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Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
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Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
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03Jan13
Syrian top officer says "conspiracy against Syria fail" amid ongoing violence
Syrian army chief of staff, Gen. Abdullah Ayoub, stressed Thursday the "conspiracy against Syria has fallen," amid ongoing violence in several Syrian cities, including the southern rim of the capital Damascus.
The "conspiracy against Syria has fallen thanks to the bravery of the Syrian army and the coherence of the Syrian people," Ayoub said during a tour to one Syrian battalion Thursday.
Ayoub urged the Syrian troops to continue their holy tasks in "crushing armed terrorist groups and their hideouts.
Meanwhile, clashes and violence continued unabatedly in several areas nationwide.
Syria's state media said the competent authorities confiscated Thursday a car with a rocket launcher and a French-made rocket ready for firing in the Damascus district of Kafar Souseh, a neighborhood that houses both the interior and foreign ministries in addition to other security headquarters.
It said the confisicated rocket has several warheads one of which was anti-shields and another one was anti-personnel stuffed with TNT and ROCS explosives.
Also on Thursday, clashes between Syrian troops and armed rebels intensified in the surroundings of Damascus, local media said.
The intensification of clashes was due to the armed rebels' attacks against several military checkpoints in the southern part of Damascus near the Abbasien Square.
The drumbeat of shells reverberated across several districts of Damascus close to the clash sites. Local media said several people have been injured by stray bullets in al-Qassa area, a Christians- dominated district close to Jobar and other hotspots where the fighting is taking place.
Meanwhile, the state-run SANA news agency said that army troops had continued their pursuit of "armed terrorist groups" at Bouser al-Harir area in the southern province of Daraa.
It added that the army had seized various kinds of weapons including rocket-propelled grenades, night-vision binoculars, sniper rifles, mortar shells, communications wireless devices and explosive devices.
On the opposition side, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, activists' network, said that three foreign insurgents were killed in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib during rebels' fight with Syrian troops.
Two Libyan fighters and one Palestinian were killed during clashes with the government troops near the Wadi al-Deif encampment, the Observatory said.
Also in Idlib, violent clashes took place between regular forces and fighters from radical al-Nusra Front and other extremist battalions in the vicinity of Taftanas military airport, which has seen intense fighting over the past 24 hours.
The rebels have so far failed to advance further to take over the airport as the guarding troops backed with air force are pounding them with shells.
The Syrian general command of the Syrian army said Thursday that "deadly blows" have been dealt to the "Takfiri gangs" that attacked the airport.
Meanwhile, the Observatory said that five civilians were killed in Idlib as a result of bombardment on the town of Qmeinas by an army checkpoint in the area.
It also said that eight civilians were killed by the areal shelling on the Damascus suburb of Douma and surrounding areas.
The Damascus clashes were also reported to have reignited in the Palestinian camp of Yarmouk between pro-government local committees and rebel fighters.
The coalition of Damascus-based opposition Palestinian factions recently reiterated its call for non-interference in the internal affairs of Syria and for not allowing the Palestinian people to get involved in the crisis in Syria.
In a statement, the factions stressed the necessity of working with all institutions and commissions concerned to deal with the demands of the Palestinian people in Syria in all fields and making necessary communications to stop the repercussions of the dangerous situation in al-Yarmouk Camp in Damascus.
The statement warned of the terrorist acts committed by the armed terrorist groups in al-Yarmouk Camp and their repercussions on the situation of the Palestinians in Syria and the Palestinian cause.
In the same context, the Popular Committee of al-Yarmouk Camp called on the Palestinian factions to seriously and quickly act to save the camp from the armed terrorist groups' terrorism.
The committee said in a statement that displacing the Palestinians from al-Yarmouk Camp is a political and humanitarian crime, considering this as "a conspiracy against the right of the Palestinian people to return to their homeland."
As the violence keeps grinding on, the opposition "National Democratic Bloc" called here Thursday for the formation of a transitional government to pave the way for a national inclusive dialogue and parliamentarian elections under international supervision.
The conflict in Syria is nearing to enter its third year as the United Nations said that more than 60,000 have died in the 22- month conflict.
[Source: Xinhua, Damascus, 03Jan13]
 | This document has been published on 04Jan13 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. |