And next, Syria?

[rekil]

Syrian activist and daughter murdered in Istanbul home: Turkish police



i wonder if this has anything to do with the recent torture report posted by copliker ?

I was thinking that too.



I don't know why the BBC uses scare quotes here.

Syrian activist and daughter 'murdered'

 

[butchersapron]

A Kurdish view on the fall of Aleppo:

The Fall of Eastern Aleppo

I have to say I don't know this Kurdish Question site - is it reputable?

I hear the site owner/starter was killed yesterday. Known to some here.

 

[LDC]

Yes, recent sad news, was thinking about posting on the Kurdish/Rojava thread. He was a lovely guy with sound politics.

British documentary-maker dies in Syria

 

[HoratioCuthbert]

Targeting hospitals again

Physicians for Human Rights - PHR Documents Worst String of Hospital Attacks in Syria Since April

 

[teqniq]

At the core of the war in Syria | Heinrich Böll Foundation

 

[butchersapron]

Lot of these 'SAA' generals dropping dead eh?

 

[extra dry]

Putin and Basher claim victory over terrior, the whole region is as safe as clown in a sewer.

 

[teqniq]

From The Lancet

Patterns of civilian and child deaths due to war-related violence in Syria: a comparative analysis from the Violation Documentation Center dataset, 2011–16

... Aerial bombing and shelling rapidly became primary causes of direct deaths of women and children and had disproportionate lethal effects on civilians, calling into question the use of wide-area explosive weapons in urban areas. Increased reliance on aerial bombing by the Syrian Government and international partners is likely to have contributed to findings that children were killed in increasing proportions over time, ultimately comprising a quarter of civilian deaths in 2016. The inordinate proportion of civilians among the executed is consistent with deliberate tactics to terrorise civilians. Deaths from barrel bombs were overwhelmingly civilian rather than opposition combatants, suggesting indiscriminate or targeted warfare contrary to international humanitarian law and possibly constituting a war crime...

 

[LDC]

Deleted, already posted on a more relevant Beeley thread.

 

[butchersapron]

This may be of some interest:


The Threat of Wider Wars in the Middle East and the Responsibilities of Socialists - Alliance of Syrian and Iranian Socialists

"The alliances currently confronting each other are fighting over the control of the region, its capital, and aim to repress any movements for social justice."

"At this time, it is the responsibility of Middle Eastern socialists not to fall into the trap of the nationalist and hate-mongering propaganda of their states. Instead, we need to demonstrate that the current changing alliances are an expression of the logic of capital, its racism, misogyny and homophobia. We need solidarity between labor struggles, women’s emancipation struggles and those of oppressed minorities, including oppressed sexual minorities, against this destructive logic and for a humanist alternative.

Frieda Afary"

They've now formed a wider group and released this statement of founding principles.

 

[hash tag]

I stumbled across this yesterday and cry as I did, I couldn't tear myself away from the film. It's brilliant what people have done and it's implications for future investigations etc. Whilst did sad and chilling that it is necessary. Forensic Architecture digitally reconstructs model of Syrian prison

 

[Pickman's model]

Russia takes aim at US over series of Syria drone attacks

 

[teqniq]

Yes saw this on Twitter yesterday.

More here, it also mentions the mortar attack that allegedly destroyed a number of Russian aircraft a couple of weeks ago.

Who is attacking Russia’s bases in Syria? A new mystery emerges in the war.

 

[teqniq]

Russia says DIY drones that attacked its base in Syria came from a rebel village

...Russia said it held Turkey accountable for the drone attack, calling it a breach of their cease-fire agreement in northern Syria, while Turkey accused Russia and Iran of jeopardizing the entire peace process by launching an offensive to take control of an opposition-held air base in the area....

 

[teqniq]

Could this be the next Aleppo? - CNN Video

The city of Idlib was thought to be a safe space from the violence in Syria, but the area has been plagued by fighting in recent days. CNN's Arwa Damon reports.

 

[butchersapron]

Just the few months late with this aren't they? Weeks of ariel bombardment and this is new a possible future?

 

[DownwardDog]

Fullbacks are still dropping iron bombs on Idlib.

 

[teqniq]

Just the few months late with this aren't they? Weeks of ariel bombardment and this is new a possible future?

I know. But what's happened is that some of the extremist AQ-affiliated militias such as HTS have guaranteed the safety of western journalists in an effort to publicise the plight of civilians in a so-called de-escalation zone.

 

[butchersapron]

I know. But what's happened is that some of the extremist AQ-affiliated militias such as HTS have guaranteed the safety of western journalists in an effort to publicise the plight of civilians in a so-called de-escalation zone.

