Clashes renewed in Damascus, Rebels shoot down a helicopter gunship
Rebel fighters capture a military tank in the Damascus suburb of Daraya today
- Clashes intensified in the capital and the rebels continued to score advances in Daraa.
- Rebel fighters shot down a helicopter gunship near Aleppo, stormed another town in Idlib.
- Assad-Hezbollah forces continued their attacks on Homs, killing at least 18 people today.
- Russian activist addresses her people as she joins the rebels
- Rebel fighters shoot down a helicopter gunship and capture tow military tanks, P2, P3
- Leaked video footage shows regime forces taunting and torturing detainees
- Total Death Toll: 135
- Opposition Death Toll: 104 including 10 children, 8 women and 40 rebel fighters (Damascus and Suburbs: 23, Homs: 18, Idlib: 16, Aleppo: 16, Latakia: 9, Daraa: 8, Hama: 6, Deir Azzour: 3, Hasaka: 1, Qunaitera: 1)
- Regime Soldiers & Militiamen Death Toll: +31
- Number of areas shelled: +244
- Number of People Wounded: +115
- Number of People Detained: +10
- FSA Key Operations:
- Attacked the Military Security as well as the Air Force Intelligence branches in the Damascus suburb of Sa’saa.
- Shot down a helicopter gunship near the Nerab airbase in Aleppo.
- Stormed a number of military sites in Daraa.
- Stormed the town of Shagher in the suburb of Idlib.
- Killed more than 13 troops in the city of Deir Azzour.
- Destroyed three military tanks and five armored vehicles and captured two military tanks.
Summary of Events
Rebel fighters launched a series of successful attacks on regime forces throughout the country, mainly in Damascus and its Suburbs and Daraa in the south.
They attacked the Air Force Intelligence branch in the Hosh Plas industrial district in Damascus and a military checkpoint near the “Town Centre Mall” in the Damascus-Daraa international road using mortar shells. They also attacked another military checkpoint in the neighborhood of Barzeh as they continued to repel the regime’s ground assault on the neighborhood of Jobar as well as the provincial towns of Daraya, Moadamiyat al-Sham, Aqraba and Bait Sahem.
In the southern Damascus suburb of Sa’saa near the province of Qunaitera, the rebels fired mortars into the notorious Military Security branch and the nearby Air Force Intelligence branch No. 221, causing material damage and leaving a number of security forces dead and wounded. In the southern province of Daraa, they destroyed a number of military vehicles and captured a big quantity of arms and ammo when they stormed the Communication Squad near the eastern town of Naima and the military checkpoints of Abu Baker Siddiq in central Daraa and Ibin Katheer in Bosra al-Sham.
Rebel fighters shot down a helicopter gunship near the Nerab airbase in the suburb of Aleppo. They also killed and injured many troops in addition to destroying three armoured vehicles and one military tank as they ran over the town of Shagher in the suburb of Idlib.
The rebels killed 13 troops as they repelled the repeated attacks on the neighbourhoods of Jubeila and Masaken Shuhadaa in the city of Deir Azzour. They also continued to thwart attacks by the joint Assad-Hezbollah forces on the rebels-held neighbourhoods and towns in Homs.
Regime forces continued their indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas across the country, using cluster, phosphorus, therbombaric and explosive bombs as well as the long-range surface-to-surface missiles, causing extensive material mdamage and leaving dozens of people dead and wounded.
The continued violence left more than 135 people dead today. Regime forces and loyalist militiamen killed at least 104 people, including ten children, eight women and 40 rebel fighters whereas the rebels killed at least 31 soldiers and militiamen.
Some 34 people were killed in Damascus and its suburbs today, six of whom were slaughtered with knives in the neighbourhood of Tishrin by what’s so called the “Popular Committees”, the victims are said to have escaped violence in their hometown in Idlib. Meanwhile, the intensive airstrikes on the town of Moadamiyat al-Sham, left at least eight people dead and many others wounded, and while people were burying their deaths, regime forces fired missiles into the cemetery, leaving many people dead and at least 50 more wounded.
