LATEST: Video — The Battle for the “Brick Factory”
The latest round of maneuvering in the Syrian conflict between the “West” and Russia, fed by Moscow’s submission to the United Nations last week of a dossier claiming use of chemical weapons by the insurgency, continued on Monday at the UN.
See also Syria Analysis: Russia and the Politics of “Chemical Weapons”
The US, Britain, and France all used a meeting of the sanctions committee of the UN Security Council — initially called to consider a ballistic missile launch by Iran — to condemn Tehran’s supply of weapons to the Syrian regime and Hezbollah.
“The committee should also address the steady of flow of Iranian arms, military support, advisors and training to groups in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen, Iraq and beyond,” said US Acting Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo.
DiCarlo, also denouncing Tehran’s “aggressive act to undermine Yemen’s transition”, claimed Iran has long supplied weapons to President Bashar al-Assad’s government “knowing they would be used to massacre the Syrian people”.
The American diplomat asserted, “This council must tackle with renewed urgency, Iranian military assistance to Hezbollah and other armed terrorist groups and should also consider the impact of Iran’s actions on the sovereign rights of other countries especially Lebanon.”
Hezbollah has been increasingly present in fighting inside Syria this year, playing a central role in the regime’s re-capture of Qusayr near the Lebanese border in June.
Britain’s UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said there was “credible information that Iran is providing substantial military and financial support to Hezbollah and the Syrian regime in contravention of the UN embargo on arms exports by Iran”.
French political counselor, Philippe Bertoux, also said that the Council must “assume its responsibilities” over Iran’s sanctions breaches.
Latest Updates, From Top to Bottom
Video: Claimed Footage Of Airstrikes On Daraa
Claimed footage posted on Tuesday evening of airstrikes on Daraa in southwest Syria.
Claimed footage of shelling in Daraa:
Video: The Battle for the “Brick Factory”
One of the ongoing battles has been for the “Brick Factory”, part of a regime position in Idlib Province — latest footage shows burning regime armored vehicles:
Video: Activists Claim Regime Sent Poisoned Food Disguised As Aid To Inkhil, Daraa Province
Activists in Ikhil in Daraa Province claimed on Tuesday that Assad’s forces had sent a box of poisoned food to the town. Footage showed a box, marked as aid from the World Food Program, that appears to contain meat.
Another video posted by the same activists shows the food being offered to two puppies, who refuse to eat it — a sign, the activists said, that the food was poisoned.
While it is not possible to verify this particular claim, an EA source said Tuesday that there have been some small-scale attempts by Assad’s forces to send poisoned food to opposition-controlled areas.
Regime Claims It Is Working To Solve Food Crisis In Aleppo
Speaking to State TV on Monday, Syria’s Minister of Industry and Head of the Ministerial Committee specialized in the services to Aleppo said that the regime was working to “set temporary and strategic solutions to ensure the food and oil requirements of the citizens despite all the difficulties.”
“The committee started to run convoys which include all the citizens’ daily requirements and exerts all efforts to find a fundamental solution to the crisis in Aleppo as soon as possible,” Adnan al-Sukhni was quoted as saying.
Al-Sukhni blamed the insurgency for the food shortages in Aleppo.
Mohammad Wahid Aqqad, the governor of Aleppo, was quoted in State media as praising the regime’s “rapid measures to deliver basic materials and food stuffs to Aleppo”, noting that a number of aid convoys had been allowed into regime-controlled areas of the city.
Al-Sukhni’s and Aqqad’s remarks come after insurgents cut supply lines into regime-controlled areas of Aleppo were cut off and restrictions placed on food and other goods passing through crossings between insurgent and regime-held areas.
Supposedly this was done in order to put pressure on the regime and keep the prices low in the liberated areas. The results were nothing short of disastrous and even led to Aleppo’s citizens’ gravest confrontation with the FSA so far. First the prices in regime-controlled areas skyrocketed, with basic products costing up to 10 times more than just a few weeks before, and then becoming unavailable altogether.
SANA quotes U.N.’s Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, Maria Bruno, as saying that the regime allowed a humanitarian aid convoy of 14 trucks, loaded with food and medicine, to accompany their delegation on a recent visit to Syria.
Activists, however, say that food aid has gotten through to regime-held areas because insurgent factions have allowed convoys to pass:
Rebel factions currently operating in Khan Al-Assal, in cooperation with Al-Ahali Initiative, have facilitated the passage of dozens of supplies trucks into regime-held areas in western Aleppo through the Damascus-Aleppo Highway, which was blocked due to the fierce fighting that was taking place there in the past week.
