LATEST: Darayya Local Council Rejects Regime “Truce”; 12 More Bombs Fall on Suburb
WEDNESDAY FEATURES
- Op-Ed: It’s Time to Destroy Assad’s Air Force
- Feature: The Destruction of a Medical Community
- Saudi Arabia: King Abdullah Orders List of Saudis Who Fight Abroad, Including Syria
The death toll from regime bombing in Aleppo fell on Tuesday, but there was little relief in the critical situation for civilians in insurgent-held areas.
Videos and images showed masses of residents and their belonging trapped at Aleppo’s main crossing point, Karaj al-Hajez, with reports that Syrian troops were refusing to allow them into the regime-held section of Syria’s largest city.
The Local Coordination Committees reported that 35 people died in and near Aleppo on Tuesday, with 65 killed across Syria.
About 350 people have been killed in Aleppo Province since Saturday, according to the LCC. Scores of “barrel bombs”, including more than 90 in one day, have been dropped on insurgent-held neighborhoods.
State media does not mention the deaths or bombing this morning. Instead, the SANA news agency declares:
Families of Aleppo on Tuesday marched through the streets of the city to show their support to the Syrian Arab Army which confronts terrorism and defends Homeland.
Participants in the march raised national flags and photos of President Bashar al-Assad, chanting national slogans which appreciate the heroism of the army and call for speeding up operations to eliminate terrorism and terrorists.
Darayya Local Council Rejects Regime “Truce”; 12 More Bombs Fall on Suburb
Well-placed sources report that the local council in the bombarded Damascus suburb of Darayya have rejected the offer of a “truce” by the Assad regime.
Since December 31, more than 200 bombs have falled on Darayya, strategically located between southern Damascus and Daraa Province in southern Syria. Food and supplies are running low.
Activists report that 12 bombs were dropped on the suburb on Wednesday:
Videos: Insurgents Claim Advance in Damascus Suburb of Qaddam
One of a series of videos claiming insurgent advance in Qaddam, near Damascus:
State Media Proclaims “100s” Return to Moadamiya After Truce
State news agency SANA declares that “hundreds of families displaced” from the Damascus suburb of Moadaimya have begun returning to their homes after a local truce “establishing an atmosphere of quiet through national reconciliation efforts”.
A local regime official said residents began returning to Moadamiya on Saturday. He said about 40,000 people might return to the area within the next few weeks.
Moadamiya was besieged for more than a year by the Syrian military, cutting off supplies and food, with about 12,000 civilians trapped in the suburb before some people were evacuated last autumn.
SANA also claims that aid has been delivered to the besieged Damascus suburb of Yarmouk for the sixth day in a row, with more of its 18,000 residents evacuated.
Yarmouk, with a mainly Palestinian population of 200,000 before the Syrian uprising began in March 2011, has been blockaded by regime forces since July. More than 80 people have reportedly died from starvation.
SANA claims more than 4300 food baskets have been distributed and 2500 people “with medical conditions” have been evacuated in the past week.
See Syria Video Feature: Assad’s Barrel Bombs Fall on Darayya
Sources since the local council responded to the regime offer, “We will not sell the blood of our martyrs for a few loaves of bread —- keep sending your cannon fodder into certain death.”
