Several killed in Syria car bombings. 5 November 2012Last updated at 12:37 ET A rebel group said it had targeted pro-government militiamen in Mezzeh 86 A number of people have been killed in two car bomb attacks in Syria. The first occurred outside a state-run development agency in Ziyara, a village in the central province of Hama. State media reported that two people had been killed and 10 others injured, but one activist group said at least 50 soldiers and militiamen had died. The second blast left 11 people dead in Mezzeh 86, a predominantly pro-government district in the west of the capital, Damascus, officials said.
The violence came as the main opposition coalition, the Syrian National Council (SNC), announced that it had broadened its membership to more than 400, taking in activists and groups from inside Syria. The move, announced at a meeting in Qatar, seeks to deflect criticism that the exile-led coalition fails to represent people on the ground. Military post Palestinian camp deaths. Syria Government Uses Cluster Bombs Against Civilians: U.N. By Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS, Nov 6 (Reuters) - The U.N. political affairs chief told the Security Council on Tuesday of credible reports that the Syrian government is using cluster bombs and diplomats said peace mediator Lakhdar Brahimi had urged Russia to be more "pro-active" in ending the war.
Jeffrey Feltman, the U.N. undersecretary general for political affairs, made the remarks at a closed-door session of the 15-nation Security Council on Syria, envoys said. Brahami had also told urged Russia at the weekend to do more to help end the war, they said. "In his meeting with (Foreign Minister Sergei) Lavrov, Brahimi encouraged Russia to take a more 'pro-active' role in resolving the Syria crisis," a diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Feltman confirmed to reporters after the meeting that he had informed the council about "credible reports of the use of cluster bombs by the government. " Russian U.N. Some 32,000 people have died in Syria's conflict.
Analysis. Fighting erupts between Syrian rebels and Kurds. But the eruption of violence exposed little-noticed frictions that have been building between the mostly Arab Syrian opposition forces seeking to oust President Bashar al-Assad and Syrian Kurds, who increasingly see the revolt as an opportunity to extend their long-standing aspirations for the autonomy — and perhaps independence — of Kurdish areas across the region. “This is setting the stage for a conflict that is going to come,” said Joost Hiltermann, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa program at the International Crisis Group. And unless Syria’s already divided opposition takes steps to address Kurdish aspirations in a meaningful way, chances are high that a wider Arab-Kurdish war could follow any regime change in Damascus, he said.
The clashes have been small compared with the unchecked battles engulfing the country between the rebels and Assad loyalists. Col. Ahmed Ramadan and Suzan Haidamous contributed to this report. Viewpoint: Syria set for drawn-out conflict. 29 August 2012Last updated at 20:02 ET By Fawaz A Gerges Middle East analyst The number of Syrians fleeing the violence has dramatically increased in recent months As violence spreads to almost every corner of Syria, there is no longer any doubt that the country is engulfed in all-out war.
In August alone, more than 3,000 Syrians were reported killed. The death toll from the massacre in Darayya - more than 400 dead over two days according to some reports - is not only a reflection of the increasing number of Syrians being killed on a daily basis, but also a sign of the heightened brutality and meteoric escalation of the raging civil war. Another indicator that the Syrian conflict has spiralled out of control is the flood of Syrian refugees inside and outside the country. The UN estimates that more than 170,000 refugees have already sought sanctuary in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq - a number that has increased rapidly over the past week.
Military spread thin Cultivated loyalty “Start Quote. Break-down. Syrian tanks enter Golan Heights. Beirut -- Three Syrian tanks entered the demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights on Saturday, Israel said, raising concerns violence from Syria's civil war could heat up a long-quiet frontier that has not seen such an incursion in nearly 40 years. Israel complained to U.N. peacekeepers present in the area, a relatively low-key response that suggested it did not see the Syrian armor as an immediate threat.
But the entry marks the most serious spillover of Syria's turmoil to date at the frontier. Neighboring countries are dealing with a variety of incidents linked to the conflict - Turkey exchanged artillery fire with Syria for a week last month, while Jordan has seen several shootings at the border and clashes linked to the uprising against President Bashar Assad have broken out in Lebanon. Some in Israel worry that that if Assad goes, the country could fall into the hands of Islamic extremists or descend into sectarian warfare that would destabilizing the region.
Syria Conflict: Rebels, Army Battle Over Taftanaz Airbase. BEIRUT — Three Syrian tanks entered the demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights on Saturday, Israel said, raising concerns violence from Syria's civil war could heat up a long-quiet frontier that has not seen such an incursion in nearly 40 years. Israel complained to U.N. peacekeepers present in the area, a relatively low-key response that suggested it did not see the Syrian armor as an immediate threat.
