Tag Archives: rastan

Death toll, carnage mounts across Syria

Leave a reply

13 bodies found outside Syria school

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Opposition group: The tortured bodies of 13 people are found outside a Homs school
At least 127 people are killed across Syria on Saturday, opposition activists say
Opposition activist: “We have seen people beheaded, children killed, bodies torn apart”
Report: The Syrian regime accuses Western and Arab nations of arming the opposition

Are you there? Send us your images or video. Also, read this report in Arabic.

(CNN) — Reports of horror and carnage continue to mount in Syria, just days before a Tuesday deadline for government forces to withdraw from cities.

At least 127 people were killed on Saturday alone, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, a network of opposition activists. At least 59 of those deaths took place in Hama, the LCC said.

The group said Syrian forces have been targeting civilians displaced from their homes by earlier fighting.

Specifically, the LCC said, the regime is attacking villages and farms around the eastern city of Rastan, where fighting a month ago forced out more than 80% of the city’s residents. They escaped to the nearby areas but are now coming under attack, the group said Saturday.

Refugees report massacre by Syria troops

Syrian refugees are ‘terrified’

Al-Assad’s uncle speaks Syria uprising

Syria: Forces face conflict deadline

Meanwhile, violence broke out in the city of Rastan itself when regime forces fought with defectors at the northern entrance to the city, asid another opposition group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

CNN cannot independently verify reports of violence and deaths, as the government has severely restricted access to international media.

The Syrian government has repeatedly said that its forces are fighting armed terrorist gangs.

On Sunday, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency made little mention of any violence but showed images of packed demonstrations that it said took place a day earlier.

“Syrian citizens in all the Syrian provinces on Saturday flocked to the main squares to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the foundation of the Baath Arab Socialist Party,” SANA said. “The participants in the rallies expressed the Syrian people, army and leadership’s steadfastness in the face of the conspiracy hatched against Syria.”

But many reports from inside Syria suggest government forces are slaughtering civilians in an attempt to wipe out dissidents seeking President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster. The al-Assad family has ruled Syria for 42 years.

One LCC activist in Homs, identified only as Saleem for safety reasons, described a massacre outside a local school that the Syrian army used to launch offensives and detain people.

Saleem said the bodies of 13 people, including youths, were found with signs of torture.

“The truth is we have become used to such massacres. We have seen people beheaded, children killed, bodies torn apart, and nothing surprises us anymore,” Saleem said. “All we could do is pray to all for help and call on the world to intervene.”

Months of diplomatic efforts by international leaders have so far failed to stop the bloodshed in Syria.

The Syrian government has agreed to pull its forces from cities by Tuesday as part of an deal brokered by Kofi Annan, the former U.N. secretary-general who now serves as the U.N.- Arab League special envoy to Syria.

The government has committed to the Tuesday deadline but is demanding a guarantee from Annan that once its troops pull back, other groups will do the same.

The withdrawal from cities is part of Annan’s six-point plan for Syria, which also calls for a cease-fire by both sides and a Syrian-led political process to end the crisis. The Syrian government has said it will implement the peace plan.

SANA reported Saturday that the government sent two identical letters to the president of the U.N. Security Council and to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, accusing Arab and Western countries of backing the armed groups.

In the letters, Syria claimed that “terrorist acts committed by the armed terrorist groups in Syria have increased during the last few days, particularly after reaching an understanding on Kofi Annan’s plan,” according to SANA.

The letters said 2,088 Syrian forces and 478 police officers have been killed.

The United Nations estimates that the fighting in Syria, which began a year ago, has killed at least 9,000 people. The LCC puts the toll at more than 11,000.

CNN’s Salma Abdelaziz and Kamal Ghattas contributed to this report.

