LATEST: Islamic State Claims Execution of British Hostage David Haines

SATURDAY FEATURE

Reviewing the Week — “I Read Somewhere That More Syrians Died”

The Syrian regime continued its bombing of areas near Damascus on Friday, killing at least 50 more people.

In Douma, northeast of the capital, almost 100 people were slain and hundreds wounded on Thursday, and the bombardment continued yesterday. Other suburbs were also hit as the Syrian military searched for a way to break through insurgent resistance.

The regime has tried for weeks to expel insurgents from Jobar, the section of northeast Damascus held by the opposition since 2012.

Zahran Alloush, the military head of the Islamic Front insurgent bloc, warned on Friday that regime pilots would be executed if captured because of the deadly assaults on civilians.

Aftermath of an attack of Douma (Warning — Graphic Images):

The Local Coordination Committees reported that 98 people were killed across Syria on Friday, including 21 children and 17 women. Beside the deaths in and near Damascus, there were 14 in Idlib Province, 13 in Hama Province, and 11 in Homs.

Islamic State Claims Execution of British Hostage David Haines

The Islamic State reportedly is circulating a video showing the beheading of a British hostage, David Haines.

The purported execution follows the jihadists’ killing of two American journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff, in the past four weeks.

As in the previous two execution videos, a masked man is shown carrying out the beheading of Haines, after his message condemning British Prime Minister David Cameron for planned intervention alongside the US against the Islamic State.

The video ends with a warning that a second British hostage will be the next to die.

Haines, an aid worker with Acted in Syria, had been in Syria for just three days in March 2013 when he was kidnapped and handed over to the Islamic State.

Activists Claims Chlorine Gas Attack on Jobar in Damascus

Activists are claiming that the Syrian military, frustrated in its attempts to clear insurgents from Jobar in Damascus, have bombed the area with chlorine gas canisters.

The activists say the attack at dawn injured more than 30 people.

Syrian Islamic Council Rejects US Initiative Against Islamic State

The Syrian Islamic Council is the latest opposition group to reject President Obama’s approach to a “war” on the Islamic State, saying that President Assad’s have been “no less murderous” and “terrorists” in their attacks.

Insurgent factions, including some parts of the Free Syrian Army, have criticized the US focus on Islamic State with no plans for action against regime forces.

Report: Syrian Revolutionary Front Strings Up 2 Islamic State Bombers

An opposition website claims the Syrian Revolutionary Front has strung up two Islamic State bombers in Deir Sanbal in Idlib Province in northwest Syria.

The men apparently were killed during their suicide attack.

The Islamic State has been accused of a series of bombings in the province, including an attack on Friday that killed numerous people and wounded the son of the head of the SRF, Jamal Maarouf.

The crucifixion is a sharp contrast to the local situation near Damascus, where an SRF unit reportedly sign a truce with the Islamic State in Hajar al-Aswad.