Our Syria Awareness Campaign by Freedom Mediahub. Iraq Daily: Top US General — You Can’t Defeat Islamic State Without Beating Them in Syria. Signalling a further expansion of US operations against the Islamic State, America’s top general said on Thursday that the jihadists cannot be defeated in Iraq without confronting the group in Syria.
General Martin Dempsey said the US and its allies, in both the Middle East and beyond, would need to combine their efforts to defeat the Islamic State over “both sides of what is essentially at this point a nonexistent border”. Dempsey said would the campaign would have to be more than US airstrikes in Iraq and/or Syria: “I’m not predicting those (airstrikes) will occur in Syria, at least not by the United States of America. But it requires the application of all the tools of national power — diplomatic, economic, information, military.” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, alongside Dempsey at a Pentagon news conference, echoed that Washington is “looking at all options” to stop the expansion of the Islamic State, as “sophisticated and well-funded as any group that we have seen.” Syria: One Year On, No Justice for Chemical Attacks Victims. (New York) – Justice remains elusive for the victims of the chemical weapons attacks on Ghouta, near Damascus, which killed hundreds of people, Human Rights Watch said today, on the anniversary of the August 21, 2013 attacks.
The attacks were the most significant use of chemical agents since the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein, who used them in an attack on Iraqi Kurds in 1988, but no one has been held to account. Available evidence strongly suggests that Syrian forces carried out the attacks, though the government denies responsibility. Subsequently, under considerable international pressure, Syria acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention and agreed to eliminate its chemical weapons.
Lina Sergie Attar on Twitter: Over 400 Syrian children died on August 21 2013. Today we read their names. #100000Names #Syria... Philosophy and chemistry banned in schools by ISIS - Al Arabiya News. By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News Saturday, 16 August 2014 The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has established an “Islamic curriculum” for students living in the Syrian northern city of Raqqa and banned the study of philosophy and chemistry, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported Friday.
Genocide in Syria. Free_Media_Hub : A message from Syrian children ... Lebanese Army advances in Arsal as militants retreat. ARSAL, Lebanon: The Lebanese Army is working to restore order in Arsal Thursday morning, with a number of missing policemen turning up, after militants withdrew from the northeast border town.
The sources said groups loyal to Imad Jomaa, the Syrian national whose arrest by the Lebanese Army over the weekend triggered the battle in Arsal, pulled out toward Syria following clashes with Lebanese troops around Wadi Sweid and Wadi Hosn, the farthest east points in Arsal, close to the border. After the militants' withdraw, seven missing policemen were found. Security sources said the Lebanese Army found three members of the Internal Security Forces at a house that had been occupied by jihadists. Syrian militants kidnap two Lebanese soldiers in Bekaa: source. WHO & Syrian Arab Red Crescent deliver health supplies to Syrians. Genocide-in-syria. Free_Media_Hub : What to do about Damascus ...
Genocide-in-syria. Syria Deeply, Covering the Crisis. With millions exposed to daily violence, kidnappings, deaths of loved ones and displacement, Syria is now in the midst of a mental health crisis.
Though exact numbers are difficult to pinpoint, psychologists and medical experts say hundreds of thousands could be afflicted with illnesses ranging from from acute depression and paranoia to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and harder-to-treat psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia. Beirut-based psychologist Aya Mhanna has been working with Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Turkey for the past two years, including hundreds of media activists, political refugees and journalists – people who still go in and out of the country.
She works regularly with international NGOs and aid groups like UNICEF and WorldVision. Here, she discusses the scope of Syria's mental health crisis – and what must be done to fix it. Little girl rescued from rubble after Syria airstrike. Syria conflict: Isis marches further into Syria tipping the balance of power in the civil war - Middle East. Isis is establishing dominance over the opposition to Syria’s President, Bashar al-Assad, as other rebel groups flee or pledge allegiance to the caliphate declared by the Isis leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, after the capture of Mosul on 10 June.
On Monday, the jihadists took over the rebel held half of Deir Ezzor on the Euphrates river, raising their black flag over the city and executing the rebel commander from Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qa’ida affiliate that was previously in control. The recent Isis advances in Syria, following victories in Iraq last month, are altering the balance of power in the whole region. The opposition military forces not aligned with the Syrian government or Isis are being squeezed out of existence, making obsolete the US, British, Saudi and Turkish policy of backing groups hostile to both Assad and Isis. He said the normal population of Kobani region was 200,000 but this number is swollen by refugees from the border area and from Aleppo.
