LATEST: Free Syria Army Defector to ISIS Beheaded in Eastern Syria
TUESDAY FEATURE
Human Rights Watch — ISIS & Insurgents Sending Children Into Battle
Prime Minister Dr. Wael al-Halqi (pictured) toured Government facilities in Aleppo on Monday, promising improvements in living conditions and services, while regime warplanes bombed areas near Syria’s largest city.
Al-Halqi visited Aleppo University, the Radio and TV Center, the Military Hospital, a temporary housing center, and a bakery. He said President Assad had allocated SYP 6.127 billion ($41 million) in financial aid for development.
Meanwhile, barrel bombs were dropped on the districts of al-Hullak, al-Aryan, and Mare.
The Local Coordination Committees reported that, of 55 people killed across Syria on Monday, 24 were in Aleppo Province.
Free Syria Army Defector to ISIS Beheaded in Eastern Syria
Sources have confirmed claims — including photographs — that Abu Haroon, a Free Syrian Army mmeber who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham, has been beheaded by the Shura Council in Deir Ez Zor Province.
Two Regime “Informants” Lynched in Damascus Suburb of Darayya
The General Security Office in the Damascus suburb of Darayya has said that two men were lynched after they were discovered to be regime informants.
Local sources said the two men were under suspicion because they were seen entering regime areas and passing through checkpoints freely. On investigation, they were found to possess silenced pistols and cellphones with logged calls to regime officers.
The men confessed to passing on information to regime officers and were convicted.
Insurgent Fightback in Qalamoun Assisted by Withdrawal of Pro-Assad Militias to Iraq
In recent days, we have been noting an insurgent fightback in the Qalamoun region — whose cities and towns were taken by the regime in an offensive from last November to April — killing hundreds of Syrian troops and Hezbollah militias, overrunning posts, and reclaiming territory
Writing in the Christian Science Monitor, Nicholas Blanford illustrates how that insurgent counter-offensive is being assisted by the withdrawal of pro-Assad militias to fight in Iraq:
On June 11, Lebanon-based rebels launched a counter-attack on the town of Rankous and two nearby villages in Qalamoun, all less than five miles from the Lebanese border. Rankous had fallen to the regime in early April at the climax of a five-month Qalamoun offensive led by Hezbollah, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.
The rebel counter-attack on the Rankous area had been planned for some time, according to (insurgent unit leader) Abu Zeid, but was aided by the recent departure from the area of Iraqi Shiite paramilitary forces allied to the Assad regime. They went back to Iraq to join the fight against a spreading Sunni rebellion….
We attacked from three sides. The (Syrian) militiamen ran away when they heard the first explosion but it took us three hours to capture the post. We lost three men and 20 wounded. If the post had been on flat ground we would have taken it in 10 minutes.
Kerry Rejects Idea of Cooperation with Assad Against Islamic State of Iraq
Speaking with the BBC during his trip to Iraq, US Secretary of State John Kerry has flatly rejected the idea of working with the Assad regime against the Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham.
QUESTION: You’re fighting ISIS. You’re calling on your allies to fight ISIS. President Assad of Syria says he’s fighting ISIS. How long until the U.S. is going to turn around and work with President Assad again?
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, President Assad is one of the principal reasons – the principal reason – that ISIS exists. President Assad is a magnet for jihadists and foreign fighters from around the world, and that’s why they’ve been conglomerating in Syria and spreading their tentacles out. So if President Assad really wants to fight terrorists, he would declare that he is not going to continue to serve, he will work for a transition government, and he will end the crisis of Syria. That’s the way you deal with it.
Video: Insurgents Down MiG-23 Fighter in Qalamoun
Footage of insurgents with the wreckage of a MiG-23 fighter, which they claim was downed in the Qalamoun region:
This week the Islamic Front claimed a fightback against regime forces in western Qalamoun, retaking territory lost since last November and killing 200 troops and Hezbollah militia.
