Fighting intensifies as rebels gain victories / Syrian Revolution News Round- up / Day 578

Fighting has raged between rebel fighters and regime forces on several fronts in Aleppo, Idlib, Daraa, Deir Azzour, Damascus, Hama, Raqa and Hasaka. The rebels inflicted heavy losses on regime forces, capturing new sites and destroying dozens of military tanks and armored vehicles while killing more than 54 army soldiers and arresting dozens more. They also capturd a big number of heavy weaponry and a huge quantity of ammunition.

Rebel fighters seized control of two fully-equipped air defence bases containing missiles and other heavy weaponry, one located at the town of Taaneh in the Aleppo suburb of al-Bab, while the other located at the town of Deir al-Foul in the Homs suburb of Talbiseh.

Fierce fighting has raged in the town of Khan al-Asal in the western suburb of Aleppo, as well as in the neighbourhoods of Arqoub, Saladin, Sakhour, Sabaa Bahrat and Maidan in Aleppo city, whereby dozens of army soldiers were killed and many more were injured. The rebels also detained scores of soldiers and destroyed more than 10 military tanks in addition to a number of armoured vehicles.

Fighting also continued for the strategically-important towns of Ma’arrat Noman, Khan Sheikhoun and Saraqeb in the suburbs of Idlib which link Damascus with Aleppo. Rebel fighters ambushed two military convoys in the neighbouring towns of Heish and Salqin, destroying At least 15 military tanks and dozens of armoured vehicles while killing scores of army soldiers and arresting more than 50 others. They also captured a number of armoured vehicles and huge quantity of ammunition.

This came as regime forces raided the town of Heish in the suburb of Idlib amid fierce and indiscriminate shelling by fighter jets, rocket launchers and helicopter gunships that dropped barrel bombs maiming across wide areas and leaving at least 11 people dead, including women and children. Regime forces also unleashed airstrikes and artillery bombardments on the Idlib suburbs of Ma’arrat Noman, Khan Sheikhoun, Kafarsanjeh, Jesser Shughour and Jabal Zawiya, causing several deaths and casulaties.A Turkish official said that that Turkey scrambled two fighter jets to the Syrian border to intercept a Syrian helicopter gunships as it was shelling the Syrian town of Azmarin which was seized by rebel forces near the Turkish border, the Syrian helicopter was forced to retreat.

On the other hand, the regime’s fighter jets and heavy artiller renewed their daily bombardments on the city of Aleppo and its suburbs, leaving at least 38 people dead and dozens more wounded, most of them fell in the neighbourhoods of Qadi Askar, Shaar, Bustan Qaser, Akhtrin, Maghayer, Qasila, Tal Daman and the industrial city as well as in the provincial towns of Indan and Tal Refaat. In the meantime, regime forces killed six civilians “execution style” in the neighbourhood of Barzeh in Damascus and seven more in the Daraa suburb of Maarbeh. They also executed a number of civilians in the Damascus suburbs of Qarrah, Jesrin, Moadamiya and Bait Nayem.

The neighbourhoods of Yarmouk Refugee Camp, Qadam, Asaly and Kafarsouseh in Damascus were also under heavy mortar and artillery fire. The regime’s fighter jets, helicopter gunships and heavy artillery also bombarded the Damascus suburbs of Madaya, Qatana, Hosh Arrab, Rankous and a number of towns in eastern Ghouta district causing several deaths and injuries. Regime forces also shelled more than 28 different towns and neighbourhoods in the province of Homs as fierce fighting continued between rebel fighter fighters and the joint Syrian-Hezbollah forces.

Despite the regime’s brutal crackdown, thousands of protesters took to the streets today to chant their support for the Syrian rebels, mainly those on the Syrian coastal areas where they have recently gained control of some strategic areas along the border with Turkey. Protesters condemned the international and Arab deadlock on the Syrian crisis and renewed their calls for arming the Syrian rebels. Regime forces also resumed their massive military operations amid suffocating siege and indiscriminate attacks on residential areas in Daraa, Deir Azzour, Hama, Latakia and Raqa, leaving scores of civilians dead and many more wounded while destroying dozens of houses, thus prompting a mass exodus.

Meanwhile, the refugee crisis grew ever more acute, with the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR saying that between 2,000 and 3,000 people were fleeing across borders every day from Syria, bringing the total number of refugees to more than 340,000, a big number of them are going to be spending the winter in tents. Economically, the director of transportation in Damascus, Abdul Ghani Othman, said that the used car sales fell by 10% and the sales continue to plunge significantly due to the current crisis. A recent study made by the Ministry of Transport, revealed that the number of new vehicles that have been recently registered during the first half of the year fell by 71% in comparison with the same period of the year 2010.