LATEST: State Media — 13 Killed in Aleppo by Insurgent Rockets

MAY 16

At least 127 people were killed on Thursday across Syria, including nine women and 16 children, according to the Local Coordination Committees.

Of the dead, 44 were in Aleppo Province, 32 in Daraa Province, 25 in Damascus and its suburbs, and 15 in Hama Province.


State Media: 13 Killed in Aleppo by Insurgent Rockets

State news agency SANA claims an insurgent rocket attack killed 13 people and wounded 17 on Friday in Aleppo.

The rocket struck in the northern neighborhood of Achrafieh, reportedly damaging two houses.

2 London Times Journalists Briefly Kidnapped, 1 Shot

Two journalists of The Times of London have been released after a brief abduction in which both were beaten and one was shot.

Correspondent Anthony Loyd and photographer Jack Hill were seized by the same group who were supposedly escorting them back to Turkey after days of reporting in Aleppo. The two men tried to escape, but were beaten. Loyd was shot twice in the leg to prevent him from running.

Members of the insurgent bloc Islamic Front confronted the abductors and secured the release of the journalists.

More than 80 journalists have been kidnapped since the start of the Syrian conflict in March 2011. About 25 are still missing.

5 Médecins Sans Frontières Staff Released After Months in Captivity

Médecins Sans Frontières said on Thursday that five of its staff were recently freed in Syria after a January 2 kidnapping.

The organisation did not give the names of the staff or the circumstances of the captivity and release, “out of respect for (their) privacy”.

MSF closed one hospital and two health centres in the Jabal Akrad region in northwestern Syria after the abduction, cutting health care to 150,000 people.

The organization said three staff were freed on April 4, and two on Wednesday.

Physicians for Human Rights said in a report on Wednesday that it had confirmed 150 attacks on 124 medical facilities between March 2011 and March 2014.

All but 10 of the assaults were carried out by regime forces.

Friends of Syria Meet in London, Denounce June Presidential Election

Meeting in London on Thursday, the Friends of Syria international coalition have denounced the June 3 Presidential election as a “parody of democracy”.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the Assad regime, with its “utter disregard” for life, had “disgusted” the international community with the campaign.

The Syrian opposition has called for a transitional governing authority in which President Assad would step aside, a process supported by the Friends of Syria since 2012.

The regime has always held out against the transition, and refused to even discuss it in the Geneva talks in January and February.

Hague said:

We are of course united in our disgust and anger at what’s happening in Syria and the ruthless utter disregard for human life….

We’ve also agreed unanimously to take further steps to… do everything we can to hold the Assad regime accountable for the terror it is perpetrating.

However, Hague’s announcement of further steps was limited to an additional $30 million in non-military aid from London.

US Secretary of State John Kerry’s details of “every facet of what can be done (and) be ramped up” were “economic efforts” and “sanctions”.

Kerry, joining French declarations earlier in the week, said he had seen “raw data that suggests that there may have been…a number” of chlorine gas attacks by the Syrian military since late March.

Syrian Military Shows CNN Reporter Insurgent Tunnels and “Weapons Factories” in Homs

CNN’s Frederic Pleitgen is escorted by the Syrian military into Homs, reclaimed by the regime after an evacuation deal last week, to be shown insurgent tunnels and “weapons factories”:


MAY 15

We are taking the day off on Thursday as part of our Spring Break. We hope to be back on Friday morning for updates, technical issues permitting.


MAY 14

WEDNESDAY FEATURE

Journalists Reduce Conflict to “The Next 9/11″ — The Sequel

The United Nations — or at least its envoy Lakhdar Brahimi — finally admitted defeat in its attempts to resolve the Syrian crisis on Tuesday, as Brahimi quit his post after two years.

The resignation is effective from May 31.

Brahimi said at a press conference:

Apologies once more that we haven’t been able to help [the Syrian people] as much as they deserve, as much as we should have, and also to tell them that the tragedy in their country shall be solved… they have shown incredible resilience and dignity.”

An immense majority of Syrians want peace and stability in their country and I’m sure they will get it.

Brahimi replaced former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2012, but made little progress in his efforts to halt fighting and find agreement on a political transition.

Two sets of meetings between the Assad regime and opposition were convened in Geneva in January and February, but could not even agree on an agenda for discussions.

Brahimi subsequently denounced the regime’s decision to hold a Presidential election, saying it would kill off any possibility of a transition and end to violence.

The envoy told reporters on Wednesday:

It’s not very pleasant for me. It’s very sad that I leave this position and leave Syria behind in such a bad state.

Everybody who has responsibility and an influence in the situation has to remember that the question is how many more dead? How much more destruction is there going to be before Syria becomes again the Syria we have known.


Video: Rebels Seize Weapon Stores in Rural Hama Province

Insurgents claims they captured the depot near Khattab, east of the North Hama Plain:

Video: Close Call for Cameraman From Barrel Bomb in Damascus Suburb of Darayya

Officials: We Are Resuming Water Supplies to Aleppo

Syrian officials say they are gradually resuming the supply of water to neighborhoods in Aleppo after a cut-off of almost two weeks.

The director of the Aleppo water and sanitation company, Mustafa Malhes, said the main pumping station in Suleiman al-Halabi was operating again, and water would return to all parts of Syria’s largest city by Wednesday evening.

The Red Crescent says it is involved in the effort:

The regime has accused insurgents, who control a major electricity station, of disrupting the water supply. The opposition counters that regime shelling damaged the pumping station and Syrian authorities delayed repairs.

See Is An Insurgent Cut-Off Adding to Water Crisis in Aleppo?

