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Syrian Civil War (Graphic Photos/Vid Not Allowed)

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Syrian army and Hezbollah launch major assault on border city - The Hindu
Updated: July 4, 2015 15:25 IST

The Syrian army and its allied militia launched a major assault on the rebel-held Syrian city of Zabadani on Saturday, Lebanese group Hezbollah's television station said.

It said heavy artillery and aerial bombardment were being deployed to capture Zabadani, located north-west of the Syrian capital near the frontier with Lebanon. Footage released on the channel showed large plumes of fire rising from the city.

The Syrian army, with its Shia ally Hezbollah, has long sought to wrest control of Zabadani from Sunni militants. The city is close to the Beirut-Damascus highway that links the two countries and capturing it would be a major strategic gain for Syrian President Bashar al Assad's government.

The former popular resort city is one of the rebels' last strongholds along the border. It was part of a major supply route for weapons sent by Syria to Hezbollah before the outbreak of the Syrian conflict in 2011.

Violence from the four-year civil war has regularly spilled over into Lebanon.

The Syrian military and pro-government fighters have regularly clashed with insurgents in the mountainous area north of the capital. The rebel groups in the area include al-Qaeda's Syrian wing, the Nusra Front.

Iranian-backed Hezbollah has stepped up its assault on rebel outposts along the Qalamoun mountain region straddling the Lebanese Syrian border in recent months.

An announcement of the start of a major military campaign by the Syrian army and the Lebanese group to capture Zabadani had been expected in recent days.

The rebels say they have planted mines around the city, which is mostly deserted, and are well prepared to repel the assault.

The Syrian army is fighting on several other fronts; as well as battling rebels around the southern city of Deraa and the northern city of Aleppo, it has been fighting Islamic State as the militant group attempts to seize government-held areas of the northeastern city of Hasaka.
 
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Syria rebels take army centre in regime-held Aleppo: Monitor | Zee News
Last Updated: Saturday, July 4, 2015 - 16:02

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Beirut: Syrian rebels have seized a strategic military centre in government-held western Aleppo city, as fierce battles rage between opposition and regime forces, a monitor said Saturday.


The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a coalition of rebel groups had taken the Scientific Research Centre, which was being used as a military barracks.

Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said that opened potential lines of attack against several other government-held neighbourhoods.

The alliance of rebels is one of at least two coalitions of opposition fighters that have begun a major operation against government-held districts in Aleppo in recent days.

The grouping that captured the military barracks includes various largely moderate rebel factions.

A second coalition fighting in western Aleppo calls itself Ansar al-Sharia and includes Al-Qaeda`s local affiliate Al-Nusra Front.

Aleppo, once Syria`s economic powerhouse, has been divided between the government in the west and rebels in the east since shortly after fighting there began in mid-2012.

A video shared online showed the capture of the Scientific Research Centre, with fighters from one of the groups raising the three-starred flag of the Syrian uprising.

The Observatory said regime war planes had carried out extensive raids against the centre on Saturday morning, prompting the rebels to evacuate parts of it.

The monitor said government forces had tried to recapture the centre overnight without success.

Elsewhere in western Aleppo, clashes continued between rebels from Ansar al-Sharia and loyalists around the Zahra neighbourhood.

The group began an assault against Zahra and several other regime-held districts Thursday night, advancing slightly before being pushed back Friday night, as government planes carried out around 40 air strikes.

The Observatory said at least 29 Ansar al-Sharia fighters were killed Friday, but had no details on deaths among regime forces.

Also Saturday, the Observatory said the number of Al-Nusra Front fighters killed a day earlier in an explosion in a mosque in northwestern Syria had gone up to 31.

An initial toll of 25 had been given for the blast, which hit a mosque during Ramadan prayers in the town of Ariha in Idlib province.

Civilians were among the worshippers, but there was no immediate confirmation of civilian deaths.

The Observatory said the blast appeared to have been caused by an explosive device placed at the mosque.

A coalition including Al-Nusra pushed government forces out of most of Idlib province earlier this year.

AFP
 
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Some reports that SAA has retaken military research center in western Aleppo. We should wait for visual confirmation.

Shady Hulwe takes a selfie with 3 Jaish al-Fateh members captured in an ambush in Zahraa district, Aleppo. rest of them killed.

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Meanwhile, SAA and Hezbollah have launched an operation to capture Zabdani city, southern Qalamun. Nearly 40 militants killed in SyAF bombing and heavy Hezbollah shelling around the city.

Wikimapia - Let's describe the whole world!

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06/24/2015

"There’s no 'ethnic cleansing' in Til Abyad against the Turkmen and Arabic population."
Interview with Rami Abdulrahman, head of the “Syrian Observatory For Human Rights” (SOHR), London

Rami Adulrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Photo: STP archive

The SOHR is an organization located in London. It collects and publishes information about violation of human rights in Syria. In North Syria, there are three areas which are mainly populated by Kurds: Kobani, Jazira and Afrin. Resisting the Assad regime in Damascus and the Islamic opposition, these areas have been declared to be autonomous.

