While the World Focuses on the Islamic State, Assad Keeps Bombing Doctors and Civilians

The regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been bombing hospitals and civilian targets, a situation made worse recently by the arrival of Russian warplanes. Russian airstrikes hit medical facilities at least 10 times during their first month of bombing in Syria, making matters even worse for doctors, nurses, and patients who have already endured repeated bombardment from Syrian government forces, according to a report from the non-profit group Physicians for Human Rights (PHR).

PHR said the Russian strikes, which began on September 30, included several in the vicinity of Aleppo, where 45 healthcare facilities have been hit in the past three years. According PHR, almost all of the city's doctors — 95 percent — have been killed, detained, or fled the area. The group said it documented 329 attacks on Syrian medical facilities through October, leading to the deaths of 687 medical personnel across the country. It attributed 90 percent of those incidents to the Syrian government. "Each attack, whether the bombing of a hospital or the detention and torture of a doctor for providing health care, is a war crime," said the report's authors.

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‘Which side are you fighting for?’ Russia blasts US for refusing to share intel on ISIS

Washington’s failure to share data with Russian intelligence about terrorist positions in Syria makes one question the goals that Americans have in their anti-ISIS campaign in Syria and Iraq, a senior Russian diplomat has said. The refusal to share intelligence on terrorists “just confirms once more what we knew from the very start, that the US goals in Syria have little to do with creating the conditions for a political process and national reconciliation,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Thursday. “I would risk saying that by doing this the US and the countries that joined the US-led coalition are putting themselves in a politically dubious position. The question is: which side are you fighting for in this war?”

Earlier, the Russian military said they would welcome American intelligence on the forces of terrorist group Islamic State (formerly ISIS/ISIL) to help with Russia’s bombing operation in Syria. But the US State Department said it would not be possible because Russia and the US do not share the same goals in Syria.

More at RT News

Vladimir Putin confirms Russian military involvement in Syria's civil war

Russia is providing “serious” training and logistical support to the Syrian army, Vladimir Putin has said, in the first public confirmation of the depth of Russia’s involvement in Syria's civil war.  Commenting on reports that Russian combat troops have been deployed to Syria, the Russian president said discussion of direct military intervention is “so far premature,” but did not rule out that such a step could be taken in future.

“To say we're ready to do this today - so far it's premature to talk about this. But we are already giving Syria quite serious help with equipment and training soldiers, with our weapons,” the state-owned RIA Novosti news agency quoted Mr Putin as saying when asked about Russian intervention in Syria during an economic forum in Vladivostok.

"We really want to create some kind of an international coalition to fight terrorism and extremism," Mr Putin said. "To this end, we hold consultations with our American partners - I have personally spoken on the issue with US President Obama."

More at the Telegraph

iTunes, Assad, and Right Said Fred

Right Said Fred (really!) appears on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver to tell Syrian president Bashar al-Assad what a dick he is. It's going to be especially disappointing to Assad, as they are one of his favourite bands.

This One Photo Will Show You Just How Terrible The Syrian Refugee Crisis Is

A sea of hungry, haunted faces looks out from a massive queue that snakes through the bombed out Yarmouk refugee camp in southern Syria. In the photo, taken on Jan. 31 of this year in Damascus' Palestinian refugee camp, men, women, and children are on line for aid that includes desperately needed food and medical supplies. There are more than 18,000 people in the Yarmouk camp, and many are starving to death.

The camp was originally built in 1948 to house Palestinian refugees fleeing the Arab-Israeli war. Since the start of the Syrian conflict the area has become a humanitarian disaster zone as fighting between government and rebel forces hinders attempts to deliver food and medical treatment to those within.

Dozens have died in the camp from malnutrition, with reports of those trapped in Yarmouk sometimes resorting to eating grass and cats in order to survive. Aid from the United Nations has trickled in slowly since January 2014, sometimes only 60 parcels a day, and when it does arrive it results in the harrowing scenes such as the one you see in this photo.

The World Post

First explicit pictures of massive barrel bomb dropped on rebel zones in Syria

Media activists in Daraya, southern Damascus, have been posting dramatic videos of massive barrel bombs being dropped from helicopters on the rebel-held city over the past few weeks. The massive improvised armaments are well documented and are made from barrels packed with explosives. This video is described as showing a strike on January 31, and captures the ordnance being dropped from a helicopter.

Evidence of 'industrial-scale killing' by Syrian regime

The UN and independent human rights groups have documented abuses by both Bashar al-Assad's government and rebels, but experts say this evidence is more detailed and on a far larger scale than anything else that has yet emerged from the 34-month crisis.

The three lawyers interviewed the source, a military policeman who worked secretly with a Syrian opposition group and later defected and fled the country. In three sessions in the last 10 days they found him credible and truthful and his account "most compelling".

