Tag Archives: Syria

Government air and ground forces assaulted a strategic city in northern Syria in an attempt to recapture it from rebel forces. Government forces launched air attacks across the country. A senior air force general was assassinated.

Government jets conducted heavy air strikes in Damascus. Two car bombs exploded in the capital, killing at least 10 people. Intense gun battles broke out in Damascus and along a strategic highway between Damascus and Aleppo.

A UN-sponsored truce ended as fighting resumed across the country. Fighting spread to Kurdish sections of Aleppo. Residents said 200 Kurdish fighters have moved into the previously peaceful area. Sunni and Shia fighters from Iraq have entered Syria, bolstering forces on both sides of the conflict.

Despite a truce agreement, heavy bombardment and gun battles were reported in several major cities. A rebel commander called the truce a failure.

On the first day of a four-day truce, a powerful car bomb killed five people in Damascus. Forty-seven others were killed in other incidents around the country.

UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi announced an agreement for a four-day ceasefire during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. The Assad regime has agreed to the ceasefire, while rebels groups said they would cease fire provided the government forces stop shooting first.

Rebels attempted to capture a military base near a strategic highway connecting Damascus with Aleppo. Twenty people were killed in Aleppo when government forces shelled a neighborhood bakery.

A bomb exploded next to a police station in a Christian quarter of Damascus, killing 13 people. The state news agency said the blast was caused by an explosive placed under a car by an “armed terrorist group.”

Government forces continued air strikes against a strategically important town in northern Syria. Stalemated fighting continued in Aleppo. Iran and Turkey said they supported a ceasefire proposal brokered by the UN. Some 33,000 Syrians have died in the conflict and 340,000 have become refugees.