Assad Challenger Hajjar Announces Election Platform

The two challengers to President Assad in the June 3 election have announced their campaign platform.

MP Majed Hajjar’s declaration differed little from Assad’s statements. The candidate called for “strongest relations…with national and social liberation movements” and support of the Palestinian cause, as well as a “full boycott (of) the Zionist-Imperialist project in the region and…the Arab reactionary regimes.

At home, Hajjar said he would achieve “newly national duties to build a strong-secular state” wiht “the highest possible growth, social justice, raising capital revenues…(and) gigantic investment projects”.

As for the 39-month uprising, Hajjar matched the regime line of “a general amnesty that turns the page of the last three years and striking with an iron fist anyone who dares (challenge) the state’s sovereignty where we live in a country without blood, destruction or sabotage”.

Businessman Hassan al-Nouri, a former head of the Syrian Chamber of Commerce, said he “agrees with the other candidates on many points (but) differs with them in other issues”.

However, his interview on State TV emphasized “the national principles on which all agree”, while hailing the democratic process and the Syrian army.

4 Killed by Insurgent Car Bomb in Damascus

Four people were killed by an insurgent car bomb in al-Arin near Damascus.

State news agency SANA said the blast was close to a “schools compound”. The opposition Shaam News Network said the bomb targeted a housing area of the Republican Guards.


MAY 13

TUESDAY FEATURES

The Daily Beast uses sources from Syria’s opposition to reconstruct their meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry last Thursday in Washington:

Kerry said he believed the international community “wasted a year” by not working together to help topple strongman Bashar al-Assad.

The various countries trying to help the Free Syrian Army had failed to coordinate their efforts effectively for a long time, Kerry said (to) Syrian Opposition Coalition president Ahmad Jarba, according to three participants in the meeting. And that lack of coordination had dramatically set back the drive to stop Assad’s rampage and counter the growing terrorism threat.

So what will the Obama Administration do to back up Kerry’s words? One important clue comes from General Abdul-Ilah al-Bashir, the head of the Supreme Military Council — Washington was involved with the provision of the first US-made, TOW anti-tank missiles to insurgents last month:

(Bashir) argued that the FSA’s handling of the TOW anti-tank missiles should give the American government enough confidence to start providing anti-aircraft weapons, as well.

“The FSA (Free Syrian Army) has been dealing very well with the TOW missiles. Under our protection, people are trained to use them, and it is with the collaboration and under the supervision of the United States,” Bashir said.

Nine Syrian insurgent groups, considered “moderate” by the US, have been seen with small supplies of the TOW missiles.

But that’s about it beyond more rhetoric from Kerry, who has repeatedly been defeated by others within the Obama Administration when he pressed for significant assistance to the insurgency — including after last August’s chemical weapons attacks by the Assad regime:

Inside the meeting, Kerry told the Syrian opposition leaders that he understood their desire for more advanced arms. But he did not make any specific commitments for new American aid. He told the Syrian leaders the United States had been doing its best to help the Syria people and would continue to do so.

“Secretary Kerry was very emotional and sympathetic to the Syrian cause, and he supports the Syrian revolution and the Syrian people,” Bashir said. “We have so much hope that there will be changes in the policy.”


Video: A Sign of Resistance in Homs — Assad Defaced

Despite regime “victory” in Homs, there are signs of resistance — a banner for President Assad’s re-election is defaced:

Regime Bombs Al-Waer Section of Homs Despite Evacuation Deal

Despite last week’s deal for a ceasefire and evacuation of insurgents, the Syrian military has bombarded the al-Waer section of Homs.

Home to tens of thousands of displaced Syrians, al-Waer was hit by mortars, according to the insurgent bloc Ahl al-Sham.

Insurgents have retaliated by shelling the regime-held pockets of Nubl and Zahra, north of Aleppo.

Under last week’s deal, the opposition allowed supplies to be move into the two villages.

United Nations Envoy Brahimi Resigns

United Nations envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has announced his resignation, effective from May 31.

Making little progress in his two years as mediator, Brahimi has said for months that he was considering a departure.

After protracted delays, two sets of meetings between the Assad regime and opposition were convened in Geneva in January and February; however, the discussion could not even agree on an agenda.

Brahimi subsequently denounced the regime’s decision to hold a Presidential election, saying it would kill off the process for a political resolution. The opposition has demanded a transitional governing authority, with President Assad stepping aside.

Assad Regime Adds Germany to List of Countries “Disrupting Presidential Election”

The Foreign Ministry has added Germany to “the choir of countries…trying to disrupt the Presidential elections”, as a party in “supporting, funding and arming the armed terrorist groups “.

The Assad regime has already condemned the US and other European countries for supposed interference in President Assad’s nominal contest against two challengers in a June 3 vote.

Both France and Germany have refused to allow Syrian embassies and consulates to carry out voting. The opposition Syrian National Coalition has welcomed the move.

“This choir, including Germany, must know that legitimacy does not come from them; legitimacy is decided by Syrian people and their allegations about democracy are sheer lies,” the Ministry asserted.

Foreign Ministry Denounces Insurgent Cut-Off of Water to Aleppo

The Foreign Ministry has formally complained to the United Nations about the cut-off of water to Aleppo city by insurgents.

In letters to the UN Secretary-General and Security Council, the Ministry said that insurgents had been punishing civilians for nine days.

The opposition fighters have reportedly stopped the water supply, following a cut-off of electricity last month, to press regime forces in the western half of Syria’s largest city.

The Ministry said the stopping of operation at a major pumping station had forced people to seek water from rivers and other unsafe sources.