LATEST
- Report: Rebels Regain Yarmouk Camp from Islamic State
- Report: Rebels Take Border Crossing With Jordan
- Jabhat al-Nusra Leader: Sharia Law in Idlib But No Group With Monopoly of Power
- Report: Islamic State Storms Yarmouk Camp in Southern Damascus
- International Donors Pledge Less than 50% of UN $8.4 Billion Aid Appeal
- Cabinet Concern Over Falling Currency After Military Losses
- State Media: Islamic State Kills 48 Civilians in Attack on Village in Eastern Hama Province
The Assad regime is continuing its bombing of Idlib in northwest Syria, reportedly killing dozens of people as it retaliates for last weekend’s loss of the city to rebels.
The opposition Syrian National Coalition said more than 50 people died in Idlib and in Dara’a Province in the south:
Our primary concern now is the plight of civilians in Idlib who are already being subjected to indiscriminate retaliatory barrel bomb attacks by the Assad regime. This even includes reports of new chemical weapons attacks….
Syrian Civil Defense groups are actively working on the ground to ensure civilians are evacuated from areas targeted by the regime. But the bravery of these individuals is not a sustainable solution. The regime has already shown in Homs that if it loses territory, it will respond by inflicting total destruction. The international community must not allow Idlib to suffer the same fate as Homs at the hands of Assad’s air force.
The Coalition called for a no-fly zone to “protect civilians on the ground from Assad’s aerial attacks, enable safer access for humanitarian aid and create the space needed to establish moderate governance and basic services”.
Raifah Sammea, a former member of the opposition provincial council, said that airstrikes are trying to disrupt basic services and prevent the establishment of a new administration over Idlib. The office of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, the hospital, and the City Hall have all been attacked.
Officials have moved to Idlib to begin restoration of health care and education, but cannot begin work until the attacks cease, activists said.
Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed reports from sources that rebels have completed notable victories overnight. The sources, inside Syria, say the opposition has taken the major regime base at Mastoumeh, south of Idlib. Rebels have cut the highway between Ariha and Jisr al-Shughour, limiting the Syrian military’s movement to its remaining positions in Idlib Province.
State news agency SANA insists that the Syrian military is still fighting “in Idlib city, [as] army units carried out an operation, killing many Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists and injuring others”.
Mourning over a slain infant in Sarmin, near Idlib:
Damage to the Idlib morgue:
Rebels promising a response with attacks on the positions of Syrian troops and militia:
Report: Rebels Regain Yarmouk Camp from Islamic State
A spokesman for the rebel faction Jaysh al-Islam says that it and the Palestinian group Beit al-Maqdis have regained control of the Yarmouk camp in southern Damascus, hours after the entry of the Islamic State.
The jihadists had taken part of the area, home to about 15,000 Palestinian refugees, on Wednesday amid a dispute, including an assassination and detentions, with pro-rebel Palestinian militia (see below).
A Syrian journalist, Mousa al-Omar, said about the Islamic State entered Yarmouk with some of their 1,000 fighters in the southern Damascus suburbs. He said well-known media activist Jamal Khalifah was killed in the fighting.
Report: Rebels Take Border Crossing With Jordan
Pro-opposition Orient News reports that rebels have taken the Naseeb border crossing (see map) with Jordan:
The victory, which follows the rebel capture of the nearby town of Busra al-Sham last month, further opens supply routes from Jordan for the opposition fighters.
Jabhat al-Nusra Leader: Sharia Law in Idlib But No Group With Monopoly of Power
The leader of the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra has said that Idlib, the provincial capital in northwest taken by rebels last weekend, will be administered under Sharia law but with no group monopolizing power.
Abu Mohammad al-Golani assured residents that they would be treated well by his fighters and those of rebel groups in the victorious offensive
“We salute the people of Idlib and their stand with their sons, the Mujahideen….God willing they will enjoy the justice of sharia, which will preserve their religion and their blood,” Golani said in an audio statement. “We as Nusra Front confirm that we do not strive to rule the city or to monopolize it without others.”
