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| Syria: Army retakes Damascus suburbs - live updates | Syria: Army retakes Damascus suburbs - live updates |
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| 9.34am: The US-based Syrian exile, Ammar Abdulhamid, has blogged that attacks on the apparatus of the Assad regime "will become part of daily life in Damascus and its suburbs": | |
| Some reports claim that a major attack on the General Headquarters of Air Force Security near Damascus' own Tahrir Square in Central Damascus did take place. Others speak of an attack on the local police station of Naher Eisheh in Old Damascus. There have also been reports of clashes between loyalists and rebels in Rabweh Region to the northwest of Damascus. Security forces did open fire on protesters in Jobar neighborhood in the eastern parts of Damascus. The neighborhood is practically an in-city extension of Eastern Ghoutah Region. | |
| Still Assad loyalist troops have managed reestablished their presence in various communities in Eastern Ghoutah and Qalamoun, but this is far from re-establishing control. Rebels simply don't have enough arms and ammunition for direct head-on combat at this stage. Mounting guerrilla warfare, on the other hand, is a different matter. Indeed, and for the foreseeable future, attacks on loyalist troops and security headquarters, checkpoints and convoys will become part of daily life in Damascus and its suburbs in tandem with loyalist crackdown, killings and detentions. | |
| Activists have posted video footage purporting to be of the assault on the Damascus suburbs on Sunday. | |
| This video of troops walking alongside a tank was reportedly filmed as they entered Ain Terma. | |
This purports to show shelling of Irbeen. | |
| The New York Times has a picture gallery of Rankous, 20 miles north of Damascus, near the Lebanese border, which has been under siege from government troops since Wednesday, according to activists. | |
| 9.22am: The Local Co-ordination Committees, which report on protests in Syria, say there has been renewed shelling in the Damascus suburbs today. | |
| They report explosions in Maleiha and Saqba. The LCCs also say Rankous, 20 miles north of Damascus, which has been under tank fire since Wednesday according to activists, has suffered renewed shelling with several homes destroyed. | |
| The reports can not be independently verified. | |
| 8.47am: Welcome to Middle East Live. It was a bloody weekend in Syria. Here's a summary of the main developments. | 8.47am: Welcome to Middle East Live. It was a bloody weekend in Syria. Here's a summary of the main developments. |
| • Troops seized back eastern suburbs of Damascus from rebels late on Sunday after an unprecedented operation that saw around 2,000 troops, at least 50 tanks and armoured vehicles flood the area, according to activists. An activist named Kamal, in the eastern al-Ghouta area on the edge of the capital, told Reuters: | • Troops seized back eastern suburbs of Damascus from rebels late on Sunday after an unprecedented operation that saw around 2,000 troops, at least 50 tanks and armoured vehicles flood the area, according to activists. An activist named Kamal, in the eastern al-Ghouta area on the edge of the capital, told Reuters: |
| The Free Syrian Army has made a tactical withdrawal. Regime forces have re-occupied the suburbs and started making house-to-house arrests. | The Free Syrian Army has made a tactical withdrawal. Regime forces have re-occupied the suburbs and started making house-to-house arrests. |
| Maher al-Naimi, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army of defectors fighting Assad's forces, appeared to confirm that account: | Maher al-Naimi, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army of defectors fighting Assad's forces, appeared to confirm that account: |
| Tanks have gone in but they do not know where the Free Syrian Army is. We are still operating close to Damascus. | Tanks have gone in but they do not know where the Free Syrian Army is. We are still operating close to Damascus. |
| The Guardian's Luke Harding writes: | The Guardian's Luke Harding writes: |
| The unprecedented operation appears an attempt to regain the initiative from the rebels, who have grown increasingly bold in recent weeks. The BBC's Middle East correspondent, Jeremy Bowen, discovered the FSA openly manning roadblocks in Damascus last week, just 30 minutes away from Bashar Al-Assad's presidential palace. | The unprecedented operation appears an attempt to regain the initiative from the rebels, who have grown increasingly bold in recent weeks. The BBC's Middle East correspondent, Jeremy Bowen, discovered the FSA openly manning roadblocks in Damascus last week, just 30 minutes away from Bashar Al-Assad's presidential palace. |
| The insurgency, which is still raging in towns and cities across Syria - with further protests in Aleppo on Sunday — has now definitively reached the capital. | The insurgency, which is still raging in towns and cities across Syria - with further protests in Aleppo on Sunday — has now definitively reached the capital. |
