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SUMMARY: Syria’s State news agency SANA says 15 people were injured in Saturday morning’s explosion in Jaramana, a southern suburb of Damascus.
An “official source” said, “A suicide terrorist blew himself up inside a car bomb with big quantity of explosives [near] Tamico Company for medical industries, injuring 15 citizens, the majority of them critical….They were immediately admitted to hospitals to receive treatment.”
Insurgents have previously targeted Jaramana, which has many Christian and Druze residents, with bombings and mortar rounds.
In August, a car bomb killed 18 people.
(Featured Photo: Aftermath of bomb in Jaramana, July 26, 2013)
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Two Turkish Pilots Freed in Beirut After 9 Lebanese Returned from Syria
Turkish pilots Murat Ağca and Murat Akpınar, abducted in Beirut in August, have been handed over to Lebanese authorities, following the release earlier in the day of nine Lebanese men kidnapped in Syria in May 2012.
While no specific group claimed to hold the pilots, it is believed they were seized in an effort to press Turkey to intervene for the freedom of the nine Lebanese.
A Turkish Airlines plane has gone to Beirut to fly the men back in Turkey. A Lebanese security source said they would be able to leave once the nine Lebanese returned from Syria.
Meanwhile, Lebanese officials said the nine Shiite pilgrims kidnapped in Syria over a year ago who were freed and brought to Turkey yesterday are heading to Lebanon.
ISIS Executes Man For Murder In Jarabulus, Aleppo
Jihadi sources on Friday reported that the Islamic State of Iraq and Ash Sham executed a man in Jarabulus, Aleppo Province, for intentional murder. The public execution was also reported in a statement by ISIS, which said the executed man had murdered three people by setting fire to a room they were in.
تنفيد حكم #القصاص في قاتل اليوم في إمارة #جرابلس #الدولة_الإسلامية_في_العراق_والشام http://t.co/iVqpIr2aLp pic.twitter.com/CeD0iZcnkX
— إمارة جرابلس (@Jarablos_1) October 18, 2013
Air Strikes On Tariq Al Bab, Aleppo, Destroy Homes
Footage of the aftermath of air strikes on Aleppo’s Tariq Al Bab neighborhood, which has destroyed civilian homes. The number of casualties is unknown, but citizen journalists are reporting that several civilians were killed in the strikes.
Testimony from a local resident, Abu Hisham:
Attempts to clean up the rubble:
Homes Burn In Moadamiyyat Ash Sham As Shelling Continues
Houses in Moadamiyyat Ash Sham burn on Saturday as regime shelling continues unabated. The US Government has slammed the Assad regime’s siege of Moadamiyyat Ash Sham and other areas of the Damascus suburbs.
9 Lebanon Hostages Released After 17 Months
Nine Lebanese hostages held in Syria since May 2012 have been released.
Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah said Friday that Doha helped secure the release of the hostages.
Families celebrate on hearing the news:
The men were among eleven people captured in Aleppo by the Northern Storm Brigade of the Free Syrian Army. Two were later released.
Their families said they were returning from a pilgrimage to Shia religious sites in Iran when they were seized.
Insurgents accused the captured men of being members of Hezbollah. Northern Storm commander Ammar al-Dadikhli said they were being held to force Hezbollah to stop supporting the Assad regime.
Casualties
The Local Coordination Committees claim 49 people were killed on Friday, including 11 in Hama Province and 10 in Aleppo Province.
The Violations Documentation Center records that 76,123 people have been killed since March 2011, a rise of 45 from Friday. Of the dead, 56,741 are civilians, an increase of 31 since yesterday