Syrian Revolution Daily News Round-up Day 680: Tuesday 22-Jan-13

450 soldiers defect, Regime kills 156 people

Defected Syrian soldiers pose in front of a military tank while holding the revolution flag

• At least 450 soldiers defected from Assad’s army today.
• Regime forces killed 156 people, 70 of whom died in the suburbs of Damascus.
• Another major prisoner swap deal in progress.

• Deir Azzour: Some 450 soldiers defect from the government army
• Aleppo: New video footage of Aleppo University airstrike
• Hama Suburb: A video footage purportedly shows a number of long-range missiles being fired by regime forces

• Total Death Toll: 188
• Opposition Death Toll: 156 including 38 children, 26 women and 33 rebel fighters (Damascus and Suburbs: 73, Daraa: 31, Aleppo: 14, Deir Azzour: 9, Hama: 8, Idlib: 7, Homs: 6, Hasaka: 4, Qunaitera: 1, Latakia: 1)
• Regime Soldiers  & Militiamen Death Toll: +32
• Number of areas shelled: +278 
• Number of People Wounded: +65
• Number of People Detained: +15
• FSA Key Operations:
  • Stormed a military checkpoint in central Daraa.
  • Shot down a helicopter gunship near at Quwayres airbase in Aleppo.
  • Destroyed four military tanks and a number of vehicles in Idlib, Daraa and Damascus.
  • Seized control of al-Ghona oil field in the Hasaka suburb of Shadadi.

Summary of Events

At least 450 soldiers defected from Assad’s army in the suburb of Damascus today, marking the biggest military defection in the 22-month uprising. Defectors who come mainly from Deir Azzour and Hasaka in the north and east of the country, were then helped to return back home by the FSA.

Heavy clashes spread into the city of Daraa, leaving dozens of rebel fighters and regime soldiers dead. The rebels stormed a military checkpoint central Daraa city as they scored more advances in nearby towns, storming a border police station near the border in Jordan in addition to storming an artillery base in the village of Abdin.

Rebel fighters shot down a helicopter gunship as they continued to besiege the airbase of Quwares in the suburb of Aleppo in the north. They also thwarted the regime’s ground assault on the Damascus suburbs of Moadamiya and Daraya as well as a number of towns in the East Ghouta district.

Another prisoner swap deal is being examined by the Syrian regime, according to unconfirmed news circulated by pro-regime media. The deal involves the nine Lebanese Shia captives who were captured in the Aleppo suburb of Azaz few months ago, in exchange for 1000 Syrian detainees.

The continued violence left at least 188 people dead today. Regime forces and loyalist militiamen killed at least 156 people, including 38 children and 26 women. Fighting also erupted on various fronts between the rebels and regime forces, leaving at least 33 rebel fighters and 32 regime soldiers dead.

Regime forces committed more massacres in Damascus and its suburbs, leaving at least 71 people dead, including 23 children and 15 woman, 35 of whom were pulled from the rubble of a building which was demolished due to the indiscriminate shelling in the town of Daraya on Friday. Some nine civilians were executed at a military checkpoint near the town of Douma. Regime airstrikes also left at least 11 more civilians dead in the Damascus suburbs of Shabaa and Mdeira

Regime forces killed 32 people in Daraa alone, 18 of whom were killed due to the heavy clashes and indiscriminate shelling in central Daraa. Meanwhile, seven people from the same family were killed in an airstrike that targeted their vehicle on the Deir Azzour – Raqa international road near the city of Raqa. Some five people, including three children died when a long-range ground-to-ground missile hit a residential area in the village of Abu Taltal in the suburb of Aleppo. Activists said that some seven long-range missiles landed in various areas in the suburbs of Aleppo today.

Meanwhile, dozens of people were killed and injured due to the heavy shelling and fighting that took place in various places around Hama, Idlib, Hasaka, Latakia and Raqa.