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Entries in William Burns (2)

Wednesday
Jan092013

Syria Live Coverage: A Mass Killing in Idlib Province?

2308 GMT: Summary - The LCC summarizes today's events:

By the end of Wednesday the LCC managed to document 92 martyrs (including 9 children and 4 women), 29 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs, 27 martyrs in Aleppo, 14 martyrs in Hama, 7 martyrs in Idlib, 8 martyrs in Homs, 4 martyrs in Daraa and 3 martyrs in Deir Ezzor

The LCC also documented 180 points of shelling, 2 points were shelled by warplanes, Cluster Bombs were used in Teftenaz and Omar Oil Field in Deir Ezzor, 86 points were shelled by artillery (the fiercest was reported in Damascus Suburbs), 51 points by missiles and 42 points by mortars

The FSA clashed with the regime forces in 77 locations (the fiercest among them was reported in Damascus Suburbs, Idlib and Aleppo), the FSA stormed several buildings in Teftenaz Military Airport and targeted its main building, the FSA blocked many attmepts by the regime forces to storm Daraya, Mouadamiya in Damascus Suburbs and Basr Al-Harir in Daraa

The FSA also targeted Saman checkpoint in Taibat Al-Imam in Hama and destroyed several military vehicles in different parts of Syria

See our note on the information published by the LCC.

2208 GMT: Images of the Mastoomeh Massacre - The first video claiming to show some of the bodies of those killed in Mastoomeh has surfaced...

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Monday
Dec102012

Syria Live Coverage: "A Political Process to End the Crisis is Still Possible"

2040 GMT: The US decision to place Al Nusra Front on the terrorist watch list will have complicated repercussions. Since we've started covering this conflict, we've been very impressed with both McClatchy and The Institute for the Study of War. As such, we're not surprised that experts from both organizations have, even before the decision was announced, condemned the move because it will complicate the realities on the ground in Syria and potentially isolate Washington from the Syrian rebels:

Some experts warned that declaring Nusra a foreign terrorist organization was likely to hurt the anti-Assad uprising by fueling tensions between the group and other opposition units. The designation could disrupt the coordination behind recent rebel advances and even risk clashes among rebel groups.

...

“I’m not saying they aren’t a terrorist group. But given the circumstances and given their cooperation with the opposition as a whole, designating them now would be disastrous,” said Elizabeth O’Bagy, an analyst with the Institute for the Study of War who recently returned from touring rebel-held areas to research Nusra and other Islamist groups.

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