Rebel fighters clash with Hezbollah militia in Homs
A Syrian child critically injured following Hezbollah attack on a mosque in the Homs suburb of Skarjeh
- Hezbollah shelled a Syrian village in Homs, leaving many people dead and wounded.
- Heavy fighting continued in Damascus, rebels shot down three warplanes.
- Shelling intensified in Aleppo city.
- Skarjeh, Qusair: Hezbollah attack on the village leaves many people dead and wounded, P2
- Tabaqa, Raqa: Rebels shoot down a helicopter gunship
- Jobar, Damascus: Shelling and fighting intensify near the Abbasids square, P2
- Total Death Toll: 152
- Opposition Death Toll: 117 including 20 children, 9 women and 25 rebel fighters (Damascus and Suburbs: 40, Aleppo: 24, Homs: 19, Daraa: 16, Idlib: 8, Deir Azzour: 5, Latakia: 2, Hama: 1, Hasaka: 1, Raqa: 1)
- Regime Soldiers & Militiamen Death Toll: +35
- Number of areas shelled: +394
- Number of People Wounded: +70
- Number of People Detained: +10
- FSA Key Operations:
- Shot down three warplanes in Damascus, Raqa and Aleppo.
- Seized control of the Tabaqa National Hospital in Raqa.
- Ambushed a reinforcement convoy in the Idlib suburb of Khan Sheikhoun.
Summary of Events
Syrian rebels and fighters from the Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah exchanged fire near the village of Skarjeh in the suburb of Qusayr on the border between Syria and Lebanon, following a rocket attack by Hezbollah that targeted a mosque and left at least three people dead and 15 more wounded. The rebels responded by shelling positions of Hezbollah in Lebanon, inflicting heavy losses on them.
Rebels attacked a military checkpoint in the ancient city of Palmyra, destroying two Shilka armored vehicles and a military tank in addition to killing four security forces and detaining five others.
Heavy fighting erupted on several fronts in the capital of Damascus for the third day in a raw. Clashes took place in the districts of Jobar and Qabun and spread further to reach the major bus station of Abbasids where regime forces bombarded the nearby building of Burj al-Moalimeen (Teachers Tower). Clashes also broke out in the southern neighborhoods of Qadam and Yarmouk refugee camp as well as in the south western towns of Daraya and Moadamiyat al-Sham.
The rebels shot down a fighter jet in the Damascus suburb of Adra and another one near the Quwayres airbase in the suburb of Aleppo. They also shot down a helicopter gunship near the Baath Dam in the suburb of Raqa.
Rebel fighters from the Nosra Front and other rebel battalions seized control of the National Hospital of Tabaqa, one of the Syria’s largest hospitals that was turned into a military barrack by the 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, 19 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 152. Regime forces and loyalist militiamen killed at least 117 people, including 20 children, nine women and 25 rebel fighters, whereas the rebels killed more than 35 soldiers and militiamen.
Some 14 bodies were discovered in the southern neighborhood of Qadam in Damascus. The bodies are believed to have been executed last Saturday when regime forces and militiamen stormed several places in the neighborhood. The heavy and indiscriminate shelling also left three people dead in the neighborhood of Jobar, five in the provincial town of Moadamiyat al-Sham and four more in the provincial town of Douma.
Regime forces killed 24 people in Aleppo, the majority of whom died due to the indiscriminate shelling in the neighborhoods of Masaken Hanano, Haydariya, Shaar and Sharqiya. They also killed 18 people in Homs including three children and two women, seven of whom were killed by yesterday’s airstrike on the town of Qaryaten. Some six people died in Daraa as a result of the heavy shelling in the central city of Daraa as well as in its provincial towns of Harra, Tseil and Mhajeh. Meanwhile, dozens more people were killed and injured due to the indiscriminate shelling in various places around Deir Azzour, Idlib and Raqa.
Tens of thousands of anti-regime protesters took to the streets today calling for the unity of the Syrian opposition. They also chanted their support for the rebel fighters and reiterated their call for the overthrow of the Assad regime.