See the original post:

Death toll, carnage mounts across Syria

Opposition: 110 dead as Syrian forces target civilians

Leave a reply

13 bodies found outside Syria school

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: The areas of highest deaths are 57 in Hama and 25 in Homs, opposition says
Opposition groups say forces are targeting displaced civilians
The Syrian government sent two letters to the U.N., SANA reports
The letters accuse Western and Arab nations of arming the opposition, SANA says

Are you there? Send us your images or video. Also, read this report in Arabic.

(CNN) — Syrian forces are targeting civilians displaced from their homes by earlier fighting, an opposition group said Saturday, three days before a deadline for government forces to withdraw from cities.

The Local Coordination Committees of Syria said the regime is targeting villages and farms around the eastern city of Rastan, where fighting a month ago forced out more than 80 percent of the city’s residents. They escaped to the nearby area but are now coming under attack, according to the group, which is a network of opposition activists.

The death toll has risen to 110, including eight women and five children, the LCC said Saturday. The breakdown of those deaths are 57 in Hama, 25 in Homs, 13 in the Aleppo suburbs, 13 in Jabal Zawieh in Idlib, one in Daraa, and one in Douma in the Damascus suburbs, the LCC said.

“The bombing by the regime’s forces has targeted the villages and farms, causing many martyrs and wounded from among the displaced, and causing the destruction of many homes,” the LCC quoted Hassan Al-Ashtar, a commander in the rebel Free Syrian Army, as saying.

Refugees report massacre by Syria troops

Syrian refugees are ‘terrified’

Al-Assad’s uncle speaks Syria uprising

Syria: Forces face conflict deadline

Reports of fighting in Rastan itself came from the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which said the regime’s forces were fighting defectors at the northern entrance to the city.

While reports of the fighting could not be independently confirmed, the Syrian government has said repeatedly said its forces are fighting armed terrorist gangs and foreign fighters bent on destabilizing the country.

Al-Ashtar said those under attack in the outskirts of Rastan are civilians and that the Free Syrian Army isn’t present there.

“The regime’s only goal is to displace people and drive them out of their city and the surrounding areas as part of a systematic displacement campaign,” he said, according to the LCC.

Other fighting continued across the country Saturday, the group said. At least 89 people were killed, most in the embattled western provinces of Homs and Hama, which have seen some of the worst fighting between government forces and rebels.

The Syrian government said its forces clashed with “armed terrorist groups” in Hama and Homs, where troops seized weapons including grenades and rocket launchers, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

A female activist in Hama spoke to CNN via Skype on Saturday, describing a government attack with tanks near the Hama stadium that left at least one person dead.

The activist, identified only as Nesma, said the attack was continuing more than 14 hours after it began and that the air force flew over the city all night.

SANA reported Saturday that the government sent two identical letters to the president of the United Nations Security Council and to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon accusing Arab and Western countries of backing the armed groups.

The letters outlined countless attacks by the armed groups and documented a number of deaths, including the killings of 2,088 Syrian forces and 478 police officers. They urged the United Nations to do more to stop weapons and arms from reaching the fighters.

The Syrian government and the opposition agreed to pull their forces from cities by Tuesday as part of an agreement brokered by Kofi Annan, the former U.N. secretary-general who now serves as the U.N. and Arab League special envoy on the Syrian crisis.

But in the letters, Syria complained that “terrorist acts committed by the armed terrorist groups in Syria have increased during the last few days, particularly after reaching an understanding on Kofi Annan’s plan,” according to SANA’s report.

The withdrawal from cities is part of Annan’s six-point plan for Syria, which also calls for a cease-fire by both sides and a Syrian-led political process to end the crisis.

The Syrian government has said it will implement the peace plan and has already taken steps to comply. Its ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar Jaafari, acknowledged fighting continues, but he blamed that on opposition groups he said were being armed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, which currently holds the presidency of the U.N. General Assembly.

The government has committed to the Tuesday deadline but is demanding a guarantee from Annan that once its troops pull back, other groups will do the same.

The United Nations estimates that the fighting in Syria, which began a year ago, has killed at least 9,000 people. The LCC puts the toll at more than 11,000.

