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Saturday, July 28, 2012

Romney: "Syria is on the brink of a civil war!"

Last Updated 3:57PM PST
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While on a trip to the middle east designed to display his foreign policy credentials, presidential candidate Mitt Romney spoke in Jerusalem about an hour ago. I caught it live on AJE. While most of the speech was dedicated to kissing up to Israel by trashing Iran, he took time out to comment on the situation in Syria with these words:

Syria is on the brink of a civil war!

Would you mind repeating that for the people of Allepo?

Most observers have long ago declared the Syrian conflict to be a civil war. The proclamations of the United Nations and the International Red Cross make that official in international law. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights just raised their estimate of the number of Syrians killed in this conflict to 20,000 as the Syrian government continues to pound resistive communities in Homs, Damascus, Idlib and Aleppo with artillery, tank fire, attack helicopters and jets dropping bombs. The Syrian Army is divided with the better part, in moral authority if not yet in numbers, having defected to form the Free Syria Army. Defections from the Assad regime continue to mount on a daily basis. Just yesterday Colonel Fawwaz Al-Sh-habi defected and joined the FSA. Now the Syrian Army and the Free Syrian Army are engaged in large desperate battles. Yesterday in one Aleppo neighborhood the regime committed 50 tanks. Yesterday in Syria another 180 people died from the regime's violence and 21 of them were children.

So Mr. Romney, what would a civil war look like?

Much more later. Check back....

LIVE STREAM PROTEST IN ALEPPO NOW! 2:06pm pst

People of AlBab celebrating its liberation today | 29 July 2012

Evening Demonstration in Qamishly 29 July 2012

BBC News had this report on Aleppo today:

No let-up in Aleppo battle as Syria vows to crush rebels
29 July 2012 Last updated at 07:57 ET

Shelling and gunfire have again shaken Aleppo as Syrian government forces battle rebels for control of the country's largest city.

A BBC correspondent who is just outside Aleppo says heavy fighting is reported in the city centre near the old fort but this cannot be verified.

Syria's foreign minister said on Sunday that the rebels would be defeated.

The head of the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) has called for foreign states to arm rebel fighters.

"We want weapons that would stop tanks and jet fighters. That is what we want," Abdulbaset Sayda was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying at a news conference in Abu Dhabi.

He urged Arab "brothers and friends to support the Free [Syrian] Army".

Wealthy Gulf states pledged in April to pay the salaries of rebel fighters, while the US state department has acknowledged sending non-lethal aid (such as communications equipment) to the opposition. More...

Rebels capture al-Ahdath prison in Aleppo | 29 July 2012

Good. RT @MahirZeynalov: Syrian soldiers with their four tanks defect to the rebel side in #Aleppo today, colleague @sametdgn1 reports.
— Nuff Silence (@NuffSilence) July 29, 2012

Rebels destroy a military tank in Hanano neighbourhood | 29 July 2012

From the Al Jazeera Live Blog July 29, 2012 - 08:28:

Syria rebels fend off Aleppo assault

Syrian rebels held off an offensive by regime forces in Aleppo Saturday as the head of the exiled opposition called for heavy weapons and said President Bashar al-Assad should be tried for "massacres".

After massing for two days, troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships moved on southwestern Aleppo where rebels concentrated their forces when they seized much of the northern city on July 20.

At least 29 people were killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, contributing to a figure of around 140 nationwide, amid growing concern about the risks of reprisals against civilians in the country's commercial capital.

The London-based watchdog said more than 20,000 people, mostly civilians, have now died since the uprising against Assad's regime erupted in March 2011.

Civilians crowded into basements seeking refuge from the bombing, with the Observatory's Rami Abdel Rahman describing the clashes as the "fiercest" of the uprising.
"There are thousands of people in the streets fleeing the bombardment. They're being terrorised by helicopter gunships flying at low altitude," said an activist, adding many had taken refuge in public parks.

The Guardian Live Blog is another good source Syria: Battle for Aleppo - live updates. At 17:24 BST, here is their summary of the latest developments:

• Regime helicopters have shelled the key city of Aleppo and clashes have continued on the ground between regime forces and rebel fighters, according to opposition activists. The Guardian's Luke Harding said the two sides are about 1.5km apart. Aleppo-based activist Mohammed Saeed told AP the shelling was most intense in the south-western neighborhoods of Salaheddin and Saif al-Dawla. The government said security agents were hunting down armed groups in Salaheddin. Video purported to show that a government shell had set a plastics factory ablaze in Aleppo.

• Shelling has also been reported by opposition activists in Damascus, Deraa, Hama, Homs and Idlib. There have been clashes rebels and government troops have been reported in Deir Ezzor and Hasaekeh. The Local Coordination Committees opposition activist group claims 21 people have been killed in Sheikh Miskeen, Deraa, alone by security forces. This report cannot be independently verified by the Guardian.

• The Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, vowed that the rebels in Aleppo would be defeated as would the "conspiracy" against the country. On a visit to Tehran to meet his counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi, Moualem accused Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey of supporting a plot hatched by Israel to destroy Syria. Salehi said the idea that there would be an orderly transition of power if the Assad regime fell from power was "a dream ...an illusion".

