BEIRUT: Syrian warplanes resumed bombarding the key northwestern town of Maaret Al-Numan yesterday, as clashes erupted on a nearby highway and an explosion rocked a town in Damascus province, a watchdog said.
The warplanes pounded Maaret Al-Numan as they have daily since it was overrun by fighters on Oct. 9, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
One fighter was killed in fighting after a military convoy was attacked on the highway south of Maaret Al-Numan, the Observatory said.
The military wants to regain control of the highway to resupply units under fire in Aleppo for the past three months and assist 250 troops besieged in their Wadi Deif base.
On Friday, fighters accused the regime of using cluster bombs in the attack, echoing claims by a rights group.
Fighters showed AFP debris from cluster bombs they accused the air force of dropping on residential areas, as well as dozens of others that failed to explode on impact.
Human Rights Watch has accused Syria of using cluster bombs.
In Damascus province, plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the town of Harasta after a powerful explosion rocked it, followed by shelling that killed two civilians killed, the Observatory said.
Meanwhile, peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi yesterday pressed Damascus for a truce to break the cycle of bloodshed.
Brahimi is hoping to secure a ceasefire during the four-day Eid Al-Adha Muslim holiday, which he believes could pave the way for other, more permanent peace initiatives.
“We will have discussions here with the government, the political parties and civil society about the situation in Syria,” Brahimi said when he arrived in Damascus on Friday.
“We will talk about the need to reduce the current violence and about whether it is possible to stop for the occasion of Eid Al-Adha.”
He is also expected to hold talks with Assad at a later date.
Brahimi is backed by UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Arab League head Nabil Al-Arabi who believe that if a truce is agreed during Eid, it could be extended to bring some respite in the 19-month conflict that has already killed more than 34,000 people.
Washington too has backed the truce call.
“We urge the Syrian government to stop all military operations and call on opposition forces to follow suit,” said a State Department statement.
Damascus has said it is ready to discuss the truce plan with Brahimi, while the opposition says the regime must take the first step and halt its daily bombardments.
Meanwhile, Washington has reportedly stepped up intelligence cooperation with Turkey, whose ties with Assad’s regime have rapidly deteriorated.
Separately, Turkey’s state-run agency said clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish rebels in the southeast of the country have left nine people dead.
The Anatolia news agency said yesterday three Turkish troops and three Kurdish rebels were killed in fighting that broke out in Hakkari province, near the border with Iraq.
The agency said rebels also attacked a military unit in Bitlis province, northwest of Hakkari, killing three government-paid village guards who are helping the Turkish security forces.
The attack comes amid a sharp escalation in violence over the past few months in Turkey’s southeast, where the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, are fighting for self-rule for Kurds.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the group took up arms in 1984.
Assad’s jets resume bombarding Maaret Al-Numan
Assad’s jets resume bombarding Maaret Al-Numan
Israeli Druze leader says Syrian community ‘besieged’ months after clashes
- “They aren’t allowed to bring in any humanitarian aid, including the aid we’re trying to deliver,” Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif told AFP
- Clashes erupted last July in southern Syria between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribes
JULIS, Israel: Seven months after deadly clashes between Syria’s Druze minority and government-backed forces, the spiritual leader of Druze in neighboring Israel said members of the community across the border remained in peril.
“They’re still besieged — completely encircled. They aren’t allowed to bring in any humanitarian aid, including the aid we’re trying to deliver,” Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif told AFP in an interview this week.
The cleric spoke in Julis, a quiet Druze village in northern Israel, where the community has set up an “emergency room” to coordinate aid efforts for Druze in Syria.
Israeli and Druze flags hang on the walls of the room, alongside posters in Hebrew and Arabic calling for an end to the killing of Syrian Druze.
The Druze are followers of an esoteric religion that split from Shiite Islam centuries ago. Its adherents are spread across parts of Syria, Israel, Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Clashes erupted last July in southern Syria between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribes.
The Syrian authorities said their forces intervened to stop the clashes, but witnesses and monitors accused them of siding with the Bedouin.
Israel bombed Syria during the violence, saying it was acting to defend the minority group.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fighting left more than 2,000 people dead, including 789 Druze civilians who were “summarily executed by defense and interior ministry personnel.”
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated that some 187,000 people were displaced by the violence.
- ‘Why not let them return?’ -
“There are still more than 120,000 people displaced from their homes,” Sheikh Tarif said.
“Thirty?eight villages have been captured, and residents aren’t allowed to return. There are more than 300 captives, including children and women.”
AFP was unable to verify those claims.
Although a ceasefire was reached in July, access to Sweida remains difficult.
Residents accuse the government of imposing a blockade on the province, which Damascus denies. Several aid convoys have entered since then.
“Why not let them return to their villages? We’re in the depths of winter and that is a mountainous area. It’s very cold,” Tarif said.
With Syria’s government and Kurdish-led forces agreeing last month to integrate Kurdish fighters and civil institutions into state structures, Sweida is the last major area outside Damascus’s control.
Tarif said the community did not need government security forces in the region.
“The Druze have forces capable of defending themselves and maintaining order,” he said, referring to Syrian government forces as jihadists and “Islamic State members.”
Many in Syria remain wary of Sharaa, given that the jihadist group he once led started out as an Al-Qaeda affiliate and many of its former members are in his government.
Israel’s leaders have repeatedly referenced Sharaa’s jihadist past in calling for the West not to legitimize him.
Nevertheless, Israel and Syria, which have no official diplomatic ties, have held several rounds of direct talks in recent months.
Following negotiations in January, and under US pressure, both sides agreed to set up an intelligence?sharing mechanism as they moved toward a security agreement.
One issue under discussion is the possibility of Syrian Druze working in Israel.
Sheikh Tarif confirmed “that is something we have heard” and added that he wished any Syrian could come to work as a daily laborer “because the (economic) situation in Syria is very difficult.”
He also called for Druze across the Middle East to be able to visit their religious sites in neighboring countries, “just as our Christian and Muslim brothers visit their holy places” in states with which they may not have diplomatic relations.
“The Druze also deserve to access and pray at our holy sites in Syria and Lebanon and for them to come visit our holy places” in Israel, he said.
