Syrian Revolution Daily News Round-up Day 690: Friday 1-Feb-13

Syrians demonstrate against international stalemate

Anti-regime protest in the Idlib suburb of Kafrnabel

• Mass demonstrations throughout the country against the international stalemate on Syria.
• Another massacre in Aleppo; rebels scored advances in Aleppo and Deir Azzour.
• UN reached Azaz in Aleppo, said more than 420,000 people in Homs need urgent aid.

• Kafrnabel, Idlib: Demonstration against the international community’s inaction on Syria, P2
• Mleiha, Damascus Suburb: Residents discover a mass grave
• Takiyat al-Rawi, Deir Azzour: Regime shelling destroys a mosque and nearby buildings

• Total Death Toll: 128
• Opposition Death Toll: 88 including 8 children, 3 women and 31 rebel fighters (Damascus and Suburbs: 33, Aleppo: 22, Deir Azzour: 7, Idlib: 7, Homs: 6, Hama: 5, Daraa:  6, Hasaka: 2)
• Regime Soldiers  & Militiamen Death Toll: +40
• Number of areas shelled: +403
• Number of People Wounded: +55
• Number of People Detained: +8
• FSA Key Operations:
  • Seized control of Sheikh Saeed neighborhood in Aleppo city.
  • Stormed the Technical Services Department in Deir Azzour city.
  • Ambushed a military convoy carrying weapons to Deir Azzour.
  • Destroyed a military checkpoint and captured three military tanks in Daraa.
  • Detained dozens of soldiers near the Hama suburb of Taybat al-Imam.

Summary of Events

Despite the escalating violence, hundreds of peaceful protests broke out across the country on a day activists called “The International Community is complicit with Assad’s crimes”, in condemnation of the international community’s inaction towards the crimes committed by the Assad regime.

Regime forces continued their attacks on residential areas within the rebels-held towns in Syria, shelling as many as 403 locations across the country, 16 of which were pounded with warplanes using cluster, phosphorous, thermboaric and explosive bombs, therefore, causing extensive material damages and leaving dozens of people dead and wounded.

Today’s death toll reached more than 128. Regime forces and loyalist militiamen killed at least 88 people, including eight children, three women and 31 rebel fighters, whereas the rebels killed more than 40 soldiers and militiamen.

In Aleppo, regime forces committed another massacre that claimed the lives of more than 16 people and left dozens more wounded when it pounded the neighborhood of Ashrafiya with heavy artillery. Meanwhile, two more bodies that carried torture marks were also found in the Queiq River in the neighborhood of Bustan Qaser to be added to the 108 others found in the same river during the past two days.

Regime forces executed four civilians in the Damascus suburb of Mleiha. They also killed and injured dozens of civilians as they continued to bombard the rebels-held towns of Douma, Moadamiyat al-Sham, Medeira and Mesrabaa. Moreover, some five civilians were killed and many others were wounded when regime forces opened their fire directly on a minibus in the Idlib-Aleppo road near the Idlib suburb of Ariha.

The rebels seized full control of the Sheikh Saeed neighborhood in Aleppo city after a heavy battle where they captured a military tank and destroyed many others. They continued their major offensive on the Shabiba Camp in the Idlib suburb of Nerab, shelling it with military tanks, heavy artillery and heavy machine guns.

The rebels gained ground as they continued their fight for the Military Vehicle Department near the Damascus suburb of Irbin. The clashes left at least 11 rebel fighters and many regime soldiers dead.

Heavy battles continued in the southern neighborhoods of Qadam and the Palestinian Yarmouk Camp. The rebels arrested Colonel Ahmad Talib and his guard; both are senior members of the elite Republican Guard corps. They also killed many regime soldiers and captured a truck carrying weapons from Damascus to Deir Azzour.

Rebel fighters stormed the premises of the Technical Services Department in the city of Deir Azzour and launched a major attack on a military base near the 113^th air defense brigade in its suburb. They also detained dozens of troops as they attacked a military checkpoint on a bridge connecting the towns of Helfaya and Taybat al-Imam in the suburb of Hama.