Insurgents Say Reinforcements Sent To Qaboun As Regime Bombardment Continues
Insurgents have sent reinforcements to the northeastern Damascus neighborhood of Qaboun on Tuesday, according to a Reuters report.
Reuters spoke with Abu Nidal, an insurgent spokesman in Damascus, who said that fighters were trying to prevent regime forces from advancing further into neighborhood, which it entered on Monday.
“Rebel reinforcements are entering the area,” he told Reuters by Skype. “We expect the army to advance further into the area but they will be stopped.”
Abu Nidal’s comments come days after activists in Qaboun called on insurgent forces in the area to come and aid fighters in the embattled insurgent-held neighborhood.
The activists said that 700 families were at risk in the neighborhood, and there were fears of a mass killing, the Local Council Of Qaboun said on their Facebook page.
The comments also come amid continued regime bombardment of Qaboun.
Footage posted by activists on Tuesday claims to show a large fire in the neighborhood, the aftermath of heavy shelling.
Claim: Pro-Regime Gunmen Kill Members of Reconciliation Committee
Activists in Homs Province say pro-regime gunmen have killed seven members of a local reconciliation committee in Hajar al-Abyad.
The committee members, including two retired army officers, were Sunni Muslims trying to convince men to disarm and return to normal life. Their names have now been posted.
Last week insurgents ambushed Syrian troops — whom they said were preparing to join a regime offensive in Homs — in nearby Zahra. Activists claimed up to 80 soldiers were slain, with six insurgents killed. State media gave a much lower figure for regime casualties.
Claim: 9 People Killed by Regime Forces in Qarah
A Facebook page run by Syrian activists claims that nine people in Qarah, halfway between Damascus and Homs on a main highway, have been killed by pro-regime forces.
Graphic images and videos have been posted of the dead.
Video: Homes Burn In Qaboun After Heavy Shelling
Amateur video posted by activists from the Qaboun Media Office on Monday show homes in the northeastern Damascus neighborhood burning as a result of heavy shelling:
A short video from Sunday shows smoke rising from the neighborhood after a surface-to-surface missile hit:
Video: In Qaboun, Damascus, Civil Defense Volunteers Killed In Heavy Clashes
As regime forces continue to bombard the northeastern Damascus neighborhood of Qaboun, local activists reported Tuesday the deaths of several local Civil Defense Volunteers — civilians who work to provide other local residents with aid such as firefighting after strikes and to clearing away rubble and debris after shelling.
The Free Qaboun Facebook page reported that three Civil Defense volunteers had been killed, and others injured as they worked “to serve the neighborhood”.
Footage posted by activists from the last month shows some of the work that the Civil Defense volunteers have done.
This video, from July 11, shows workers cleaning away rubble after shelling:
In this video, from June 21, volunteers put out a fire caused by heavy shelling in Qaboun:
Mortars Hit Israeli-Occupied Golan Heights
An Israeli army spokeswoman said on Tuesday, “Several mortar rounds fired from Syria exploded in northern Golan without causing any damage or casualties.”
The spokeswoman said the mortars appeared to be stray fire from fighting between Syrian forces and insurgents and were not deliberately fired towards Israeli-occupied territory.
Video: Saudi Food Aid For Ramadan In Raqqa
Claimed footage from Monday shows food aid sent by groups in Saudi Arabia to Raqqa for Ramadan:
Video: The Regime Assault on Qaboun
More footage of the continuing regime attacks on the strategic Damascus suburb of Qaboun (see Monday’s Syria Today for full updates):
Residents displaced from their homes:
Claim: Scores Killed in Regime Airstrike in Idlib Province
Activists are claiming scores of people were killed on Monday by a regime airstrike on Tal Mardikh in Idlib Province in northwestern Syria — footage of the aftermath:
Casualties
The Local Coordination Committees claim the deaths of 98 people on Monday, including 29 in Idlib Province, 27 in Damascus and its suburbs, 12 in Aleppo Province, and 12 in Homs Province.
The LCC asserts that 27 of the victims died under torture.
The Violations Documentation Center reports that 66,293 people have been slain since the start of the conflict in March 2011, an increase of 103 since Monday. Of these, 50,565 were civilians, a rise of 66 from yesterday.
