Saturday 1 September 2012
September 1, 2012 by sks
Filed under News, Syrian Revolution
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: Final death toll for Saturday 1/9/2012: More than 180 Syrians have been killed
The dead include 113 unarmed civilians, 9 unidentified bodies, 19 rebel fighters, 1 defected soldier, and no less than 32 members of the Syrian regular forces.
113 Unarmed civilians (11 of them children):
-In Deir Izzor province 28 civilians were killed. 15 civilians, including a child and a woman were killed by the
***9 unidentified bodies, that were summarily executed by point-blank fire, were found in the towns and villages of Hteitat al-Turkman, Yelda, Darayya and al-Tal in Reef Dimashq***
**The SOHR has documented the names of 8 civilians that have been summarily executed the day before, by regime forces, in the town of Kafarbatna, Reef Dimashq**
-In Damascus 13 civilians have been killed. 7 civilians, including a woman, were killed by gunfire in the neighbourhood. 2 civilians were killed in the Dahadeel neighbourhood. A child from the Hajar al-Aswad neighbourhood died of injuries he received. 1 civilian was killed in the Qaboun neighbourhood of Damascus. 2 civilians from the Jobar and Salhiyya neighbourhoods of Damascus were shot dead by regime forces in the town of Kafarbatna, Reef Dimashq.
-In Idlib province 12 civilians were killed. 8 civilians, including 2 women and 3 children, were killed by the bombardment on the towns of Um al-Zhuhoor, Kensafra, Jisr al-Shughour and Me’erzaf. 2 civilians died of wounds in Ma’arat al-Nu’man and Kafrenbel. 1 was killed by a sniper in the village of al-Rami. 1 civilian from the town of Saraqeb was shot by regime forces while he was aiding the wounded.
-In Dera’a province 13 civilians were killed. 9 civilians from the town of al-Sanamein were summarily executed on the Damascus-Dera’a road, as activists report. 2 were killed by a sniper in the town of Sehm al-Jolan. 1 civilian from the town of Busra al-Sham was tortured to death after being detained by regime forces in the town of Nawa.
-In Aleppo province 11 civilians were killed. 6 people, including 2 children, were killed by the bombardment on the neighbourhoods of al-Sheikh Khudur, Jisr al-Neyrab, Karm al-Tarab and several others. 2 civilians were killed by snipers in the al-Sukkari and Salaheddin neighbourhoods. 1 by the bombardment on Darat Izza. 1 died of wounds in Jarablis. 1 was killed by gunfire in Raaf Aleppo.
-In Hama province 6 civilians (4 women and 2 men) were killed by bombardment on the towns and villages of Kafrnabuda, al-Huweiz and Kafarzeita in Reef Hama.
-In Homs province 4 civilians were killed. 2 were killed by the bombardment on the city of Homs. 2 were killed by the bombardment and gunfire in the city of al-Quseir.
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19 Rebel fighters:
Idlib province: 7 fighters were killed by regime fire in the town of Harem.
Aleppo province: 3 rebels killed. A rebel was killed by clashes in the al-Itha’a neighbourhood of Aleppo. 1 was killed by the bombardment on the town of al-Sehara. 1 by clashes in Darat Izza.
Dera’a province: 3 rebels were killed. 2 rebels were killed by clashes in the al-Lijat area. A fighter from Tafs was killed by an ambush.
Deir Izzor province: 3 rebels killed. 2 rebel fighters were killed by the bombardment on al-Boukamal. 1 rebel was killed in Muhassan.
Homs province: 2 rebels were killed by clashes in Homs. 5 were killed during clashes in the city of al-Quseir.
Hama province: A rebel fighter from the town of Morek was killed during clashes.
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A defected soldier was killed by regime fire in the city of al-Rastan, Reef Homs.
No less than 32 regime forces were killed by attacks on military vehicles and during clashes in Aleppo, Homs, Dera’a, Reef Dimashq, Deir Izzor, Hama, Damascus and Idlib.
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British Ambassador to Iraq visits Domiz Refugee Camp: Published on Aug 28, 2012 by ukforeignoffice
The British Ambassador to Iraq, Simon Collis, visited the Domiz Refugee Camp in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on 27 August to hear for himself about the experiences of people who have had to flee their homes in Syria.