• The Syrian opposition has appealed for its foreign allies to provide with heavy weapons to fight President Bashar al-Assad's "killing machine". The Syrian National Council (SNC) also said it would soon start talks on forming a transitional government to replace him. "The rebels are fighting with primitive weapons. We want weapons that we can stop tanks and planes with. This is what we want," Abdelbasset Sida, head of the SNC said. The SNC is an umbrella opposition group but has been riven by internal dissent and external criticism, questioning its legitimacy.

• The Arab League chief, Dr Nabil Elaraby, described the situation in Syria as amounting to war crimes and said those responsible will be held accountable internationally, Egypt's state news agency said on Sunday

• Jordan opened its first tent camp for Syrians fleeing violence in their country. "Reality has pushed us to open this camp," Interior Minister Ghaleb Zoubi told a gathering of aid officials during the camp's opening in the hamlet of Zataari, about 11 kilometers (7 miles) from the Syrian border. Some 142,000 Syrians are seeking refuge in their southern neighbour and the figure is growing daily by up to 2,000.

• Three Chinese warships crossed into the eastern Mediterranean today, joining 10 Russian warships and three US aircraft carriers, as well as dozens of Turkish military vessels.

Assad's warplanes fly over Haretan Aleppo | 29 July 2012

FSA group doing emergency medical aid for a few Assad soldiers after taking checkpoint. | 29 7 2012

In Aleppo FSA managed to neutralise threat of tanks & helicopters w/ their weapons. Problem is fighter jets & long distance artillery #Syria
— THANKU4THEANGER (@Thanku4theAnger) July 29, 2012

Moment Military helicopter launched a missile on Salah Aldeen in Aleppo is captured | 28 July 2012

no comment | 29 July 2012

The opposition may not be defeated yet in Aleppo but the Syrian Foreign Minister says they soon will be according to todays ahramonline:

Rebels in Aleppo 'will definitely be defeated': Syria

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem says the gathering of rebels and anti-regime forces in the city of Aleppo to fight the government will definitely be defeated
AFP , Sunday 29 Jul 2012 | Last Update 22:19
Rebels fighting government forces in Syria's commercial capital Aleppo "will definitely be defeated," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said on an unannounced visit to key ally Iran on Sunday.

"We believe that all the anti-Syrian forces have gathered in Aleppo to fight the government... and they will definitely be defeated," he told a joint news conference in Tehran with Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.

His assertion came as Syrian troops, backed by air power and tanks, pushed on in the second day of an assault on the northern city of Aleppo, sparking international fears of a humanitarian catastrophe.

Salehi warned that, if the Syria conflict worsened and the regime of President Bashar al-Assad fell, the consequences "would engulf the region and eventually the whole world."

He added that "it's naive and illusory to think that, if a (power) vacuum opens up in Syria and the government changes, a new government could be easily established."

He urged Syria's neighbours to think hard about the situation, otherwise "everyone will lose," and said Assad needed more time to carry out promised reforms. More ...

Today from EAWorldView we have this report on Syria:

