Spokesman for the opposition’s High Negotiations Committee Riad Nassan Agha said that over a thousand civilians have been killed in Syria in bombardment by the Assad regime and its allies since the beginning of the month of Ramadan. He noted that the humanitarian situation in besieged areas has severely deteriorated during Ramadan. The number of besieged areas has risen to 42 in the same period, according to Agha.
Agha emphasized that Syrian revolution, however, will continue unabated and will grow even more powerful. Starvation and siege will never bring the Syrian people to their knees, he stressed.
The number of detainees has increased significantly in the prisons of the Assad regime which detains young people at its checkpoints to recruit them into the ranks of its forces, Agha added. He pointed out that regime forces threaten they will punish whomever announces they have a relative or a friend detained in the prisons of the Assad regime.
“Rebel and FSA fighters do not have the means necessary to counter Russian air force. There is an international veto on supplying Syrian rebels with anti-aircraft weapons for fear ‘they may end up in the hands of terrorists.’ The armed opposition, however, continue to inflict heavy losses on regime forces and their allies,” Agha said.
The Iranian regime does not disclose real numbers of its militiamen killed in Syria on a daily basis. A few days ago, 20 bodies of dead Iranian-backed militias were flown to Iran, Agha revealed, adding that this is only one of many batches of dead foreign militants who are regularly returned to Iran in wooden boxes.
Agha referred to growing disagreement between the Assad regime and its allies due to the different agendas each side pursues in Syria and the region. The Assad regime wants to survive; Iran seeks to keep its leverage in Syria; the Hezbollah militia seeks to tighten its grip on parts of Syria and Lebanon; while Russia seeks to restore its position as a superpower and spark a new cold war in order to consolidate its influence in the Middle East. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Alsharq Alawsat)