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UN refugee agency reports increase in number of Syrians crossing into Lebanon:
31 August 2012 –
More than 18,000 people, mostly civilians, have died since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began nearly 18 months ago. There have been reports of an escalation in violence in recent weeks in many towns and villages, as well as the country’s two biggest cities, Damascus and Aleppo. As of Thursday, some 229,000 people had left the country and sought refuge in neighbouring countries such as Iraq, Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon.
“Across Lebanon, the squeeze on shelter remains one of our biggest concerns with many refugees still staying in schools that are supposed to open in a week or two for the new school terms,” Mr. Edwards said.
Twenty families were evicted from a school in al-Marj, in west Bekaa, earlier this week but were allowed to extend their stay following intervention by UNHCR and its non-governmental partner organizations, as well as Lebanon’s Ministry of Social Affairs.
“We continue to search for alternative shelter for refugees staying in schools, and are running a hotline for refugees who are coming under pressure to vacate. So far, we’ve received 20 reports of refugees being pressured to leave,” Mr. Edwards said. “We are monitoring these cases and asking for understanding by local school authorities to avoid Syrians being evicted.”
He added, “Last week we submitted to the authorities a list of 11 abandoned buildings we propose to refurbish to house refugees. So far we have received permission to use three of these and are waiting for further approvals for the renovations. We hope the government can expedite the remaining approvals.”
Mr. Edwards noted that the refugee agency’s shelter strategy in Lebanon includes a mix of refurbishing buildings to house Syrians and offering cash for shelter grants for the most vulnerable.
Addressing the same media briefing in Geneva, a UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson, Patrick McCormick, said the agency was deeply concerned about the situation, as children who are meant to go back to school are currently stuck in refugee camps and makeshift shelters.
Mr. McCormick stressed that many challenges remain, including the provision of access to services such as water and sanitation, but noted that UNICEF would not be able to tackle the emergency properly until there was a political solution
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NOW! Lebanon
[local time] 
21:47 A massive grave with seven bodies was found in the Homs town of Rastan, activists were quoted by Al-Arabiya as saying.
21:12 Syrian helicopter gunships deployed from a nearby airbase kept rebel fighters pinned down in the town of Taftanaz of Idlib province on the border with Turkey on Saturday.
21:04 Syrian rebels launched deadly attacks on the military Saturday in a campaign increasingly targeting its air power, as President Bashar al-Assad’s ally Russia said it was “naive” to expect him not to fight back.
20:44 Saturday’s death toll in Syria reached 146 people who were killed by the regime forces, Al-Arabiya quoted activists as saying.
20:06 Residents of a rebel rear base north of the key battleground of Aleppo were cleaning up on Saturday after a Syrian regime air strike killed at least 12 people.
19:33 An AFP feature story details the experience of Syrian prisoners released from their harrowing detention on September 1 following a presidential decree to set free hundreds of detainees, many of them arrested on spurious charges.
19:05 Syrian regime forces shelled the city of Abu Kamal, killing and injuring dozens of people, Al-Jazeera quoted activists as saying.
17:36 The death toll in Syria rose to 102 victims, Al-Arabiya quoted activists as saying.
16:41 Syria’s Saturday death toll increased to 97 people, Al-Arabiya quoted activists as saying.
16:35 Jordan needs $700 million in international aid to cope with an influx of 240,000 refugees from the conflict across the border in Syria, its planning and international cooperation minister said on Saturday.
15:29 Syrian forces raided the Daraa neighborhood of Al-Abbasiya, Al-Arabiya quoted activists as saying.
14:23 Saturday’s death toll in Syria has increased to 56, Al-Arabiya quoted activists as saying.
14:04 Denmark will free up another two million euros to help provide aid to Syrian refugees and displaced people as a civil war rages in their homeland, Danish public television DR reported Saturday.
12:42 Syrian security forces killed 42 people on Saturday, Al-Arabiya quoted activists as saying.