CNN’s Kamal Ghattas contributed to this report.

Excerpt from -

Opposition: 110 dead as Syrian forces target civilians

U.N. humanitarian chief invited to Syria

Leave a reply

New tactics in Syria uprising

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

U.N. relief coordinator to arrive Wednesday in Damascus
U.S. Treasury says Syrian Radio and TV are subject to sanctions
Explosions and gunfire are heard Monday in part of Homs, an opposition group says
Eight people were killed Monday, an opposition group says

Are you there? Send us your images or video.

(CNN) — Sen. John McCain called Monday for the United States to lead an international effort to protect the Syrian population by carrying out airstrikes on Syrian government forces.

“Providing military assistance to the Free Syrian Army and other opposition groups is necessary, but at this late hour, that alone will not be sufficient to stop the slaughter and save innocent lives,” the Arizona Republican said in an impassioned speech in the U.S. Senate. “The only realistic way to do so is with foreign airpower.”

The goal, he said, should be to establish and defend safe havens, primarily in northern Syria, where opposition forces could organize their efforts. “These safe havens could also help the Free Syrian Army and other armed groups in Syria to train and organize themselves into more cohesive and effective military forces, likely with the assistance of foreign partners,” he said.

The announcement came as diplomatic efforts were moving. After days of trying to obtain permission from Syrian authorities to travel to the country, Valerie Amos, U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, will arrive Wednesday in Damascus, she said. Syria decided to permit the two-day planned visit.

“As requested by the secretary-general (Ban Ki-moon), my aim is to urge all parties to allow unhindered access for humanitarian relief workers so that they can evacuate the wounded and deliver essential supplies,” Amos said in a statement.

Syria said Amos will arrive Tuesday evening. She will meet with Foreign MInister Walid al-Moallem and “will pay visits to some areas in Syria,” state-run news agency SANA reported.

Amos was denied access last week by the government, which said it was not a “suitable time” to visit, Syrian state-run TV reported.

Kofi Annan, the former U.N. secretary-general who is now special joint envoy to Syria for the United Nations and the Arab League, will fly Saturday to Damascus, an Arab League official said.

He will be accompanied by his deputy, former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa. Their goal will be to persuade President Bashar al-Assad to stop the killing, the official said.

SANA reported that Syria “welcomes the visit of Kofi Annan, envoy of the U.N. secretary-general.”

The announcement came as government troops broadened their lethal focus from the western city of Rastan, which was pummeled over the weekend, opposition activists said.

The news of diplomatic movement came as the body count continued to mount. At least 15 people were killed on Monday, including two in Daraa, two in Aleppo, two in Idlib, two in Homs and one in the suburbs of Damascus, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition activist group.

One of those killed in Idlib was a 14-year-old child targeted by sniper fire near a factory, the group said.

The Syrian regime has ramped up raids and arrests across the country, detaining hundreds of civilians in the past two days, the network said. It said Syrian journalist and blogger Rafaa Masri was among those recently detained.

For its part, the Syrian government said 12 “martyrs” from the army were buried Monday.

The U.S. Treasury announced Monday it was identifying the Syrian General Organization of Radio and TV as subject to sanctions imposed against Syria in August.

“The General Organization of Radio and TV has served as an arm of the Syrian regime as it mounts increasingly barbaric attacks on its own population and seeks both to mask and legitimize its violence,” the director of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, Adam Szubin, said in a statement. “By taking this action today, Treasury is sending a clear signal that it stands with the Syrian people. Any individuals or institutions supporting its abhorrent behavior will be targeted and cut off from the international financial system.”

As many as 2,000 Syrians have crossed into Lebanon since Sunday, according to Dana Suleiman, spokesman for the United Nations’ refugee agency UNHCR in Beirut. They came from Homs province, she said.

Explosions and gunfire could be heard Monday in the Jib Jandali neighborhood of Homs province, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Rebel forces said they drove out the army from Rastan — but acknowledged that most of their fighters had retreated from the besieged area, which is located between the flashpoint cities of Homs and Hama.