Syrians killed: 66,262
Children killed: 4,471
Females killed: 3,633
Soldiers killed: 7,323
Protesters killed under torture: 1,477
Missing: +60,000
Protesters currently incarcerated: +160,000
Syrians injured: +137,000
Syrian refugees since March: +787,019
Refugees in Turkey: +170,700
Refugees in Lebanon: +260,943
Refugees in Jordan: +242,649
Refugees in Iraq: +84,852
Refugees in Egypt: +15,057
International Reactions
US ’evaluating’ next steps in Syria conflict
Panetta reveals US divisions over Syria
UN sees glimmer of hope in Syria opposition offer of talks
UN Says 5000 Syrians a Day Are Now Fleeing War
Selected Media Coverage
Daily Beast: Did the CIA Betray Syria’s Rebels?
New York Times: A Faceless Teenage Refugee Who Helped Ignite Syria’s War
Bloomberg: Syria, Not Benghazi, Is Obama’s Big Security Failure
Al-Arabiya: Free prisoners or I go to bed hungry: Syria cartoon
The Economist: Syria’s refugees
USA Today: Call for more aid to Syria
Washington Post: Why did Mr. Obama overrule his advisers on Syria?
Gulf News: A new phase in the struggle for Syria
Videos
Armed Resistance
Damascus: the rebels cut off the road to Jobar to block military reinforcements into the neighborhood
Jabal Zawiya, Idlib: Rebels fire mortar shells on regime military positions
Aleppo: Rebels besiege Menneg airbase
Dier Azzour: Rebel fighters fire on regime warplanes
Damascus
Qaboun: Airstrikes renewed on the neighborhood
Barzeh: Protesters vow to continue their fight for freedom
Asali: Rocket launchers pound the neighborhood
Yarmouk Camp: The aftermath of the indiscriminate shelling
Mazeh: Rocket launchers stationed at Mazeh airbase pound rebels-held districts
Damascus suburb
Moadamiyat al-Sham: Scores of deaths and injuries caused by the heavy shelling, P2
Ghouta Sharqiya: Regime warplanes bombard the district
Douma: Protesters chant their support for the rebel fighters
Irbin: Protesters demand the overthrow of the regime
Kafer batna: Demonstration in solidarity with the detainees
Aleppo
Sukkari: Protesters demand the overthrow of the regime
Hanano: Demonstrators take to the streets amid heavy shelling that left many people dead and wounded, P2
Ashrafiya: Heavy aerial bombardment targets residential buildings
Shaar: Regime shelling causes deaths and injuries among civilians
Haidariya: Dozens killed and injured due to the heavy shelling
Aleppo suburb
Al-Bab: Demonstration chants for the rebel fighters
Darat Ezza: Protesters chant for freedom and hail the heroism of the rebel fighters
Koubani: Demonstration in solidarity with the areas under attack
Ibin: Demonstration against international stalemate on Syria
Minbej: Protesters chant for the areas under attack
Homs
Bab Dreib: Demonstrators condemn regime’s crimes against humanity
Kafraaya: The village comes under heavy shelling
Waar: Protesters chant their support for the areas under attack
Dar Kabeera: Women and children join an regime protest
Central City: Activists report on the deteriorating humanitarian crisis
Daraa
Daraa Balad: Heavy shelling targets residential areas
Qusour: Protesters chant their support for the rebel fighters
Herak: A rebel fighter critically injured after been shot by security forces
Mahatta: The city comes under heavy shelling
Kherbet Ghazala: Demonstrators show support to Khatib’s call for dialogue
Hama
Aleppo Road: Protesters denounce the regime’s brutal crackdown
Hamediya: Demonstrators demand the international community to act on ending the bloodshed
Kaferzeita: Protesters say they won’t surrender to the regime’s brutal crackdown
Latamna: Demonstrators reject dialogue with the regime
Sheikh Anbar: Demonstration chants support for the areas under attack
Idlib
Has: Residents pull bodies off the rubble
Mdaya: Demonstrators call for Assad’s ouster
Kansafra: The village comes under heavy artillery shelling
Keleli: Protesters chant their support for the rebels
Ma’arret Nouman: Regime shelling targets the national hospital
Ariha:
Deir Azzour
Mayadeen: Children join an anti-regime protest
Jubaila: Demonstrators chant for the rebel fighters
Hajin: Demonstrators chant for the unity of the Syrian people
Alhwaika: The neighborhood comes under heavy aerial and artillery bombardments
Raqqa
Central City: Demonstrators chant for freedom and demand the overthrow of the regime
Latakia
Jabal Turcoman: Activists show unexploded ordnance and cluster bombs
Demonstrations and Activities Abroad
Britain: Syrians protest outside the British parliament in solidarity with the people of Syria