UN chief says de Mistura to be new Syria mediator. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday appointed veteran UN official Staffan de Mistura, a former UN special envoy to Afghanistan and Iraq, to replace Lakhdar Brahimi as the international mediator seeking an end to Syria's civil war.
The move comes amid worsening violence as Islamist militants seized swathes of Syria and Iraq and after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was re-elected in a June 3 poll described by Ban as a blow to international efforts to end to the conflict. "In taking this decision I have consulted broadly, including with Syrian authorities," Ban told reporters, adding that he had appointed Arab League diplomat Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, of Egypt, as de Mistura's deputy. "The special envoy will provide good offices aimed at bringing an end to all violence and human rights violations and promoting a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis," he said. Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, had confirmed the appointment on Wednesday.
المركز السوري للاعلام و حرية التعبير في العالم العربي. No to Arbitrary Detention....
Freedom to Mazen Darwish. Jordan: High Commissioner Visits a Struggling Syrian Family. Free_Media_Hub : Being a Syrian Refugee is a ... Syrian women's rights under scrutiny amid abuse, sexual violence and detentions. A Syrian woman with her children flee a site hit by what activists said was a bomb dropped by government forces, Aleppo, June 8, 2014.
REUTERS/Mahmoud Hebbo LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Layal, a 21-year-old Syrian woman, was part of a Damascus group providing shelter, warm clothing and other necessities to families driven from the city of Homs by the country's civil war. On Nov. 8, 2012, plain-clothed men whom Layal identified as pro-government miltia members arrested her and took her to a detention facility. That was the start of her nightmare. During her detention Layal was kicked, beaten, tied up and hung from a ceiling. LoaiAgha: Une famille de réfugiés syriens ... كلمة صوتية للشيخ أبي مالك الشامي أمير جبهة النصرة في القلمون I مراسل المنارة البيضاء في القلمون YPG Commander: Kurds in Syria ‘Deserve’ US Support. Sipan Hemo is the commander-in-chief of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), perhaps the most organized fighting force in Syria.
Based in predominantly Kurdish areas, which are known as Rojava, the YPG has fought Islamic groups for two years and is controlling security for the region. Syria: ISIS Holds 130 Kurdish Children. (New York) – The Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) should immediately release the estimated 133 Kurdish boys it has held hostage in northern Syria for a month. ISIS abducted 153 children, ages 13 and 14, from the mostly Kurdish town of Ain al-`Arab (Kobani in Kurdish) on May 29, 2014, as they returned from taking year-end exams in the city of Aleppo. Five boys escaped and ISIS released 15 others on June 28, apparently in return for the release of three ISIS members held by Kurdish forces. Genocide-in-syria. Witter / ? Records show how Iraqi extremists withstood U.S. anti-terror efforts.
WASHINGTON — The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria sprang from a largely self-funded, corporation-style prototype whose resilience to counterterrorism operations was proven by the time Abu Bakr al Baghdadi assumed command in 2010. The militant group Baghdadi inherited had in place a sophisticated bureaucracy that was almost obsessive about record-keeping. Its middle-managers detailed, for example, the number of wives and children each fighter had, to gauge compensation rates upon death or capture, and listed expenditures in neat Excel spreadsheets that noted payments to an “assassination platoon” and “Al Mustafa Explosives Company.”
Income from the Sunni Muslim militants’ looting of Shiite Muslim-owned property was recorded as “spoils.” Insurgent records suggest that the United States will find it difficult to rout an organization whose structure and attention to detail allowed it to prosper even during the toughest U.S. counterterrorism efforts of the last decade. Newsweek. A man holds a roll of pictures of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a rally in support of him at al-Umawiin square in Damascus June 21, 2011. Khaled al-Hariri/Reuters Mohammed Al-Saud is under no illusions. EjmAlrai : #BreakingNews #ISIS NEW MAP ... Netanyahu suggests pinning ISIS against Iran. WASHINGTON -- Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu waxed broadly of a Middle East in turmoil on Sunday, in his first public comments on the threat posed to the region by ISIS, a terrorist militia conquering swaths of territory in eastern Syria and northern Iraq.