Capt. Ammar al-Wawi said the Free Syrian Army’s withdrawal from Rastan “was strategic to save the people’s lives.”

“We don’t want to give the regime any excuse to kill more civilians,” Wawi said Monday. “It was a tactical withdrawal in order to create better circumstances and to get ready for the next step.”

Though they are outnumbered and out-armed by the Syrian military, members of the Free Syrian Army managed to attack an air force intelligence building in Harasta, near Damascus, with machine guns Sunday night, FSA deputy head Malek al-Kurdi said.

Wawi said a growing number of defections from Syrian troops are affecting the government’s tactics.

Activist: Assad will have to kill us all

The way forward in Syria debated

Reporters’ bodies given to diplomats

“The regime is avoiding direct confrontations with the FSA fighters, so they attack and bomb the cities using artillery … and rockets because when they fight us on the ground, we always end up getting more defectors joining our sides,” he said.

Meanwhile, residents in the devastated Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs endured another day with scarce or no access to running water, electricity and medical supplies, as the humanitarian toll of the nearly year-old Syrian conflict escalates.

Carla Haddad Mardini, spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said Monday that aid workers still were not allowed to enter Baba Amr.

Mardini said the ICRC and the Syrian Red Crescent were delivering food and hygiene kits in two neighborhoods adjacent to Baba Amr — al-Tawzee and al-Inshaat.

“We were supposed to be there yesterday but we were not allowed,” Mardini said. “A convoy of aid materials arrived today to Homs from Damascus and it contains food supplies to cover the needs of several thousand people.”

According to SANA, the state-run news agency, authorities were busy Sunday “removing the destruction and debris left by the armed terrorist groups” in the Baba Amr and Inshaat neighborhoods of Homs.”

The Syrian regime has consistently blamed violence on “armed terrorist groups” and portrayed its forces as trying to protect the public interest and security.

CNN cannot independently confirm reports across Syria because the government has severely restricted the access of international journalists.

But the vast majority of reports out of Syria indicate al-Assad’s forces are slaughtering civilians in opposition hotbeds in an attempt to wipe out dissidents.

The United Nations estimates more than 7,500 people have died since the beginning of the Syrian conflict almost a year ago, while the LCC says more than 9,000 people have been killed. The Syrian government says more than 2,000 security personnel have been killed in the violence.

CNN’s Ted Barrett, Salma Abdelaziz and Holly Yan and journalists Omar Muqdad and Mohamed Fadel Fahmy contributed to this report.

Link:

U.N. humanitarian chief invited to Syria

Activists: Syrian regime’s attacks and raids spread

Leave a reply

New tactics in Syria uprising

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: U.N. relief coordinator says she will arrive in Damascus on Wednesday
NEW: U.S. Treasury says Syrian Radio and TV are subject to sanctions
Explosions and gunfire were heard Monday in part of Homs, an opposition group says
Eight people were killed Monday, an opposition group says

Are you there? Send us your images or video.

(CNN) — After pummeling the western city of Rastan over the weekend, Syrian government troops turned their lethal attention to cities across the country Monday, opposition activists said.

At least eight people were killed, including two in Daraa, one in Aleppo, two in Idlib, two in Homs, and one in Damascus, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition activist group.

One of those killed in Idlib was a 14-year-old victim of sniper fire near a factory, the group said.

The Syrian regime has also ramped up raids and arrests across the country, detaining hundreds of civilians in the past two days, the network said Monday. It said Syrian journalist and blogger Rafaa Masri was among those recently detained.

The Syrian government, meanwhile, said 12 “martyrs” from the army were buried Monday.

Valerie Amos, U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, will arrive in Damascus Wednesday on a two-day trip, she said. Syria decided to permit the visit.

