Daily Newsletter – 13/10/2013

Fighting Brigades Demand Assad to Lift the Siege on the Ghoutas of Damascus

Combat battalions in the southern areas of Damascus demand the Assad regime to lift the siege on the Ghoutas and southern Damascus.  They have been experiencing a suffocating siege by the regime preventing the entrance of all food and essential goods needed by the people. The siege has claimed the lives of many children and other civilians trapped, victims of the starvation war tactic practiced by the Assad regime on the Ghoutas of Damascus. These areas are considered very important entrances to the city and pose a direct risk to regime security branches in the capital Damascus. 

Combat battalions in southern Damascus warned the Assad regime in a statement that “the shelling of regime security branches would begin today in the event of a failure to respond to the call to lift the siege on civilians.” The statement added that “civilians and people in Damascus prevent the combat battalions from shelling the security branches for fear of injuring them during the targeting of regime strongholds and security branches.” The statement called on “residents living near regime security branches to leave to protect their lives during the deployment of the operation.”

It is noteworthy that the Syrian Coalition has reminded the international community time and time again about the necessity of putting immediate pressure on Assad and forcing him to open humanitarian corridors which can secure the food and humanitarian aid to the besieged Ghoutas and southern Damascus. However, analysts have said, “the chemical weapons deal was a carrot which Bashar Assad presented in the form of an agreement with Iran and Russia to the international community to take the attention off of the politics of starvation and besieging targeting the social popularity of the Syrian revolution”.  Sabra has asked, “Will the Syrians will pay more blood” for what he called “the American-Iranian understanding towards the Iranian nuclear issue and disarmament of Syrian chemical weapons?” He added, “Is the international community not aware that, in light of a series of massacres committed by the Assad regime and the sectarian militias supporting him, the Syrian people will not give up their main goal of toppling the regime and achieving freedom?”

(Source: Syrian Coalition)

The General Assembly of the Syrian National Council (SNC) rejected participating in the Geneva conference.  In their closing statement, the SNC responded to  “the massacres committed by the Assad Regime and his cronies from Iran and Hezbollah militias.” calling it a an international silence. The SNC considers going to Geneva against the fundamental principles established by the SNC and Syrian Coalition. In its statement the SNC also expresses disappointment in the international community’s inability in arming the Syrian people. These weapons will be used solely to defend themselves from sectarian militias used by the Assad regime to suppress the popular revolution. The statement added, “Opening the Syrian territory to criminal extremists forces from outside Syria, the regime is committing another crime amounting to treason and compromising national sovereignty.”

(Source: Syrian Coalition)

Kurdish National Counil Declares it Has No Desire to Secede

According to a member of the Syrian Kurdish National Council, Mustafa Mashayikh, “the Kurds in Syria are not seeking to establish a state, nor working to divide Syria, but instead for temporary administration of their areas until the fall of the regime.” The statement expressed hope about “the formation of a new state dominated by justice and laws that account for all Syrians, Arabs and Kurds, Assyrians and Turkmen, and all other Syrian components.” The statement referred to the right of the Kurdish people to establish a local administration due to the administrative and security vacuum that prevails in Kurdish areas. It is noteworthy that yesterday, the head of the interim government, Ahmad Tomah, stated he will announce the names of the Ministers of the Interim Government after Eid ul Adha which may bring about the formation of a self-administration in each area according to analysts.

(Source: al Hayat)

Death Toll: 40 Today, 106 Yesterday

106 people were killed in Syria yesterday, Local Coordination Committees in Syria documented 40 people who died as of 6PM today. Among the dead are two women, five children, and one who was killed under torture. Also, there are 13 dead in Damascus proper and rural Damascus, eight in Dara’a, seven in Aleppo, five in Idlib, and three in each of Homs, Hama, and one in Al Raqqa.

(Source: Local Coordination Committees)

2000 Civilians Leave Moadamiat al Shaam Today

Approximately 2000 civilians, mostly women and children, are seeking refuge and leaving the city of Moadamiat al Shaam in Damascus today. The Syrian Red Crescent helped resettle them to other rural areas of Damascus. The city has experienced a choking siege for eight months,  They haven’t had peace since the second day of Eid ul Adha when a ceasefire was agreed upon last year. Activists added that regime forces prevented any males over age 13 from leaving the city. The Syrian Red Crescent announced that it took 1500 civilians, mostly women and children, out of the city to shelters in Qudsaya, as reported by activists on its website yesterday.