The United Nations refugee agency delivered emergency winter aid for the first time to the Azas area of northern Syria, where more than 45,000 of internally displaced people are living in makeshift tents, while cautioning that the situation in the country is “appalling.”

The Assad regime agreed to give the U.N. access to the zone of Azaz north of Aleppo near the Turkish border, enabling a convoy to deliver tents and blankets to needy people living in the open in sub-zero temperatures.

In Homs, approximately 420,000 people – half of them children – need urgent humanitarian aid, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today, following a recent inter-agency mission to the country.

The mission found that about 635,000 people in Homs have been displaced, some taking refuge in schools. Out of 1,500 schools in the governorate, 200 were damaged and 65 are sheltering children and families with dire consequences on the students’ attendance and quality of education.

Videos

Armed Resistance
Irbin, Damascus Suburb: Rebel fighters clash with regime forces
Ashrafiya, Aleppo: Rebel fighters seize control of the neighborhood
Idlib: Rebel fighters bombard the Shabiba military camp
Deir Azzour: Rebel fighters detain a number of regime soldiers as they ran over the Technical Services department

Damascus       
Hajar Aswad: A child leads an anti-regime protest
Qaboun: Protesters denounce inaction by the international community
Jobar: Protesters chant their support for the areas under attack

Damascus suburb
Thiabiya: Protesters challenge the regime’s brutal crackdown and take to the streets to demand their freedom
Babila: Protesters say they will defeat Assad sooner or later
Hamouriya: Children join an anti-regime protest
Aqraba: A rebel fighter killed during clashes with regime forces

Aleppo
Bustan Qasr: Hundreds of protesters chant for freedom and demand the overthrow of the regime
Tadef: Protesters denounce the regime’s crimes against humanity
Sukkari: Demonstrators chant for the unity of the people of Syria
Bani Zeid: Regime forces use cluster bombs against civilians

Aleppo suburb
Minbej: Protesters vow to continue their fight for freedom
Al-Bab: Demonstrators chant their support for the rebel fighters
Koubani: Demonstration demands the overthrow of the regime
Bazaa: Protesters say they kneel only to God
Hayan: Regime shelling leaves many people dead and wounded

Homs
Bab Dreib: Demonstration chants for the detainees and for the areas under attack
Houla: Regime military tanks bombard the town
Waer: Protesters denounce inaction by the international community
Jobar: A rebel fighter critically injured during clashes with regime forces
Quaour: Regime military tanks bombard the neighborhood

Daraa
Baser Harir: Regime forces shell a makeshift hospital
Qusour: Protesters demand action by the international community
Herak: An elderly man shot three times by a sniper
Central Daraa: Protesters demand the overthrow of the regime
Tseel: The town comes under heavy shelling

Hama
Kafarzeta: The remaining residents of the town chant their support for the areas under attack
Aleppo Road: Protesters commemorate the 1982 massacre of Hama
Hamediya: Protesters denounce inaction by the international community
Kafrenbda: The town comes under heavy rocket shelling
Khattab: Protesters demand more vital actions by the international community

Idlib
Kefrouma: Protesters say they will hold till the end of the Assad regime
Has: Protesters chant “long live Syrian and down with Assad’
Keleli: Dozens of protesters chant their support for the areas under attack
Ariha: Protesters chant for the rebel fighters and demand the overthrow of the regime
Basqala: Protesters chant for the unity of Syria

Deir Azzour
Howiqa: Regime warplane strike the neighborhood
Oummal: Clouds of smoke billow from the neighborhood due to the heavy shelling
Jubeila: The daily shelling continues
Central City: Paramedics say they’re short of medical supplies amid permanent power cut off

Hasaka
Salhiya: Demonstration demands the overthrow of the regime
Central City: Funeral procession of a rebel fighter killed by regime forces

Latakia
Salma: Regime forces bombard the area

Demonstrations and Activities Abroad
Jordan: Demonstrators commemorate the 1982 Hama massacre

Source