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Inside and Outside Aleppo

Sunday, July 29, 2012 at 7:25 | Ali Yenidunya

2035 GMT: Syria. Christian Science Monitor correspondent Scott Peterson, who has just returned to Turkey for Syria, has spoken of the battle in Aleppo:
It was a very up and down fight at the very early stages....I think [the victory] took the rebel forces by surprise a little bit. They claimed they knocked out eight tanks....
It was surprising to feel the degree of optimism that some of the rebels there felt. Of course what they were concerned about wsa that the quality and the volume of the shelling...was going to yield kind of a destroyed neighbourhood.
Peterson said the supply of weapons to the insurgents markedly increased in the past few days, with many more rocket-propelled grenades and even DShK or "Dushka" anti-aircraft guns appearing.
1755 GMT: Syria. The Muslim Brotherhood has denounced President Assad, his allies Iran and Russia, and the international community for "silence" and failure to protect civilians.
The Brotherhood said Assad was "legally and morally responsible for the death of every victim in Syria" and Iran and Russia were "drowning in the blood of the Syrian people".
The Brotherhood also said the international community was "a partner" to violence in Syria, "by standing silent for too long...and failing to respect its obligation under international law to protect civilians".
1725 GMT: UAE. At least 10 more dissidents have been arrested in recent days in a widening crackdown, according to activists.
At least 40 dissidents have reportedly been seized since March and 20 since 15 July when officials said they were investigating a foreign-linked group planning "crimes against the security of the state".
1645 GMT: Syria. An insurgent commander in Boustan Alkasr in Aleppo Province has told Luke Harding of The Guardian:
The Free Syrian Army has several hundred soldiers stationed inside Aleppo, and in total a bigger force in the area of around 2000. The regime has 100 tanks, we estimate, and about another 400 troop carriers and armoured vehicles. They also have 43 buses of Shabiha that have been brought inside Aleppo, with around 1500 soldiers. And the regime has helicopters.
Harding reports the insurgents, who entered Aleppo on 20 July, remain in control of a crescent-shaped portion stretching from the east to the south and are encamped in villages near Anadan, 13 kilometres (8 miles) to the north. The Free Syrian Army has set up a network of checkpoints in the neighbourhoods it controls, run by young militia fighters, many of them extremely nervous.
The journalist adds different insurgent groups inside the city are struggling to communicate with each other. They are using walkie-talkies, as the Internet and other services erratic.
1515 GMT: Syria. There have been reports of heavy casualties in Sheikh Miskeen, in Deraa. The Local Coordination Committees says:
The number of martyrs has risen to 21, due to fierce shelling and amid an attempt to raid the area by regime forces Some were slaughtered with knives.
1500 GMT: Syria. Al Jazeera Arabic reports that the Free Syrian Army is in complete control of eight neighbourhoods in Aleppo city.
1445 GMT: Syria. The Assad forces are reportedly killed two non-Syrian men while they were trying to cross the border into Jordan. Zayed Hammad, head of the Ketab and Sunna Society, which provides aid to more than 50,000 Syrian refugees, told the AFP
We are trying to identify the nationalities of the two because they are not Syrian. The Syrian army ambushes all those who try to flee to Jordan.
1410 GMT: Syria. Dr Nabil Elaraby, Secretary-General of the Arab League, described the situation in Syria as amounting to war crimes and said those responsible will be held accountable internationally.
1325 GMT: Jordan. Syria's southern neighbour opened its first official refugee camp where 500 Syrian refugees will be moved today. Interior Minister Ghaleb Zubi said between 1,000 and 2,000 Syrians are fleeing to Jordan every day. He added that his country was now hosting more than 142,000 Syrians, around 36,000 of whom are UN-registered.
1300 GMT: Syria. It is reported that more than 12,000 Syrians have sought refuge in Algeria. The Syrian opposition sources put this number up to 20,000 though.
1220 GMT: Syria. A resident of a middle-class area of Aleppo e-mails The Guardian:
Constant shelling for the last 2 days of the poorer areas. I can hear the shells being fired. I can see the helicopters circling and firing in the same areas. We cannot open schools quick enough to take in the fleeing families. Thousands are sheltering in the parks....
No gas, no fuel, no petrol and now no bread.
Fighting has been reported in the Salaheddin and al-Bab sections of the city.
1200 GMT: Syria. Testimony from a captured member of the shabiha militia, given to Luke Harding of The Guardian....
Dawish Dado, 33, said he was a decorator in Aleppo and was recruited two months ago to join the shabiha. He. said shabiha unit had looted many houses in Aleppo and robbed people: "I didn't witness rape. But I heard talk about it in my unit."
1150 GMT: The Guardian's Luke Harding reports from Aleppo that the Free Syrian Army members and the government forces are about 1.5km apart from each other.
1135 GMT: Syria. A plastic factory in Aleppo claimed to be hit by a shell. Meanwhile, there are reports coming from the south-western neighborhoods of Salaheddin and Saif al-Dawla that intense shelling is continuing.
1125 GMT: Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al Moualem said at the joint press conference:
We are facing a campaign from US, Western, and Arab countries....whether we have or do not have weapons of mass destruction, Israel has more than 200 nuclear warheads.
Syria is committed to the [Kofi] Annan plan, but we have two points; preventing any foreign aggression and keeping the union of our land.
1110 GMT: Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi dismissed plans about forming a transitional government in Syria. Salehi said:
Thinking naively and wrongly that if there is a powe vacuum perhaps in Syria and if there is a transition of power in Syria, simply another government will come to power, that I think is just a dream.
It's an illusion. We have to look carefully at Syria and what's happening inside the country.
1045 GMT: Syria. Abdelbasset Sida, president of the Syrian National Council said that a transitional government would be formed within weeks. Sida continued:
This government should come about before the fall (of Assad) so that it presents itself as an alternative for the next stage.
The committees that we have set up have their own schedules. Obviously, the matter should be concluded within weeks.
There are some elements in the current regime who are not bloodstained, who were not part of major corruption cases. We will discuss (including them) with other parties, but there should be a national consensus to accept them.
1030 GMT: Syria. The Free Syrian Army seizes a tank in the Al Bab district of Aleppo and turns into the Reo carnival.
1015 GMT Syria. Benjamin Hiller, writing in the Egypt Independent, offers an overview of "Kurdish Syria: From Cultural to Armed Revolution".
1000 GMT: Syria. BBC News showing Homs, the "scarred and divided" city:
0945 GMT: Prisoners exchange in Syria. CNN's Ivan Watson witnesses an exchange of Sunni and Shiite prisoners exchange.
0935 GMT: Syria. The Free Syrian Army fighters were waiting for tanks in Aleppo yesterday.
0925 GMT: Syria. Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem will meet Iranian officials in Tehran today, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has said.
The Foreign Ministry said Muallem will meet his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi. Iran's ISNA news agency said Muallem will also see the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili.
0920 GMT: Syria. The Free Syrian Army has reportedly "liberated a strategic building" in Homs' Bab Hood neighbourhood.
0910 GMT: Syria. Long queues for bread at a public bakery in Aleppo:
0900 GMT: Syria. Several members of the Assad regime's military intelligence in al-Bab city in the northern province of Aleppo have become prisoners of the Free Syrian Army.
Syria. Claimed footage of the Sekkari neighbourhood of Aleppo this morning:
Syria. Regime forces pounded areas of Aleppo, notably Salaheddin, yesterday in an attempt to force out insurgents who have now been inside Syria's largest city for more than a week. Among the 160 deaths reported by the Local Coordination Committees, 33 were in Aleppo. The regime gave no figures for its losses.
There was no sign, however, of conclusive victory. To the contrary, activists claimed --- with some video support --- that the attack on Salaheddin had been repulsed.
And even if President Assad's men restore men, it is growing more likely they will face a divided country. As the regime has put its effort into Aleppo, insurgents have consolidated their position in province in towns such as l-Bab and Anadan.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Protests across Syria in spite of Assad regime violence

