President Assad has reacted quickly to the military coup in Egypt, declaring that the removal of President Mohamed Morsi is the fall of “political Islam” and those “who use religion for political interests or for the interests of one group”.
In an interview with al-Thawra newspaper, President al-Assad attacked Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood — whose Syrian counterpart is part of the opposition to his rule — “You cannot deceive everyone all the time, particularly the Egyptian people who have a civilization dating back to thousands of years and clear pan-Arab nationalist thought.”
Assad said that the Brotherhood’s “hypocritical” project revealed those who try to create “sedition” in the Arab world: “This is why from the beginning I said their project is a failure before it began and this is what made the Muslim Brotherhood’s experiment fall quickly because it is wrong, and what is built on a wrong principle will definitely fall.”
Footage: Raqqa Islamic Revolutionary Brigade Make Statement On Convoy Ambush
Footage posted on Thursday of the Raqqa Islamic Revolutionary Brigade making a statement after ambushing a regime convoy near Raqqa earlier this week. The brigade’s flag reads “there is no god but Allah”, لا إله إلا الله
The ambush of the convoy — from the Syrian Army’s 93rd Brigade, whose base is located north of the city — and capture of two tanks and other weapons — has been the cause for much celebration, with amateur video showing demonstrations in Raqqa as well as footage— posted below — showing one insurgent commander singing atop a captured tank. Raqqa has been held by insurgents since March.
Footage: Insurgent Commander In Raqqa Sings After Capturing Tank
More footage from the capture of tanks near Raqqa earlier this week, after insurgents ambushed a regime convoy.
In this video, the insurgent battalion commander, named “Al-Albani” — “the Albanian” — breaks into song atop the tank.
Assad Regime Makes Clear: We Really Do Think Egypt Coup Is “Fall Of Political Islam”
Hours after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told the official Al Thawra newspaper that he believed Wednesday’s military coup in Egypt represented the “fall of political Islam”, the regime used State news agency SANA to drive the point home. This time, “an official source” was quoted as saying:
[T]he fall of the Brotherhood type reiterated again incapacity of the political Islam forces to manage the state, protect the cultural and civilized diversity and to build an expressive type of the history of the national state.
A key issue underpinning the events in Egypt, the “official source” projected, was the people’s “commitment to Arabism, rejection of the foreign intervention in their internal affairs and their opposition to any prejudice to Egypt’s rights and sovereignty”.
For First Time, UNHCR Sends Medicine To Eastern Aleppo
The United Nations Refugee Agency, said Thursday that it has sent for the first time sent life-saving medicine to East Ansari, a densely populated area of eastern Aleppo that has been out of governmental control since the beginning of the crisis.
UNHCR said in a statement that the Syrian Arab Red Crescent delivered two trucks of medicine a week ago to Al Zarzour Hospital, one of the only medical centers still functioning in Aleppo. According to UNHCR, the medicine is intended both for emergencies and to treat over 6,000 Syrians suffering from chronic disease.
The delivery of the medicine was agreed following discussions with the Assad regime, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and “all other parties in the area”, UNCHR said.
“The general humanitarian situation in Aleppo is very bad, but the health situation is particularly serious. Many public hospitals are not functioning,” said UNHCR’s representative in Syria, Tarik Kurdi. Kurdi added that the shipment, while a good start, was “far from being enough”.
UNHCR said that it is also providing emergency cash assistance — usually in the form of checks worth around $150 — to families displaced by the conflict, including in Homs, Qamishly, Damascus and Tartous.
Assistant Labor Minister Injured In Damascus Car Bomb
State media reported on Thursday that Assistant Labor Minister Rakan Ibrahim was injured in an explosion caused by an explosive device attached to his car. The incident took place in Zukak al-Jin in al-Baramkeh area in Damascus, SANA reported.
SANA cited a police command source who said that Ibrahim was injured and admitted to hospital. The extent of his injuries were not disclosed.
Assad: The Fighting In Syria Is Not A Revolution
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told the country’s official Thawra newspaper on Thursday that the events in Syria could not be called a revolution because of “foreign intervention”.
“Any real revolution is a purely internal affair that has nothing to do with anything abroad… look at the many examples.. the Russian Revolution and the French Revolution and even that of Iran. Real revolutions are popular revolutions and have purely internal factors, led by ideological and intellectual elites. The external factor in what happened in Syria was clear from the outset….”
Assad said that his government would survive the fighting and that the regime had managed to retain control over Syria’s infrastructure.
