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UPDATE 1200 GMT: The BBC has changed the headline on its story from “How Assad Has Survived” to “Assad Holds On in War Without End“.


The BBC runs a curious report this morning, “Jeremy Bowen on How Assad has Survived“.

In the middle of the article, there is an assertion — supported by one interview with a man in Adra, north of Damascus — that the regime “has kept the support of most of Syria’s minorities and enough of the majority Sunni Muslims to survive”.

But the first part of the report has nothing to do with public support. Instead, it is about one of the many episodes where the regime’s survival has rested on bombing.

In insurgent-controlled Qaboun near Damascus, a teacher — who stays anonymous for fear of retribution — describes the attack last week that killed 15 schoolchildren:

The 15 who died and the others who were horribly injured were all boys because it was their turn to go out to play in the warm autumn sun.

The teacher, a devout Muslim, was saying the prayer for those who are about to die as the smoke cleared and she saw the boys she had sent out for their break lying dead, dying or injured near the school entrance.

After the first explosion, far enough away not to hurt them, they had been running to get inside as they had been taught.

She had sent two 11-year-olds out of the class earlier that morning for being disruptive. They could not read or write because they had missed four years of school. They lay dead on the playground together, and later that day were buried side by side.

(Featured Photo: Some of the 15 children killed in last week’s bombing of a school in Qaboun, near Damascus)


Picture: Jabhat al-Nusra Armored Convoy in Southern Idlib Province

An armored convoy of the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra moves in Khan a-Subul in southern Idlib Province:

JABHAT AL-NUSRA ARMORED CONVOY

Jabhat al-Nusra claimed the area from the Harakat Hazm group — a recipient of US-made heavy weapons since January — which withdrew from the area during clashes last month.

See Syria Feature: Insurgent In-Fighting — A Proposal to Solve the Dispute in Northwest

Video: UN Aid Convoy Arrived in Besieged al-Waer Section of Homs

A UN convoy arrives in the al-Waer section of Homs on Tuesday:

The regime has besieged the area, home to tens of thousands of displaced Syrians as well as locals, in an attempt to remove the last insurgents from Homs. The convoy arrived during a pause in sustained bombardment of the district.

Claimed Video: Boy Saves Girl From Gunfire

Claimed footage of a Syrian boy saving a trapped girl from gunfire:

The clip does not identify when and where the incident took place.