No Refuge!

Four of Assad’s top aides were killed, and several more injured, still the shelling and killing continue. There’s no denying it anymore: it’s Assad and his brother who are guiding this process. They are the main culprits, and they cannot be pardoned.

Sunday July 22, 2012

Today’s Death toll: 111. The Breakdown: 65 in Damascus and Suburbs, 13 in Daraa, 12 in idlib, 10 in Homs, 7 in Deir Ezzor, 5 in Hama, 3 in Aleppo, 2 in Quneitra, 1 in Lattakia, 1 in Banyas and 1 in Raqqah.

Cities & Towns Under Shelling: Harasta, Arbeen, Moadamiyah, Haran Al-Awameed, Zabadani, Madaya, Eltal, Dmeir, Hameh, Yelda, Rankous, Qarrah (Damascus Suburbs), Sit Zeinab, Al-Qadam, Modan, Al-Hajar Al-Aswad, Yarmouk, Kafar Sousseh, Mazzeh, Qaboun, Barzeh (Damascus City), Daraa City, Khirbet Al-Ghazaleh, Tafas, Bostra Al-Sham, Na’eemah, Mseifrah, Jimreen, Hraak (Daraa), Rastan, Talbisseh, Houla, Tal Kalakh, Al-Qusayr, Al-Hosn, Old Homs (Homs Province), Hreitan, Elbab, Eizaz, Marei, Bayanoun (Aleppo Province), Haffeh, Jabal Al-Akrad (Lattakia), Deir Ezzor City, Mouhassan, Albou Kamal (Deir Ezzor Province), Kafar Zeiteh, Hawash, Shahshabo, Hama City (Hama Province), Jabal Al-Zawiyeh, Maar’at Al-Nouman, Saraqib, Maar Shoureen (Idlib)

Turkish authorities use tear gas to disperse protests in the Syrian refugee camp in Kilis http://youtu.be/rbmTfuyVPX0

News

Turkey sends missile batteries to Syria border (Video from activists)

Syrian forces bombard Damascus, fight rages in Aleppo

Abducted Lebanese well, to stay in custody: Syria rebel

Malaysia to shut embassy in Syria, evacuate over 130 students, diplomats as civil war worsens

Syrian Kurdish opposition to form high committee to run Kurdish Region

Syrian forces execute 20 unarmed men in Damascus: activists (Reuters) - Syrian troops executed at least 20 unarmed men in the Damascus neighborhood of Mezzeh on Sunday who they suspected of aiding rebels in the area, opposition activists in the district said. (Video from activists)

U.S. Mounts Quiet Effort to Weaken Assad's Rule

Syrian rebels release video of witness in murder of ex-Lebanese president Hariri

Riots break out at Syrian refugee camp in Turkey

Op-Eds & Special Reports

How "Damascus Volcano" erupted in Assad's stronghold

Rebels show video of Damascus bomb aftermath

Syria headlines 2: decapitating Damascus

Syria's Kurds stand alone after rejecting rebels and regime As long as Turkey remains opposed to Kurdish independence and the KRG lacks opportunities to break its financial reliance on Baghdad, an independent Kurdistan will remain a remote prospect.

Lee Smith: No Sanctuary for Assad Almost everything that has unfolded in Syria over the last 16 months was predictable. The White House has failed repeatedly to take advantage of the Syrian dictator’s travails. Now with Assad fighting for his life, it’s time for the administration finally to show a killer instinct. If the regime takes flight from Damascus, it should never be allowed to reach safe haven in Latakia.

Where Can Syria’s Asma Assad Go? As her husband’s reign crumbles, rumors are flying that Syria’s first lady has fled to Russia—a state notorious for sheltering global outlaws.

By shelling the village of Jabatha Al-Khashab in Quneitra Province on the border of Israel, Assad officially violated the ceasefire agreement in place since 1974. The move, however, did not warrant any response from Israel, because Assad was still targeting his own people http://youtu.be/4kBPvt6QGPA

Turks, Kurds, And Al-Qaeda

Kurdish activists say that this video shows Turkish troops arriving in Nusaybine http://youtu.be/VA2hctdPel4 The move seems to come in response to the recent takeover by Syrian Kurds of their communities in Syria, rather than to the anything else happening in Syria. No similar response took place when Syrian rebels aided by Al-Qaeda forces took over the border checkpoint of Bab Al-Hawa in the northwest.

Regarding Al-Qaeda’s and foreign fighters’ presence in northern Syria, AFP noted:

Rebel forces gained control of the Bab al-Hawa crossing on Thursday, but on Saturday, a group of some 150 foreign fighters were in control of the post, an AFP photographer said. Some fighters said they belonged to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), while others claimed allegiance to a group called Shura Taliban. They were armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles, rocket launchers and improvised mines.

The world has waited too long, and the wrong forces rose up to fill up the vacuum. Indeed, while trying to downplay the role played by foreighn fighters and Al-Qaed ain Syria, spokesman for the FSA, Col. Malik Kurdi, noted that frustration with the international reposnse towards the situation in Syria and the refusal by the international community to arm the FSA have facilitated the rise of radical elements. But in order to contain this tendency, Col. Kurdi said, the FSA has to include these radical elements in its membership.