“As requested by the Secretary-General (Ban Ki-moon), my aim is to urge all parties to allow unhindered access for humanitarian relief workers so that they can evacuate the wounded and deliver essential supplies,” Amos said in a statement.

Syria said Amos will arrive Tuesday evening. She will hold talks with Foreign MInister Walid al-Moallem and “will pay visits to some areas in Syria,” state-run news agency SANA reported.

Kofi Annan, special envoy to Syria for the United Nations and the Arab League, will head to Damascus on Saturday, an Arab League official said.

He will be accompanied by his deputy, former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa. Their goal will be to convince Assad to stop the killing, the official said.

SANA reported that Syria “welcomes the visit of Kofi Annan, envoyo f the U.N. Secretary-General.”

Syrian media, including state-run TV, largely serve as the voice of the government. The U.S. Treasury announced Monday it was identifying the Syrian General Organization of Radio and TV as subject to sanctions imposed against Syria in August.

As many as 2,000 refugees have crossed into Lebanon since Sunday, according to Dana Suleiman, spokesman for the United Nations’ refugee agency UNHCR in Beirut. They came from Homs province, she said.

Explosions and gunfire could be heard Monday in the Jib Jandali neighborhood of Homs province, according to the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Rebel forces said they drove out the army in Rastan — but also ceded that most of their fighters had retreated from the besieged area, which sits between the flashpoint cities of Homs and Hama.

Government forces pounded Rastan with 15 rockets in 15 minutes Sunday, killing three people and wounding dozens more, most of them children, opposition activists said. Graphic video posted on YouTube shows three girls, including a 1-year-old, suffering from severe injuries purportedly sustained in that attack.

Capt. Ammar al-Wawi said the Free Syrian Army’s withdrawal from Rastan “was strategic to save the people’s lives.”

“The operation in Harasta is part of the response to the massacres of the regime against our unarmed people,” Wawi said. “After the regime committed massacres in Homs and other Syrian cities — in addition to targeting the journalists and the civilians in the country — the Free Syrian Army moved our operations to the offensive phase in defense of the Syrian people.”

Wawi said he thinks a growing number of defections from Syrian troops are affecting the government’s tactics.

Activist: Assad will have to kill us all

The way forward in Syria debated

Reporters’ bodies given to diplomats

Carla Haddad Mardini, spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said Monday that aid workers still aren’t allowed into Baba Amr — despite previously getting permission from Syrian authorities to do so.

Mardini said the ICRC and the Syrian Red Crescent were delivering food and hygiene kits in two neighborhoods adjacent to Baba Amr — al-Tawzee and al-Inshaat.

The Syrian regime has consistently blamed violence on “armed terrorist groups” and portrayed its forces as trying to protect the public interest and security.

CNN cannot independently confirm reports across Syria because the government has severely restricted the access of international journalists.

But the vast majority of reports out of Syria indicate President Bashar al-Assad’s forces are slaughtering civilians in opposition hotbeds in an attempt to wipe out dissidents.

The remains of Marie Colvin, a U.S. journalist who was killed in the conflict, will arrive in the United States on Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy in Paris said.

Syria’s crackdown on civilians seeking al-Assad’s ouster has drawn widespread criticism from the international community.

On Sunday, Israel — which has fought Syria in four wars since Israel’s statehood in 1948 — offered humanitarian assistance to Syrian citizens.

“The state of the Jewish nation cannot sit still while horrors are taking place and people are losing their world in a neighboring country,” Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said. “It is our moral duty to provide aid and awake the world to stop the manslaughter.”

Israeli President Shimon Peres also had a message for the Syrian people.

“The Middle East is undergoing its greatest storm in history, with horrible bloodshed in Syria, where a tyrant is killing his people, killing his children. I admire the courage of the Syrian people. And I wish them peace and freedom from the depths of all of our hearts,” Peres said Sunday.

CNN’s Salma Abdelaziz and Holly Yan and journalists Omar Muqdad and Mohamed Fadel Fahmy contributed to this report.

