LATEST: Regime Claims 100 Trucks Of Food Aid Sent To Aleppo

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United Nations officials have said that the Syrian conflict is the worst crisis since the fighting in Rwanda in 1994, which killed hundreds of thousands of people.

The High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, told a public briefing of the UN Security Council that the world had “not seen a refugee outflow escalate at such a frightening rate since the Rwandan genocide almost 20 years ago”.

The officials said 6000 people are fleeing Syria every day, adding to the current estimate of almost 1.8 million refugees. Millions more are displaced within the country.

Ivan Simonovic, the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, said at least 92,901 people — including more than 6,500 children — were killed in Syria between March 2011 and the end of April 2013.

Guterres said that two-thirds of the refugees registered with the UN in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, and elsewhere had left Syria since the beginning of the year.


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Video: Civilian Exodus From Nawa, Daraa; More Footage Of The Checkpoint

More footage from Nawa, Daraa Province on Wednesday, following the capture of a checkpoint and at least some parts of the town by the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade. (Thanks to @johnyrocket69 for the links.)

This video is claimed footage of civilians leaving Nawa en-masse on Wednesday:

Another video of the checkpoint and the town following the insurgent victory:

Regime Claims 100 Trucks Of Food Aid Sent To Aleppo

The Syrian government claimed on Wednesday that it had allowed food aid to enter Aleppo, saying that over 100 trucks containing flour, other food items and fuel had been sent to the city in the past 24 hours.

Mohammad Walid Aqqad, nominally the governor of Aleppo, or at least the areas under regime control, told State media on Wednesday that meeting citizens’ needs was a priority for the government, promising that “several types of essential goods will become available again for citizens within the next few days”.

The regime also claimed that gas cylinders were made available in Aleppo on Wednesday, and promised that the city’s gas stations would be restocked with gasoline in the next few days.

Video: Homes Burn In Qaboun, Damascus After Heavy Shelling

Footage posted on Wednesday by activists in Qaboun shows homes in the Damascus suburb burning as a result of heavy regime shelling:

Kurdish Groups Claim They Control Ras al-Ain

According to analyst Wladimir Van Wilgenburg, both the Syrian Kurdish faction PYD and the Kurdish umbrella group KCK are claiming that Kurdish militias have full control of Ras al-Ain, near the Turkish border, after days of clashes with insurgents including the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra.

See earlier update

Syrian National Coalition Accuses Assad Of Killing Mediators In Homs

The Syrian National Coalition on Wednesday accused President Bashar al-Assad’s forces of killing seven mediators near a security checkpoint in Hajar Al Abyad in Homs on Monday.

In a statement, the Coalition said the move was part of a “strategy deliberately forcing mediators to negotiate a ceasefire or evacuating citizens from besieged areas only to lead them to their deaths.”

Those killed on Monday were from the National Reconciliation Committee and were heading towards Qameira to negotiate civilian access to Al Zara, the Coalition said.

“Assad’s forces have also allowed civilians access to besieged areas in order to evacuate the wounded but later opening fire and killing and injuring dozens,” the statement said.

Videos: ‘Media Mujahidin’, The Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade And Propaganda Messages In Nawa

Earlier on Wednesday, EA reported footage of insurgents in Nawa, Daraa Province, overrunning a checkpoint.

In a series of video reports, media activist Abo Gamal presented images of the “liberated” checkpoint and a captured tank, and reported that local people were celebrating the liberation of the town from regime forces by insurgents from the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade.

Later on Wednesday, Abo Gamal posted more videos, giving additional messages about the capture of the checkpoint. However, Abo Gamal is not an impartial reporter, but rather an activist with a message.

EA has reported previously on videos made by the activist Abo Gamal, who appears to be embedded with the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade — responsible for capturing UN Peacekeepers earlier this year — and who is acting as a ‘media mujahid’ on behalf of the group.

In this video, Abo Gamal claims that bottles of alcohol had been discovered in several checkpoints in Nawa — the obvious message being that Assad’s troops did not observe Islamic law:

This video, posted Wednesday afternoon, shows insurgents from the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade with a tank captured from regime forces:

In other footage, Abo Gamal shows graphic images of children he claims were killed as a result of heavy regime shelling on Nawa.

This video shows more images of destroyed buildings inside Nawa, which Abo Gamal explains is a result of regime airstrikes:

US Continues To Declare “Israel Bombed Syrian Port”

US officials continue their leaking campaign to establish that Israeli warplanes hit the Syrian port of Lattakia on July 5….

Following last weekend’s leaks to CNN, the Defense Intelligence Agency has fed an intelligence assessment to The Daily Beast, reiterating that the strikes hit Yakhont anti-ship missiles.

The Collapsing Currency

This paragraph stands out in a Washington Post overview of the economic situation:

The Syrian pound, valued at 47 to the dollar before the conflict began, dipped last week to more than 300 against the dollar on the black market, prompting the government to announce emergency measures. A new law would impose a minimum sentence of three years for exchanging money without a licence, while exporting food items overseas has been deemed illegal.

Military Analysis “Large-Scale Offensives Remain Difficult for the Syrian Government”

Elizabeth O’Bagy, one of the sharpest analysts of the military situation, assesses developments since the regime’s re-capture of Qusayr near the Lebanese border in early June. While I have differences in emphasis from O’Bagy — she claims the regime’s next objective was a push to re-take area in Aleppo, while we were watching for any effort in Homs and saw an insurgent offensive in Aleppo as a possibility — her conclusion is incisive:

Consecutive large-scale offensives remain difficult for the Syrian government, and the rush to Aleppo was premature. Given the distribution of its resources and the forces required to conduct major offensives at this point, it also remains difficult for the Syrian government to conduct simultaneous large-scale offensives. Although the Syrian government has been able to maintain its current level of operations in Aleppo, it has been unable to launch a major offensive against the city while simultaneously conducting an offensive in Homs. Assad’s forces are too limited to conduct decisive operations in multiple fronts simultaneously, and once they move on from one location, they risk losing it again.

