Syrian Revolution Daily News Round-up Day 713: Sunday 24-Feb-13

Rebels make gains near Aleppo, tension rises on the border with Lebanon

Captured military tank used in today’s attack
on the police academy in Aleppo

• Rebels launched major offensive to capture the police academy in the western suburb of Aleppo.
• Regime forces killed a famous Syrian actor and dozens of civilians near Damascus.
• Tensions rise on Syria-Lebanon border as Hezbollah prepares for attacks on Syrian villages.

• Aleppo Suburb: Rebels attack the police academy and take over the town of Khan Asal, P2, P3
• Harem, Idlib: Bodies of dozens of soldiers discovered near the town
• Damascus: Rebels fire mortar shells on security positions, P2

• Total Death Toll: 162
• Opposition Death Toll: 130 including 11 children, 9 women and 27 rebel fighters (Damascus and Suburbs: 40, Aleppo: 29, Idlib: 26, Homs; 17, Hama: 9, Daraa: 7, Deir Azzour: 1, Raqa: 1)
• Regime Soldiers  & Militiamen Death Toll: +32
• Number of areas shelled: +367
• Number of People Wounded: +50
• Number of People Detained: +25
• FSA Key Operations:
  • Seized control of the Khan Asal town near Aleppo.
  • Seized parts of the police academy in Aleppo suburb.
  • Destroyed a military convoy near the Damascus suburb of Harasta.
  • Fired mortars on an intelligence compound in Damascus.

Summary of Events

The rebels scored strategic victories in Aleppo as the indiscriminate shelling left dozens of people dead and wounded near Damascus.

Today’s death toll reached more than 162. Regime forces and loyalist militiamen killed at least 130 people, including 11 children, nine women and 27 rebel fighters, whereas the rebels killed more than 32 soldiers and militiamen.

Regime forces shelled more than 376 locations across the country, 21 of which were pounded with fighter jets. Scud-type missiles landed in two areas near Aleppo, one fell in the northern town of Tal Refaat while the other fell in the town of Tal Shoghaib 4-km south of Aleppo international airport, however, no casualties were caused.

A defected army officer who lives in Lebanon said that three surface-to-surface missiles were fired towards the Syrian territory from the Hezbollah-controlled Lebanese village of Aysara. The missiles were spotted above the Lebanese district of Baalbak but there were no further information on where they landed.

Rebel fighters were on high alert today following reports that a group of Hezbollah fighters were preparing to attack Syrian villages in the Damascus suburb of Rankous in the district of Kalamoon. Activists spotted a military convoy of some 300 armed militiamen in the Lebanese town of Soways, seven kilometers away from the Syrian border.

Yasin Baqoush, one of Syria’s most famous actors was killed in the neighborhood of Asaly, south of Damascus, when regime forces targeted his car with an RPG late in the evening. This came as the regime started supplying RPGs to the more than 300 checkpoints securing the capital.

Residents discovered bodies of 20 soldiers near the Idlib suburb of Harem today. They accused regime forces of murdering them while trying to flee upon refusing orders to shell civilian areas.

At least 11 people were killed and dozens more were injured when regime fighter jets carried out airstrikes on the Damascus suburb of Douma, targeting residential buildings, a school and a bakery. Some eight people were also killed and dozens were injured when fighter jets dropped cluster bombs on a residential complex in the rebel-held town of Moadamiyat al-Sham. Meanwhile, the eastern districts of Jobar and Qaboun came under heavy mortar and tanks shelling which caused several casualties among civilians.

Regime indiscriminate shelling also left five people dead in the Aleppo suburb of Kafer Hamra and three more in the neighborhood of Waer in Homs, while leaving dozens more wounded in the village of Maghara in the suburb of Idlib.