With the Assad regime amassing its armor outside of Aleppo and its war planes attacking from overhead the battle between that well oiled military machine and the reg-tag Free Syrian Army has come to the fore. Nobody much is paying attention to the Syrian people except as victims of these much larger forces.

However amazing as it may seem, in spite of the "Shock 'n Awe' assault by the government on rebellious communities, the mass protests that started this people's revolution in Syria still continue. Also note the wide support for the Free Syria Army. Those that attempt to drive a wedge between the FSA and the people are wrong. The courage of these people is incredible. The Olympic athletes can't hold a candle to them.

The Local Coordinating Committees reported that there were 795 mass protests across Syria on Friday in spite of unprecedented levels of regime violence directed at the opposition all across the country. A statement posted on the LCC website today reads:

Demonstrat?ions out of Death? 27-7-2012
Posted by abeer on July 28th, 2012

A sense of joy in most of Syrian cities overshadowed the death Syrians are living daily, where they were able to go out in demonstrations, which they pledged to continue until the regime is toppled, due to withdrawal of some demilitarization. They went out in 795 demonstrations to renew the evolution’s oath, confirm their demands, and color Syria’s streets with chants of freedom. Residents of Idlib were determined to continue what our revolution’s martyrs has started so they went out in 150 demonstrations; despite the massacres that were committed in the governorate. Despite the
fierce military attack on Aleppo and the massacres committed in its neighborhoods demonstrators were determined to go out in 125 demonstrations challenging regime’s oppression and violence, followed by Hama with 142 demonstrations despite the heavy military deployment
and suffocating security siege in the area.

As for Damascus Suburbs, which witnessed several massacres and daily shelling in most cities, demonstrators went out in 75 demonstrations, where they demanding the release of detainees and chanted for the capital Damascus. 60 demonstrations took place in Deir Ezzor, despite
shelling and violence witnessed in the governorate over the past week. As for the capital Damascus, which witnessed unprecedented military escalation since the beginning of the revolution and heavy deployment of regime’s army tanks, demonstrators were determined to go out in 58 different demonstrations. 55 demonstrations were documented in Daraa, which is still under shelling by regime’s army warplanes, and demonstrators chanted for the martyrs and revolution’s detainees.
Hassakeh witnessed 50 demonstrations, where demonstrators chanted for unity, followed by Homs and Lattakia with 25 demonstrations each, then Raqqa, which now includes thousands of displaced people, demonstrators went out in 20 demonstrations and confirmed that the revolution will continue until the regime and all its symbols are toppled, then Tartous, which suffered from a suffocating siege, witnessed 7 demonstrations, and finally comes Qunaitra with 3 demonstrations

English language protest in Damascus Qanawat - this was done to talk to us | 26 July 2012

Protest in Homs | 27 July 2012

Hama | Hamidiya | Lion House Mendoshm | 27 July 2012

Aleppo - Al Sha'ar - Free Syria Army Attends Liberation Prayer Rally | 27 July 2012

Protest in Hama Kffersita | 27 July 2012

Commander of the Ammar bin Yasir of the Martyrs Brigades address a demonstration. 27 July 2012

Aleppo - Sha'ar Rallies for Free Syria Army Victory over Invading Assad Hordes 7-26-12 Sha'ar

Hamdania } 26 July 2012

Aellatamnahamah 28 72 012 victory for the cities of Aleppo and the army Almncubhothia free

