Bombings in Syria Force Wave of Civilians to Flee
Civilians are fleeing Aleppo by the thousands as the Assad government steps up its barrel-bombing campaign of opposition-controlled areas, emptying whole neighborhoods in one of the Syrian conflict’s largest refugee flows to date, the New York Times reports.
Nearly 500,000 people “have flooded the countryside, swelling populations in war-battered communities that are already short on space and food and pushing a new wave of refugees into Turkey, where in interviews many have described a harrowing journey that left them in desperate condition, broke, hungry and, in many cases, sick or wounded,” reports the New York Times’ Ben Hubbard, in the border town of Kilis.
“Much of the human tide flowing out of northern Syria has crashed on this once-quiet border town, where Syrians now nearly outnumber the original 90,000 Turkish inhabitants. Its sidewalks are covered with destitute Syrians hawking cookies, coffee and cigarettes, and rents have skyrocketed as Syrian families have crowded into apartments. Ambulances regularly scream through town, ferrying war victims to the city’s overburdened medical facilities.”
Syria Army Recaptures Alawite Village in Hama
Assad’s army has retaken control of an Alawite village in Hama province that had been seized earlier this month by extremist rebel fighting groups. The Alawites are the ethnic minority of the Assad family.
“State news agency SANA, quoting a military source on Monday, said ‘army units have established total control over Maan, after crushing the terrorists who had infiltrated (the village) and committed a massacre against its civilian residents, killing dozens of them, including women,’” says Al Jazeera.
“State television also reported the army’s recapture of Maan, saying 42 civilians had been killed by ‘terrorists.’ Also on Monday, in central Hama province, activists said bombing by helicopter gunships took place in the town of Kafr Zeita.”
Army, Rebels Agree to New Damascus Truce
Government and rebel forces have agreed to a new series of truces in the southern suburbs of Damascus.
“In the southern suburb of Babila, AFP journalists Monday saw rebels and soldiers – all armed – in conversation, which would have been unthinkable just days ago.
The local truces come 18 months into fierce fighting in and around the capital that has led rebels and President Bashar Assad’s forces to compromise, with neither side able to clinch victory,” reports Beirut’s Daily Star newspaper.
“Besides Babila, deals have been struck for Moadamieh, Qudsaya, Beit Sahm, Yalda, Barzeh and Yarmouk – a former Palestinian camp. Negotiated by public figures, the accords involve a truce, a siege being lifted and food allowed in to rebel-held areas, with opposition fighters handing over heavy weapons and the regime raising its flag.
“A new agreement is reported to be in the offing for Harasta, a rebel bastion northeast of Damascus, and talks over Daraya to the southwest are also under way.”
Understanding the FSA’s New Military Commander
Syria’s moderate rebels have replaced their military chief, Gen. Selim Idris, with an experienced, moderate commander from southern Syria, the AP reports. His experience in the area could serve to benefit rebel efforts to control the mountainous area of Qalamoun, as well as the areas around the M5 highway that leads from Damascus to the Syrian coast.
“Brig. Gen. Abdul-Ilah al-Bashir replaces Gen. Salim Idris, a secular-leaning moderate who was criticized by many in the opposition for being ineffective and lost the confidence of the U.S. and its allies, particularly after Islamic extremists seized a weapons depot from moderate rebels. The move was announced Monday in a statement by the FSA’s Supreme Military Council,” according to the AP.
“Al-Bashir, who previously headed the group’s operations in the southern province of Quneitra on the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, is considered a moderate Islamist. He hails from the region’s most powerful al-Nuaimi tribe, giving him influence among Syria’s conservative rural areas, where tribal connections are important.
“Rebels say he has vast knowledge of the areas south of Damascus where he served as an army commander until defecting to the opposition in 2012. His son Talal, also a rebel, was killed in battle with government forces in Quneitra last year.”
Syrian Town Left Scarred by ISIS’s Brutal Rule
CNN’s Arwa Damon and Raja Razek report from the Syrian town of Addana, where they say the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has imposed a “draconian and brutal rule.
“More than a month after the group was driven from the town of Addana, residents here drive through the streets, pointing out where ISIS fighters carried out executions and left bodies to rot for all to see,” they say.
“That’s where they had one of their checkpoints,” says one rebel fighter, Abu Sa’ed, pointing the reports to a small concrete building on the side of the road.
They add that “ISIS arrived in Addana about a year ago, initially welcomed in the conservative town by Islamist fighters. But within a few months, ISIS had entrenched itself and begun exerting its harsh order through what one fighter calls ‘terrorism and punishment.’”
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