Although the regime lacks the capacity to defeat the armed opposition decisively, it has been able to rely on air power and irregular forces to ensure control of Syria’s most populated and economically important districts while ceding less-strategically important parts of the countryside to rebel-control. However, in so doing, the nature of the regime forces has largely changed, now representing less of a national, standing army and more of a coalition of mainly militia forces with heavy weapons, including air power, at their disposal. For the time being, this has given the Syrian government the momentum on the ground. Yet it will also likely lead to a number of unintended consequences as chains of command and command and control become less directly tied to the Syrian government and Assad himself, and the increasingly naked sectarian path of the Syrian government provokes greater international involvement.

The coalition that has generated badly needed reinforcements also may generate critical vulnerabilities for the regime, especially if it is not able to defeat the opposition decisively and quickly, given that a protracted conflict will strain the will of participants to fight. If the opposition receives international assistance before losing critical terrain, they will likely be able to prevent the redeployment of regime forces from Homs and reset the terms of battle for Aleppo.

Video: Insurgents Capture Checkpoint & Tank in Nawa, Daraa Province

Footage posted on YouTube by media activist Abdelnasser Abo Gamal shows insurgents overrunning a checkpoint in Nawa, Daraa Province, and capturing a T-55 tank (hat tip to @johnyrocket69 for the links.

This video (warning — somewhat graphic image of arm wound at 0:29) shows a Free Syrian Army fighter wounded in the battle to liberate the checkpoint.

In this video, taken after the checkpoint had been overrun by insurgents, Abo Gamal explains the location of the checkpoint at the entrance to Nawa, and shows us some images of it:

Here, Abo Gamal talks to insurgents and shows footage of local residents celebrating after the checkpoint is taken:

Map showing location of Nawa:


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Abo Gamal, who appears to travel as an embedded reporter with insurgent groups in the Hauran area of southwest Syria, has made a large number of videos explaining insurgent advances in the area, including of the Yarmouk Brigade.

Video: Shelling In Khalidiyeh, Ashrafiyeh in Aleppo

Amateur video posted on Wednesday shows clashes and shelling in Aleppo’s northern neighborhoods of Khalidiyeh and Ashrafiyeh.

Shelling of Khalidiyeh:

Insurgent snipers in Ashrafiyeh:

FSA fighters in Ashrafiyeh shoot at regime forces:

Kurdish Groups Fight With Jabhat al-Nusra in Ras al-Ain

Kurdish activists report fighting on Tuesday between the Kurdish People’s Defense Units, affiliated to the Kurdish political movement PYD, and the Islamist faction Jahbat al-Nusra.

Claims are circulating that at least four JAN members were killed in the clashes near the Mahatta neighborhood, controlled by Jabhat al-Nusra, and Kanais Street, controlled by the YPG.

The Kurdish PYD has had a tense relationship with the insurgency, with the Free Syrian Army skirmishing with the group in Erfin and cutting off supplies to the city.

Smoke rising above Ras al-Ain:

Video: New FSA Division Formed In Deir Az-Zor

Footage posted on Wednesday shows an announcement by insurgents in Deir Az-Azor that a new Free Syrian Army mobile infantry division has been formed.

Notably, the announcement shows an opposition flag, with no Islamist banners.

Homs: Profile of a Devastated City

The New York Times, drawing on the observations and interviews by an unnamed local correspondent, profiles the destruction in Homs amid regime efforts to re-take full control.

The article quotes fighters on both sides, residents, and a doctor “Mohammed:

He said he had received patients in recent days burned over their entire bodies with what he believed were incendiary chemicals. Several thousand people remain trapped in the besieged neighborhoods, he said, including Sunni and Christian families, elderly people and mothers unable to nurse because they have nothing to eat.

One Turkish Teen Killed, One Wounded by Syrian Fire

A Turkish teenager in the southern province of Şanlıurfa was killed and another wounded by stray bullets fired from the Syrian side of the border on Tuesday.

Members of Reconciliation Committee Killed in Homs Province

Video has been released of the bodies of seven members of a local reconciliation committee killed in Hajar al-Abyad in Homs Province.

The committee members, including two retired army officers, were Sunni Muslims trying to convince men to disarm and return to normal life.

Syrian Political Analyst Killed in Lebanon

Political analyst Mohammad Dirar Jammo was killed by gunmen in front of his house in the southern Lebanon town of al-al-Sarfand early Wednesday morning.

Jammo was head of the political and international relations in the Global Arab Expatriates Organization.

Pictures: Claimed Israel Airstrike on Syrian Port

The Atlantic Council of the United States has posted before-and-after images of the Syrian port at Lattakia, which US officials say was hit by an Israeli airstrike on July 5.

According to the officials and other sources, the strike targeted Russian-made Yakhont anti-ship missiles.

SYRIA AIRSTRIKE LATTAKIA PORT

Casualties

The Local Coordination Committees claim 77 people were killed on Tuesday, including 24 in Damascus and its suburbs and 14 in Daraa Province.

The Violations Documentation Center reports that 66,367 people have been slain since the start of the conflict in March 2011, an increase of 74 since Tuesday. Of these, 50,630 were civilians, a rise of 65 from yesterday.