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Spotlight: Free Syrian Army Takes Two Regime Checkpoints In Tafas, Dar’aa

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SUMMARY: Insurgents in Dar’aa Province made more gains on Friday, capturing a second regime checkpoint near Tafas, north of Dar’aa city.

Citizen journalists report that Free Syrian Army fighters overran the ar-Radi regime checkpoint near Tafas city, killing and wounding several regime soldiers.

The capture of the ar-Radi checkpoint comes after insurgents on Thursday overran the at-Tableen regime checkpoint between Tafas and Da’el, including by the FSA’s Fallujah Brigade.

Firing on the checkpoint on Thursday:


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5 More Die in Fighting in Tripoli in Northern Lebanon

At least five more people were killed and 11 were injured by mortar shelling and gunfire in Tripoli in northern Lebanon early Friday.

The death toll from five days of fighting in the city rose to 9.

The early-morning shelling forced imams of mosques to issue calls for residents to seek refuge in lower floors of buildings or in shelters. A number of fires erupted in shops and houses.

Tripoli’s Al-Taqwa mosque committee canceled Friday Prayers, even as unrest subsided. Lebanese President Michel Suleiman asked security forces to deploy necessary units to control the situation.

Factions supporting and opposing Syrian President Assad have clashed since last year.

On Thursday night, Sunni Sheikh Salem al-Rafei raised the rhetoric in the city with his call for the dissolution of the Alawite Arab Democratic Party, based in the Jabal Mohsen section of Tripoli after some party members were reportedly indicted for the deadly bombings of two mosques in August.

Dramatic Footage Shows Moment of Airstrike on Saraqeb, Idlib Province

Video showing the moment a regime warplane drops a bomb onto the town of Saraqeb in Idlib Province.

Friday Protests – In Al Mashhad, Aleppo, Citizens Call For Solution In The Hague, Not Geneva

Friday Protests – Kafranbel Residents Call For Assad To Be Tried Under Chapter VII Of UN Charter

Images and video from today’s Friday protest in the village of Kafranbel in Idlib Province, famous for its anti-regime posters and banners.

The large banner reads, “PRECONDITIONS FOR GENEVA II — ASSAD SHOULD BE TRIED UNDER CHAPTER VII & BRING OUR MARTYRS BACK, OTHERWISE LET US CONTINUE DYING”.

View a still of the large banner here.

KAFRANBEL FRIENDS OF SYRIA

KAFRANBEL GENEVA II

Chechen Jihadi Sources Say Jaish Al Muhajireen wal Ansar Not Behind Kidnap of Russian Citizen

The Chechen pro-jihad website Kavkaz Center has kicked back against claims in the Russian media that the Chechen-led insurgent group Jaish Al Muhajireen wal Ansar are behind the kidnapping of a Russian citizen in Syria.

The Russian, named as Sergei Gorbunov by Russian news outlets, appeared in a short video message circulated earlier this week, in which he said he would be executed unless the Syrian government released a Saudi national.

Several Russian news outlets, including Kommersant, reported that Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar, led by an ethnic Chechen, Abu Umar Al Shishani, kidnapped Gorbunov in Hama. An Arabic annotation to the video says that the Ibn Taymiyyah Brigade from Hama kidnapped Gorbunov.

Dozens Reported Injured In Car Bomb Outside Mosque In Souq Wadi Barada, Damascus Province

Dozens of civilians are reported injured after a car bomb exploded in the village of Souq Wadi Barada northwest of Damascus.

Footage of the first moments after the blast, which occurred near the town’s mosque, the Osama Bin Zaid mosque.

The video below contains graphic images of an injured civilian, which may disturb some readers:

FSA Snipers In Moadamiyyat Ash Sham Target Regime Forces On Outskirts Of City

Free Syrian Army snipers on Friday are targeting regime forces who have taken position in buildings on the outskirts of the opposition-held West Ghouta town of Moadamiyyat Ash Sham, near Damascus.

Footage from Friday shows extensive destruction to residential buildings following regime airstrikes. Citizen journalists also filmed regime military helicopters carrying out fly-overs of the town Friday morning.

43 civilians killed across Syria on Thursday

The Local Coordination Committees claim 43 people were killed on Thursday across Syria, including 15 in Damascus and its suburbs and 12 in Homs Province.

The deaths come amid the continuing regime offensive to clear areas near the capital, especially to the southwest. The LCC claimed surface-to-surface missiles were used on Irbeen, while insurgents repelled ground assaults on Barzeh, Daraya, and Moadamiyyat Ash Sham.

The LCC also claimed that explosive barrels were dropped on Jabal Arba’en in Idlib Province in northwestern Syria.

The Violations Documentation Center records that 76,604 people have been killed since the start of the conflict in March 2011, an increase of 81 since Thursday. Of the dead, 57,004 are civilians, a rise of 52 from yesterday.