10:39 Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi has told the new UN special envoy for Syria that Beijing is increasingly concerned about the worsening situation in the conflict-ridden Middle Eastern country.
9:36 Russia said Saturday it would be “naive” for outside powers to expect Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to withdraw his troops first from cities and then wait for the opposition to follow suit.
9:27 Veteran troubleshooter Lakhdar Brahimi took up faltering international attempts to end the Syria conflict on Saturday leaving predecessor Kofi Annan to tend his diplomatic wounds.
8:14 President Michel Suleiman said on Friday that the Syrian crisis can only be resolved through politics, the National News Agency reported.
8:05 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said no steps could be taken to create safe zones to protect refugees inside Syria without a UN resolution.
8:02 The United States urged Syria on Friday to confirm it is detaining an American freelance journalist who has been missing in the country for more than two weeks.
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BBC: Fighting rages at Syria air bases
Fighting breaks out at several air bases in Syria, as new peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi formally takes up his post.
Rebels and regime forces have been battling for control of several air bases in Syria.
The government said it had repelled a huge attack on an air base near Aleppo while rebels claimed victory in another battle in the east of the country.
The rebels have increasingly targeted the air force in recent weeks, accusing it of launching attacks on cities with helicopter gunships and fighter jets.
Meanwhile, Algerian Lakhdar Brahimi has taken up his post of UN peace envoy.
Mr Brahimi, who took over from Kofi Annan, has sought to play down expectations for his mission.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has been lobbying international leaders for support, saying he “believes in the power of diplomacy”.
The BBC’s Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon says there is no sign of a change of heart by either party within Syria, or their outside supporters.
He says conditions will have to change before Mr Brahimi can step in with a political solution that might actually work.
The humanitarian emergency on the country’s borders is also intensifying, with Jordan saying it is struggling to cope with the influx of refugees.
On Saturday, Jordan and the UN’s refugee agency issued a joint appeal for $700m (£440m) to deal with the crisis.
Jordan houses more than 180,000 Syrians who have fled the fighting, says the BBC’s Dale Gavlak, in Amman.
UN ‘naive’
State TV has been leading its bulletins with a report from the Rasm al-Abboud air force college near Aleppo, where it said government forces had repelled a sustained rebel assault.
The pro-rebel Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other activists said government troops had been killed and wounded in the attack.
There are also reports by activists of prolonged fighting at the Abu Zohur air base in Idlib province.
And another air-force building in the eastern city of Deir al-Zour was seized, its commander killed and at least 16 personnel captured, the Observatory said.
Footage posted on the internet by activists showed captured regime officers and seized weaponry.
It is impossible to independently verify the claims, as reporting by foreign journalists is severely restricted in Syria.
But accounts from a number of people say battles have continued in Aleppo, suburbs of Damascus and other parts of the country.
Russia said on Saturday that calls by the UN and Western governments for the regime to stop using heavy weapons were naive.
“No matter your view of the Syrian regime, it is completely unrealistic in the current situation, when there is fighting in the cities, to say that the only way out is the unilateral capitulation of one of the opposing sides,” said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Russia and Iran are Syria’s key international allies.
Syrian Prime Minister Wail al-Halqi held talks earlier with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Both assured him of Iran’s continuing support in fighting what it agrees is a US and Israeli-backed campaign to undermine Syria because of its resistance to Israel.
The meetings came during a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran.
Iran has been solid in its support for the Assad government.
But days earlier at the summit, Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi described the Syrian uprising as a “revolution against an oppressive regime”, prompting a walkout by the Syrian delegation.
Lakhdar Brahimi: UN’s new envoy
- Born in 1934, educated in France and Algeria
- Lobbied for Algerian independence movement during 1950s; later served as Algerian ambassador to several countries
- As Arab League envoy, helped broker end to Lebanon’s 17-year civil war in 1989
- Served as UN representative in South Africa, Haiti, Afghanistan and Iraq
- Member of The Elders, a campaign group that includes Desmond Tutu, Kofi Annan and Jimmy Carter
Sources: theelders.org; un.org
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REUTERS: Syrian rebels hit back at Assad’s air power
BEIRUT – Rebels seized an air defense facility and attacked a military airport in eastern Syria on Saturday, a monitoring group said, hitting back at an air force which President Bashar al-Assad is increasingly relying on to crush his opponents. | Video
Rebels seized an air defense facility and attacked a military airport in eastern Syria on Saturday, a monitoring group said, hitting back at an air force which President Bashar al-Assad is increasingly relying on to crush his opponents.
