Wednesday 20 June 2012

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: Homs province: A child was killed by the regime’s unceasing bombardment of Rastan. Clashes are taking place by the southern entrance of the city. Explosions and gunfire were heard in several neighbourhoods in Homs. Clashes took place in the area around Baba Amr: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFBO2LXCJ5o

The number of civilian martyrs documented by the SOHR in Syria, so far, today (Wednesday 20/6/2012), documentation includes name and reason of death, has risen to 35.

-In Homs province 4 were killed. A child was killed by the regime’s unceasing bombardment of Rastan. A civilian was killed by earlier wounds in the Jouret Alshayah neighborhood. A fighter was killed during clashes in the surroundings of the Baba Amru neighborhood. A civilian from the Arman neighbourhood of Homs was killed by a sniper.

-In Hama province 5 civilians were killed. 4 of them, including a lady, were killed by mortars that fell on the Al-latamneh town, reef Hama. A civilian was shot by regime forces while he was working on his land in Halfaya, reef Hama.

-In reef Dimashq 9 civilians were martyred. 7 civilians, including a woman, were killed in the city of Douma, 2 of them died of earlier wounds from bombardments on the city, 3 young men have been summarily executed, 1 child was shot by regime forces in the city. A civilian was shot by a regime checkpoint in Harasta city. An old man was killed by wounds received when regime forces attacked him a month ago.

-In Deir Elzor province a civilian was shot by sniper fire after midnight Tuesday-Wednesday.

-In Idlib province 3 civilian were killed. One of them, from the Babawin village, was killed after midnight Tuesday-Wednesday, the circumstances of his death are still unknown. 2 civilians were killed by gunfire in Iblin and al-Ghadaka, Reef Idlib.

-In Aleppo province 2 civilians were killed in the town of Andan, which is witnessing clashes and shells by regime forces.

-In Dara’a province 6 civilians were killed. 3 children were martyred, two of them were killed by bombardments on the town of Da’el. A civilian was killed when regime forces raided the village of Abta’ earlier this morning. Two bodies were found in the town of Inkhel.One of them is from the Tafas town, the other’s identity is unknown. Signs of torture was evident on their bodies.

- In Latakia province 5 fighers from an armed opposition group were killed during violent clashes with regime forces in Jabal Alakrad, reef Latakia.

-A defected lieutenant was killed in Madaia by earlier wounds when he underwent an assassination attempt.

-A shi’i cleric was assassinated after midnight (Tuesday-Wednesday) in Al-Sayidda Zeinab, reef Dimashq.

-A doctor, who was also an officer in the Syrian army, was assassinated by an explosive device that targeted his car in Barnieh street, Damascus.

At least 28 regime forces were killed during clashes in reef Hama, reef Latakia and a car explosion in a military checkpoint on the Idlib-Sarmin road after midnight Tuesday-Wednesday.

Bodies of rebel fighters dumped from a building in Ein Tarma, Reef Dimashq 18/6/2012: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zX6wsVMiBE&list=UUtFA2Egzr-EL7Zy7JzGuaag&index=5&feature=plcp

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NOW! Lebanon
[local time]  20:04 Syrian forces on Wednesday shelled the Halab neighborhood in Hama leaving at least 10 people dead, the General Commission of the Syrian Revolution said.
 20:04 The EU’s humanitarian aid commissioner on Wednesday defended the bloc’s response to the conflict in Syria during a visit with refugees angry the West has not backed a military intervention.
 19:18 Germany’s defense minister Wednesday called for a peaceful solution to the crisis in Syria where escalating hostilities forced the United Nations observer mission to suspend its activities.
 19:10 The EU will slap fresh sanctions on President Bashar al-Assad’s regime next week and clarify the rules on insuring items embargoed for delivery to Syria, including arms, EU diplomats said Wednesday.
 17:53 Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has donated $100,000 to aid Syrian refugees, the United Nations refugee agency said on Wednesday.
 17:06 The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Wednesday it was trying to evacuate civilians stranded in and around Homs amid fighting in the central Syrian city.
 16:54 An Italian journalist with ANSA news agency survived a bomb attack on his convoy in Syria on Wednesday, which killed a policeman and wounded three other people, the Italian Foreign Ministry said.
 16:36 Wednesday’s death toll in Syria rose to 46 people, AFP reported.
 16:09 The head of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria told the Security Council that the nearly 300 unarmed UN observers were “morally obliged” to stay.
 10:59 A Russian cargo line denied on Wednesday it was involved in illegal transport of weapons and attack helicopters to Syria amid media reports Moscow was sending arms to the conflict-torn country.
 10:46 Twenty-eight soldiers and a Shia Muslim cleric were among 39 people killed in violence across Syria on Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
 7:45 The US military said Tuesday that Russia is preparing to deploy three naval ships to Syria for a mission that Moscow says is purely designed to ferry supplies to its base at the port of Tartus.
 7:38 US President Barack Obama and Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met at the G20 summit Tuesday to discuss the need for a political transition in Syria.
 7:35 Russia resisted Western pleas Tuesday to help remove Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad from power despite escalating hostilities that have battered a UN peace mission.

