Al-Qaida-Linked Rebels Launch Suicide Attacks Against Syrian Army
The AFP reports that Jabhat al-Nusra, Syria’s al-Qaida arm, “staged four suicide bomb attacks on army positions Sunday, leaving dozens of casualties, in a bid to cut off Idlib province from the coast.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that four al-Nusra fighters “carried out suicide attacks this morning, driving vehicles packed with explosives into four regime forces’ checkpoints in the Jabal al-Arbaeen area near Ariha city” and that “dozens” of troops were killed or wounded. Syria’s al-Qaida branch staged four suicide bomb attacks on army positions Sunday, leaving dozens of casualties, in a bid to cut off Idlib province from the coast, an activist group said.
“Four al-Nusra Front fighters carried out suicide attacks this morning, driving vehicles packed with explosives into four regime forces’ checkpoints in the Jabal al-Arbaeen area near Ariha city,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Ariha is situated on the road from Idlib to Latakia on Syria’s Mediterranean coast. It is controlled by Assad forces, but the surrounding countryside is largely controlled by the rebels. The wire says rebels are “determined to cut off the road” before the country’s June 3 presidential vote.
Explosion Hits Pro-Assad District in Syria’s Homs
The AP reports that “an explosion has struck a pro-government neighborhood in the central city of Homs, causing an unknown number of casualties.” Once an opposition stronghold, Homs saw the evacuation of its last rebel fighters earlier this month.
Sunday’s blast, in the central city’s Zahra district, was caused by a car bomb. The wire says “smoke could be seen billowing into the sky at the site, and that there are dead and wounded from the attack. Syrian state television blamed the explosion on ‘terrorists,’ the term it uses to describe those fighting to oust President Bashar Assad. The station broadcast footage that showed cars on fire and people trying to push other vehicles away from the blast site.”
Battle for Aleppo Could Prove Final Reckoning in Syria’s War
Martin Chulov of the Guardian reports from Aleppo on the two-year battle for Syria’s “second city,” which he says could prove the final reckoning in the country’s conflict.
“High spring in Syria’s largest city and the final battle has arrived. From his vantage point on a frontline in Aleppo’s northeast, Abu Bilal, a rebel commander, had spent the past month staring at a ridge line about a mile away that marked the closest Syrian military position.”
Chulov offers a rare profile of the rebel leader, whose men have waged an insurgency against both regime troops and the ultra-conservative Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Now they are fighting to retain their rebel strongholds in Syria’s largest city.
“After surging to life, then stalling so often, the battle they had been braced for – and possibly a definitive reckoning on who will prevail in Syria’s war – was upon the rebels defending the Sheikh Najjar area.”
Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team
TIME: Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Vows to Wipe Out ‘Terrorists.”
NY Times: Once Bustling, Syria’s Fractured Railroad is a Testament to Shattered Ambitions
Reuters: Syrian Christians Urge Pope to Work for Peace, Help Them Go Home
BBC: Britons Accused of Brutal Killings