They put all evidence under rigorous scrutiny, says their report, which has been obtained by the Guardian and CNN. (Read here)

The authors are Sir Desmond de Silva QC, former chief prosecutor of the special court for Sierra Leone, Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, the former lead prosecutor of former Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic, and Professor David Crane, who indicted President Charles Taylor of Liberia at the Sierra Leone court.

The defector, who for security reasons is identified only as Caesar, was a photographer with the Syrian military police. He smuggled the images out of the country on memory sticks to a contact in the Syrian National Movement, which is supported by the Gulf state of Qatar. Qatar, which has financed and armed rebel groups, has called for the overthrow of Assad and demanded his prosecution

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Syria civil war could last 'multiple years'

David Shedd, the deputy director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, did not advocate any form of intervention by the United States or its allies, saying that was up to policymakers.

But his bleak assessment of the dangers posed by the Islamist al-Nusra Front and al-Qaeda's Iraq-based wing, as well as the prospects for a prolonged conflict, could bolster advocates of greater involvement by the United States and its allies. Addressing the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, Shedd said he counted at least 1,200 groups in the opposition. He said many of the groups were preoccupied with strictly local grievances, like a lack of potable water in their villages.

"Left unchecked, I'm very concerned that the most radical elements will take over larger segments" of the opposition groups, Shedd said, strongly hinting at the need for some kind of outside intervention. He said the conflict could drag on anywhere "from many, many months to multiple years," and that a prolonged stalemate could leave open parts of Syria to potential control by radical fighters.

Full story on the Telegraph

From football striker to teen Syrian rebel

Like all soldiers, their minds are full of memories of what they left behind and reflections on the nature of war, its stark contrasts of life and death.
Abdel Khader, a red scarf framing his boyish face, is too young legally to drive, but “don’t let my age fool you. I’ve been fighting for five months and have killed a number of soldiers,” he says. His school closed because of the fighting that has rocked Syria since March 2011 and that observers say has cost more than 44,000 lives.
“Every day I watched on television how the army was killing innocent people, and I didn’t want to stay at home waiting for them to kill us also. I remember the day I decided to go off to fight, and my parents began to cry. I speak to them once a week to let them know I’m okay, but my mother always cries when we say goodbye.”

Al Arabiya

Call to lift Syria arms embargo to aid rebels

Britain is to review the EU arms embargo on Syria as part of a wholesale change in strategy in the wake of Barack Obama's re-election that could lead to the eventual arming of the rebel forces fighting to overthrow Bashar al-Assad. As David Cameron said he would press Obama to make Syria a priority, No 10 officials indicated that the prime minister now wants to put every possible measure to remove Assad "back on the table".

Cameron's visit to the Zaatari Syrian refugee camp in Jordan on Wednesday, in which he heard "appalling stories" of suffering, persuaded him that Britain and its allies need to review their strategy, a source said. Britain's national security council will discuss the crisis in special session next week. It will include a review of the EU ban on providing weapons to all sides in Syria. Officials say that the embargo includes the principle of "proportionality" which suggests the restriction could be relaxed in the event of a humanitarian disaster.

Evidence of a British rethink on the crisis came on a day when rebels fired mortars at a presidential palace in Damascus and as different elements of the divided Syrian opposition met in the Qatari capital Doha to try to close ranks and form a transitional government for the post-Assad era.

The Guardian - Why arming Syrian rebels is a bad idea (Politico)

Syria blames 'booby traps' for Red Cross Baba Amr delay

The Red Cross says it has been told by Syrian authorities it cannot enter the devastated Baba Amr district in the city of Homs until mines and booby traps are cleared. Its aid convoy arrived on Friday but has since been denied access.

There have been reports of revenge killings and summary executions by Syrian forces since rebel fighters pulled out of Baba Amr on Thursday. The UN secretary-general said Syria had committed clear and widespread crimes.

BBC News - Statement - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

Homs, city of torture

In Bashar al-Assad's Syria, it is not just forbidden to speak, demonstrate and protest: it is also forbidden both to give medical treatment, and to receive treatment yourself. Since the beginning of the uprising, the regime has been waging a merciless war against any individual or institution capable of bringing medical aid to the victims of repression. "It's very dangerous to be a doctor or a pharmacist," a pharmacist from the Baba Amro neighbourhood of Homs tells me.

Medical personnel are imprisoned – like the nurse in the nearby district of al-Qusayr, arrested the day after he showed me around his hidden emergency-care centre, its carpets covered with plastic tarpaulins to protect them from blood – or killed, like Abdur Rahim Amir, the only doctor in that centre, murdered in cold blood in November by military security, while he sought to treat civilians wounded during the army's assault on Rastan to the north. Or tortured.

More on The Guardian

Meanwhile: Military Sends Tanks To Homs (HuffPost)

At least 337 dead in Syria army attack on Homs

At least 337 people were killed in shelling by Syrian forces in the city of Homs, activists said on Saturday. Over 1300 were wounded. Homs attack is the deadliest so far in the Syrian regime's crackdown on protests which erupted 11 months ago. Locals said Syrian forces started shelling the Khalidiya neighbourhood at around 8 p.m. on Friday using artillery and mortars. They said at least 36 houses were completely destroyed with families inside.

