PHOTO: Claimed image of Syrian military after capture of Kafr Haddad, south of Aleppo, on Friday
LATEST
- Civil Defense: At Least 39 Killed in Regime Airstrikes Near Damascus
- Kafranbel Message: “Only Toppling Assad Saves the World”
- Video: Deadly Regime Airstrike on Douma on Saturday
- Video: Moment That Media Activist Abu Hamza Was Killed in Northern Hama Province
- Regime Worries About Declining Currency, Blames “Manipulators”
- Iranian Supreme Leader’s Aide: “Syria is International Islamic Front Against Zionists and Americans”
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An offensive by President Assad’s military — alongside forces from Iran, Hezbollah and Iraq — claimed an advance south of Syria’s largest city Aleppo on Friday.
Pro-regime outlets said the Syrian Army’s 4th Mechanized Division, National Defense Forces, and the foreign units moved into Kafr Haddad on the border with Idlib Province. The ground assault was supported by Russian airstrikes.
The Syrian military has launched offensives since October 7 on six fronts — five of them against rebels and the other against the Islamic State — but has had notable success only in the southern Aleppo campaign. Regime supporters are claiming that 245 square km (94 sq miles) have been captured.
The Assad forces are hoping to take the town of al-Hader, putting more pressure on routes for rebels in Aleppo city, which has been divided since July 2012.
Civil Defense: At Least 39 Killed in Regime Airstrikes Near Damascus
The White Helmets civil defense organization updates on Saturday’s regime airstrikes near Damascus (see earlier entry about attacks on Douma), with details of location and casualties:
There were more than 20 air raids today in the Damascus countryside. 39 reported killed including 25 women. Douma, AlMarj and Saqba.
— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) November 7, 2015
Kafranbel Message: “Only Toppling Assad Saves the World”
The village of Kafranbel in northwest Syria issues its latest messages, responding to events such as last week’s international conference in Vienna:
Video: Deadly Regime Airstrike on Douma on Saturday
Another deadly regime airstrike on the Damascus suburb of Douma on Saturday:
Activists say at least 12 people were killed in today’s attacks. One resident said:
For the past half-hour, we have been hearing warplanes roaming above us. The air strikes targeted a busy market around 15 minutes ago….
We know those warplanes are Russian because of the type of missiles that were used.
A civil defense officer said at least three air strikes targeted residential areas in the suburb, including the market, within an hour: “Not just air strikes — rockets are being launched into the city too. More than 10 people have been killed, including two children, and dozens of others have been injured.”
The Syrian military has bombarded opposition-held Douma, northeast of the capital, for years in an effort to break civilians and rebels. Hundreds of people were killed over the summer and almost 100 died in a two-day period last month.
Video: Moment That Media Activist Abu Hamza Was Killed in Northern Hama Province
The moment that media activist Ahmed Abu Hamza was killed this week in northern Hama Province, as he filmed a rebel talking about the capture of the hilltop Tel Sukayk:
Regime Worries About Declining Currency, Blames “Manipulators”
The Assad regime has tipped off its worries about the continued fall of the Syrian Pound.
State news agency SANA reports on a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi on Wednesday, which called for “immediate and urgent measures” to stabilize the currency and to control the market for foreign exchange.
The Syrian Pound is now officially at 342:1 vs. the US dollar. Before the uprising in March 2011, it was at 50:1.
The SANA report does not cite the structural factors underlying the fall, with the Assad regime reliant on support from other countries — notably Iran — for the economy. Instead, al-Halqi pointed to “the importance of unveiling all manipulators and those who are involved in the attempts to destabilize the Syrian pound and the traffickers of the crisis”.
Iranian Supreme Leader’s Aide: “Syria is International Islamic Front Against Zionists and Americans”
The Supreme Leader’s representative to the Revolutionary Guards has declared the necessity for Iran’s support of Syria’s Assad regime as “an international Islamic front against the Zionists and the Americans”.
General Yahya Rahim Safavi explained, “The Americans, the Zionists, and some Arab countries — Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey –– are on this side in order to overthrow the legitimate government of Bashar al Assad.”
He concluded, “In the five years of victory of the resistance front against the terrorists, Iran has been [at the center]; Iran’s main power and advisory focus in the fight against the takfiri terrorists is very crucial.”
