I’m going to be in DC for the next two days, so I probably won’t be able to upload anything.
- The UN said that their count for the death toll for the Syrian Civil War is 191,000 people, but acknowledged that the actual figure could be much higher.
- The count doesn’t include 52,000 deaths that were recorded but lack enough detail.
- The new report more than doubled their figure from a year ago of 92,000 people.
- At least 30 Islamic State fighters were killed in the fighting around the Tabqa Airbase in ar-Raqqa yesterday. The military has sent reinforcements to the base. The IS sent at least 1 suicide car bomber in an attack against the base today.
- Two transport planes brought in soldiers of the newly formed 124th Brigade of the Republican Guard, while another plane took dead and wounded soldiers to the Tishreen Hospital. The 124th Brigade has been held as a reserve force in Tartous and this will be their first battle of the civil war.
- Al-Masdar News reported that 14 soldiers have been killed and 29 have been wounded in the last 4 days of fighting.
- Pro-government sources said 150 IS fighters were killed in an ambush near the base, but I haven’t seen any independent sources back up the claim.
- The assault on the base, which is the government’s last stronghold in the province, is being led by a Chechen called Abu Omar al-Shishani.
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 70 IS members have died in fighting and airstrikes around the base in the last 48 hours.
Fighting around al-Tabqa from 2 days ago.
- The Islamic State executed a man on chagres of dealing with government forces in al-Na’em, al-Raqqa province.
- The FSA firing a Hell Cannon on government positions in the Karam Altarab neighborhood of Aleppo:
- Rebels killed at least 3 soldiers and captured a tank in fighting around the Aleppo Central Prison after government forces attempted to advance on the nearby cement plant.
- Azad Weli, a Kurdish surgeon, was kidnapped by the Islamic State from the Ibn Sina Hospital in the city of Manbij in Aleppo. He is reportedly being held in the main detention center of the IS-controlled city.
- The YPG captured the village of Megirat, near Jazza, from the IS.
- Jabhat al-Nusra is sending a large number of reinforcements to Hama to aid in the offensive, including the push to take the Hama Military Airport.
- Rebel reinforcements heading to the village of Jalama in Hama province:
- Thousands of residents of Mahardeh in Hama were reported to be fleeing as rebels, led by Jabhat al-Nusra, stormed the mostly Christian town from several directions.
- 4 people from one family were killed, and 7 other people were injured in northern Hama province by barrel bombs dropped on the town of Hasraya.
- 5 children, 4 of whom were from a single family, were killed by 2 barrel bombs dropped on the town of Dael in Daraa province:
- The Major General killed by an IED (yesterday I said it was a landmine) yesterday on the road between Mleha and Zabdeen in Rif Dimashq was Adnan Omran. He was the Chief of Staff of the Department of Air Defense.
- 2 men were killed by al-Tal in Rif Dimashq by airstrikes.
- 3 rebels were killed by airstrikes around Adra in Rif Dimashq.
- 3 children and a man were killed by rebel mortars in downtown Damascus yesterday.
- Rebels have been massing fighters and are getting ready to launch a counter-offensive against the Islamic State in northern Aleppo to try and take back the towns and villages that the IS has seized over the last week.
- The Free Syrian Army launched a #SaveAleppo campaign on social media to try and draw attention to the plight of both civilians and rebels in the city of Aleppo.
- A new pro-Assad militia called The Ideological National Resistance has emerged, although it has not been officially announced by Syrian state media.
- The militia has taken a highly sectarian tone, referring to important religious figures and battles, such as Ard al-Taf, where Mohammad defeated a group of Jews. The militia also refers to Alawite glory.
- The group is reported to be heavily influenced by Hezbollah.
- General Martin E. Dempsey, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the Islamic State cannot be defeated unless the US or its allies also fight it within Syria.
YPG fighters in Ja’de, west of Kobani.
A man plays a piano in the al-Qaddam neighborhood of Aleppo, where fighters just signed a reconciliation agreement with the government.
A protest yesterday in Kafr Batna.
Today in Syria 