The attacks in eastern oil-producing Deir al-Zor province follow rebel strikes against military airports in the Aleppo and Idlib areas, close to the border with Turkey.
Assad, battling a 17-month-old uprising in which 20,000 people have been killed, has lost control of rural areas in northern, eastern and southern regions and has resorted to helicopter gunships and fighter jets to subdue his foes.
The aerial bombardment has driven fresh waves of refugees into neighboring countries, reviving Turkish calls for “safe zones” to be set up on Syrian territory – appeals ignored by a divided U.N. Security Council and by Western powers reluctant to commit the military forces needed to secure such zones.
Rebels in Deir al-Zor overran an air defense building, taking at least 16 captives and seizing an unknown number of anti-aircraft rockets, said Rami Abdulrahman of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Activist video posted on the internet showed the officers and soldiers captured by rebel fighters as well as an arsenal of rocket-propelled grenades and ammunition seized in the raid.
Abdulrahman said rebels also attacked the Hamdan military airbase at Albu Kamal, close to Syria’s eastern border with Iraq, but did not succeed in breaking into it.
The attacks come three days after rebels said they had damaged several helicopters at the Taftanaz air base in Idlib province. The insurgents also said they have shot down a fighter jet and a helicopter last week.
AIR STRIKES
Assad’s forces have carried out numerous air strikes on civilians in rebel-held areas. Helicopters have strafed towns with heavy machineguns, and jets have unleashed rockets and bombs against opposition strongholds.
Bombardments of northern towns such as Azaz and Anadan, of which Assad lost control weeks ago, have led to thousands of residents fleeing to safety in Turkey.
Ankara made its call for safe havens inside Syria after the U.N. refugee agency said the flow of Syrians into Turkey and Jordan – which already host more than 150,000 registered refugees – was rising sharply.
But a ministerial meeting of the Security Council produced nothing beyond a French plan to channel more aid to rebel areas, an initiative which will do nothing to stem the flow of civilians fleeing the fighting.
Turkish government sources said Ankara would again push for agreement on safe zones inside Syria at the General Assembly later this month and would try to put pressure on Russia and Iran, which strongly oppose any such action.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, a former ally of Assad, showed his frustration at the lack of international action.
“We cannot take such a measure unless the United Nations Security Council decides in favor of it … First a decision for the no-fly zone must be taken, then we would be able to take a step towards a buffer zone,” Erdogan said in an interview broadcast on Turkish television late on Friday.
“Bashar al-Assad has come to the end of his political life. At the moment, Assad is acting in Syria not as a politician, but as an element, an actor, of war,” he said.
The foreign minister of Germany which holds the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council for September, said his country would “not stop working on Moscow and Beijing”, two capitals which have blocked concerted action on Syria.
“We will not give up, not in this month either, not give up in pushing for a united stance at the Security Council,” German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told a news conference in Kuwait. “If we were to give up then we would be giving up on the people and that we will not do.”
Jordan said on Saturday it was “stretched to the limit” by the influx of refugees from southern Syria. The resource-poor kingdom of 7 million has accepted 70,000 registered refugees but says it is hosting 140,000 in local communities.
Planning Minister Jafaar Hassan said the influx was “reaching limits that the government cannot continue to shoulder”, estimating the cost of sheltering the refugees at $230 million this year, rising to $285 million in 2013.
RECORD DEATH TOLL
A United Nations official said 1,600 people were killed in Syria in the last week, the highest weekly figure in nearly a year and a half of conflict, and aid agencies say living conditions are worsening dramatically.
An estimated 1.2 million people are uprooted within Syria, including 150,000 in and around Damascus, the U.N. said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he had pressed the Syrian government to allow in international aid workers, and received a positive reply during talks in Tehran this week.