Pathetic isn't it - there's been actual journalists who've been reporting from within the sieges and bombardments - Liz Sly was open mouthed in astonishment at one report over the weekend, at what actual journalism looks like - but i don't think they fit the profile these news services want.

 

[teqniq]

The never-ending seige on Eastern Ghouta

 

[RainbowTown]

...........and the slaughter and the deaths and the despair goes on and on and on and on...............

The perfect example of what Hell on Earth is truly like. And this, in the year of 2018.

 

[teqniq]

So a Russian plane was shot down over Idlib in the last couple of days. The pilot allegedly died by detonating a grenade rather than be captured by the rebel forces. By way of retaliation there has been at least one chlorine gas attack, presumably by regime forces and deliberate targeting of medical facilities by the Russian air force.

 

[DownwardDog]

The pilot allegedly died by detonating a grenade rather than be captured by the rebel forces.

Live grenade in the cockpit doesn't pass the sanity test. The Frogfoot was Blue 6 from 368 ShAP based in Sevastapol. Shootdown was by a Chinese FN-6 MANPAD.

 

[teqniq]

Fair enough. That's why I said 'allegedly' shot by rebels then.

 

[kebabking]

There's quite a lot of imagery of Russian aircrew carrying grenades as when they get in/get out of their aircraft - I suppose that under normal circumstances it doesn't pass the sanity test, but IS put a captured Jordanian pilot in a steel cage and burnt him alive, live on Facebook, so 'normal' probably doesn't apply in Syria.

I wouldn't be remotely surprised if the Russian Air Force weren't overly keen on their very expensive aircraft being put at significant risk by grenades being carried by people with pretty much no experience of using/carrying them, but that commands on the subject from people in starched uniforms in Moscow or Sevastopol don't carry much weight...

 

[DownwardDog]

There's quite a lot of imagery of Russian aircrew carrying grenades as when they get in/get out of their aircraft - I suppose that under normal circumstances it doesn't pass the sanity test, but IS put a captured Jordanian pilot in a steel cage and burnt him alive, live on Facebook, so 'normal' probably doesn't apply in Syria.

I wasn't doubting that it happened, just commenting on the wisdom of it!

On Operation Northern Watch we used to get 14 gold sovereigns and a "ghoolie chit" with which we were to bargain for our lives. The ghoolie chit was a polylingual document that gave bland assurances to the effect that Her Britannic Majesty's government would shower undefined favour on the bearer should he return it with a downed airman who still had his balls and head attached.

 

[kebabking]

I wasn't doubting that it happened, just commenting on the wisdom of it!

On Operation Northern Watch we used to get 14 gold sovereigns and a "ghoolie chit" with which we were to bargain for our lives. The ghoolie chit was a polylingual document that gave bland assurances to the effect that Her Britannic Majesty's government would shower undefined favour on the bearer should he return it with a downed airman who still had his balls and head attached.

Yeah, I had one in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I'm assuming that Russian aircrew are choosing grenades, despite all their attendant dangers, because they see them as being easier to use post crash/ejection than a pistol.

It's interesting.

 

[Yossarian]

I wasn't doubting that it happened, just commenting on the wisdom of it!

On Operation Northern Watch we used to get 14 gold sovereigns and a "ghoolie chit" with which we were to bargain for our lives. The ghoolie chit was a polylingual document that gave bland assurances to the effect that Her Britannic Majesty's government would shower undefined favour on the bearer should he return it with a downed airman who still had his balls and head attached.

"You can kill me now and get 14 gold sovereigns plus whatever the local bounty is - or transport an injured enemy airman to the frontline and receive a mystery prize from the Queen!"

 

[DownwardDog]

Yeah, I had one in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Navigators got a book of stamps instead of the gold.

 

[teqniq]

Not that the UN has been of any use so far

UN outrage at Syrian suffering: ‘We can no longer stay silent’

...The organisation called on Tuesday for a one-month ceasefire to ease what it described as an “extreme situation” that “we haven’t seen before” at any point during the war, which is soon to enter its eighth year. The conflict has been marked by a mass exodus of Syrian citizens, sieges, starvation and a death toll that surpassed 500,000 people in 2016.

The UN’s assistant secretary general and humanitarian coordinator in Syria, Panos Moumtzis, said the organisation had been almost powerless to respond to a “dramatic deterioration in the humanitarian situation” over the past two months in particular, when access to people in opposition areas had been blocked by Syrian government officials.

The siege had been most acute in East Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus, where 400,000 people – 94% of all those under regime blockade – have not received deliveries of food, water or medicine since late November. Ghouta, an opposition stronghold throughout the conflict, has been heavily bombed by Russian and Syrian jets for the past month, as both allies attempt to press home their recent gains elsewhere....

Women Now center destroyed in the midst of fierce bombing of civilian areas - Women Now for Development