, Says Envoy

The Obama administration has not yet decided whether to provide arms to selected elements of the Syrian opposition and fears that introducing more weapons will only prolong the civil war with even worse consequences for Syrian civilians, a top US diplomat said Thursday, Nov. 29.

Robert Ford, the US ambassador to Syria who left Damascus in February when the fighting made it too dangerous for American diplomats to remain, discussed US strategy toward Syria in detail Thursday at a Washington forum ostensibly devoted to the Syrian humanitarian crisis and the US response.

Asked about published reports that the Obama administration is considering increasing its involvement in the military aspects of the Syrian conflict by sending weapons directly to rebel groups, Ford said “the president has never taken the provision of arms off the table” but that the US priority remains a political deal between the opposition and members of the government that “do not have blood on their hands.”

“Arms are a tactic, not a strategy,” Ford said. “We think that a military solution is not the best way for Syria. Efforts to win this by conquering one side or another will simply prolong the violence and aggravate an already terrible humanitarian situation.”

Later, he told reporters who followed him outside the hall that the key question is: “How do you convince one side that is losing to stop fighting when they think their existence is at stake?”

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/29/wo...html?hpt=hp_c1

Syrian rebels begin to challenge al-Assad's command of skies

The Soviet-made Mi-8 helicopter turns slowly in the blue autumn sky. It appears to be at an altitude of 3,000-4,000 feet, circling above the province of Aleppo in northwestern Syria. Suddenly, there's a streak of white and then an explosion -- as its engine bursts into flames.

Off camera, there are yelps of joy. It is a rare success for the Free Syrian Army: a precious ground-to-air missile has found its target. Trailing black smoke, the helicopter makes a hard landing. It's not known what happened to the crew.

In the last week, the rebels claim to have shot down one plane and two helicopters in Aleppo province. CNN's Arwa Damon went to the crash site of the plane Wednesday, and saw chunks of metal being carted off by locals.

At least one of the pilots appears to have been found unconscious by the rebels after ejecting from the plane. Videos uploaded to YouTube appear to show the pilot with a bandaged head wound.

It's a sign that the rebels are beginning to use the weapons they've seized from military bases to good effect, and are gradually beginning to challenge Bashar al-Assad government's dominance of the skies.

Damon reported Thursday: "The FSA controls vast chunks of territory in Aleppo [province]. In a span of 24 hours they brought down a fighter jet and helicopter and took over a major base" in the province.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8AT0UI20121130

Syrian rebel films himself shooting 10 prisoners

New footage posted on the Internet appears to have been filmed by a Syrian rebel who points the camera along the barrel of his gun as he shoots 10 unarmed prisoners.

The video, posted on YouTube on Thursday, shows 10 men wearing t-shirts and camouflage trousers lying face down next to a building and a lookout tower. Even before the shooting, two of the men are not moving and one has blood coming from his torso.

"I swear to God that we are peaceful," begs one of the men to the camera, which is being held by the gunman. Cowering, the man gets up to plead with rebels. As he approaches a rebel off-screen, a shot is heard and he returns holding his bloodied arm.

The cameraman then points the camera along the barrel of his Kalashnikov assault rifle as he shoots the men.

"God is great. Jabhat al-Nusra," he says, referring to the secretive al-Nusra Front, an Islamist rebel unit linked to al Qaeda that has claimed responsibility for several suicide bomb attacks around the country.

http://www.indystar.com/viewart/2012...-gaining-Syria

David Ignatius: Extremists gaining in Syria

Syrian opposition leaders report an alarming growth within their ranks of fighters from Jabhat al-Nusra, an extremist group linked to al-Qaida.

Jabhat al-Nusra now has somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 fighters, according to officials of a non-governmental organization that represents the more moderate wing of the Free Syrian Army (FSA). They say that the al-Qaida affiliate now accounts for 7.5 percent to 9 percent of the FSA's total fighters, up sharply from an estimated 3 percent three months ago and 1 percent at the beginning of the year.