Fighting intensified in the western suburb of Aleppo when rebel fighters launched a major offensive to take over the police academy located near the provincial town of Khan Asal which fell completely in the rebels’ hands following a series of victories. They took over several buildings inside the academy as heavy fighting was still going. They destroyed a military petrol station and captured several military posts and a warehouse that belongs to the electricity authority in the same town as and advanced further to interdict the strategic Aleppo-Damascus highway.

In Damascus, the rebels attacked regime forces stationed near the eastern district of Jobar and fired mortar shells on theAir Force Intelligence branch near the Abbasids square as well as on the northern neighborhood of Ush al-Warwar, Home to Assad’s loyalist Shabiha militiamen. They also destroyed a military convoy of two tanks and two Zil vehicles near the provincial town of Harasta.

The rebels interdicted the Damascus-Deir Azzour road which is used by the regime to send military reinforcements to Deir Azzour. They also continued their attack on the base of the army’s 113^th air defense brigade in its western suburb as heavy fighting continued on several fronts in Daraa and Homs.

The rebels attacked a checkpoint in the Tariq Halab district in Hama city and killed five security forces. Meanwhile, 13 rebel fighters were killed in ambush in the Kokab-Kafraa road in the suburb of Hama.

Videos

Armed Resistance
Deir Azzour: Rebel fire on a sniper stationed on a government building
Talbisa, Homs: Rebels fire mortar shells on a military checkpoint

Damascus
Asali: Syrian Actor Yasin Baqoush killed by regime forces
Hajar Aswad: A baby girl dies while her sister critically injured as a result of the indiscriminate shelling
Yarmouk Camp: The devastating aftermath of the indiscriminate shelling
Qaboun: Regime shells land in residential areas
Damascus: Leaked video footage shows regime forces pounding the city with heavy artillery

Damascus suburb
Douma: Regime airstrikes wreak havoc on the town, P2
Moadamiyat al-Sham: Dozens of people killed and injured as a result of the indiscriminate aerial bombardments, P2
Moadmiyat al-Sham: Scud missile passes overhead
Darayya: Regime warplane bombards the town
Nabek: The devastating aftermath of the heavy artillery shelling
Ayn Tarma: Residents terrified as regime forces indiscriminately bombard their town

Aleppo
Saladin: A woman and her child killed by regime snipers
Bustan Qasr: Demonstrators vow to achieve their demands of freedom and dignity
Ithaa: Humanitarian crisis caused by the extensive damage caused by the indiscriminate shelling
Old City: the devastating aftermath of the heavy shelling

Aleppo suburb
Al-Bab Road: The aftermath of the Scud missile attack
Tal Shoghaib: The aftermath of the Scud missile attack
Bazzaa: Funeral procession of a rebel fighter
Kaferhamra: Regime shelling leaves dozens of civilians dead and wounded

Homs
Qusayr: Regime forces fire indiscriminately on a car carrying civilians leaving many of them dead and wounded, P2
Rastan: Regime forces bombard the town
Bab Houd: Homes destroyed by the indiscriminate shelling
Talbisa: The devastating aftermath of the heavy shelling

Daraa
Daraa Balad: Homes set ablaze as a result of the heavy shelling
Dael: A women and her child killed by regime snipers, P2
Mahatta: Regime snipers fire indiscriminately on civilians
Kherbet Ghazala: Military tanks fire indiscriminately on houses

Hama
Aleppo road: Demonstration in solidarity with the areas under attack
Kafrenbouda: The town comes under heavy artillery and aerial bombardments

Idlib
Kafrenbol: Protesters chant for freedom and demand the overthrow of the regime
Ma’arret Misreen: Rebel fighter killed by regime forces
Heesh: The devastating aftermath of the indiscriminate shelling

Deir Azzour
Matar: Smock billows from the neighborhood due to the intense shelling
Alhwaika: The neighborhood comes under heavy shelling
Salihiya: The devastating aftermath of the indiscriminate shelling
Khasarat: Regime shelling causes extensive material damage

Suweida
Central City: Demonstration chants for the fallen heroes

Source