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BBC: Syria ‘truce’ to evacuate Homs

The Red Cross says the Syrian government and rebel fighters have agreed a temporary truce to allow civilians to be evacuated from the city of Homs.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says the Syrian government and rebel fighters have agreed a temporary truce to allow civilians to be evacuated from the city of Homs.

The ICRC said that its teams – with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent – were ready to enter the worst-hit parts of Homs.

However despite the agreement, aid workers have still be unable to enter.

Elsewhere in Syria, activists say that at least 20 soldiers were killed by rebels in the province of Latakia.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fighting took place in a region known as Jabal al-Akrad near the Turkish border.

Rebels blamed

Homs has been at the centre of the 15-month revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.

Beatrice Megevand-Roggo, the ICRC’s regional head of operations, said fighting had been raging for more than 10 days in parts of the city.

“Hundreds of civilians are stuck in the old city, unable to leave and find refuge in safer areas,” she said.

The ICRC said it had received promises from both sides that they would allow a two-hour pause in the fighting. The ICRC says it is essential it be given immediate access.

But although aid workers stood ready on Wednesday, they were not able to enter the city. It was not clear whether the heavy shelling and gunfire had stopped.

Heavy shelling by government forces in residential areas has killed hundreds of civilians and brought international condemnation.

The Syrian government blames the deaths on “terrorists” backed by foreign powers.

On Tuesday, the government said it was trying to evacuate civilians and blamed rebel fighters for obstructing its efforts.

UN mission ‘staying’

Earlier on Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that at least 20 soldiers were killed in an overnight attack by rebels on an army barracks in Latakia.

It said that dozens of soldiers had been wounded and others – including an officer – captured.

The group added that 58 people had been killed in violence across the country on Wednesday.

UN monitors were fired on in Haffa and have suspended operations

Neither the reports of attacks nor the casualty figures can be independently verified.

Latakia has recently seen some of the worst of the fighting.

Last week, the Syrian government said it had taken control of the western mountain town of Haffa, in Latakia, after fierce fighting with rebels.

It said Haffa had been “purged of terrorists” and calm restored.

UN monitors were fired on and turned away by angry residents as they tried to enter the town amid fears of a massacre. They were able to return on Friday.

The UN observer mission has now suspended its operations in Syria amid the worsening violence.

Its leader, Maj Gen Robert Mood, told the UN Security Council that observers were targeted by hostile crowds and gunfire on at least 10 occasions, diplomats said.

But he said his decision to suspend operations did not mean the mission was leaving Syria or abandoning the Syrian people.

The UN mission has been observing the implementation of a peace plan brokered by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.

However, a ceasefire that was supposed to have come into effect in April never took hold.

Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts to end the violence have been continuing.

At the G20 summit in Mexico on Tuesday, US President Barack Obama held separate talks with the leaders of Russia and China – both of which have blocked UN resolutions over Syria.

He said later that the talks had failed to achieve a breakthrough.

…

REUTERS: Red Cross to pluck wounded from Syria’s Homs

GENEVA/BEIRUT – Aid teams stood ready on Wednesday to enter the contested Syrian city of Homs to evacuate people trapped and wounded by 10 days of fighting between rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. | Video

• Syria rebels storm army barracks, kill 20: Syrian Observatory
  9:42am EDT
• Syria, rebels agree truce for Homs evacuation: ICRC
  10:05am EDT