Rockets Fall Near Baalbek

Beirut’s Daily Star newspaper reports that 12 Syrian rockets fell on villages near Baalbek after Syrian planes bombed the nearby border area, bringing the conflict further into Lebanon.

“The rockets fired from Syria fell near Hor Taala and Brital, causing material damage,” the paper says. There were no casualties.

“Earlier in the day, Syrian jets fired around 12 missiles into the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal. Last week the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility for three rockets that landed in Brital and damaged several houses, citing Hezbollah’s military role in Syria. Brital is strongly associated with Hezbollah, which is fighting alongside regime forces in Syria, while Arsal is known for supporting the Syrian opposition.”

Syrian Refugees Flood Istanbul’s Streets

Ayla Albayrak of the Wall Street Journal reports on the thousands of Syrian refugees who have taken to begging on the streets of Turkish cities, with the largest number concentrated in Istanbul’s central Taksim Square.

“Some don’t want to stay in tents over the winter, while access to camps with better housing is restricted,” Halim Yilmaz, the chairman of Mazlumder, a Turkish human-rights group that compiled a recent report on Syrian refugees in Istanbul, tells the paper. “Staying in camps also affects a person’s psychology.”

Fatma Sahin, prominent in the ruling Justice and Development Party, told Turkish television on Monday “that the government was planning to help the ‘very, very small’ number of Syrian beggars by integrating them into the Turkish workforce and society.

“In sprawling Istanbul, beggars congregate around the city’s landmark Taksim Square, nestled among the throngs of commuters, shoppers and tourists, some holding placards seeking donations. ‘We don’t approach people, but they eventually approach us [to offer] help,’ said Ahmed Kulik, a 23-year-old former construction worker who fled to Turkey with his two toddlers from the Syrian border city of Raqqa, which Islamist militants have controlled for months.

“After several days in a refugee camp near the border, he brought his family to Istanbul, convinced he would find work. But he quickly realized there was no work for refugees who don’t speak Turkish. ‘We get some 15-50 Turkish liras ($7-$23) a day,’ he said. ‘We are barely able to pay for our rent here.’”

L.A. Gang Members Fight in Syria

Liz Sly of the Washington Post reports that two Los Angeles gang members claim to be fighting in Syria on the side of President Bashar al-Assad. “Thousands of Iraqi and Lebanese Shiite Muslims are meanwhile reported to be fighting on the side of Assad’s government, as well as Iranians, some Russians and smaller numbers of Afghans, Pakistanis and other Arabs,” she says.

“One of the men identifies himself as Creeper from the Sur-13 or Surenos, a loose affiliation of southern California gangs linked to the Mexican mafia. He rolls up his sleeves to show his gang tattoos and greets fellow gang members Capone-E and Crazy Loco,” she writes.

“The other says he is called Wino, and belongs to a gang called Westside Armenian Power. Members of the Armenian Christian minority in Syria are known to be staunch supporters of Assad.

“The Middle East Media Research Institute, a pro-Israel group that monitors media in the region, said it had identified Wino as Nerses Kilajyan, whose Facebook page features multiple photographs of the man who calls himself Wino, apparently in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. In some, Wino is seen posing with fighters from the Shiite Hezbollah militia. In others, he is pictured with the man who calls himself Creeper. The dates on the photographs suggest the pair have been in Syria for about a year.”

Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team

AP Interview: Syria Chemicals Deadline Achievable

Reuters: Powers to Give Lebanon Military, Economic Boost Against Syria Spillover

Telegraph: Joining Syrian Ranks of al-Qaeda ‘In-Vogue’ for Young British Muslims

Reuters: Syria Has Relinquished About a Third of Its Chemical Weapons: OPCW

AP: Army Advancing on Rebel Town Near Border

LA Times: The U.N. Security Council Has an Obligation to Act in Syria