On the 24th of June, 2015, Julia Schlüns, intern of the Middle East department and Kamal Sido, head of the Middle East department of the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP), have spoken with Rami Abdulrahman.

STP: After the capture of Til Abyad and the expulsion of the “Islamic State” (IS), the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) is accused of “ethnic cleansing” against the Turkmen minority group and the Arabic Sunni population. What goals are the Kurds pursuing regarding this “ethnic cleansing”?
RA: There’s no “ethnic cleansing” in Til Abyad against the Turkmen and Arabic population. If the YPG would have wanted to expel Arabs and Turkmens, it would have done so already during the liberation of the villages. Nevertheless, it happens that – in case IS has been expelled – inhabitants are being asked to not go back to their villages immediately because of mine danger. In some villages, like in Dogan or Al Bajela, the inhabitants were prevented from returning to the villages for a longer period of time because IS fighters were still expected to be in the villages.

STP: The allegations concerning the “ethnic cleansing“ are coming first and foremost from Turkey and the Syrian coalition. Why?

RA: It is obvious why the allegations came from the Turkish government. Regarding the Syrian coalition, it repeated what Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said beforehand. I repeat: The Turkish government is hostile towards Kurds in Turkey as well as Syria. It fears a strengthening of the Kurdish position in the region. Let me remind you of the fact that in autumn 2014 at least 300,000 Kurds have been expelled by IS. At that time, the Turkish government did not speak of “ethnic cleansing” against the Kurds. Quite the contrary, the Turkish government has co-operated with IS.

STP: Did the YPG conduct „ethnic cleansing“ in other regions, perhaps in the east of Til Abyad in Qamishli, at earlier stages?
RA: I haven’t heard of such cases. There are dozens of Arabic villages near Qamishli, further east. The Arabs are still living there and are also protected by the YPG. Indeed, there are civilian casualties in the fights between YPG and IS, but there’s no specific and systematic persecution on account of a certain religion or ethnicity by YPG.

STP: Are Arabic, Assyrian-Aramaean or Armenian residents being persecuted in the YPG dominion?
RA: Definitively not.

STP: Are you familiar with other ethnic or religiously motivated persecutions by the administrations of the cantons of Afrin, Kobani or Jazira?
RA: No.

STP: The YPG is accused of the recruitment of people under the age of 18. What do you know about this?
RA: We observe the behavior of the YPG in this matter very closely. From time to time recruitments of minors are being reported. But these are usually individual cases. In these cases, the public authorities in the cantons are talking about “tahil” (rehabilitation). For example: When minors run away from their families for various reasons and are taken up by the authorities of the cantons. But because there are no clear boundaries between the different public authorities, the YGP or the PYD (Partiya Yekitîya Demokrat/ Democratic Union Party) are being accused of recruiting minors. Anyways, the public authorities of the cantons explicitly request the drawing of clear boundaries. Minors should not be recruited. Besides, we are against a forced recruitment of adult people, too. The fight against IS should be led only by volunteers. Regarding this issue, we are in a current debate with the autonomous public authorities in Afrin, Kobani and Jazira.

STP: There are existing conflicts between the PYD and the Kurdish National Council (KNC). What can you say about these conflicts?
RA: Again and again the KNC complains that KNC followers are persecuted by the public authorities in the cantons. Regarding this question one fact should be noticed: The PYD and the KNC are political rivals. The KNC cooperates closely with the Syrian Coalition (based in Istanbul) and does not want to acknowledge the existence of the public authorities and the cantons. We condemn every form of persecution based on political views.

STP: Why does the Government of Turkey “prefer” to have IS as a neighbor instead of Kurds, more specifically the PYD and the YPG?
RA: The Turkish government fears a strengthening of the Kurdish position in the region as I have already mentioned. Because of that they tolerate and even support the “Islamic State”. Without the support of the Turkish government, IS would not have become what it is today. Approximately 50.000 jihadists from all over the world arrived in Syria and Iraq via Turkey. There is photo and video footage which clearly proves the cooperation between IS and the Turkish government.

STP: Does the PYD in North Syria want to establish a purely “Kurdish state”? Or do they merely want to have self-government?
RA: To our knowledge and according to official announcements of the YPD and the PYD they don’t want to establish a separate state. They want a democratic, not centralistic, pluralistic, ethnically and religiously diverse Syria.

By the way [jokingly]: “Only Allah knows what’s hidden in the hearts.” Well, I am not a clairvoyant. I am not able to say what will happen in the future.

STP: Should the international community support the three cantons in Afrin, Kobani or Jazira? If yes, then why?
RA: Yes, in any case. That’s one of our main demands for Europe and the international community. Within the Syrian chaos, people need a perspective. And the cantons in North Syria are such a perspective. People in Syria have to see examples for a peaceful togetherness in their own country. And North Syria could become an example for whole Syria.


Author: Kamal Sido, head of STP's Middle East Department

Menschenrechte in Syrien
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I hope this clears any bullshit your brains have been washed with.
 
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US Air Force ? what do you mean?
US Air Force is attacking IS positions . you mean the guys in Turkey include some IS guys bombed by US?
pls explain
 
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