Activists: Syrian regime’s attacks and raids spread

Rockets fall on Syrian town; fears grow in Homs

Leave a reply

Grim details of Syria reprisals emerge

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: Opposition fighters attack an air force intelligence building, a Free Syrian Army official says
NEW: The Free Syrian Army pulls all but a few fighters from Rastan, he adds
NEW: Marie Colvin’s remains should arrive in the U.S. on Tuesday, her brother says
62 people are killed across Syria on Sunday, an opposition group says

Are you there? Send us your images or video.

(CNN) — Opposition fighters attacked a Syrian air force intelligence building outside Damascus on Sunday and tried to fend off an intense assault on the town of Rastan, said a leader in the Free Syrian Army.

Three people died and dozens more — most of them children — were hurt as government forces hit Rastan with 15 rockets in as many minutes Sunday, opposition activists said. Graphic video posted on YouTube shows three girls, one of them a 1-year-old, suffering from severe injuries purportedly sustained in that attack.

By early Monday morning, opposition forces claimed to have driven out the army while at the same ceding that most of their own fighters had “retreated for … tactical reasons,” said Malek Al Kurdi, deputy head of the Free Syrian Army.

He added that his armed opposition group, made up largely of Syrian military defectors, now only has a small unit inside Rastan, which is between the Middle Eastern country’s third and fourth largest cities, respectively, of Homs and Hama.

A team of Free Syrian Army fighters used machine guns Sunday night to attack the air force intelligence building in Harasta, which is near Damascus, according to Al Kurdi.

The opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said 18 people were killed Sunday in Hama and 17 in Homs, out of at least 62 slain nationwide.

Homs, especially, has been a hotbed of violence and devastation for weeks. Opposition activists fear the nightmare there will only get worse after government forces stormed the embattled neighborhood of Baba Amr, where six people were reportedly executed Sunday.

Explosion hits Homs protest

The neighborhood, which is five square miles (eight square kilometers), had endured nearly a month of shelling before rebel forces announced a “tactical retreat” Thursday.

Anti-government protestors gather on Friday, March 2, in Binnish, Syria, in handout photos provided by the Binnish Coordination Committee. Binnish has conducted this weekly ritual of defiance for months in this opposition enclave.

Syria: Anti-government protest in Binnish

HIDE CAPTION

Syria: Anti-government protest in Binnish

“The news coming from the families who fled after the entry of the Assad military forces is that there are more horrors, more killings and surely more massacres,” said Rania Kisar, a Chicago-based member of the Syrian Revolution General Commission.

Reporters’ bodies given to diplomats

Osamah, a Syrian-based media director for the group who didn’t want to use his last name for safety reasons, reported arrests, rape and torture in Baba Amr by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

Red Cross denied access in Syria

The International Committee of the Red Cross has repeatedly been denied entry to Baba Amr, even after seemingly getting permission from Syrian authorities at one point.

On Sunday, aid workers from the ICRC and Syrian Red Crescent did begin distributing food and supplies in Abel, a village three kilometers from Homs, an ICRC spokeswoman said.

“The plan is to continue to the Inshaat and al-Tawzee neighborhoods, both in Homs, to the displaced families and people who fled Baba Amr,” Carla Haddad Mardini said. “We hope to enter Baba Amr today, but nothing is confirmed.”

Activist: Assad will have to kill us all

New videos that have surfaced from Homs suggest a fresh wave of killings by the Syrian military after the fall of Baba Amr.

Homs resident: ‘Trying to stay alive’

Opposition activists provided CNN with the videos, purportedly showing 17 civilians’ bodies that were discovered Wednesday in villages near Baba Amr after a government assault.

Rockets fall on Syrian town, as nightmare deepens

Leave a reply

Grim details of Syria reprisals emerge

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: Opposition fighters attack an air force intelligence building, a Free Syrian Army official says
NEW: The Free Syrian Army pulls all but a few fighters from Rastan, he adds
NEW: Marie Colvin’s remains should arrive in the U.S. on Tuesday, her brother says
62 people are killed across Syria on Sunday, an opposition group says

Are you there? Send us your images or video.

