Syria Military Shows Strain in a War It Wasn’t Built to Fight

George Ourfalian/Reuters

Soldiers loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo last month. The war has forced the Syrian Army to alter its tactics.

By ANNE BARNARD

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Syrian military’s ability to fight rebels and hold territory has steadily eroded, forcing it to cede the job of running many checkpoints to paramilitary groups, give up a provincial city last week without much of a fight and even enlist the top state-appointed Muslim cleric as a recruiter.

Though the government forces remain better armed and organized than the rebels, two years of fighting have pushed the military to continue to scale back its ambitions and rethink its tactics.

In recent days, the government has signaled a growing anxiety over its ability to refresh the depleted and exhausted ranks of soldiers, and has continued to consolidate its forces around the capital, Damascus. 

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Iran Reported To Have Given Syrian Regime Up To $10 Billion

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Today, Iran's currency plummeted to an all-time low: 32,500 rial to the dollar. The hyperinflation is thought to be the result of oil sanctions that could lose the resource-rich nation $50 billion in revenue this year. Yet reports coming out today say they also are giving billions to the Assad regime in Syria to help fund the civil war — up to $10 billion according to the Times of London.
Huh?
Throughout the brutal civil conflict in Syria, Iran has sided with the Assad regime — much to the chagrin of the international community — due to its ideological and religious ties. The Assad family are members of the Alawite faith, which is an off-shoot of the Shiite Islam that guides the Iran's Islamic Republic. Iran has confirmed they have troops on the ground in Syria. They've also been flying arms over Iraqi airspace (Iraq is now facing international pressure to stop shipments).

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Fighting spreads in Aleppo's walled city, Syrian cultural jewel

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Fires that gutted a vast mediaeval market have broken out in other areas of the Old City of Aleppo, a world heritage site, as rebels and government forces fight for the ancient heart of Syria's biggest city, opposition activists said on Monday.

The rebels last week announced a fresh attempt to seize the city, home of a large merchant class that had mostly remained loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, and appeared to have focused on the warren of alleyways that make up the walled Old City.

With government forces holding the large medieval citadel in the heart of the Old City, according to rebels, the fighting that has already claimed more than 30,000 lives across Syria seems certain to destroy more cultural treasures too.

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UN sees up to 700,000 Syrian refugees by year-end

Aid agencies have upped their call for funds to cope with the refugee crisis (AFP, Adem Altan)


GENEVA — The UN refugee agency warned Thursday there could be as many as 700,000 Syrian refugees fleeing the war-torn nation by the end of the year as it stepped up its call for emergency funding.
"There may be up to 700,000 Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries by the end of the year," Panos Moumtzsis, the UNHCR's chief coordinator for Syrian refugees, told reporters in Geneva.
"We are running out of time," he added.
Faced with the soaring need for aid after 18 months of brutal conflict in Syria, humanitarian agencies upped their call for funds to $487.9 million (379.2 million euros) to sustain operations until the end of the year.
In June, when the UNHCR first updated its regional response plan, it made plans for 185,000 refugees. Since then the number has tripled, the agency said, with 100,000 people fleeing Syria in August and 60,000 so far in September.

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Three hundred killed in single day in Syria, group says

BEIRUT | Thu Sep 27, 2012 6:29am EDT

(Reuters) - More than 300 people were killed in Syria on Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, in one of the bloodiest days in the 18-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
World leaders meeting at the United Nations have expressed concern at the continuing violence in Syria but are deadlocked over their response to the conflict, which the Observatory says has claimed 30,000 lives since March 2011.
The British-based organization, which monitors violence in Syria through a network of activists, said in a report released on Thursday that 55 people were killed in rural areas around Damascus. They included at least 40 who appeared to have been shot in cold blood in the town of al-Dhiyabia, southeast of the capital.

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No End To Syrian Civil War

Free Syrian Army claims downed fighter jet in Idlib

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) claimed Thursday that it had downed a Syrian military fighter jet in the northwestern province of Idlib.

