Syrian Revolution News Round- Day 683 / Rebel fighters storm the central prison in Idlib

A group of rebel battalions from the Syrian Islamic Front stormed the central prison in Idlib city and set more than 300 detainees free in addition to seizing control of more than 60% of the sprawling prison. The attack came minutes after a regime warplane dropped phosphorus bomb on the prison and left many detainees dead and wounded.

Meanwhile, dozens of rebel fighters and regime forces were killed during clashes inside the prison.

The rebels seized control of the provincial town of Shughour in the Idlib suburb of Jesser Shughour after a heavy battle that left at least 10 rebel fighters and many regime soldiers dead.                                                                                     

In Raqa, the rebels stormed a checkpoint manned by the Air Force Intelligence forces in the Aleppo-Raqa road in addition to the Railway checkpoint manned by the Military Security forces near the town of Tabaqa. The rebels continued to thwart the regime’s ground assault on the city of Daraa and its provincial towns of Baser Harir and Herak. Heavy clashes also continued near Damascus suburbs of Daraya and Moadamiyat al-Sham for the 73rd day in a raw, whereas in Homs, the rebels destroyed two military tanks as repelled the repeated attacks by the Assad-Hezbollah forces on the neighbourhoods of Jobar and Sultaniya. Heavy clashes also erupted in the neighbourhoods of Bustan Qaser, Leramon, Bani Zaid, Sabaa Bahrat, Ithaa and Salaheddin in Aleppo city where the rebels gained new grounds in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Saad in the north. The rebels also continued their attacks on the military airbases of Nerab, Quwayres and Mennege.

Neither the Assad regime nor the opposition Syrian National Coalition will attend the international donor conference in Kuwait next week, a Kuwaiti official said. Representatives from 60 countries and 20 NGO’s will attend the conference that will collect donations to tackle the humanitarian crisis of the Syrian refugees.

Regime forces continued their indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas across the country, using cluster, phosphorus, therbombaric and explosive bombs as well as the long-range surface-to-surface missiles, causing extensive material mdamage and leaving dozens of people dead and wounded.

The continued violence left more than 185 people dead today. Regime forces and loyalist militiamen killed at least 130 people, including eight women, five children and 41 rebel fighters, whereas the rebels killed at least 55 soldiers and militiamen.Some 34 people were killed in Damascus and its suburbs today, six of whom were executed at a military checkpoint in the provincial town of Rihan, while dozens more were killed and injured in the provincial towns of Daraya and Moadamiyat al-Sham due to the heavy rocket and aerial bombardments.

The Assad-Hezbollah forces killed at least 21 people in Homs and its suburbs, including three women and four children that died due to the indiscriminate shelling in the provincial town of Qusayr. Activists warned of new massacres as the military campaign continues on the besieged neighbourhoods of Homs which were bombarded with more than 100 shells today.

Regime forces and militiamen committed three massacres in the city of Daraa and its provincial towns of Dael and Saida, leaving at least 17 people dead and dozens more wounded. The indiscriminate rocket shelling left at least eight people dead in the Idlib suburb of Habeit. Meanwhile, five unidentified bodies that appear to have been executed were discovered in the neighbourhood of Sakhour in Aleppo city. Protesters took to the streets in various areas across the country condemning the regime’s crimes and demanding an end to its attacks on the rebels-held towns.