PHOTO: Aftermath of an airstrike on al-Bab, northeast of Aleppo city, on June 11, 2015 (Feras Badawi/AFP)


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Dozens of civilians have been killed in sustained regime barrel-bombing of a town controlled by the Islamic State in Aleppo Province in northwest Syria.

Al-Bab, 30 km (19 miles) northeast of Aleppo city, is being attacked for a third consecutive day, with the death toll rising to at least 65.

The pro-opposition Local Coordination Committees report that https://www.facebook.com/LCCSy/posts/1186543134706154” target=”_blank”>37 people were killed and 50 wounded on Monday, most of them seriously.

At least 28 people were reportedly slain when the attacks ignited fuel in a market on Saturday. Fifteen of the victims are still unidentified because of the extent of burns.

Early report of Monday’s attack — before the confirmed death toll rose — posted pictures of the dead and wounded, including children:

Al-Bab has been held by the Islamic State since its break with Syria’s rebels in autumn 2013, and the militants have continued to hold the area despite rebel advances elsewhere in the province this spring.

The Assad regime has refrained from attacks on the Islamic State in other areas, as rebels try to repel an Islamic State offensive in northeast Aleppo Province. The reason for the latest assault on al-Bab — which was also hit last month — is unclear, although opposition activists report that the strikes are on civilian neighborhoods, rather than Islamic State positions.

A Syrian military official denied regime responsibility on Saturday.


US Airstrikes Kill Islamic State Leaders in Deir Ez Zor and Hasakah Provinces

US airstrikes on Monday have killed Islamic State leaders in Deir Ez Zor and Hasakah Provinces in eastern Syria, according to the opposition Local Coordination Committees

Among the identified dead are Amer al-Rafdan, the former Governor of Deir ez-Zor, and Abo Osama al-Iraqi, the current governor of Hasakah.

Al-Rafdan was a commander in Jabhat al-Nusra in Deir ez-Zor who defected and pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in 2013. He was accused of dozens of assassination, abductions, and killings under torture of Free Syrian Army leaders and members. He also commanded Islamic State militias in Deiz ez-Zor Province in winter campaigns last winter.


More Regime Bombs in Attempt to Break Rebels in Zabadani, Northwest of Damascus

The Syrian air force has carried out yet more attacks on Zabadani, northwest of Damascus, in the Hezbollah-regime attempt to take the town from rebels.

Hezbollah and the Syrian military are also firing artillery shells and mortars into the town.

The offensive began almost two weeks ago after an advance led by Hezbollah surrounded Zabadani, held by the opposition since January 2012. However, rebels have continued to hold out, countering initial regime claims of a rapid takeover of the town.

See also Syria Daily, July 10: Rebels in Zabadani — “We Will Not Kneel to the Regime”

Pro-Assad outlets are now asserting that the Hezbollah-regime force has taken a “strategic street” and the al-Malah section, the rebels’ “main supply route to [the town of] Madaya and the primary source of their food supply”.

Meanwhile, Iranian media have confirmed that a Revolutionary Guards colonel was killed, without saying that was in the assault on Zabadani.

Colonel Karim Ghawabesh was said to have died “in defense of Sayyeda Zeinab”, an important Shia shrine in south Damascus and the standard location given for the death of any Iranian officer in Syria.

Pro-opposition sites said Ghawabesh, who served in the Guards, during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, was killed on Saturday.


Opposition Coalition: Regime Destruction of Aleppo Citadel Shows Assad Threatens Syrian Civilization

The externally-based opposition Syrian National Coalition has denounced the Assad regime’s destruction of part of the 13th-century Aleppo Citadel wall on Sunday.

Vice President Mustafa Osso said the incident showed that President Assad’s survival in power threatens Syrian civilization.

The Citadel was damaged when Syrian forces attacked a nearby rebel tunnel. The regime continues to deny responsibility, blaming “Takfiri terrorists”.

See Syria Daily, July 12: Bomb Damages Historic Aleppo Citadel — But Who Carried Out Attack?

Osso called on the UN to assume legal responsibilities to stop the destruction:

For Assad and his henchmen, Syria is but fuel for their machine, and he is ready to burn its present, its past and future for the sake of holding to the throne.

These crimes and violations are consistent with the systematic criminality, destruction and disregard for any humanitarian or cultural value and reveal that Assad’s’ survival in power is a fateful threat to Syria, its people and civilization.


Video: Southern Front Direct Hit on Regime Snipers in Daraa

Video from the Southern Front rebel coalition of a direct hit on a regime sniper position in a high-rise building in Daraa in southern Syria:

Rebels are in the midst of an offensive to take the regime-held portion of the provincial capital, located on the Jordanian border.

See also Syria Daily, June 26: Rebels Advance in Daraa City, But Face Stiff Resistance

Clashes between the Free Syrian Army and regime forces near the Air Force Intelligence branch:


Turkish Crackdown on Islamic State? 66 Recruits and Members Detained Since Friday

Reports continue of a Turkish crackdown on the activities of the Islamic State, with the detention since Friday of more than 45 foreign nationals seeking to cross into Syria.

Security forces also arrested 21 suspected Islamic State members, including three foreigners, in Istanbul and other locations on Friday.

Those detained trying to cross into Syria were held in Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey, long seen as a staging post for recruits. Dogan News Agency said that 25 foreign nationals, mainly citizens of Tajikistan, were arrested at Gaziantep bus station on Sunday.


Regime Talks Up Possibility of Offensive to Recapture Palmyra from Islamic State

State media is talking up the possibility of a regime offensive to recapture the historic city of Palmyra, seized by the Islamic State in May.

State news agency SANA features photographs of the Chief of the General Staff, General Ali Abdullah Ayoub, inspecting units near Palmyra.

According to SANA, “Lt. Gen. Ayoub asserted that the battle will continue until terrorism is eliminated and security and stability is restored to the entirety of Syria.”

Pro-Assad outlets claim that elite Syrian forces have taken ancient quarries northwest of Palmyra (see map), as they attempt to surround the city to the north and south.

The capture of Palmyra aroused international attention this spring, as the city is famed for its Roman ruins. The Islamic State also seized other territory, including oil and gas fields, in the offensive in Homs Province in central Syria.