As news spread, Syrians stormed the Syrian embassy in Cairo in protest, and rallies broke out outside Syrian missions in Britain, Germany and the United States. Some opposition activists said the violence was triggered by a wave of army defections in Homs. According to Reuters, the opposition Syrian National Council that it believed Assad's forces were preparing for similar attacks around Damascus and in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour.

Al Bawaba – The Telegraph

Free Syrian Army grows in influence

The attack by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) on an air force intelligence base in the suburbs of the capital Damascus on November 16 has raised the profile of the band of army deserters, who are seeking to end President Bashar al-Assad’s long rule. Depending on whom you believe, the group is believed to number between 1,000 and 25,000. What is certain though, is that the deserters want to bring the Syrian government to its knees - by targeting its biggest strength, its 500,000-strong army.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Colonel Ammar al-Wawi, the commander of the FSA’s Ababeel battalion, said: "Our only goal is to liberate Syria from Bashar Assad's regime. "To put it simply, we carry out military operations against anyone who targets the peaceful protesters."

The formation of the FSA was formally announced in July in a web video released by a group of uniformed defectors from the Syrian military, who called upon members of the army to defect and join them. The FSA has a facebook page where it posts statements and news from across the country regarding its latest offensives, recruits and clashes with government forces. The page has more than 11,500 fans.

Al Jazeera English - U.N. says Syria now in civil war, Al Alarabiya

Syrian military vows to 'cut every evil hand' of attackers

The Syrian military has said it will "cut every evil hand that targets Syrian blood", and warned that recent attacks on elite security forces marked a dangerous escalation in the country's eight-month-old crisis. Six elite pilots and four technical officers were killed in an ambush on Thursday in Homs, the military said, in an unusually high-level strike.

"Our armed forces [will] continue to carry out our mission to defend the country's security, and we will hit back against anything that threatens us," the statement said. It is not clear who was behind the attacks. A largely peaceful uprising against the president, Bashar al-Assad, began in March and has become more violent as defectors from the army turn their guns on security forces and some protesters take up arms to protect themselves.

More on The Guardian

Activists storm Syrian embassies in Berlin and London

A group of some 30 activists stormed the Syrian embassy in Berlin on Sunday, confronting the Syrian ambassador, AFP quoted German police as saying.

Protesters allegedly broke through the mission's fence and entered the building in order to meet the ambassador. According to police, embassy staff reacted coolly and activists were removed without violence. On Saturday, police in London said they had arrested seven protesters who climbed the roof of the Syrian embassy there, waving a Kurdish flag, AFP said.
The incidents come after a spate of violence in Syria on Friday in which a Kurdish opposition figure, Meshaal Tammo, was killed. (JPost)

Death toll mounts on Syria's 'day of rage'

Dozens of people have been shot dead by Syrian security forces, activists claim, as tens of thousands took part in anti-government rallies dubbed a "day of rage". Activists said at least 50 protesters were killed across the country on Friday, although Al Jazeera cannot independently verify the death toll.

At least 15 people were reported killed near Deraa where security forces fired on thousands of protesters trying to enter the besieged southern city, sources told Al Jazeera's Rula Amin. Deraa has been the scene of regular demonstrations since protests against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's rule began last month, but the city has also borne the brunt of weeks of government repression.

The government claims its forces are battling "extremist and terrorist groups in the town" and said two soldiers were killed on Friday.

"Deraa has been under siege since Monday morning. Residents from the surrounding villages were trying to break the siege as they tried to get supplies," our correspondent said. "They met with hostile security forces who fired at them and we know that at least 15 people were killed.

Al Jazeera

Toll rises as army storms Syrian towns

Syrian troops backed by tanks and heavy armour have stormed the southern town of Deraa and also Douma, a suburb of the capital Damascus, resulting in many deaths and dozens of arrests.

Security forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad, the country's president, have also continued a crackdown in the coastal town of Jableh for a second day.

An activist said late on Monday that 18 people had been killed in Deraa alone. Al Jazeera's Rula Amin, reporting from Damascus, said the troop deployment was an “unprecedented" offensive against the wave of dissent that has swept the country since the uprising began on March 15.

She reported checkpoints and heavy security in central Damascus. Witnesses in Deraa told news agencies that at least five people were killed when assailants opened fire on a car. The vehicle was riddled with bullets, a witness told AFP. Intense gunfire could be heard reverberating across the town, he said.

Full story on Al Jazeera

Syrian Troops Open Fire On Protesters

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad faced the deepest crisis of his 11 years in power on Saturday with one city at the heart of anti-government protests planning to bury its dead after a security forces’ crackdown.

Mosques across Deraa announced the names of "martyrs" whose funerals would be held on Saturday in the southern city, which was described as quiet but tense after reformists were fired on on Friday. The government said protesters were armed.

Read more on the Montreal Gazette