“This was their goal in hitting our infrastructure, our economy, and creating complete chaos in society so that we would become a failed state, but so far that has not happened.”
Assad praised ordinary Syrians for continuing to work despite the fighting, adding that:
External factors had “used every material, emotional and psychological means available to them. The only option they have is direct foreign intervention.”
Footage: Tour Of New Field Hospital In Arsal, After Evacuation From Qusayr
The Coordination of Doctors In Homs, a nonprofit group that provides information about the medical situation in Homs and its environs, have published video footage of a new field hospital in Arsal, opened after medics were forced to flee the field hospital in Al Qusayr after the town was taken by Hezbollah and regime forces.
Dr Qassem Al Zein, formerly based in Al Qusayr, provides a guided tour of the new facility:
Syrian Coalition Meets In Attempt To Appoint Leader
The Syrian National Coalition, which has been without a leader for months since March when Mouaz al-Khatib resigned over a disagreement about potential talks with the Assad regime, is set to meet on Thursday to try to elect a new president.
Reuters cites “coalition insiders” as claiming that its international backers “want to avoid a repeat of a near debacle a month ago when last-minute intervention by senior officials from Turkey and Western and Arab countries was needed to keep it from disintegrating.”
Reuters adds:
“The best solution is to create a civilian-military council and move into Syria, with the coalition remaining as an assembly,” said Kamal al-Labwani, a senior member of a liberal bloc of the coalition.
Fighting Continues In Deir Ez Zor: Insurgents Target Regime Snipers
Following Wednesday’s heavy clashes in Deir Ez Zor, fighting continued on Thursday morning. This video shows claimed footage of the Sons of Islam Movement targeting regime snipers with a rocket launcher.
Death In Deir Ez Zor Following Heavy Clashes
Both activist and State media report heavy clashes and deaths in Deir Ez Zor on Wednesday.
This short video shows strikes on the Sheikh Yassin neighborhood in the city:
This video, posed by the Deir Alzour Press, shows the funeral Wednesday night of an insurgent — named as Abdel Rahman Marwan Al Dalali and hailed as a martyr — who died in the clashes:
There are several other videos showing dead insurgents.
State media report that regime forces had clashed with insurgents in several neighborhoods of the city, inflicting heavy losses:
An official source told SANA that an army unit clashed with terrorist groups in al-Jubeileh, al-Sina’a and Cinema Fuad neighborhoods in the city of Deir Ezzor, killing many terrorists and injuring others.
The source added that another army unit clashed with an armed terrorist group in Hweijet al-Moraeiyeh and killed many terrorists including the terrorist Abo al-Baraa, the leader of al-Hweijeh and al-Jafra district and Abo Khattab, the leader of the so-called Sheikh al-Islam Battalion, pointing out that these two terrorists are among the most dangerous gang leaders, as the terrorist Abo Hammam, an armed terrorist group leader was among the injured.
Another army unit clashed with an armed terrorist group in al-Moraeiyeh, inflicting heavy losses upon its members, while another army unit killed all members of a terrorist group centered in al-Mohsen in Deir-Ezzor. The body of the terrorist Adnan al-Allawi was identified.
Claimed Footage: Insurgents Storm Al Rashidin In Aleppo’s Western Countryside
There were increased clashes on Wednesday in the Al Rashidin suburb in Aleppo’s Western countryside, with insurgents from the Al Ansar Brigade launching a new push for control of the area. There is claimed footage of insurgents storming and “liberating” at least part of the suburb.
This video shows insurgents — who identify themselves as from the FSA — preparing ammunition.
Here, insurgents from the Al Ansar Brigade storm the Al Rashideen suburb:
This video purports to show insurgents “liberating” Al Rashidin — however, this is a very small group and it is unclear of the extent of the area they control.
The death toll from the clashes is also unclear.
This very short video shows an insurgent under heavy fire — the clip is presented as showing a “martyr” seconds before his death.
In contrast, some footage (warning — graphic) insurgents surround bodies of regime force soldiers, and in at least one case, desecrate them by kicking and shooting at the corpses.
Casualties
The Local Coordination Committees claim that 90 people were killed on Wednesday, including 32 in Aleppo Province, 20 in Damascus and its suburbs, and 14 in Hama Province.
The Violations Documentation Center reports that 65,374 people have been slain since the start of the conflict in March 2011, an increase of 143 since Wednesday. Of these, 50,051 were civilians, a rise of 104 from yesterday.
