Syrian forces launch Damascus assault
Syria, state television said on news of the military's Damascus offensive."Our
brave army forces have completely cleansed the area of Midan in
Damascus of the remaining mercenary terrorists and have re-established
security," it said, using the regime term for rebels.
Syria’s defence minister General Daoud Rajha was killed in a suicide bombing targeting National Security headquarters in central Damascus, state television reported. Syrian President appointed Fahd al-Freij as new defence minister.A suicide bomber struck the National Security building in Damascus Wednesday during a meeting of Cabinet ministers and senior security officials, state-run media said.
Reporters taken on a regime-organised trip of Midan saw three bodies, empty streets, shuttered shops and buildings pockmarked with bullet holes.The counter-offensive by the army came after a Wednesday bombing killed four senior members of the regime, including the national security chief, who died on Friday.General Hisham Ikhtiyar had been wounded along with Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar in the National Security headquarters bombing, which was claimed by the Free Syrian Army (FSA).Defence Minister General Daoud Rajha, President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law Assef Shawkat and General Hassan Turkmani, head of the regime's crisis cell on the uprising, were all killed in the explosion.
The state-run news agency SANA reported that Wednesday’s blast was aimed at the National Security building, a headquarters for one of Syria’s intelligence branches and less than 500 meters (yards) from the US Embassy.Witnesses said police had cordoned off the area, and journalists were banned from approaching the site.Earlier Wednesday, SANA said soldiers were chasing rebels in the Midan neighborhood, causing ”great losses among them.” The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said army helicopters attacked the neighborhoods of Qaboun and Barzeh.
A state funeral was held for the three in Damascus on Friday ahead of their burials in their native provinces, the official SANA news agency reported, adding that Vice President Faruq al-Shara had attended but not Assad himself.A security source told AFP the army was now in control of the Damascus neighbourhoods of Midan, Tadamon, Qaboon and Barzeh, while fierce clashes were reported in other districts including Jubar, Mazzeh and Kfar Sousa.
The Observatory also reported intense fighting in several neighbourhoods of Aleppo and said troops opened fire on a large demonstration in the city, Syria's commercial centre.It said 16 people were killed in Aleppo, 10 of them civilians. They were among 128 people dead nationwide, including 85 civilians, at least seven of them children.The deaths came after 302 people were killed on Thursday, according to the Observatory, making it the deadliest day of the uprising so far. Clashes took place even on Syria's frontiers, activists and witnesses said. An AFP photographer reported that FSA fighters fought a raging battle with Syrian troops at the Bab al-Hawa border post with Turkey and that some 150 rebels controlled the crossing on Friday.
Three more generals crossed into Turkey, bringing to 24 the number of generals who have defected to Syria's northern neighbour, a foreign ministry diplomat told AFP.
UN Security Council on Friday unanimously agreed to extend the UN monitoring mission in Syria for 30 days.
Media agencies
Syria’s defence minister General Daoud Rajha was killed in a suicide bombing targeting National Security headquarters in central Damascus, state television reported. Syrian President appointed Fahd al-Freij as new defence minister.A suicide bomber struck the National Security building in Damascus Wednesday during a meeting of Cabinet ministers and senior security officials, state-run media said.
Reporters taken on a regime-organised trip of Midan saw three bodies, empty streets, shuttered shops and buildings pockmarked with bullet holes.The counter-offensive by the army came after a Wednesday bombing killed four senior members of the regime, including the national security chief, who died on Friday.General Hisham Ikhtiyar had been wounded along with Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar in the National Security headquarters bombing, which was claimed by the Free Syrian Army (FSA).Defence Minister General Daoud Rajha, President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law Assef Shawkat and General Hassan Turkmani, head of the regime's crisis cell on the uprising, were all killed in the explosion.
The state-run news agency SANA reported that Wednesday’s blast was aimed at the National Security building, a headquarters for one of Syria’s intelligence branches and less than 500 meters (yards) from the US Embassy.Witnesses said police had cordoned off the area, and journalists were banned from approaching the site.Earlier Wednesday, SANA said soldiers were chasing rebels in the Midan neighborhood, causing ”great losses among them.” The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said army helicopters attacked the neighborhoods of Qaboun and Barzeh.
A state funeral was held for the three in Damascus on Friday ahead of their burials in their native provinces, the official SANA news agency reported, adding that Vice President Faruq al-Shara had attended but not Assad himself.A security source told AFP the army was now in control of the Damascus neighbourhoods of Midan, Tadamon, Qaboon and Barzeh, while fierce clashes were reported in other districts including Jubar, Mazzeh and Kfar Sousa.
The Observatory also reported intense fighting in several neighbourhoods of Aleppo and said troops opened fire on a large demonstration in the city, Syria's commercial centre.It said 16 people were killed in Aleppo, 10 of them civilians. They were among 128 people dead nationwide, including 85 civilians, at least seven of them children.The deaths came after 302 people were killed on Thursday, according to the Observatory, making it the deadliest day of the uprising so far. Clashes took place even on Syria's frontiers, activists and witnesses said. An AFP photographer reported that FSA fighters fought a raging battle with Syrian troops at the Bab al-Hawa border post with Turkey and that some 150 rebels controlled the crossing on Friday.
Three more generals crossed into Turkey, bringing to 24 the number of generals who have defected to Syria's northern neighbour, a foreign ministry diplomat told AFP.
UN Security Council on Friday unanimously agreed to extend the UN monitoring mission in Syria for 30 days.
The
council agreed to consider further extension only if the government and
rebels there cease the use of heavy weapons and stop violence.
The
15-nation Council voted to adopt the British-drafted resolution a day
after permanent members Russia and China vetoed another resolution that
would have threatened President Bashar Al Assad's regime with sanctions
if Syrian authorities did not stop using heavy weapons and withdrew
troops from towns and cities within 10 days. Media agencies
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