Truce near Damascus Broken as Warplanes Bomb Aleppo
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
A day-old truce in a besieged rebel-held town near Damascus broke down Thursday as Syrian warplanes bombed the divided northern city of Aleppo for a 12th straight day, activists said.
By Wednesday, the Aleppo air blitz that began on December 15 had killed at least 422 people, mostly civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group relying on activists and other sources inside the war-torn country.
In Moadamiyet al-Sham, near the capital, clashes broke out on Thursday afternoon, a day after opposition and regime sources announced a truce for the town, which had been under a suffocating army siege for a year.
The opposition blamed President Bashar Assad's troops for breaking the truce.
"They opened heavy machine-gun fire without any reason. It means there are people from the regime who don't want the siege on our town to be lifted. They are trying to end the truce in any way possible," Ahmad, a local activist, told Agence France Presse via the Internet.
The Syrian Revolution General Commission, a network of activists on the ground, confirmed the fighting, and said the army was sending "heavy reinforcements" towards the town.
On Wednesday rebels raised the national flag above the town in accordance with a ceasefire deal that was supposed to allow food in, but Ahmad said none had arrived.
Negotiations were under way for another truce in Barzeh, northern Damascus, according to activist Emad al-Barzawi, but he said "there has been no decision yet."
Barzeh has come under frequent bombardment in recent months, forcing hundreds of residents to flee.
In Aleppo, the country's second city and onetime commercial hub, the airforce kept up its offensive a day after 12 people were killed in aerial attacks in and around the city, said the Observatory.
Regime aircraft launched a fresh attack using TNT-packed barrels against the city's Hanano district, and another air strike against Daret Ezza in the surrounding province, according to the Observatory.
The European Union, the United States and the Arab League have condemned the air force's use of barrel bombs, and the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch has described their use as "unlawful" because they do not discriminate between civilians and fighters.
"When the bombing starts, you feel like you're going to die any second," Abu Omar, an activist in the town of Marea near Aleppo, told AFP via the Internet.
"The regime sees us all as terrorists -- fighters, civilians, men, women, children. To them, anyone who lives in a liberated (rebel) area is a terrorist."
An estimated 126,000 people have been killed since the start of Syria's uprising, which began with peaceful protests in March 2011 but escalated into a civil war after regime forces fired on demonstrators.
The regime has always referred to the opposition as "terrorists," even before the rise of powerful jihadist groups among the rebels.
Pro-regime newspaper Al-Watan said the army had carried out "door-to-door operations" on Wednesday in Adra, northeast of Damascus, where it said 57 "terrorists" have been killed.
State news agency SANA meanwhile said Islamist rebels assassinated a Muslim cleric in Damascus province "while he was on his way out of the mosque after evening prayers."
26 December 2013, 20:06
24
How Dare Assad break the truce with these disgusting, filthy, be-heading, heart-eating, wahahbi cannibals.
26 December 2013, 20:13
44
Lol! Yeah and most of the time, they lie and spread propaganda about civilians getting killed, when most of the dead are wahabis. 70% of all people dead are either from the army or pro government
26 December 2013, 22:17
23
sagh
Since when the Wahhabis Saudis visit or for that matter care for Christians? they don't even care for innocent Muslims suffering and dying, let alone Christians...
26 December 2013, 20:18
50
Lebanon is fighting side-by-side with the Assad regime and must bear some responsibility for these events.
26 December 2013, 20:27
53
M11er don't waste ur time, i usually try to have descent conversation even with people whose political point of views verry far for mine (wich makes argumentation mote interesting) but those guys are a real waste of time, lebanese usually hv the tendency to remember only the part that suit them from history, or most of us, those guys creates their own history facts so what's the point?...in fact most probablytheyare baathist and even baathist have some political logoc but those are probably only assad's chabiha....
26 December 2013, 20:43
22
bs M11er always with the same boredom, why should assad release these to kill his own army? Are you denying the fact recognized by the whole world that Al Qaeda is storming Syria from all over?
26 December 2013, 23:31
22
lol the FSA were saudi funded from the beginning, the betrayed their own country and President for dollars $$$ Already back then they had foreign fighters in their ranks.
26 December 2013, 20:45
21
Chechen, Morocco, Somali, Pakistani, Afghani, Indonesian, Lebanese, European, even US citizens, you name it. They are foreign fighters not even Syrian. And this is supposed to be a "Syrian Revolution."
26 December 2013, 20:46
22
Btw all these foreigners was in Syria from the beginning, long before Hezbollah interfered.
27 December 2013, 09:02
01
Down with Saudi down with Israel down with America and down with your bs
26 December 2013, 20:48
22
@Bill Haha couldn't have said it better myself, careful with saying A** and other stuff like that, Naharnet will just delete your comments, they find any excuse to delete our comments, they do. Bought and paid by Saudi ofcourse.