Here are my related diaries on Syria:
ALEPPO: Step outside the Matrix and witness the Horror
UPDATED: US fears massacre in #Aleppo, #Syria
BREAKING: Reports of clashes between Jordan Army & Assad's Syrian army
BRAKING: Obama stops Putin from re-arming Assad in Syria
Syria: Foreign meddling increases as crisis builds
BREAKING: Aleppo, Syria bombed with fighter jets
BREAKING: Syria issues a correction, it has no WMD to use
BREAKING: Arab League asks Assad to step down!
Bashar al-Assad: New images released as slaughter continues in Syria
no blood for oil
BREAKING: Activists report toxic gas attack in Deir ez-Zor, Syria
Glenn Greenwald sees Islamist Terrorism as main issue in Syria
Will Syria's Assad make a chemical attack in Damascus on Saturday?
BREAKING: I know where Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is!
BREAKING: Massive Fire near #Assad's Presidential Palace in #Damascus, #Syria
BREAKING: Is Syria's Bashar al-Assad dead or dying?
BREAKING: Damascus explosion kills Defense Minister, other key figures
The battle for Damascus is coming
BREAKING: General Strike in Damascus
BREAKING: Intense fighting reported in Damascus now!
BREAKING: Syrian defector spills beans as important new defection reported.
Does Syria's Assad have something on Kofi Annan?
Tremseh Massacre in Syria: What we know
BREAKING: ~227 reported massacred by Assad's forces in Tremseh, Syria today!
Syria: Is Assad regime on the verge of collapse?
BREAKING: Russian Warships reported in Syria
BREAKING: #Russia changing on #Assad but not as fast as conditions in #Syria
UN Observers say violence in Syria is ‘Unprecedented’
BREAKING: Defection of major Assad insider reported in Syria
BREAKING: WikiLeaks releases 2.4 million #Syria emails
When did "Never Again" become "Whenever?" | #Douma
BREAKING: Incredible mass rally in Aleppo, Syria today!
BREAKING: HRW releases torture report on Syria
BREAKING: Syrian General defects with 293 to Turkey
BREAKING: Items not in the MSM on Syria
My response to Phyllis Bennis: Where is the non-violent opposition in Syria?
BREAKING: Syrian Air Force attacks Douma, 10m from Damascus, thousands flee
BREAKING: As Syria Burns, UN Blows More Smoke
BREAKING: Kofi Annan to propose Syrian unity gov't sans Assad!
BREAKING: Douma, Syria under massive attack, another massacre feared
BREAKING: Another mass defection from Syrian army
BREAKING: #NATO says No War in #Syria shoot down of #Turkey jet
NATO meetup tomorrow as more defect from Syria
BREAKING: Turkey calls for NATO consult on downing of jet by Syria
BREAKING: Senior Syrian Officers Defect
UPDATED: Russia reported to be preparing to evacuate from Syria
BREAKING: Syria fighter pilot defects
BREAKING: Britain stops Russian ship carrying attack helicopters for Syria
BREAKING: Russian troops headed to Syria
Qaddafi forces Strike Back in Libya
BREAKING: UN suspends mission in Syria
Libya & Syria - two videos - no comment
BREAKING: Russia denies supplying Syria with NEW attack helicopters
Syrian people rise up against the massacre
Another "Houla style" massacre in Syria
Fake Houla Massacre Photo: Was the BBC set up?
Idlib, Syria protest today on anniversary of Kent State killings
BREAKING: Massive protests in Syria following Friday pray
Syria is bleeding
Syria: Ceasefire faltering as mass protests breakout

Ground assault on Aleppo begins!

Last updated 28 July 2012 | 6:49pm

The head of the Syrian Consulate in Armenia, Huhammad Hosam, has defected from the Assad regime, according to tweets.
Follow clayclai on Twitter

The battle for #Aleppo has begun with government troops storming the city. Heavy artillery being used. Many casualties reported. #Syria
— Garret Pustay (@garretpustay) July 28, 2012

UPDATED 6:40pm pst | 180 people were killed totoday by the Assad regime, including 21 childern, the Revolution Council reported [Al Arabiya Sun Jul 29, 2012 21:25 pm (GMT) ]:

Four buildings were set ablaze early in the day in Aleppo’s Salaheddin district as opposition fighters battled a long-anticipated army offensive.

“It started at 4:00 am (1:00 GMT) and eight hours later it’s still hell. This is madness,” an AFP correspondent reported on Saturday.

The much dreaded ground assault by the Assad regime with the full fiery of its mechanized army began about 8 hours ago with reports of the entry of 50 tanks into Salah Al Din and people fleeing. @BBCiPannell says "A number of FSA fighters wounded & killed. Rebels edgy"

the offensive against Aleppo has started, lots of explosions and shooting but FSA seems to be holding positions until now #Syria
— JAVIER ESPINOSA (@javierespinosa2) July 28, 2012

About that same time the tweets from Aleppo yet silent as reports that the Internet and/or the mobile phone network has been cut off in Aleppo.

As this was happening, we received new reports of fresh clashes between the Syrian and Jordanian armies around the Hajaneh border crossing. A gas station was said to be on fire.

