100 soldiers, scores of civilians killed by al-Qaida fighters attack in northern Syria

DAMASCUS, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Intense clashes between the Syrian army and the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front, using booby- trapped cars in the fights, have left at least 100 army personnel and scores of civilians killed, activists said Thursday.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that al-Nusra fighters have almost taken control over the city of Shadidi in Hasaka after three days of intense clashes, during which the al-Qaida likeminded group used car bombs in their attacks.

A total of 100 army personnel and scores of civilians, who were employees at a Syrian oil company, were killed after the al-Nusra fighters stormed the company, it said, adding that some 30 members of al-Nusra were killed as well.

The Observatory also reported intense clashes in several hotspots across the country.

In the southern province of Daraa, violent clashes have been ongoing between the government forces and rebel fighters inside the al-Sahwa military battalion center, the Observatory said, adding that the rebels have stormed the base after days of clashes at its vicinity.

In the suburbs of the capital Damascus, violent clashes took place Thursday in the town of Aqraba, near the road to the international airport, it said, adding that pillars of smoke were seen rising from the adjacent town of Heran al-Awameed due to the government troops' bombardment.

Yet, the activists' report could not be independently confirmed.

On Wednesday, the UN human rights chief Navi Pillay placed the overall death toll of Syria's 23-month-old crisis at nearly 70,000.

Comments

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re...

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has ...

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, sp...

ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Search This Blog