ALSO IN SUNDAY’S FORECAST
Opposition Coalition Wants Insurgent Agreement to Attend Geneva “Peace” Talks
Truce Allows Food to Reach Qudsaya, Near Damascus, For First Time in Weeks
Insurgents Battle Regime Forces Near Daraa City
Trying to capitalize on recent gains, the Syrian military pressed its attacks south of Damascus on Saturday.
State media declared, “Army units killed numbers of terrorists on the outskirts of al-Sbeineh and al-Hajar al-Aswad and several areas in Damascus countryside, also destroying weapons and ammunition.”
Regime forces captured al-Sbeineh last week, putting pressure on the neighboring, insurgent-held area of al-Hajar al-Aswad.
State TV celebrating the takeover of al-Sbeineh:
The Syrian military is trying to take a belt of territory, occupied by opposition fighters for months, between the capital and Damascus International Airport.
Shaam News Network also reported regime bombardment of Yabroud.
Opposition Coalition Wants Insurgent Agreement to Attend Geneva “Peace” Talks
Sources inside the opposition Syrian National Coalition say it is seeking support from fighters inside the country before agreeing to attend an international “peace” conference in Geneva.
The 108-member leadership of the Coalition is meeting in Istanbul this weekend to make its decision on attendance at the conference, promoted by the US and Russia to resolve the political conflict.
The sources said a draft resolution reaffirms the coalition’s commitment to a political solution to the conflict while ruling out any role for President Assad in a transitional administration.
Prominent insurgent groups have said they will not support attendance at the conference and will break with the Coalition if it goes to Geneva.
“We have to share this (draft resolution) with the forces inside, as well as community leaders and activists. We need to confirm this with them,” said one member of the Syrian National Council, a leading group within the Coalition.
Several sources said the approval could be obtained before the end of the Istanbul meeting, which could run into next week, but others said a final decision could take up to two weeks.
An opposition source said the draft resolution also had conditions including the release of opposition detainees, an end to air raids, and a halt to blockades on food and medicine by Syrian forces on insurgent-held areas.
Truce Allows Food to Reach Qudsaya, Near Damascus, For First Time in Weeks
Activist from the Media Team in Qudsaya say regime officials and insurgents have reached a deal to ease a weeks-long blockade by the Syrian military on the town, 7 kilometers (4 miles) west of Damascus.
It was not clear if the deal in Qudsaya was a gesture to Syria’s fractured opposition. Neither rebels nor Syrian officials comment on such deals, fearing they would be seen as tacitly recognizing the other side.
The Media Team said earlier this month that local markets had run out of food, and the area’s poorest residents were going hungry. They could not be immediately reached for comment.
The regime has maintained blockades on insurgent-held areas near Damascus for up to a year, halting and sometimes stealing aid.
Insurgents Battle Regime Forces Near Daraa City
Following last month’s insurgent capture of Tafas, north of Daraa city, the opposition is clashing with the Syrian military in Athman, between Tafas and Daraa.
Shaam News reports that one civilian was killed and a number of others injured by artillery shelling on the town.
Footage of insurgents firing on regime forces:
Shaam also claim artillery attacks on Tareeq Assud — after the Free Syrian Army “blew up a regime base on the district’s outskirts” — Inkhil, Saida, and Basru Alhareer.
Insurgents have been attacking parts of Daraa city, where the uprising began in March 2011, since the summer. They have also cut off the city to the south, claiming the Daraa-Ramtha crossing on the Jordanian border.
Meanwhile, the regime is bombarding Daraa al-Balad in the south of the city, trying to break the opposition’s assault.
