Syrian Revolution Daily News Round-up Day 727: Sunday 10-Mar-13

Mass slaughter in Damascus and Aleppo, rebels gain ground in Homs

Corpses lined up after been pulled out of the Queiq River in Aleppo
today

• Rebel fighters recaptured Baba Amr in Homs, some 500 soldiers defected from Assad’s army.
• Dozens of people, including women and children were summarily executed in Damascus and Aleppo.
• Number of Syrian refugees could reach three million this year, UN warned.

• Homs: Rebel fighters storm Baba Amr and kill a number of soldiers near Khaldiya neighborhood, P2, P3
• Mleiha, Damascus Suburb: Residents discover a mass murder near a security checkpoint, P2
• Bustan Qasrm, Aleppo: Dozens of bodies pulled out of the Queiq River, P2

• Total Death Toll: 174
• Opposition Death Toll: 129 including 16 women, 15 children and 27 rebel fighters (Damascus and Suburbs: 46, Aleppo: 38, Hama: 13, Daraa: 12, Homs: 9, Idlib:? 9, Deir Azzour: 2)
• Regime Soldiers  & Militiamen Death Toll: +45
• Number of areas shelled: +227
• Number of People Wounded: +55
• Number of People Detained: +10
• FSA Key Operations:
  • Seized control of Baba Amr and other areas in Homs.
  • Seized control of al-Mughayr village in Hama.
  • Shot down a fighter jet in the Raqa suburb of Mansoura.
  • Destroyed a number of military vehicles in the Abbasids district in Damascus.

Summary of Events

As part of their efforts to break the suffocating siege that have been imposed by the regime on the rebel-held areas in Homs since more than 274 days, rebel fighters from Jabhat al-Nusra and other rebel groups recaptured the neighborhood of Baba Amro, which was seized by the regime forces a year ago. They also captured the nearby neighborhood of Jouret Arays and parts of the al-Insha’at neighborhood in southwest of Homs in addition to the the village of Aldouair in the northwestern suburb.

The rebels’ victories were followed by intense cluster and rocket bombardments on Bab Amr, triggering mass exodus from the neighborhood and the surrounding areas. Meanwhile, regime forces backed by militiamen from Hezbollah and the National Defense Force continued their ground assault on the rebels’ strongholds in the old city amid heavy aerial and rocket shelling however, the rebels stood their ground and repelled their attack by killing dozens of them.

The rebels also scored a series of advances across the country today. They seized the neighborhood of Zubair in the Damascus suburb of Sayeda Zeinab and destroyed two armored vehicles during heavy clashes that broke out in the road linking the Abbasids Square with the district of Jobar in the eastern part of Damascus.

They shot down a fighter jet in the Raqa suburb of Mansoura and gained new grounds by capturing the neighborhood of Farfara in Aleppo as well as the village of al-Mughayr in the northwestern suburb of Hama. They bombed the Sarhan Checkpoint and ambushed a military reinforcement convoy in the international road in the Idlib suburb of Heish, destroying a military tank and a number of military trucks carrying ammunitions.

Activists said that more than 500 soldiers defected from the regime’s army in Damascus and its suburbs in the past three days, including soldiers from the elite Fourth Division headed by Assad’s brother Maher.

Meanwhile, regime forces continued their attacks on opposition-held areas across the country, shelling more than 227 locations, 19 of which were pounded by fighter jets, four more were bombarded by Scud-type missiles and four others were shelled with surface-to-surface missiles. They also bombarded other locations using all sorts of heavy weaponry such as rocket launchers, heavy artillery, thermobaric, cluster, phosphorus and TNT bombs, thus causing extensive material damages and leaving dozens of people dead and wounded.

The continued violence in Syria left more than 174 people dead today. Regime forces and loyalist militiamen killed at least 129 people, including 16 women, 15 children and 27 rebel fighters, whereas the rebels killed more than 45 soldiers and militiamen.

Some 24 more bodies were pulled out of the Queiq River in the neighborhood of Bustan Qaser in Aleppo, the victims who include a ten-year-old boy, had their hands bound and executed with a bullet to head. The bodies of at least 16 people, including two men, four children and eight women, all slashed by knives, were discovered near a security checkpoint in the Damascus suburb of Mleiha.

Moreover, the indiscriminate shelling left at least 19 people dead in the neighborhood of Jobar and the refugee camps of Yarmouk and Husainiya in Damascus and in its provincial towns of Moadamiyat al-Sham, Douma and Khan Sheih, 15 more in the neighborhoods of Sakhour, Ashrafiya and Qadi Askar in Aleppo and in its provincial towns of al-Bab, Tadef and Saqiliya in addition to three more in the Hama suburb of Kernaz.

The number of Syrian refugees that already passed the one million mark could double or even triple by the end of 2013, Antonio Guterres of the UNHCR warned on Sunday. The UN said earlier that it needs $1.4bn to assist the four million internally displaced Syrians.

Videos

Armed Resistance
Khan Sheih, Damascus Suburb: Rebel fighters storm a defense base and capture rockets and other heavy weaponry, P2,P3
Hama: Rebel fighters storm a checkpoint and capture a military tank
Heesh, Idlib: Rebels fire a military tank while shelling neighborhood

Damascus                    
Jobar: Clouds of smock billow from the neighborhood due to the indiscriminate shelling
Qabouna: a building set ablaze as a result of the heavy shelling
Yarmouk Camp: the devastating aftermath of the aerial shelling

Damascus Suburb
Mwadamiyat Al-sham: Regime rocket shelling leaves many people dead and wounded
Zabadani: The town comes under intense shelling
Daraya: Massive explosions rock the town due to the intense shelling
Harasta: Scud-type missile passes overhead

Aleppo
Shaar: The devastating aftermath of the indiscriminate shelling
Ashrafiya: A man dies as a result of the indiscriminate shelling
Masaraniya: A building partially destroyed after been hit by a mortar shell
Hullok: A man lies on the floor after been shot dead by regime sniper

Aleppo suburb
Menneg: Regime fighter jet bombards the vicinity of Mennig airbase
Al-bab: two children died by the heavy shelling
Safeera: The devastating aftermath of heavy shelling

Homs
Baba Amr: Regime warplanes bombard the neighborhood
Qusayr: Residents happy for the liberation of Baba Amr
Houla: Demonstration in solidarity with Baba Amr and other areas under attack
Old City: Smock billows from neighborhoods as a result of the heavy shelling

Daraa
Kherbet Ghazala: A surface-to-surface missile lands in the town
Busra al-Sham: A child gets injured after been shot by regime sniper
Ataman: Lifeless body of a rebel fighter killed during clashes with regime forces
Maarbeh: The village comes under heavy shelling

Hama
Mugayer: The town comes under heavy shelling after been taken over by the rebels
Maree: A child lashes out at Assad after been injured
Kaferzeita: Lifeless body of a man killed under torture
Kernaz: A woman dies as a result of the indiscriminate shelling

Idlib
Kafrenbol: Demonstration in solidarity with Baba Amr and other areas under attack
Tamanaa: The devastating aftermath of the indiscriminate shelling
Has: Rocket attack leaves many people dead and wounded, P2, P3
Babolin: Clouds of smoke billow from the village after been shelled by regime forces

Deir Azzour
Central City: A building set ablaze as a result of the intense shelling
Hatla: The devastating aftermath of the indiscriminate shelling
Mayadeen: Regime airstrike causes several casualties

Raqqa 
Central City: The Syrian revolution flag replaces the statue of Hafez al-Assad

Demonstrations and Activities Abroad
UK: Humanitarian aid campaign for the disaster-stricken people of Syria

Source