LATEST: Details of July 4 US Attempt to Rescue James Foley & Other American Hostages

Thursday is the first anniversary of the Assad regime’s chemical weapons attacks near Damascus, which killed up to 1,400 people with hundreds more subsequently dying of the effects.

The first videos seen by EA that day showed children killed in the East Ghouta area from “poison gases”. Estimates were that about 50 people had perished.

See Syria, August 21, 2013: Hundreds Killed by Regime Attack Near Damascus — Claim of “Poisonous Gases”

The death toll quickly rose, as reports poured in from not one but multiple sites in East Ghouta as well as Moadamiya in West Ghouta. The gases, delivered by the regime’s Volcano and Soviet-made 140-mm rockets, were not just poison but those of deadly chemical toxins.

Initially we were not sure which chemical, but reports from doctors treating victims, reviewed by a specialist in the US, established that it was likely to be sarin. The deaths from exposure were compounded because, in the weather conditions on August 21, the toxin sank — thus reaching residents who thought they were sheltered in the basements of their buildings.

However, by the end of August 21, another story — this one political, rather than the recognition of the dead — was threatening to take over. The UN Security Council was convening to discuss the Assad regime’s attacks , but our last entry of the day notes the beginning of a diversion: “A statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Aleksander Lukashevich, who said that a rocket carrying an ‘unknown chemical’ was launched from an area controlled by opposition groups.”

Moscow’s strategy to protect Damascus by covering up the events — or at least blur them beyond recognition — largely worked. There would be no punishment of the regime, let alone a sustain, coordinated effort to support the insurgency and opposition to Assad. Instead, the US and Russia led efforts for the handover of Syria’s chemical weapons stocks, which removed the sarin and other toxins but left Assad free to wage his aerial campaign with chlorine gas and the “conventional” method of barrel bombs.

The Syrian opposition is marking the anniversary of the deaths with tributes to the civilians.

A demonstration in the Old City of Daraa in southern Syria remembering the victims:

State media is avoiding any reference to the anniversary. Instead, they announce, “President al-Assad Issues Legislative Decrees on Housing Cooperatives and Transfer of Ownership of General Establishments Housing Properties”.

Nor is the US Government: instead President Obama issued a statement this week celebrating the destruction of Syrian chemical stocks, supposedly removing the scourge of “weapons of mass destruction”.

Details of July 4 US Attempt to Rescue James Foley & Other American Hostages

Syrian witnesses have given more details of the raid (see earlier entry) by US special forces in northern Syria, attempting to rescue journalist James Foley — beheaded on Tuesday by the Islamic State — and other Americans.

On July 4, two dozen Delta Force commandos landed near Raqqa, the city controlled by the jihadists, but failed to find the hostages who had been moved weeks earlier. The US force had to withdraw after a firefight with Islamic State troops.

The commandoes were parachuted in from specially-modified Black Hawk helicopters after US planes bombed an Islamic State base.
Accompanied by Jordanian special units, they moved towards a makeshift jail on the grounds of an oil refinery.

A Syrian source, who said his friend witnessed the events, claimed five Islamic State members were killed in the firefight after the US special forces found the jail was empty. One American and one Jordanian were wounded.

A Canadian website, Global Research, posted a garbled account of the raid on July 4:

With fake attacks, Syrian army jets flew over Raqqa at low altitude, in waves, repeatedly breaking the sound barrier, and creating a real panic situation, forcing the terrorists into underground shelters.

At 2 am the first attack occurs at ISIS (Islamic State) headquarters, 25 km east of Raqqa, destroying anti-aircraft batteries and heavy machine guns locations.

The real surprise takes place via three transport helicopters that landed, silently, entire Special Units under the command of several Syrian senior officers….

Sources of the military intelligence services knew that an important meeting of ISIL-ISIS commanders, at highest level, took place in ISIS headquarters.

Head of Leading Insurgent Faction: “Strange How Islamic State Can Advertise Beheadings on Social Media”

The head of the insurgent faction Ahrar as-Sham, Hassan Abboud, puts out a rare message in English on Twitter:

Hama Military Airport “Close to Unusable” Because of Insurgent Attacks

Well-placed sources confirm that insurgent attacks have almost put Hama military airport, one of the most important for the Syrian regime, beyond use.

Opposition fighters have moved within three kilometers of the airport and have been firing Grad rockets into the complex, which is used for production and delivery of barrel bombs and transport of troops across Syria.

The regime has started to build another runway because of damage to the existing ones. On Wednesday only 10 sorties, mostly helicopters, were flown.

Until the insurgents closed within the airport earlier this month, there were about 30 flights of jets and helicopters each day.

On Anniversary of Chemical Weapons Attacks, Assad Forces Carry Out “Poison Gas” Operation in Damascus Area of Jobar

Activists and witnesses report victims from a “poison gas” attack on Wednesday on Jobar in northeast Damascus:

Five people have reportedly died and 10 are suffering from serious breathing problems.

The Syrian military has been trying for months to dislodge insurgents from the area.

Video: Convoy of Insurgent Reinforcements to Hold Back Islamic State in Aleppo Province

Insurgents moving towards Marea, the key town in northern Aleppo Province under threat after rapid Islamic State advances over the past two weeks:

Video: Islamic State Continues Assault on Regime’s Last Base in Raqqa Province — 3 Suicide Bombs Claimed

Orient News posts footage of the Islamic State’s continuing attacks on Tabqa Airbase, the last major regime position in Raqqa Province in northern Syria:

Claims on Wednesday included three jihadist suicide bombs and the Islamic State’s capture of a gate of the complex.

White House: We Tried Covert Operation to Rescue US Hostages in Syria

Responding to the beheading of journalist James Foley by the Islamic State on Tuesday, “senior Obama Administration officials” have told media that US special operations forces pursued an unsuccessful operation this summer to rescue Foley and other Americans being held in Syria by the jihadists.

Several dozen commandos, were involved. One suffered minor injuries in a firefight with the Islamic State.

Officials in the briefing said the effort “was not ultimately successful because the hostages were not present…at the site of the operation”. Other sources said the abductees were moved before the raid, possibly several weeks earlier.

US officials beyond the briefing said the operation took place near Raqqa, the city in northern Syria held by the Islamic State.