In the video, which was exclusively obtained by Al Arabiya, a crowd of Syrian rebels shout “Allah Akbar” -- “God is great” -- as the airplane falls from the sky, billowing smoke.

Two pilots can be seen in the video, descending in parachutes after ejecting from the jet.
 

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Lebanese city’s Syrian war spillover intensifies

The shooting of Sheikh Khalid Al Baradei, who led a small militia, shattered the ceasefire between two neighbourhoods in Tripoli, where the conflict in Syria has reignited old tensions.

Two men were killed as the violence worsened between fighters from the Sunni Bab Al Tabbaneh neighbourhood and those from the hilltop, Alawite community of Jabal Mohsen.
That took the death toll over the past five days to 16.
Najib Mikati, the Lebanese prime minister, said yesterday that he had authorised the army "to bring the situation under control, to prohibit any armed presence and to arrest those implicated".
But militias in Bab Al Tabbaneh continued to stroll down Syria Street with their weapons in full view of Lebanese soldiers.

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Inside Free Syrian Army's Headquarters in Turkey

Turkish soldiers in a military vehicle patrol on the Turkish-Syrian border in the town of Reyhanli in Hatay province, where defectors from the Syrian army and their families often stay. (photo by REUTERS/Osman Orsal)

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By: Lale Kemal posted on Wednesday, Aug 22, 2012

Even though Turkey continues to deny reports that it has been setting up bases for the Syrian opposition — for example in Adana — it is no longer a secret that it is providing military support to the Syrian opposition.

About this Article

Summary: The Reyhanli refugee camp, close to Turkey’s border with Syria, might just be the most significant military outpost in the entire Syria conflict. Lale Kemal reports on the camp’s hosting of the Free Syrian Army and the internal disputes among officers and generals at risk of derailing the military assault on Assad. Publisher: Taraf (Turkey) Original Title: FSA Sets up Higher Military Council at Reyhanli Camp Author: Lale Kemal Published on: Tuesday, Aug 21, 2012 Translated On: Wednesday, Aug 22, 2012 Translator: Ceren Kenar Categories : Syria   Turkey

One of the centers in Turkey used as a military base for the Syrian opposition is the Reyhanli “military” refugee camp, located in Hatay province. This camp is exclusively reserved for Syrian officers, among them generals and colonels, and their families who have defected to Turkey. This camp, which hosts around 1,000 Syrians, is tightly guarded by Turkish security forces. Even foreign diplomats who want to meet the camp residents are not allowed to enter. However, it is possible to meet Syrian officers outside the camp and get information regarding the latest developments in Syria and the incidents taking place within this camp.
The camp is used by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) as a training center. The FSA’s website states its headquarters is located in Reyhanli and provides a list of the top commanders within the organization. Riad al-Assaad, since he was the first officer to defect to Turkey, is the top commander of the FSA. However, unrest has been palpable since the arrival of several defecting Syrian generals who don't like to be under the [lower-ranking] colonels running the camp.


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Britain and France Join the U.S. in Warning Syria About Military Action

Britain and France raised the possibility of military intervention in the Syria conflict on Thursday, with the British prime minister joining President Obama in warning that he would not tolerate the transport or deployment of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile, and France’s defense minister saying that a partial no-fly zone should be considered.

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James Lawler Duggan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A man showed marks of torture on his back after being released from detention by regime forces in Aleppo on Thursday.

The British and French statements reinforced a sense that the window for diplomatic efforts to halt the 18-month-old conflict might have closed, as new crackdowns by the Syrian military were reported in the Damascus suburbs.

Concern was also growing over the safety of journalists who have entered Syria without official permission to report on the conflict. A veteran Japanese war correspondent was killed on Monday in the embattled northern city of Aleppo, and an American freelance journalist who has been roving Syria with insurgents since May has been missing for more than a week. 

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Iran: Retired Revolutionary Guards Among Kidnapped in Syria

Iran's Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, says some of the 48 Iranians kidnapped by Syrian rebels are retired members of the Revolutionary Guards and the army and were in Damascus on a religious pilgrimage.

The rebel Free Syrian Army describes those kidnapped Saturday as Revolutionary Guards on a "reconnaissance mission." But Iran's ISNA news agency quoted Salehi Wednesday, as denying that the Iranians have any current military connection.

Salehi's comments were published after he visited Turkey Tuesday to ask for help in securing the hostages' release.

Iranian officials have reached out to both Turkey and Qatar for help in freeing those kidnapped. Both nations support the Syrian opposition, while Iran backs the Syrian government.


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Syrian rebels feel abandoned, betrayed by U.S.

AL-BAB, Syria — As the Arab world’s bloodiest revolt continues to maim, kill and ravage lives on an ever-escalating scale, anti-American sentiments are hardening among those struggling to overthrow President Bashar al-
Assad, in ways that could have profound consequences for the country and the region in a post-Assad era.
America, once regarded by the Syrian opposition as a natural friend in its struggle for greater freedoms against a regime long at odds with the West, increasingly is being viewed with suspicion and resentment for its failure to offer little more than verbal encouragement to the revolutionaries.



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Russian General Denies Being Killed in Syria

A military general called a news conference at the Defense Ministry on Wednesday to deny a claim by a Syrian rebel group that he had been killed in clashes outside Damascus.
Major-General Vladimir Kuzheyev worked for some time as an adviser to Syria's Defense Ministry on military schools, but he moved to Moscow after being transferred to the military reserves, Interfax reported.
"I am grateful to the media for their great interest in poor little me. As a human being, it was very unpleasant for me to hear about my supposed death in Syria," Kuzheyev told reporters, adding that his phone has been ringing nonstop with calls from worried family and friends.
"I want to confirm that I am alive and well, I am in good health and live in Moscow," he said.
He said the claim of his death was a provocation against Russia and him personally.
Syrian rebels calling themselves the "Hawks Special Operations Battalion, a division of the Military Leadership of Damascus City and Province" told Al-Arabiya television, Reuters and other news organizations that they had killed a Russian general. The news outlets identified the general as Vladimir Petrovich Kochyev or Vladimir Petrovich Kodzhiyev.

Read more: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russian-general-denies-being-killed-in-syria/466290.html#ixzz22yPUI0Rr
The Moscow Times

Clinton visits Turkey for Syria talks as army pounds rebels in Aleppo

Syrian army prepares for a ground assault on rebels quarters in Aleppo. (Reuters)

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By Al Arabiya with agencies

U.S. Secretary State of State Hillary Clinton will travel to Turkey next week to hold talks with the Turkish government on Syria, a State Department spokeswoman said on Sunday.

“Secretary Clinton goes to Istanbul for bilateral consultations with the Turkish government on Syria as well as to cover other timely issues,” spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement to reporters. The talks in Istanbul would be held on August 11, she added

The leader of Syria's main political opposition group said he was ready to negotiate with government officials whose hands are not "stained with blood", once President Bashar al-Assad and his associates leave power, according to an interview published on Sunday.


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Assad forces launch massive assault on Aleppo

Syrian forces have clashed with rebels around Aleppo's television and radio station, activists say, while local rebel forces are preparing for a "strong offensive" by government forces on the country's largest city.
A Syrian activist said on Saturday that the rebels had sought to extend their area of control from the Salaheddine district, where the most intense fighting has been focused, northwards to the area around the television and radio station.
"The Free Syria Army pushed from Salaheddine to al-Adhamiya where they clashed this morning with Syrian troops. But they had to retreat," activist Barraa al-Halabi said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based anti-government rights group, said: "Rebel forces planted explosives [at the TV station], and regime forces shelled the area before the rebels withdrew."


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Syria rebels 'strengthen hold' on Aleppo

Rebels say they have taken control of more than "50 per cent" of Aleppo, Syria's largest city and commercial hub where opposition strongholds have been under attack for more than 10 days.
Despite Free Syrian Army (FSA) claims of a strengthening hold on the city, government forces continued on Friday to shell rebel-held areas and bomb them with advanced fighter jets, destroying many residential buildings.
The FSA claims to have consolidated most of its control in the city's east, while also maintaining a grip on central neighbourhoods including Salaheddin and Bab al-Hadid.
When a government security source was questioned about the lack of a ground offensive by the army in Aleppo, he said: "The regime is testing the rebels' defences in order to uncover their hiding places before annihilating them in a major surgical operation."
Meanwhile, a top UN official said on Thursday that the "main battle" for Aleppo is about to start.
Herve Ladsous, UN peacekeeping chief, said after briefing the UN Security Council on the Syrian conflict that UN observers had not yet seen opposition rebels using the tanks and other heavy weapons that they now have.
"The spiral of violence is still increasing," Ladsous told reporters.


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Syrian Leader’s Arms Under Strain as Conflict Continues

SANA, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Syrian attack helicopters firing missiles during army maneuvers at an undisclosed location in Syria.

 With diplomatic efforts dead and the future of Syria playing out on the battlefield, many of the Syrian government’s most powerful weapons, including helicopter gunships, fighter jets and tanks, are looking less potent and in some cases like a liability for the military of President Bashar al-Assad.

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Syrian rebels use captured tank, attack military air base in Aleppo

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian rebels on Thursday bombarded a military air base in Aleppo using a tank captured from government troops as activists reported that the regime has unleashed new raids against opposition fighters near the capital Damascus, killing dozens.

The Aleppo report was one of the first indications the rebels are starting to deploy the heavy weapons they’ve managed to capture in the past weeks from the Syrian army. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebel-seized tank shelled the Menagh military airport outside Aleppo, which the regime has used to launch attacks on rebel positions in the surrounding area.

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Syrian Rebels Wield Heavy Weapons in Attack on Airport

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syria’s rebels shelled an airport near Aleppo on Thursday in what was described as one of the first known instances of insurgents using captured heavy weapons, as opposition activists warned that fighting for the city, the country’s main commercial center, would likely intensify.

A Syrian activist said President Bashar al-Assad’s army appeared to be preparing for an all-out assault.

 “We have seen military reinforcements making their way to Aleppo,” said Abou Firas, an activist in Aleppo using a satellite Internet connection because telephone and Internet service from the city was cut off. “We were worried about massacres but now we are issuing a warning about a war of extermination to be launched by the regime.” 

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Annan resigns as UN special envoy to Syria

Kofi Annan on Thursday resigned his post as the UN and Arab League special envoy to Syria, citing “finger pointing and name calling” in the UN Security Council for his departure.

“Mr. Annan has informed me, and the secretary-general of the League of Arab States, Mr. Nabil El Araby, of his intention not to renew his mandate when it expires on 31 August 2012,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said.

Ban thanked Annan for “the selfless way in which he has put his formidable skills and prestige to this most difficult and potentially thankless of assignments.”

Annan said he expects his 6-point peace plan and the “Syria Action Group” to continue after his departure, but added that his successor may try new approaches.

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Where's Assad? Mystery deepens about Syrian leader

BEIRUT –  Syrian President Bashar Assad urged his military Wednesday to boost its fight against rebels, but his written call to arms only deepened a mystery over his whereabouts two weeks after a bomb penetrated his inner circle.
Assad has not spoken publicly since the July 18 bombing killed four of his top security officials - including his brother-in-law - during a rebel assault on the capital, Damascus. The president's low profile has raised questions about whether he fears for his personal safety as the civil war escalates dramatically.
The United States called the Syrian president a coward for marshaling his forces from the pages of the army's official magazine.
"We think it's cowardly, quite frankly, to have a man hiding out of sight, exhorting his armed forces to continue to slaughter the civilians of his own country," said U.S. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/08/02/where-assad-mystery-deepens-about-syrian-leader/#ixzz22PANanve