(Source: Coalition + Red Crescent)

Regime Targets Dayr al Asafeer and the Damascus Core

Regime forces shelled the town of Dayr al Asafeer in rural Damascus with rockets killing four people, injuring many others, and destroying many homes. Two mortar shells from an unknown source near Tahrir Square in Damascus had no reports of victims. Another mortar fell on Nisreen Street in al Tadamun District. In al Qadam fierce clashes occurred between the Free Syrian Army and Assad forces.

(Source: Syrian Coalition + Local Coordination Committees)

Another Massacre Reported in Syria: FSA Downs Two Fighter Jets

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) downed two regime fighter jets in Daraa al Balad and Seida with anti-aircraft machine guns. Furthermore, Assad Regime forces committed a massacre in a district north of Daraa al Mahata yesterday evening in which 11 people were killed and many were injured. There are a number of people missing or trapped under the rubble as a result of the air strikes and shelling on the district. A number of residential buildings were destroyed during fierce clashes where the Free Syrian Army repelled a regime advance on the district.  A number of regime forces were killed and many others were injured. Regime forces also targeted civilians’ homes with tank shells. The towns of Atman and Seida and the city of Nawa were shelled with heavy weapons, and fierce clashes between the FSA and regime forces occurred around the Concourse Brigade and the Radar Brigade in Nawa. In Inkhil the regime executed four young men on one of the checkpoints near the city.

(Source:Syrian Coalition + Smart News Agency)

The Regime Targets Bustan al Qasr with Heavy Artillery

Regime forces targeted Bustan al Qasr in Aleppo with heavy artillery killing four people and injuring others with severe injuries today. The deaths are the result of a mortar shell falling on a civilian building during clashes between the FSA and regime forces. Two people have been killed, one of which is a child, as a result of a regime air strike on the city of Maskana in Rural Aleppo. In al Hassaka regime fighter jets fired heavy machine guns on Tal Hmays injuring many people as fierce clashes occurred between the FSA and regime forces on Zouri Checkpoint near the airport.

(Source: Syrian Coalition + Local Coordination Committees)

Shiites Ask Nasrallah to Stop Killing Syrians

The Shiite Cleric Ali al Amin said that religious authorities in Islamic countries, especially Iran and Lebanon, considered to be Bashar al Assad’s most important supporters through Hezbollah militias and Abu al Fadl al Abbas Brigades, forbid any participation in the killing happening inside Syria. Al Amin explained, “Syria has become a land where Muslims are flocking to so they can kill one another.” Al Amin requested that religious authorities in Iraq and Lebanon carry the responsibility for what is happening inside Syria. He said, “It is not enough for religious authorities to bury our young men from Iraq, Lebanon, and other places without having the opinion that disallows participation in continued bloodshed and entering blindly into conflict.” Al Amin requested “removing any doubt and announcing a position preventing Muslim bloodshed and further perpetuating the region from sliding into sectarian conflicts” from al Sistani, one of the most important Shiite religious authorities in Najaf, Iraq.  It is important to note Al Amin’s invitation comes after terrorist Hezbollah militias and Abu al Fadl al Abbas brigades committed a horrific massacre in al Thiyabiya and al Husseiniya, killing 120 people.

(Source: Syrian Coalition + Kulna Shuraka)

The British Government Gives Money to Jordan for Refugee Influx

The British government announced that it will provide monetary suport to the Kingdom of Jordan for the refugees in the Zaatari camp. Over 19 billion dollars were confirmed to“ be paid over a two year time period in order to ensure that governorates are fulfilling their duties to the residents and refugees equally. It was added, “the refugees are forming a great amount of pressure on services, and we have paid money to invest in schools, health, and basic services.”

(Source: al Hayat)

Survivors of Chemical Weapons Attack Prepare and Train for another Chemical Weapons Attack

The Sunday Telegraph reported that activists and doctors gathered in Turkey to give workshops on chemical weapons attack preparedness. The agency reported activists, among them survivors of the latest chemical weapons attack committed by the Assad Regime in the Ghoutas in Damascus, gathered in southern Turkey with the goal of training to protect civilians from future chemical weapons attacks.

(Source: Syrian Coalition + al Quds al Arabi)