And there have been more defection. Syrian Ikhbariya TV reporter, Ola Abbas, announced her defection "from the lying arm of the Assad regime" in this video:

Speaking to my Aunt in #Aleppo. She said half of the families who live in the same building as her have fled. She's leaving her flat too.
— Razan Saffour (@RazanSpeaks) July 28, 2012

#BanKiMoon played to TV at #London2012 as Ladsous takes #UN out of #Syria MT "@HelenClarkUNDP Olympics dominate TV, battle in #Aleppo"
— InnerCityPress (@innercitypress) July 28, 2012

28 7 #Aleppo, warplanes headed to bomb Al-Salah al-Din youtube.com/watch?v=QSU__F… via @ youtube #Syria
— Alex (@_Eelai) July 28, 2012

Rebels have had to set up medical clinics in homes. #Syria #Assad #Aleppo
— ???? ????????? (@GreenQuran) July 28, 2012

Another uncle's house were destroyed. He came back from his mother's house and found his own house destroyed. (Salah-el-deen). #Aleppo
— Queen Zenobia (@syrianlady) July 28, 2012

Very Graphic & disturbing: A child has got his leg cut as a result of shelling on #AlBab city today :( y2u.be/LiCWotjlxtk #Aleppo
— AnonymousSyria (@AnonymousSyria) July 27, 2012

Damascus Bab Srigh, an evening rally in support of the cities affected | 28 July 2012

Al-Sha'ar | Aleppo | FSA soldiers surrounded by protesters - Free Syria | 28 July 2012

6:42 PM PT:

Activists in #Aleppo: Ongoing heavyclashes between #FSA fighters and #Assad troops in al-Sakhour & al-Shaar neighborhoods
— ??? ??????? (@OmarJaabari) July 28, 2012

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is calling upon the international community to take steps to address the Assad regime's assault and the threat that it will use chemical weapons. From Today's Zaman we have:

Erdo?an says can’t remain spectator to looming Aleppo offensive

International steps must be taken to deal with President Bashar al-Assad's military build-up around the Syrian city of Aleppo and his government's threat to use chemical weapons, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said on Friday.

International concern was mounting on Friday over a looming massacre as Syrian troops bombarded the besieged city of Aleppo with artillery, strafed it with aircraft and pulled in major reinforcements ready to crush the outgunned opposition fighters.

The battle is one of the most important of the 17-month-old uprising. With a population of about 3 million, Aleppo is Syria's largest city and commercial hub, a key pillar of support for Assad's regime.

"There is a build-up in Aleppo and the recent statements, with respect to the use of weapons of mass destruction, are actions that we cannot remain an observer or spectator to," he said at a joint news conference in London with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

"Steps need to be taken jointly within the United Nations Security Council, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Arab League, and we must work together to try to overcome the situation," said Erdo?an. More...

Reuters has this report:

Military helicopters pound Aleppo as onslaught looms
By Erika Solomon
TAL RIFAAT, Syria | Sat Jul 28, 2012 10:24am EDT

(Reuters) - Military helicopters pounded a rebel-held district of Aleppo on Saturday and armored units positioned themselves for an onslaught that could determine the fate of Syria's biggest city, opposition sources said.

Turkey, once a friend but now a fierce critic of the Syrian government, joined growing diplomatic pressure on President Bashar al-Assad, calling for international steps to deal with the military build-up.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group which collects information on the 16-month-old uprising against Assad, reported helicopter attacks on the central Salaheddine district of Aleppo and fighting elsewhere in the city.

"Helicopters are participating in clashes at the entrance of Salaheddine district and bombarding it," the group said in an emailed statement. "There are also violent clashes at the entrances to Sakhour district."

One opposition activist said he had seen tanks and armored carriers heading for Salaheddine.

On the approaches to Aleppo from the north many villagers were still shopping or tending their fields. But fighters from the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) were also in evidence, while a military helicopter clattered overhead in the distance.

One man in his forties, carrying his family on a motorcycle, said he was fleeing the fighting in Aleppo and heading to the town of Azaz near the Turkish border.

"We are living in a war zone," he told Reuters. "I and my relatives are just going back and back and forth, trying to stay away from the fighting. We left Aleppo when we saw smoke and helicopters firing."

On the road south from the Turkish border to Aleppo rebel soldiers had set up checkpoints bearing the sign: "This is an FSA checkpoint. May God protect you." More ...

“@NuffSilence: Impact of shelling on Salah Eddine youtube.com/watch?v=40JlVP… #Aleppo #Syria”
— Dean (@ezzomo) July 28, 2012

The International Business Times has this story:

Syria Civil War: Has Aleppo Massacre Begun? [VIDEO]
President Bashar al-Assad's forces step up bombardment on Syria's largest city
July 28, 2012 11:44 AM GMT

President Bashar al-Assad's forces are conducting coordinated ground and air attacks on Aleppo, Syria's largest city, prompting fears that a massacre maybe under way. Scores of rebels belonging to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have been killed or badly wounded. Several casualties have been reported across the city as bombardment in the rebel-controlled districts has escalated.

Hovering helicopters and tanks are shelling the region. Western nations, the UN and Syria's neighbouring countries had earlier expressed concern that the Syrian regime was planning a massacre in Aleppo.

Forces loyal to Assad are reported to have moved tanks into the south-western districts of the city.

"Helicopters are participating in clashes at the entrance of Salaheddine district and bombarding it. There are also violent clashes at the entrances to Sakhour district," Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Reuters.

Salaheddine is the central district in Aleppo. Skirmishes were also reported in several other parts of the city.