26 December 2013, 20:53
22
You are totally lost M11er do you still think this is a "Revolution?" This is a disaster and Saudi paid invasion. Saudi are paying Al Qaeda with the rest of their supporters.
26 December 2013, 23:02
22
peaceful protests? Yeah right, by killing minorities and security forces from the very beginning. Don't give me the western view it's silly.
26 December 2013, 23:03
22
I can't take any people seriously that don't condemn the criminals acts of the so called rebels. People that just say filth about the Syrian government or Hezbollah are just Saudi propaganda.
26 December 2013, 23:04
22
Syria was a peaceful country before that stinky "revolution" Nobody were starving, but then ofcourse only because it was a supporter of Resistance & Iran then they had to be attacked by all foreign powers.
26 December 2013, 20:54
24
M11er
Your sources are: "John Kerry's speech" and "French Secret Service". Both of whom were openly working (along with Saudi) to overthrow Assad.
Im afraid it is you who needs to "be smart"
26 December 2013, 22:03
22
bigjohn you disappoint me, i thought you were pro Resistance? But i guess you are becoming more takfiri like unfortunatly. Only way to win against Al Qaeda is to use maximum force, wheter we like it or not. Thats a fact
26 December 2013, 22:08
22
You guys seem to be forgetting about Israel or USA when they dropped bombs on Civilians especially targeting civilians, unlike the Syrian army that bombs takfiri strongholds.
26 December 2013, 22:58
02
You shouldn't condemn the people that are fighting the takfiris, worst enemys of Christians and all other minorities. The Syrian Government is in the chain of resistance, so all resistance supporters shouldn't be blinded by propaganda from Naharnet, which is pro Saudi. Thats exactly what the takfiris wants you to do bigjohn.
27 December 2013, 00:41
31
Mystic the farsi safavidi persian slave does not like any negative things said about his god Bashar...
27 December 2013, 00:43
31
Mystic you can try as hard as you want but you will never kill the Lebanese freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of opinion. in the words of your false sayyed, if you touch these, we will cut off your hands.
27 December 2013, 07:05
01
Not killing any speech, but i do point out when people talk bs. Just like you Mr. Proud Wahabi
27 December 2013, 10:49
00
Lol violence do not frighten me boy, i'm used to it, I'm Lebanese. I love Syria and Iran yes, love all resistance.
26 December 2013, 23:52
31
happy are hezbi lovers for the world is soooo simple to them... it is always binary.
when iranman tells them to accuse their opponents as zionists , they repeat here zionists all day long...
now the trend has changed they are now takfiris... forgotten to label them as zionists!!!
so yesterday they were zionists now takfiris who hate and want to destroy israel as well... get the logic of the sheep hezbis!
and syria! waw! how simple syria conflict is to them! the nice bashar against the takfiri plot! black and white!
i tell you: follow hezbollah and you won't have to think the least! it is all black and white! just repeat what master iranman tells you and your life will be sooooo simple! LOL
26 December 2013, 23:58
22
Syria is the graveyard for Al Qaeda lol. Big meat grinder and the foreign fighters just keep jumping in.
27 December 2013, 00:00
31
funny this trend to brainwash people with the dangers of alqaeda when one knows that the very same alqaeda allied with iran on some terrorists operations! yemen for example! when iran also financed alqaeda! and hezbi lovers only see KSA! LOL
then i guess iran is takfiri too!
27 December 2013, 00:05
22
@piss what are you talking about now, always the same nonsense with you lol. You have a good imagination, just sad you can't use it for something more useful than Naharnet. Btw Iran never financed Al Qaeda ;)
27 December 2013, 00:08
31
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/01/osamas_son_coordinat.php
http://www.copts.com/english/?p=2575
http://nypost.com/2012/02/15/iran-helping-al-qaeda-plot-attack-on-west-intelligence-sources-say/
27 December 2013, 00:28
30
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/23/iran-al-qaeda_n_3139749.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/24/us-iran-alqaeda-idUSBRE93N18720130424
http://www.irantracker.org/analysis/al-qaeda%E2%80%99s-safe-haven-iran
27 December 2013, 09:14
10
This page has become the mouth piece of bashar alasad, they're all paid propoganda spreader, if Naharnet don't allow my post then we all know why...
They're Syrian mokhabarat, disguised under nick names, and spreading false informations, if you try to debate them, they immediately label you Wahhabi if if your name is George .
27 December 2013, 11:30
00
Truce? What truce? Ask GabbyMarch14 and the company of loud-mouth warriors, aka Farts 14 and Sanni First, and they will tell you that the "ASSad" regime has fallen 6,492 times already, most recently this past Wednesday, and therefore is in no position to ask for a truce.
27 December 2013, 14:12
20
the words takfiri and wahhabi have been used so much they dont have meaning anymore.
however, the word "traitor " will forever describe bashars fanboys weel.
