LATEST: Video — Italian Rescue Plane Flies Above Syrian Refugees on Ship in Mediterranean

Video from Friday points to protests in Syria from Homs to Aleppo, demanding a lifting to regime sieges and expressing support for insurgents.

In the al-Waer section of Homs, the last part of the city with insurgents, residents demanded that the months-long siege be removed:

The Syrian military has cut off supplies and food to the district, with at least 90,000 people, and carried out a sustained bombardment. Insurgents evacuated other parts of Homs, Syria’s 3rd-largest city, last spring.

In al-Tarib near Aleppo’s international airport, a demonstration declares support for insurgents, including the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra:

Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, has been divided since July 2012. Each side is trying to cut off access and supplies to opposing forces by seizing territory around Aleppo.


Video: Italian Rescue Plane Flies Above Syrian Refugees on Ship in Mediterranean

Claimed footage of an Italian rescue plane circling above a ship with Syrian refugees in the Mediterranean:

On Friday, a ship with about 450 refugees, abandoned by smugglers, was towed to the port of Corigliano.

An Icelandic coast guard ship, part of a European patrol force set up to aid migrants at sea, towed the converted livestock carrier after the crew left it in rough seas.

Regime: 150 People Evacuated from Besieged Zebdin, East of Damascus

The regime claims the evacuation of another 150 people from the town of Zebdin, east of Damascus, which has been besieged for months.

A Syrian official said most of the evacuated were women, children, and/or elderly. He said 20 were in critical condition and taken to a hospital in southern Damascus.

Last week, 31 families from Zebdin and Douma were evacuated. Activists claims that some of the men were detained and forced into military service.

The regime has been trying to pacify the areas since 2013, using “surrender or starve” tactics applied elsewhere near Damascus, in the name of “national reconciliation”.