LATEST: Ahrar al-Sham Denies It Executed Civilians in Latakia Offensive

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SUMMARY: The Assad regime’s attempt to break the months-long siege of its areas in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, appears to be struggling.

The Syrian military took Khanasser, on the north-south highway leading to central Syria, last week but reports indicate that the area is contested.

And to the east, insurgents seem to be holding as-Safira, despite sustained regime bombardment. On Sunday, more opposition reinforcements arrived in the town, which is near a Syrian military complex reported to hold chemical weapons stocks.

Latest Updates, Most Recent First

Regime Forces Razing Residential Buildings In Moadamiyyat Ash Sham

The Shaam News Network is reporting that regime forces are planting explosive devices in residential buildings in the northern quarter of the West Ghouta town of Moadamiyyat Ash Sham, along on the highway side. The regime is then destroying the homes.

Ahrar al-Sham Denies It Executed Civilians in Latakia Offensive

The leading insurgent faction Ahrar al-Sham has “categorically denied” any involvement in the execution of civilians during an offensive in August in Latakia Province in western Syria.

Last week, Human Rights Watch chronicled the deaths of 190 civilians and abduction of 200 others on August 4 and accused five insurgent factions, including Ahrar al-Sham, of crimes against humanity.

Video: Insurgents Celebrate in Daraa After Downing of Fighter Jet

On Sunday, we posted the claimed video of a Syrian MiG being downed by opposition fire.

Claim Of 90 Kurdish Fighters Killed In Clashes With ISIS In Atmeh

Claims on Sunday from jihadist sources that over 90 Kurdish fighters from the Syrian YPG faction have been killed in clashes with ISIS around the village of Atmeh on the Turkish border.

Reports Of 27 Civilian Deaths As Car Bomb Explodes In Darkoush, Idlib Province

UPDATE: Activists say that the numbers of those who died in the attack is higher than 27.

Another video of the bombing:

Activists are reporting that 27 civilians were killed in a car bombing in the town of Darkoush in Idlib Province. Children were among those killed, with one source saying that three children lost their lives, while another source says four died. The bomb went off in a crowded marketplace. After the car bomb exploded, activists say that the regime bombarded the area with barrel bombs and rockets.

Scenes from the immediate aftermath — click for map.

The names of 27 people identified and killed in the attack, as compiled by activists in Syria are (in Arabic):

1-وضاح شرعان
2- محمد شرعان
3-أحمد مكية
4-مصفى محمد نسلة
5-مصطفى ديبو
6-يوسف شاكر
7-عبدو علي القاق
8- زاهر محمد نسلة
9-عبد الواحد حموش (جسر الشغور)
10-محمد غانم (جسر الشغور ) طفل
11-هزاع الحجي (عين السودة)
12-أحمد حمادة (عين السودة)
13-الشهيد احمد ابن محمد العيسى
14-الشهيد عبد الحليم ابن اسماعيل خلو
15-الشهيد زاكي اسقاطي
16-علاء شرعان
17-يحيى الحمود(المعلقة)
18-عبد الحليم اسماعيل عبد الكريم (طفل)
19-محمود بركات
20-خالد حسينو
21-سامر مصطفى عرب
22-مصطفى عرب
23-علي عبدو عليلو
24-أحمد محمد العيسى (طفل)
25-دلال حموش
26-أحمد فهد
27-ضياء شيخ محمد

Regime Cuts Electricity To Damascus Province

Citizen journalists from the Shaam News Network report that the regime has cut off electricity supplies to the Damascus Province and surrounding areas.

Head of Revolutionary Guards Restates “Material Support” for Assad

The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, Mohammad Ali Jafari, has repeated that the Guards will continue to provide assistance to the Syrian regime.

Claiming that Western countries have failed in their military intervention, Jafari said, “They know well that the Islamic Republic provides material, spiritual and intellectual support for Syria.”

The commander said last September that the Guards were providing logistical assistance and were helping train 50,000 members of the People’s Defense Militias in Syria.

Footage taken from an Iranian cameraman, killed amid an insurgent ambush in Syria’s Aleppo Province in August, showed Iranian officers training a small group of local Syrian militia and accompanying them in the field when they were attacked by an opposition brigade.

See Syria Video: More on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, A Shia Militia, & The Veteran Who Died Making a Film

(Cross-posted from Iran Round-Up)

Casualties

The Local Coordination Committees claim 58 people were killed on Sunday, including 17 in Damascus and its suburbs, 15 in Aleppo Province, and 10 in Daraa Province.

The Violations Documentation Center records that 75,741 people have been killed since March 2011, a rise of 87 from Sunday. Of the dead, 56,496 are civilians, an increase of 59 since yesterday.