The Washington Post says the regime "is looking weaker than at any point during the past 10 months", according to analysts, in an article written before the arym reportedly siezed back the Damascus suburbs: | The Washington Post says the regime "is looking weaker than at any point during the past 10 months", according to analysts, in an article written before the arym reportedly siezed back the Damascus suburbs: |
| Assad still holds the loyalties of the security forces, particularly the officer corps drawn mostly from his own Alawite sect. Diplomats in Damascus suspect, however, that defections among the rank and file are accelerating faster than had previously been thought, as soldiers deployed without leave on low pay for nearly a year find themselves drawn to the revolt. | Assad still holds the loyalties of the security forces, particularly the officer corps drawn mostly from his own Alawite sect. Diplomats in Damascus suspect, however, that defections among the rank and file are accelerating faster than had previously been thought, as soldiers deployed without leave on low pay for nearly a year find themselves drawn to the revolt. |
| A cease-fire agreement under which security forces were forced to withdraw from the town of Zabadani, 20 miles west of Damascus, leaving it in the hands of the Free Syrian Army, came about in large part because the government feared soldiers would defect in large numbers if they were forced to keep attacking the city, according to activists in the town and diplomats. | A cease-fire agreement under which security forces were forced to withdraw from the town of Zabadani, 20 miles west of Damascus, leaving it in the hands of the Free Syrian Army, came about in large part because the government feared soldiers would defect in large numbers if they were forced to keep attacking the city, according to activists in the town and diplomats. |
| "In Syria, looking weak is a dangerous thing, and if they can't control the Damascus suburbs, they do look weak," said a Western diplomat. | "In Syria, looking weak is a dangerous thing, and if they can't control the Damascus suburbs, they do look weak," said a Western diplomat. |
| • Activists said that more than 60 people were killed on Sunday, many of them in the Damascus suburbs. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 27 civilians were killed Sunday, most of them in fighting in the Damascus suburbs and in the central city of Homs, a hotbed of anti-regime protests. Twenty-six soldiers and nine defectors were also killed, it said. The soldiers were killed in ambushes that targeted military vehicles near the capital and in the northern province of Idlib. The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC) said 64 people were killed nationwide, including 16 in Damascus suburbs (it does not include army deaths). Saturday was even bloodier, according to the LCC, which reported 98 deaths. | • Activists said that more than 60 people were killed on Sunday, many of them in the Damascus suburbs. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 27 civilians were killed Sunday, most of them in fighting in the Damascus suburbs and in the central city of Homs, a hotbed of anti-regime protests. Twenty-six soldiers and nine defectors were also killed, it said. The soldiers were killed in ambushes that targeted military vehicles near the capital and in the northern province of Idlib. The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC) said 64 people were killed nationwide, including 16 in Damascus suburbs (it does not include army deaths). Saturday was even bloodier, according to the LCC, which reported 98 deaths. |
| • The increase in violence came after the Arab League suspended its widely-criticised monitoring mission on Saturday, citing the "critical deterioration of the situation in Syria and the continued use of violence". The League's chief, Nabil Elaraby, flew to New York on Sunday to try to win support on the UN security council for his peace plan, designed to end the violence through political means. Syria has categorically rejected the Arab League's plan as "foreign interference". There were also indications that Russia, Syria's closest strategic ally and key military supplier, would not accept it either. | • The increase in violence came after the Arab League suspended its widely-criticised monitoring mission on Saturday, citing the "critical deterioration of the situation in Syria and the continued use of violence". The League's chief, Nabil Elaraby, flew to New York on Sunday to try to win support on the UN security council for his peace plan, designed to end the violence through political means. Syria has categorically rejected the Arab League's plan as "foreign interference". There were also indications that Russia, Syria's closest strategic ally and key military supplier, would not accept it either. |
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