Ban told Reuters he had “long and in-depth discussions with the Syrian officials” on the sidelines of a Non-Aligned Movement meeting. “While I criticized all the parties that have been depending on military means to resolve this issue, the primary responsibility rests with the Syrian government,” he said.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it would be wrong to press Damascus alone to end the violence.
“It is absolutely unrealistic to say that the unilateral capitulation of one of the parties in conflict is the only way out, in a situation when there’s ongoing urban fighting,” he told students of the Moscow Institute of Foreign Relations.
(Additional reporting by Nick Tattersall in Istanbul, Andrew Torchia and Yeganeh Torbati in Dubai, Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman, Alexei Anishchuk in Moscow; Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Diana Abdallah and Jon Hemming)
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Guardian: Syrian rebels ‘seize air defence base’
1 Sep 2012: Fighters take anti-aircraft rockets and 16 captives in attack on air defence facility in east, says UK-based group
Saturday’s attacks in the oil-rich province of Deir al-Zor follow rebel strikes against military airports in the Aleppo and Idlib areas, close to the border with Turkey.
The Syrian government has recently used helicopter gunships and fighter jets to attack rebels and residential areas.
Rebels in Deir al-Zor overran an air defence building early on Saturday, taking at least 16 captives and seizing an unknown number of anti-aircraft rockets, said Rami Abdulrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Video posted on the internet by activists showed the officers and soldiers captured by the rebel fighters, and al-Arabiya television broadcast footage of what it said were rockets and ammunition seized in the raid.
Syrian TV also claimed that government forces had repelled an attack on the Rasm al-Abboud air base near Aleppo and showed footage of captured guns and vehicles.
Abdulrahman said rebels also attacked the Hamdan military airbase at Albu Kamal, close to Syria‘s eastern border with Iraq, but did not succeed in breaking into it.
The attacks come three days after rebels attacked the Taftanaz air base in Idlib province, where they said several helicopters were damaged. The insurgents also said they shot down a fighter jet and a helicopter last week.
Assad’s forces have launched numerous air strikes against civilians in rebel-held parts of Syria. Helicopters have strafed towns with heavy machine guns, and jets have unleashed rockets and bombs against opposition strongholds.
Turkey has called for the creation of safe havens inside Syria after the UN refugee agency said the flow of Syrians into Turkey and Jordan – which already host more than 150,000 registered refugees – was increasing markedly.
Turkish government sources said Ankara would again push for agreement on safe zones inside Syria at the UN general assembly later this month and would try to put pressure on Russia and Iran, which strongly oppose any such action.
The Turkish prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan, a former ally of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, said: “We cannot take such a measure unless the United Nations security council decides in favour of it … First a decision for the no-fly zone must be taken, then we would be able to take a step towards a buffer zone,” Erdogan said in an interview broadcast on Turkish television late on Friday.
“Bashar al-Assad has come to the end of his political life. At the moment, Assad is acting in Syria not as a politician, but as an element, an actor, of war,” he said.
A UN official said 1,600 people were killed in Syria in the last week, the highest weekly figure in nearly a year and a half of conflict, and aid agencies say living conditions are worsening dramatically.
An estimated 1.2 million people are uprooted within Syria, including 150,000 in Damascus and surrounding areas, according to the UN.
The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said he had pressed the Syrian government to allow international aid workers in, and received a positive reply during talks in Tehran this week.
Ban told Reuters he had “long and in-depth discussions with the Syrian officials” on the sidelines of a Non-Aligned Movement meeting. “While I criticised all the parties that have been depending on military means to resolve this issue, the primary responsibility rests with the Syrian government,” he said.
But the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said it would be wrong to press Damascus alone to end the violence.
“It is absolutely unrealistic to say that the unilateral capitulation of one of the parties in conflict is the only way out, in a situation when there’s ongoing urban fighting,” he told students of the Moscow Institute of Foreign Relations.
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Telegraph: Syrian regime forces filmed dropping ‘barrel bomb’ on Homs – Telegraph: The Hamidiya neighborhood of the city of Homs was shaken by a homemade “barrel bomb” attack on Saturday, according to claims by activists.