A team of Free Syrian Army fighters used machine guns Sunday night to attack the air force intelligence building in Harasta, which is near Damascus, according to Al Kurdi.

The opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said 18 people were killed Sunday in Hama and 17 in Homs, out of at least 62 slain nationwide.

Explosion hits Homs protest

The neighborhood, which is five square miles (eight square kilometers), had endured nearly a month of shelling before rebel forces announced a “tactical retreat” Thursday.

Syria: Anti-government protest in Binnish

HIDE CAPTION

Syria: Anti-government protest in Binnish

Reporters’ bodies given to diplomats

Osamah, a Syrian-based media director for the group who didn’t want to use his last name for safety reasons, reported arrests, rape and torture in Baba Amr by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

Red Cross denied access in Syria

The International Committee of the Red Cross has repeatedly been denied entry to Baba Amr, even after seemingly getting permission from Syrian authorities at one point.

On Sunday, aid workers from the ICRC and Syrian Red Crescent did begin distributing food and supplies in Abel, a village three kilometers from Homs, an ICRC spokeswoman said.

Activist: Assad will have to kill us all

New videos that have surfaced from Homs suggest a fresh wave of killings by the Syrian military after the fall of Baba Amr.

Homs resident: ‘Trying to stay alive’

Opposition activists provided CNN with the videos, purportedly showing 17 civilians’ bodies that were discovered Wednesday in villages near Baba Amr after a government assault.

Rockets fall on Syrian town, as nightmare deepens

Leave a reply

Grim details of Syria reprisals emerge

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: Opposition fighters attack an air force intelligence building, a Free Syrian Army official says
NEW: The Free Syrian Army pulls all but a few fighters from Rastan, he adds
NEW: Marie Colvin’s remains should arrive in the U.S. on Tuesday, her brother says
62 people are killed across Syria on Sunday, an opposition group says

Are you there? Send us your images or video.

A team of Free Syrian Army fighters used machine guns Sunday night to attack the air force intelligence building in Harasta, which is near Damascus, according to Al Kurdi.

The opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said 18 people were killed Sunday in Hama and 17 in Homs, out of at least 62 slain nationwide.

Explosion hits Homs protest

The neighborhood, which is five square miles (eight square kilometers), had endured nearly a month of shelling before rebel forces announced a “tactical retreat” Thursday.

Syria: Anti-government protest in Binnish

HIDE CAPTION

Syria: Anti-government protest in Binnish

Reporters’ bodies given to diplomats

Osamah, a Syrian-based media director for the group who didn’t want to use his last name for safety reasons, reported arrests, rape and torture in Baba Amr by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

Red Cross denied access in Syria

The International Committee of the Red Cross has repeatedly been denied entry to Baba Amr, even after seemingly getting permission from Syrian authorities at one point.

On Sunday, aid workers from the ICRC and Syrian Red Crescent did begin distributing food and supplies in Abel, a village three kilometers from Homs, an ICRC spokeswoman said.

Activist: Assad will have to kill us all

New videos that have surfaced from Homs suggest a fresh wave of killings by the Syrian military after the fall of Baba Amr.

Homs resident: ‘Trying to stay alive’

Opposition activists provided CNN with the videos, purportedly showing 17 civilians’ bodies that were discovered Wednesday in villages near Baba Amr after a government assault.

Arne Ruhnau News

about the world!

Tag Archives: rastan

Death toll, carnage mounts across Syria

Opposition: 110 dead as Syrian forces target civilians

U.N. humanitarian chief invited to Syria

Activists: Syrian regime’s attacks and raids spread

Rockets fall on Syrian town; fears grow in Homs

Rockets fall on Syrian town, as nightmare deepens

Rockets fall on Syrian town, as nightmare deepens