Ahrar al-Sham was the largest faction in the Idlib offensive, overseen by the Jaish al-Fatah operations room; however, Jabhat al-Nusra had a prominent role, and the independent rebel bloc Faylaq al-Sham, local brigades, and Free Syrian Army units were also involved.
Ahrar al-Sham’s leadership said on Monday that an independent Sharia court and independent administration would soon be established in Idlib.
Golani urged unity among the groups that won Idlib and supported the establish of an Islamic court to settle disputes. He said public property should be protected.
Report: Islamic State Storms Yarmouk Camp in Southern Damascus
Islamic State forces stormed Yarmouk camp in the suburbs of southern Damascus on Wednesday, retaliating for Tuesday’s kidnapping of 10 of its members by the camp’s ruling faction, according to a citizen journalist.
The journalist, Amir a-Shami, said the Islamic State entered Yarmouk, largely populated by Palestinian refugees, “because it wants to raid the offices of Hamas…and kidnap Hamas supporters”.
Beit al-Maqdis, a local Palestinian militia group in Yarmouk and a supporter of the Gazan leadership Hamas, reportedly captured ten jihadists on Tuesday. A day earlier, Abu Suheib, a Hamas leader in Yarmouk, was assassinated in the camp, with Beit al-Maqdis blaming Islamic State.
Abu Suheib was the director of a center for education and training at a local Red Crescent-affiliated Palestinian hospital.
The Islamic State has had a presence in the district of al-Hajar al-Aswad, just south of Yarmouk, for almost a year.
The pro-regime Yarmouk Camp News claimed that the Islamic State entered the camp on Wednesday with the complicity of the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra.
Yarmouk has been encircled by the regime for more than two years, with about 15,000 remaining residents — compared to 200,000 before the uprising of March 2011 — suffering shortages of food and medicine.
International Donors Pledge Less than 50% of UN $8.4 Billion Aid Appeal
International donors at a Tuesday summit in Kuwait have pledged less than half of the $8.4 billion requested by the UN to provide for more than 10 million displaced Syrians.
The donors said they would give $3.6 billion, with the US promising $507 million, Kuwait $500 million, the European Union $1.2 billion — double the amount the bloc offered last year — the UAE $100 million and Saudi Arabia $60 million.
Almost 80 governments and 40 aid agencies were at the summit.
Previous conferences have also fallen short of the UN target. In 2013, the pledged amount was $1.5 billion, far below the $4.4 billion requested. The 2014 conference secured $2.4 billion, compared to the $6.5 billion sought.
The amount actually delivered by governments has also been well below that pledged.
Cabinet Concern Over Falling Currency After Military Losses
The Cabinet has shown concern over the fall of the Syrian Pound after the recent losses of Idlib in the northwest and Busra al-Sham in the south.
Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi told ministers on Tuesday that the Monetary and Credit Council, Central Bank of Syria (CBS), and the Government’s Economic Committee will adopt a package of measures to keep the Syrian pound stable against foreign currencies.
The official rate of the Syrian Pound is about 190:1 vs. the US dollar — compared to 50:1 before the uprising began in March 2011 — but reports said the Pound had fallen to 275:1 after the rebel capture of Idlib on Saturday.
The Governor of the Central Bank insisted that “the exchange prices being circulated are illusory in order to manipulate the Syrian pound, referring to some fake websites which publish false prices”.
State Media: Islamic State Kills 48 Civilians in Attack on Village in Eastern Hama Province
Syrian State media is claiming another mass killing by the Islamic State in eastern Hama Province.
State news agency SANA says 48 civilians were slain as the jihadists attacked the village of al-Mabouja in the al-Salamiyah district.
On Tuesday, the Islamic State took over the southern half of the village and challenged Syrian forces in the remainder. SANA declares that “units Of the army, in cooperation with the popular defense groups and local residents, clashed with the terrorists, inflicting heavy losses upon them in personnel and equipment”.
The pro-Assad site al-Masdar News, citing a “field source”, acknowledges the deaths of 31 militiamen and wounding of 23.
Earlier this month, the Islamic State killed scores of Syrian troops in the al-Salamiyah district. State media said that 70 people were slain in the village of Sheikh Helal.
