LATEST: Opposition Commanders Say Foreign Interference Has Split Insurgency

FRIDAY FEATURES

President Assad, en route to his nominal re-election on June 3, celebrated on Thursday by receiving a delegation from North Korea.

Meeting Foreign Trade Minister Ri Ryong Nam, Assad “stressed the need for cementing the historical ties binding Syria and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, given that both countries have been for years undergoing all forms of siege and pressure”.

North Korea has stood firmly with Assad during the 38-month Syrian conflict. A joint committee recently met in Damascus to discuss mutual political and economic interests.

Assad told the visitors, “Both countries have been on the same footing, refusing to bow to pressures, rejecting subordination, sticking to sovereignty and independent decision and standing against the imperialist plots targeting the interests and capabilities of the peoples in their two regions.”


Opposition Commanders Say Foreign Interference Has Split Insurgency

Al Jazeera English broadcasts criticism of the course of the insurgency by two commanders, each of whom blame foreign involvement.

Riad al-Assad, one of the founders of the Free Syrian Army, says the agendas of the foreign countries have endangered the revolution. Colonel Abdel Jabar al-Okaidi, who resigned as the Aleppo commander of the Supreme Military Council, blames infighting on the influx of foreign money.

General Salim Idriss, replaced as head of the Supreme Military Council in March, adds his criticism:

Kafranbel Friday Protest Comments on Presidential Election

Photographer: Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham Killed 15 Civilians in Kurdish Village

A photographer at the scene has said that the Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham killed 15 Kurdish civilians, including seven children, in an attack on a village in northern Syria.

ISIS has been fighting insurgents and Kurdish militia in the area since January.

Thursday;s attack occurred near the Kurdish town of Ras al-Ain, 600 kilometers (375 miles) from Damascus, in Hasakeh Province.

In one photograph, six bodies could be seen, including three young boys.

Videos: Barrage of Regime Barrel Bombs In and Near Aleppo

The regime dropped barrel bombs throughout insurgent-held areas of Aleppo and the nearby countryside on Thursday.

Qarleq, Qattaneh, Hellok, Bestan Al Basha, and Shaar, were all hit in Syria’s largest city, while Daret Ezzeh, Hreitan, and Atareb were bombed in Aleppo Province.

Aftermath of an airstrike on Qarleq in Aleppo:

Daret Ezzeh in Aleppo Province:

Shelling on Hellok in Aleppo: