Civilians flee Aleppo as regime prepares for major offensive

Syrian Revolution News Round-up
Day 501: Friday, 27 July 2012

Civilians flee Aleppo as regime prepares for major offensive


Top Stories:

Thousands of families fled Aleppo as the regime prepared for a major offensive against rebels in the city.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said he was “deeply concerned” about possible use of chemical weapons by the Syria regime.

High-level regime defections continued today, including the Syrian Ambassador to Belarus and a parliamentarian of Aleppo.
Top Videos
Mayadin, Deir ez-Zour: Regime force raid the town after shelling it for several hours leaving scores of people dead and many more wounded, P2, P3
Aleppo: Rebels detain scores of officers
Daraa, Refugee Camp: Rebels raid the police station, P2
Summary of Events

Mass demonstrations broke out across the country in support of Aleppo and Damascus, where heavy clashes between rebels and regime forces continue to intensify.

British Foreign Minister William Hague and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed deep concern about escalating violence in the Syrian city of Aleppo as the regime forces prepare for a major assault against it. Ban also said he was “deeply concerned” about reports that the regime might be willing to use chemical weapons, demanding that the Syrian government would commit to not use them “under any circumstances.”

The regime continued amassing troops and tanks around the city of Aleppo in preparation for a major offensive there, causing mass panic and forcing thousands of families to flee the city. Meanwhile, regime forces continued bombarding the city using MIG fighter jets, helicopter gunships and artillery, causing severe damage and leaving scores of civilians dead and many more wounded.

Regime forces raided the town of Mayadin in the province of Deir ez-Zor after shelling it for several hours, leaving scores of civilians dead and many more wounded citizens.

Syrian Ambassador to Belarus Farouq Taha is the latest diplomat to defect from the regime. Parliamentarian of Aleppo Ikhlas al-Badawi fled to Turkey, becoming the first member of parliament to defect.

Clashes continued in the neighbourhoods of Qadam and Tadamon in Damascus. Regime forces carried out a “scorched-earth campaign” against the groves of Mazeh neighbourhood, burning down scores of houses. They also swept the neighbourhood of Hajar Aswad, in search of rebels.

Turkish Foreign Minister Tayyip Erdogan warned that Turkey will not allow a terrorist group to establish camps in northern Syria and Turkey, following reports that a separatist political faction affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, had seized territory in north-eastern Syria and raised its flag in several towns. Kurdish fighters have said they would not allow the Free Syrian Army to operate in the region. The establishment of camps by the Kurdish group, Erdogan said, poses a threat to Turkish security and could prompt Turkey to send troops into northern Syria.

Regime forces killed more than 160 people today. Thirty died in the province of Daraa, some as a result of heavy shelling in the refugee camp after rebels raided the police station. Others were killed due to heavy shelling in the Ajami district on the border with Jordan and the towns of Baser Harir, Saida and Ataman. Twenty-five more people died in the province of Damascus. Fifteen were killed in the province of Aleppo. Thirty-three were killed in the province of Deir ez-Zor. Ten died in neighbourhood of Jouret Sheyah in Homs and its provincial towns of Qasir and Talbiseh. Five more died in the military offensive in the towns of Ghadaqa, Habitt, Hass, Ma’arrat Naman and Kafrouma in the province of Idlib. Three more died in Hama. Two were killed in the province of Latakia and one person in Raqa. At least seventeen army soldier was killed during clashes with rebels throughout the country.

Regime forces continued attacks in the Damascus suburbs of Daraya, Zabadani, Moadamiya, Harasta, Damir and Yalda, and in several neighbourhoods and towns in the province of Homs. They used heavy artillery, helicopter gunships and rocket launchers in the town of Latmana and the village of Thakat in the province of Hama, in the Aleppo suburb of al-Bab and in the villages located in Akrad Mountain district in the province of Latakia.

Rebels arrested more than 100 army soldiers in Aleppo, 50 in Idlib—including 14 officers—and more than 40 in Damascus.



Revolution Statistics
Syrians killed: 21,689
Children killed: 1,699
Females killed: 1,624
Soldiers killed: 1,810
Protestors killed under torture: 718
Missing: +65,000
Protestors currently incarcerated: +216,000
Syrian refugees since March: +120,028
Refugees in Turkey: +43,387
Refugees in Lebanon: +31,596
Refugees in Jordan: +36,600
Refugees in Iraq: +8,445