But the entry marks the most serious spillover of Syria's turmoil to date at the frontier, where stray ordnance has exploded on the Israeli side in the past. Neighboring countries are dealing with a variety of incidents linked to the conflict – Turkey exchanged artillery fire with Syria for a week last month, while Jordan has seen several shootings at the border and clashes linked to the uprising against President Bashar Assad have broken out in Lebanon. Inside Syria on Saturday for example, Islamic militants took part in a dawn assault on a strategic airbase in the north of the country. Syrian air force general 'killed by rebels' 30 October 2012Last updated at 14:20 ET A senior Syrian air force general has been killed by rebels in central Damascus, state television reports. Abdullah Mahmoud al-Khalidi was shot dead late on Monday in the capital's Rukn al-Din district, it said. The attack appears to be the latest in a string of rebel attacks on high-level figures from President Bashar al-Assad's administration.
In July, a bomb killed the country's defence minister and Mr Assad's brother-in-law, Assef Shawkat. "As part of their campaign to target national personalities and scientists, armed terrorist groups assassinated Air Force General Abdullah Mahmud al-Khalidi in the Damascus district of Rukn al-Din," the broadcaster said. It added that he was one of Syria's foremost experts in aviation. The Free Syrian Army claimed that it was behind the attack, saying it had also killed an air force intelligence official in the same operation, AFP reports. Air strikes The opposition says that shelling has continued in the capital. More research needed.
Syrian rebels execute unarmed government soldiers; dozens killed in fighting. The execution of the soldiers, which was documented in a graphic video posted online Thursday, is not the first time that rebel fighters appear to have committed war crimes. U.N. representatives and human rights organizations have repeatedly criticized the Syrian opposition in recent months for carrying out summary executions and for abusing detainees. In early August, members of a clan loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were executed by rebels, and a video of the killings was widely disseminated on the Internet.
The executions prompted some commanders of the opposition Free Syrian Army to draft a code of conduct for their fighters in an attempt to curb human rights abuses. But the execution of the soldiers Thursday indicated that the code is not being observed by all rank-and-file rebel fighters. The Syrian government also has been heavily criticized for human rights abuses by the military and shabiha militiamen. Ahmed Ramadan contributed to this report. Regime launches airstrikes in Syria during Muslim holiday cease-fire. The Associated Press Posted: 10/30/2012 12:01:00 AM MDT | Updated: about a year ago Residents search for bodies in the rubble after a Syrian Air Force jet fired missiles at Erbeen, near Damascus on Monday.
(Reuters) BEIRUT — Syrian fighter jets pounded rebel areas across the country on Monday with scores of airstrikes that anti-regime activists called the most widespread bombing in a single day since Syria's troubles started 19 months ago. The death toll for what was supposed to be a four-day cease-fire between the regime of President Bashar Assad and rebels seeking his overthrow exceeded 500, and activists guessed the government's heavy reliance on air power reflected its inability to roll back rebel gains. "The army is no longer able to make any progress on the ground so it is resorting to this style," said activist Hisham Nijim via Skype from the northern town of Khan Sheikhoun. U.N. Questions... Syria rebels 'take key Damascus-Aleppo checkpoints' 1 November 2012Last updated at 12:24 ET Maarat al-Numan has been a focus of fighting as it straddles the motorway between Damascus and Aleppo Rebel attacks on army checkpoints on the main road between Syria's biggest cities, Damascus and Aleppo, have left 28 government troops dead, reports say.
Five opposition fighters were also killed in the attacks, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist group. They came as regime helicopters and jets carried out air strikes in eastern suburbs of the capital and elsewhere. These often drop barrels of TNT, which are inaccurate but cause huge damage. Helicopter gunships strafed an area of Damascus while warplanes were in action over the capital's suburbs and in north-western Idlib province, said the SOHR. In the past few weeks, the military has stepped up the use of warplanes where ground forces have not been able to dislodge rebel fighters. Exposed positions. Syria rebels 'capture oilfield' in Deir Ezzor. 4 November 2012Last updated at 16:46 ET Few images have emerged from Deir, which has seen many clashes in the 19-month uprising Syrian rebels have captured a key oilfield in eastern Deir Ezzor province, activists say, after a siege lasting several days.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said al-Ward fell after fierce fighting, although the reports have not been independently confirmed. The Observatory said it was the first time the rebels had taken control of an oilfield. The news came as various opposition groups met for crucial talks in Qatar. Also on Sunday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement that on Saturday it had managed to deliver assistance to people in neighbourhoods of the flashpoint city of Homs for the first time in months.
The ICRC said it was able to deliver medical items for the treatment of up to 100 wounded people, and food and hygiene items for more than 1,200 people. Sanctions Government in exile Continue reading the main story.