A New Twist

Hassam Hassam is a name familiar to those who followed developments related to the assassination of Former Lebanese PM, Rafic Al-Hairir. It’s the name of a Syrian intelligence officer who played a twisted role in the plot and who finally returned to Syria to resume his job. Hassam was captured on Saturday by Syrian rebels in Damascus City following an attack on a security headquarters. Upon his capture, Hassam identified himself and led his captors to a “treasure trove” of documents related to the Hariri assassination and in a video interview with his captors promised more sensational revelations. For their part, his captors promised to send Hassam to Saad Al-Hariri in Beirut as a gift http://youtu.be/YtSgAsCV1y8 And here is Haaretz report on this matter.

Video Highlights

Damascus

Several neighborhoods in the Mazzeh District, Damascus City, were pounded today for the third consecutive day http://youtu.be/1Bj4HPPGE6A The neighborhoods that were pounded are close to the Canadian and the Iranian Embassies as well as Al-Razi Hospital. The local cactus groves (cactus is a popular fruit in the summer) were also pounded to prevent rebels from hiding there http://youtu.be/xVCGHi-uOXs , http://youtu.be/uUhTOZNFD2M But pounding was not enough, the regime soon sent in bulldozers to make sure that the groves are destroyed once and for all. Pro-Assad militias executed 20 local activists believe to have supported the rebels http://youtu.be/u2akHXejDrU

Local rebels attack the police headquarters in Khalid Bin Al-Waleed Street armed with light weapons in retaliation for the massacre that took place there on Friday http://youtu.be/Z8lKH8NUDgE Here is the brigade patrolling free in the narrow streets of Old Damascus http://youtu.be/8vLsJ04RDZ8

In Qaboun Neighborhood, local activists found bodies belonging to people who were killed in their own home http://youtu.be/p2GUPdNo90k and people keep pulling burnt out bodies from under the rubble of buildings destroyed by the shelling http://youtu.be/DKq9EQmqRqw Meanwhile, helicopter gunships pound the neighborhood of Barzeh http://youtu.be/CKYNWyceNIU

In Naher Eisheh, dozens of loyalist troops patrol the streets http://youtu.be/IN4RZ_ewG3Y

The pounding of Zabadani, Damascus Suburbs, continues http://youtu.be/fyZRxFP1bKM , http://youtu.be/o1P3gB5KXQQ

In the town of Dmeir, local activists found several unidentified bodies in the streets http://youtu.be/7n_eYVMq5TI in addition to one of their own http://youtu.be/yvULGmXOSyc all were obviously executed by pro0-Assad militias.

Aleppo

Rebels liberate the border crossing at Al-Salamah at the Syrian-Turkish borders http://youtu.be/UQYVZMWBLjI The Jarablos crossing was also liberated http://youtu.be/DR9-cr8j8cQ

Rebels have established control over major parts of Aleppo City: Hanano http://youtu.be/xARakSNSa1c Clashes continued in Haydariyeh http://youtu.be/sfaYs4Ya6Is , http://youtu.be/OEayDCYqFbA Tanks come in http://youtu.be/AoyW91WzN3s Seif Al-Dawleh http://youtu.be/2NBcWoK1EkA The pounding of Al-Ard Al-Hamrah http://youtu.be/Xxn73h7jjrw The pounding of Sakhour http://youtu.be/79YZFK5Aer4 Clashes in Sakhour http://youtu.be/RWUuW0GeSE4 Rebels patrol the neighborhood http://youtu.be/Bw5pxLDwxHY Nighttime clashes take place in Salaheddine http://youtu.be/5DZWIhErNGY More reinforcements arrive to support the rebels in Aleppo City http://youtu.be/X7aRz0dN4sk Taking Aleppo one checkpoint at a time http://youtu.be/1Qda3RTSYdE

In Al-Atareb, Aleppo Province, local resistance groups storm the local police academy http://youtu.be/M9LdbipLOaU , http://youtu.be/RDGDHDeIF38 , http://youtu.be/GGbPWc8ub34 , http://youtu.be/scaaQF2xFr0 In the town of Eizaz, rebels take control of a tank http://youtu.be/nfGVY5EHEb0 , http://youtu.be/Xzd1KBxEQvs

Elsewhere

The pounding of Deir Ezzor City continues http://youtu.be/aCMRvkY-_5s , http://youtu.be/RYMH9kuehIg , http://youtu.be/vl8FSkBem1s

The pounding of Rastan continues http://youtu.be/qnW995c5plE , http://youtu.be/StQpwTpd0WM Desolation http://youtu.be/SQlX4Zol77U But local rebels keep pushing back attempts at invading the city and keep pushing back all checkpoints http://youtu.be/KHuAyCw2TC0 , http://youtu.be/sFas0abkjLQ

Pro-Assad militias are reportedly looting the treasures of Palmyra (Tadmor), Homs Province http://youtu.be/Q2GtEfP--7A

Clashes in Tafas, Daraa Province, between rebels and loyalists http://youtu.be/brEmN7U7u8A

The pounding of Hawash, Hama Province, continues http://youtu.be/aC82uXjW9l0 , http://youtu.be/Dl0remsjXhM , http://youtu.be/IdDUWgpc2K8

In the town of Armanaz, Idlib Province, local fighters manage to repel an attack by loyalist troops http://youtu.be/ksMGqcnoiOU then proceed to take over the local police station http://youtu.be/iHo6_bLuLsA

Jabal Al-Akrad, Lattakia Province: the regime tries to jumpstart fires by pounding the mountains where rebels are hiding http://youtu.be/soNBEhag6fE