Threatening a borderless conflict between "extremist Shi'ites," funded by leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and equally extreme Sunnis— a soft "alliance" between ISIS and al Qaeda— the Israeli prime minister suggested the United States should largely stay out of the fight, and instead allow the parties to weaken one another. "Don't strengthen either of them. Weaken both," Netanyahu said. As US President Barack Obama weighs precise air strikes against the Sunni terrorist group, which seeks to establish an Islamic caliphate across Iraq and the antiquated al-Sham lands, Netanyahu declined to comment on the wisdom of direct intervention. Human Rights Watch Daily Brief, 12 July. Activists-20-dead-in-Syria-barrel-bomb-attack-in-Aleppo- Omarz7 : همرات الجيش ... The war in Syria: ISIS’s most successful investment yet.
The organization known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is no doubt among those who have benefited the most from the Syrian conflict. Contrary to the impression one might have at first glance, ISIS has lost next to nothing in Syria. Although many fighters from the radical Islamist group have been killed there, and despite the huge amount of money ISIS has spent in Syria – for salaries, arms and ammunition – all facts indicate the war in Syria has been a successful investment for ISIS, one that has helped the al-Qaeda offshoot rebalance its finances, strengthen its combat capabilities, and supplement its ranks with more and more “mujahideen.” The year 2006 was a turning point on the jihadi scene.
Return to Aleppo: 'We are in hell' Witter / ? Countdown to 11 juin 2014 16 h 00 in New York. تدريب نساء الدولة الإسلامية في ولاية الرقة RevolutionSyria : “Tell the world we are carrying ... Kurdish Question - What does Rojava mean to who? By Mela Ehmed Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war, both regional and international powers have been forced to re-adapt their positions. Ex envoy Ford says could not defend US Syria policy. City of Devastation: Syrians return to Hellish Scenes in Homs. For this week’s issue of TIME, photographer Yuri Kozyrev and TIME Middle East Bureau Chief Aryn Baker traveled to Syria to document locals returning to the city of Homs, which lies in ruins. The return came after a ceasefire between the government and rebel forces who held the city for almost two years. Another 96 Killed as Barrel Bombs Fall on Aleppo. Free_Media_Hub : Sorry kid #Syria #bloodelections ...
Syria Special: How Syrian, Iranian, and US Media Covered Up a Major Insurgent Victory. Last weekend, insurgents won significant victories in Idlib Province in northwest Syria, attacking on a front from Khan Shaykhoun to Ariha. Syrian Kurdish mother killed at Turkish border. A security checkpoint is seen at Derik in Hasakah, Oct. 31, 2012. US nears decision on training Syrian rebels.
President Barack Obama may soon sign off on a project to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels, in an open move that would significantly boost US support to forces who have been asking for three years for military help in their quest to oust President Bashar Assad, administration officials said Tuesday. The step, which could be announced as early as Wednesday, would send a limited number of American troops to Jordan to be part of a regional training mission that would instruct carefully vetted members of the Free Syrian Army on tactics, including counterterrorism operations, the officials said.
They said Obama has not yet given final approval for the initiative, and that there is still internal discussion about its merits and potential risks. Jordan Times. Refugees 'struggle for cancer care' At secret location, team collects evidence of Syrian war crimes. Physicians for Human Rights. Free_Media_Hub : Week Past, Week Ahead: Syria — Regime PR Tries to Hide Its Problems. Iran’s Syria peace plan worth discussing: Brahimi.
Head of Assad’s Air Defence Force is Killed in Combat. ZAMAN ALWSL #syria. TahrirSy : In 2 months #SAA destroyed... NidaYassin : A flying kiss from @ZaatariCamp... TahrirSy : #Exclusive photos from Jabhat... Found: the bombs that delivered Syria's chlorine gas. 1. TahrirSy : Aid entering al-Zahraa in the... Yasminebal : The truth behind the elections... Support our Awareness campaign for Syria by Freedom Mediahub. Syria: Insurgents Carry Out 40-Ton Explosion in Idlib Province. A President Lying to the American People, and to Himself. Cooking Under Siege in Homs. SBSNews : Children among 18 killed in... Sbs.com. Brown Moses Blog: New Chemical Attack Alleged In Al-Tamanah. A disillusioned Syrian fighter's story.
Index_18. To Undertake Fact-Finding Mission in Syria on Alleged Chlorine Gas Attacks. Syrian rebels who received first U.S. missiles of war see shipment as ‘an important first step’ BBCiPannell : “Indiscriminate & unlawful... Syria conflict: Barrel-bombed Aleppo 'living in fear' As deadline passes, UN joint mission urges Syria to complete chemical weapons removal. Syria rebels surrender in border town - Middle East. الدولة الإسلامية تحتجز رتل كبير لحلف الشمال الأطلسي والجيش التركي