Regime forces killed 18 people and injured dozens more in Homs, the majority of whom died in the provincial town of Qusair that was subjected to intense aerial bombardments.
At least 18 people died in Aleppo and its suburbs as well, seven of whom died during clashes that broke out across the province. Dozens of civilians and rebel fighters were killed and injured due to the heavy shelling and fighting that took also place across Daraa, Idlib, Hama and Deir Azzour.
Syrians killed: 63,744
Children killed: 4,273
Females killed: 3,517
Soldiers killed: 6,771
Protesters killed under torture: 1,436
Missing: +60,000
Protesters currently incarcerated: +140,000
Syrians injured: +137,000
Syrian refugees since March: +678,540
Refugees in Turkey: +156,801
Refugees in Lebanon: +223,231
Refugees in Jordan: +204,303
Refugees in Iraq: +77,415
Refugees in Egypt: +14,156
International Reactions
France sees no sign Syria’s Assad will be toppled soon
Iran diplomat: Syria unlikely to see peace in 2013
Russia accuses Syria’s opposition of prolonging violence
John Kerry talks Iran, Syria, Hagel on path to easy confirmation
UN chief urges unity on Syria
UN says refugee crisis in Jordan ‘critical’
Selected Media Coverage
UN Dispatch: Syria’s Horrible Humanitarian Crisis is Only Getting Worse
CNN: Battling the food crisis in Syria
Foreign Policy: Marc Lynch: The Syria Debate, Continued
Chicago Tribune: Syrian President Assad must step down
Al-Arabiya: Syria after Brahimi Another Lebanon?
Videos
Armed Resistance
Hosh Plas, Damascus: Rebel fighters fire rockets into the Air Force Intelligence branch
Ramousa, Aleppo: Rebel fighters fire rockets into the Air Force Intelligence branch
Damascus
Bab Msala: Protesters splash the roads with red paint as a symbol to the bloodshed
Asaly: Aid workers deliver food supplies to the needy
Hajar Aswad: Regime shelling causes extensive material damage and leaves many people wounded
Jobar: Many people die and more get injured due to the indiscriminate shelling
Damascus suburb
Aqraba: Heavy fighting and shelling continue
Saqba: Regime warplane drops bombs on the town
Daraya: Buildings set ablaze due to the indiscriminate shelling
Seedi Mukdad: Black smoke billow from the town due to the intensive shelling
Aleppo
Marjah: Houses destroyed due to the indiscriminate shelling
Old City: The devastating aftermath of the heavy shelling
Aleppo suburb
Safeera: Regime shelling leaves many people dead and wounded
Byanoun: Regime shelling causes extensive damage to residential buildings
Keljibreen: Mass destruction caused by the rockets that hit the own yesterday
Hayan: Funeral procession of a rebel fighter who died during clashes with regime forces
Homs
Old city: The devastating aftermath of the heavy shelling
Jobar: Regime warplane drops bombs on the neighborhood
Qusour: Clouds of smoke billow from the neighborhood due to the heavy shelling
Kaferaaya: Regime shelling prompt mass exodus
Daraa
Mahatta: Regime forces bombard the city amid fierce resistance by the rebels
Basr Harir: Clouds of smoke billow from the town due to the heavy shelling
Central Daraa: The city comes under heavy shelling
Hama
Shahshabo: Protesters demand the overthrow of the regime
Kaferzeita: Many people die and more get injured due to the heavy shelling
Sheikh Anbar: Demonstration in solidarity with the areas under attack
Idlib
Ma’arret Numan: Mass destruction caused by the daily shelling
Tamanaa: Regime forces bombard the town
Khan Sobol: A child killed due to the indiscriminate shelling
Deir Azzour
Mowathafeen: Activists speaks about the destruction in his city
Jubeila: The daily shelling continues
Howayqa: Clouds of smoke billow from neighborhood due to the heavy shelling
Demonstrations and Activities Abroad
Spain: Granada sit-in in solidarity with University of Aleppo