An unverified video has emerged showing the intensity of the Syrian forces' shelling.

In an orchestrated move, military aircraft were seen flying at a low altitude over the region joined by ground forces and tanks closing in on the rebels.

The armed opposition groups claim that they have retaliated by destroying several military tanks.

The Syrian regime has been mustering heavy weapons and troops in Aleppo over the last few days, in a bid to crush the rebels. Both sides feel capturing Aleppo will give them a strategic advantage. More ...

Thoughts & prayers with the people of #Aleppo. Under fierce bombardment from regime forces. ???? ???? #Syria
— mustapha kseibati (@MKseibati) July 28, 2012

Ian Pannell of the BBC is on the ground in Aleppo and he filed this report:

Aleppo: BBC journalist on Syria army moving in on city
28 July 2012 Last updated at 04:30 ET

We came into the city last night and since first light, we have been hearing the amplification of artillery bombardment.

There have been gunfights in a number of areas and helicopters flying overhead.

We are hearing that there is a government offensive targeting Salah el-Din, which has been one of the most restive neighbourhoods - perhaps the key district - and which has been in the hands of the opposition Free Syrian Army for a number of days now.

We had heard that government troops were massing outside the city, though on this occasion we believe they are coming from an area they control inside Aleppo.

The rebels are saying that they have destroyed a number of tanks. Though this cannot be verified, there is evidence that they have been able to do that - they have rocket-propelled grenades and know how to use them to target these vehicles.

But the truth is they are outgunned and outmanned. More...

RT @afneil: With all eyes on London Olympics Assad 's tanks move in on Aleppo. #Assad #Aleppo #Olympics
— Ahmed Shihab-Eldin (@ASE) July 28, 2012

The Guardian also has a man in Aleppo and he thinks the regime is running on empty. Luke Harding filed this report yesterday:

Syrian army supply crisis has regime on brink of collapse, say defectors
General who swapped sides says regime can last 'two months at most' as troop morale sinks and petrol trucks are ambushed
Friday 27 July 2012 12.15 EDT

Bashar al-Assad's military machine is on the brink of logistical meltdown and collapse, because it lacks petrol and food, and is having problems resupplying its soldiers, according to a Syrian general who has defected to the opposition.

Much has been made of the Syrian military's supposed superiority over the opposition, but General Mohammad Al-Zobi told the Guardian: "The benzine is nearly finished. They are running out of rockets. There is scarcely any bread or water for the soldiers." More...

(07-28-12) Deir Ba'alba | #Homs | Regime Tanks Spread Out Through Neighbo...: youtu.be/_4VDr5LmaE0 @ajenglish @bbc #Aleppo #FSA #Idlib #Hama
— Scrabby doo (@Scoobydoo007) July 28, 2012

Al Arabia News is giving us the Russian take on Aleppo this morning:

Russia warns of looming ‘tragedy’ in Syria’s Aleppo
Sat Jul 28, 2012 13:18 pm (KSA) 10:18 am (GMT)

Russia warned Saturday that a “tragedy” was looming in Syria’s second city of Aleppo but said it was unrealistic to expect the government would stand by when armed rebels were occupying major cities.

“We are persuading the government that they need to make some first gestures,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference alongside his Japanese counterpart.

“But when the armed opposition are occupying cities like Aleppo, where yet another tragedy is brewing as I understand,... it is not realistic to expect that they (the government) will accept this,” Lavrov added.

The Syrian army launched a fightback against rebels in Aleppo on Saturday, amid concern among Western governments about reprisals against the civilian population of the country’s second city.

“How can you hope that in such a situation, the government will simply reconcile itself and say ‘All right, I was wrong. Come on and topple me, change the regime’?” Lavrov asked rhetorically.

“It’s just not realistic -- not because we are holding onto this regime -- but it simply doesn’t work,” he said in the news conference in the southern city of Sochi which was broadcast live by state media. More ...

EAWorldView is also reporting on the assault on Aleppo. This morning they filed this report:

1204 GMT: Syria. The Local Coordination Committees report 60 deaths, including 17 in Damascus and its suburbs, 12 in Aleppo Province --- including three bodies found of people slain on Friday --- and 11 in Hama Province.
1147 GMT: Syria. Sky News Arabia reports more than 50 regime tanks have entered the Salaheddin section of Aleppo.
Claimed footage of a regime attack repelled by insurgents --- there are bodies of soldiers in the sreets and a stricken armoured vehicle:
1037 GMT: Syria. The Local Coordination Committees report 51 deaths so far today at the hands of security forces.
1015 GMT: Syria. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has commented about the situation in Aleppo, "We are persuading the government that they need to make some first gestures. But when the armed opposition are occupying cities like Aleppo, where yet another tragedy is brewing as I understand,...it is not realistic to expect that they (the government) will accept this."
Lavrov continued with criticism for the "West":
Pressure must be put on everyone. Unfortunately, our Western partners prefer to do something a bit different and essentially, along with some countries neighbouring Syria, encourage, support and direct the armed fight against the regime.
The price of all this is still more blood.
The Foreign Ministry also reported that it would not cooperate with a new round of European Union sanctions against Syria, commenting through a spokesperson and a statement on its website:
We do not plan to take any part in measures carrying out European Union decisions directed against Syria. Among other things we will not consider requests and give consent to the search of ships sailing under the Russian flag, nor to the use of other restrictive measures.
0955 GMT: Syria. The Local Coordination Committees report that 41 people have died at the hands of security forces today. Despite the news of regime attacks in Aleppo, only six fatalities so far are reported from the city.
0925 GMT: Syria. Reuters' report from Aleppo this morning:
More images and sounds, from distance, of shelling and gunfire:
0910 GMT: Syria. Back from a Saturday break to find a report from BBC's Ian Pannell:
From first light, the sound of a heavy artillery bombardment reverberated across this city. The rebels say tanks and armoured vehicles have started to advance towards Salah al-Din, one of the most restive neighbourhoods in Aleppo, where they have apparently met fierce resistance.
Many casualties are being reported and an emergency call has gone out to doctors to help. Pro-government forces are said to have entered another area too, and the sound of heavy skirmishing can be heard all around.
Cars and trucks packed with families are heading out to the countryside, fearing there will be a massacre in the city. Both sides are determined to control this place, but the overwhelming firepower belongs to President Assad's men, and they are prepared to use it to retake Aleppo.
Scott Peterson of the Christian Science Monitor is also reporting from the city:
Evidence of need is everywhere. On one street, the tail fins of a 120mm mortar shell have buried themselves in the asphalt. Shrapnel smashed the windows of a car nearby and struck at least one person, who left a trail of blood splashes on the sidewalk for a full city block.
“We can’t do anything but sometimes only watch them die,” says Umm Huda, the female doctor who runs this makeshift emergency ward. “There are children, ten or three years old, they have done nothing and you see them die. They are angels.”
She says the lack of international help has been a mixed blessing.
The US “can do a lot of things; they know how to end it,” she says in between treating casualties. At the same time, the Russian and Chinese vetoes of intervention “is a good thing... we want to win, but we want it ourselves, with no help from anybody.”
0725 GMT: Syria. The Syrian Ambassador to Belarus, Farouq Taha, has announced his defection.
In an interview with Al Jazeera on Friday night, Taha said that the regime did not refrain “from threatening to attack the families and properties of the officials who want to defect". He continued, “I could only announce my defection recently since the regime practices its oppression on the inside and outside the country.....Silence is not an option anymore, but rather treason.”
Taha, who has been in Government service for 44 years with 26 as a diplomat, is the 4th Ambassador to defect.
0720 GMT: Syria. Activists are reporting a regime attack to push into the Salaheddin section of Aleppo, the area first taken by insurgents this week --- an image and sounds of shelling this morning:
0550 GMT: Syria. In another sign of the growing --- if not necessarily overt --- US Government support for the insurgency, the Treasury has given the Syrian Support Group a waiver to provide logistical and financial backing to the Free Syrian Army.
The waiver allows the SSG to put money towards FSA salaries and provisions, as well as --- according to an SSG official --- “communications equipment, satellite imagery, paying for satellite imagery, logistical support for transport, which could mean everything from buying a 4x4 to supporting someone’s travel to Turkey". Soon, there could be "intelligence support, drone support, eyes in the sky, an intelligence platform".
Articles this week in outlets like The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have outlined the US Administration's involvement --- along with European partners, Arab States, and Turkey --- in covert support for the insurgency. The effort is being coordinated from Adana in Turkey, near the Syrian border, with US operations "through a middlemen" and supervision by the CIA.
0515 GMT: Syria. Having entered Friday with the expectation of widespread conflict in Aleppo, the day was a relatively quiet one --- if 795 protests and 100 deaths at the hands of security forces, according to the Local Coordination Committees, can be called "relatively quiet".
There were big rallies in Aleppo, despite shelling of some areas and news of regime reinforcements moving towards Syria's largest city, and across the country. It appears that the Assad military has conceded control of much of the north, at least for the foreseeable future, to deal with the crisis. Conversely, the insurgents have released pressure --- because they were defeated, according to regime supporters; because they made their point, according to the opposition --- on Damascus.
Loud rally in the al-Hamdania section of Aleppo in Syria on Friday night

12:44 PM PT:

New massacre in #DeirEzzor: Assad forces targeted a caravan transporting 2 civilian families with a tank shell. Both families died. #Syria
— Yara SyrianLover (@SyrianLover_SY) July 28, 2012

From Al Jazeera:

Frances calls for immediate UN intervention in Syria

July 28, 2012 - 18:31

Francois Hollande, the French president, has called for the United Nations Security Council to authorise intervention in Syria "as quickly as possible" to pre-empt the threat of "civil war".
"The role of the countries of the Security Council is to intervene as quickly as possible," he said, specifically addressing Damascus allies Russia and China and warning that failure to do so would mean "chaos and civil war."

Thursday, July 26, 2012

US fears massacre in Aleppo, Syria