The extremist group is growing in part because it has been the most aggressive and successful arm of the rebel force. "From the reports we get from the doctors, most of the injured and dead FSA are Jabhat al-Nusra, due to their courage and (the fact they are) always at the front line," said a message sent Friday to the State Department by the moderate Free Syrian Army representatives, warning of the extremists' rise.

https://twitter.com/tweets4peace

Regime fired 2 TNT barrels onto our village Jobar, missile attacks go on. Only news is via sat. net, family is out of coverage. Homs
8:43 AM

Been 24 hrs since cousins and friends across Syria came online, no net + no phone lines. Don't know how they are, praying everyone is okay.
8:33 AM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

an assad warplane bombed al-zarr area in al-mayadin. 1 was killed & many were injured
8:47 AM

ferocious clashes are going on now around damascus airport. resistance fighters are attacking military compounds near the airport
11:06 AM

ahrar al-sham brigades are attacking military checkpoints near idlib city
11:21 AM

ahrar al-sham brigades say they have liberated 2 security stations in south
12:15 PM

resistance fighters control 2 bridges (damascus airport road)
12:17 PM

https://twitter.com/rozalinachomsky

yesterday: resistance fighters blew up a satellite truck for alalam news network in damascus city
2:13 PM

resistance fighters have defeated assad's troops near the town of mahmbel (idlib). many troops were killed & injured
2:30 PM

resistance fighters resumed their attack on the last military compound in midan in aleppo city. many fighters were killed yesterday
3:01 PM

resistance fighters (jabhat al-nusrah) have liberated the aleppo - al-hasakah motorway & set up checkpoints
3:05 PM

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf

Massacre in Albarrah, in JabalAlzawiyah Idlib after shelling late into the night claimed the lives of an estimate 10 civilians.
4:21 PM

https://twitter.com/arwaCNN

sitting w/activists in aleppo one says "i used 2 cry when i saw deaths on tv, now i see it everyday and i just feel numb"
12:28 PM

woman at bakery in aleppo, waited 3hrs, husband wounded after they came back thinking was "safe"...afraid but has 2 wait 2 feed 3 children
1:03 PM

airstrike thurs blew out water main in aleppo neighborhood we were in today, children filling containers 2 take back home... met a 14yro boy, arm in sling, wounded in village his family fled 2 for safety was filling container @ exploded water main cause none @ home
1:05 PM

UNHCR says says half of hospitals in homs syria not functional & for example one communal building used 2 house 70 families there R 400
2:56 PM

i cant even count # times i have heard this warning "the longer assad stays in power the stronger islamists become"(albeit still a minority)
5:06 PM

https://twitter.com/jenanmoussa

Thank you all. Stay put. I will be tweeting live and reporting from inside Syria very soon inshallah.
5:56 PM

https://twitter.com/zaidbenjamin

BREAKING: The Syrian opposition meeting in Cairo agrees in principle on 15-member transitional government - Khaled Zeini SNC
5:07 PM

BREAKING: The head of the transitional government and the cabinet members will not be selected from National Coalition members - Zeini
5:10 PM

BREAKING: The Syrian transitional government will ask Friend of Syria in Morocco to secure a Syrian governorate to work from inside Syria
6:41 PM

BREAKING: The Syrian Collation meeting in Cairo agrees on removing "Technocrat" from measures listed to select the head of STG
6:42 PM

https://twitter.com/NMSyria

According to the statement made by the Damascus Military Council :: The FSA now controls 20 kilometers of the Airport Road.
9:25 PM

The FSA and regime forces are engaged in clashes in Aqraba, Bait Sahem, and the agricultural land along the Airport Road. Damascus
9:26 PM

The fall of Marj al-Sultan Military Airport has opened up several roads for the FSA to use to move equipment/forces towards Int'l Airport.
9:27 PM

It looks like they are in the agricultural land and "mini-forests" that run along the Damascus Airport Road.
9:29 PM

https://twitter.com/And_Harper

Only 135 made it 2 Jo. Increasing no. of elderly, which is not a good sign, oldest last nite 99 yrs man. Y'day it was 90 yrs woman.
11:19 PM

https://twitter.com/AlexCrawfordSky

FSA say they have taken all petrol an gas wells east of Deir Azzour.
1:11 AM

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

Local Coordination Committees in Syria

By the end of Friday the LCC managed to document 138 martyrs (including 13 children and 5 women), 70 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs (25 of them martyred in Beit Lahm massacre), 22 martyrs in Aleppo, 17 martyrs in Daraa (most of them in Tafas), 10 martyrs in Deir Ezzor, 10 martyrs in Idlib, 8 martyrs in Homs and 1 martyr in Hama
6:45 PM

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthre...=1#post9046975
40,683 people killed so far in Syria