WORLD News ‘Tens of thousands flee Syria's largest city’

WORLD News ‘Berpuluh ribu melarikan diri 
dari bandar terbesar di Syria
By Mardiana hamden | earthWatch REVIEW2012: Wednesday 1, August, 2012

BUKULMEZ, Turki (AP) – Merokok-rokok di luar sebuah hospital Turki berhampiran sempadan Syria, seorang lelaki dalam gaun kelabu dan flip-flop dipegang tidur anak perempuan yang berusia 2 tahun, Aya. Pada mata kanan Aya adalah pembalut. Di tangan kirinya adalah bar coklat.

Aya kehilangan mata apabila dia telah dilanggar oleh serpihan dari shell yang juga membunuh saudaranya berusia 8-bulan, Mohammad, dan ibu mereka. Bapa dan anak perempuan adalah antara kira-kira 200,000 orang PBB berkata lewat kelmarin telah melarikan diri dari bandar terbesar di Syria, Aleppo, semasa hari pertempuran antara pemberontak dan tentera.

Penduduk Aleppo, ada yang cedera teruk, pembungkusan barangan dan memuatkan mereka ke dalam kereta, lori dan motosikal untuk mencari perlindungan sementara di kampung-kampung dan sekolah-sekolah luar bandar di luar khemah bandar dan berdebu merentasi sempadan di Turki.

Dalam temu bual dengan The Associated Press, pelarian menyifatkan sebuah bandar yang dikepung oleh tentera kerajaan dan dibelenggu oleh serangan yang tidak berhenti-henti. Bekalan makanan dan petrol menjalankan harga pasaran yang rendah dan hitam untuk stapler harian yang melambung tinggi.

Sebagai keganasan yang dipergiatkan, diplomat paling kanan negara di London berpaling tadah. Caj kuasa usaha Khaled al-Ayoubi adalah yang terbaru dalam rentetan diplomat berprofil tinggi untuk meninggalkan rejim Presiden Bashar Assad, lebih tindakan keras itu, menurut aktivis hak asasi, telah terbunuh lebih daripada 19,000 orang sejak Mac 2011.

Pertempuran bagi Aleppo, sebuah bandar sebanyak 3 juta yang pernah menjadi kubu sokongan untuk Assad, adalah penting bagi kedua-dua rejim dan pembangkang. Kejatuhannya akan memberikan pembangkang utama kemenangan strategik dengan kubu kuat di utara. Kekalahan pemberontak, sekurang-kurangnya, akan membeli Assad lebih banyak masa.

Aktivis berkata pasukan rejim serangan pemberontak telah dipegang daerah Bandar-bandar  dan kelompok persekitaran kampong-kampung lumus pada hari Isnin, menghantar seluruh keluarga dan penduduk yang panik melarikan diri. Banyak pergi ke Turki, kira-kira 30 batu (50 kilometer) dari, di mana berpuluh-puluh ribu daripada Syria telah didapati berlindung semasa pemberontakan.

Reem, seorang wanita dalam usia 30-an itu yang melarikan diri dari daerah Aleppo pemberontak dipegang oleh Saif al-Dawleh, adalah antara orang-orang yang muncul di Turki pada hari Isnin. "Keadaan di Aleppo adalah mengerikan," katanya kepada AP tidak lama lagi selepas tiba di lintasan sempadan Bukulmez haram, di mana beliau telah disambut oleh tentera Turki.

"Jika Al-Quran semata-mata menjadi agenda utama saya tidak akan meninggalkan rumah saya," katanya. Memakai tudung kepala hitam dan jubah hitam dan sandal, Reem menyifatkan bersembunyi selama 3 hari di dalam bilik berhampiran pintu masuk bangunan di mana dia dapat lagi hidup. Dia kemudian melarikan diri ke sebuah kampung berhampiran sempadan Turki sebelum menyeberangi pada hari Isnin.

"Saya menyalahkan rejim untuk semua. Orang di bandar yang digunakan untuk keluar dan protes secara aman, tetapi mereka hanya menembak ke arah mereka," kata Reem, yang tidak akan memberikan nama terakhir. Tentera Turki mengarahkan satu pasukan AP meninggalkan sejurus selepas wartawan mula menemuduga pelarian di sempadan lintasan, Isnin.

Di luar hospital negeri dikendalikan, bapa Aya menceritakan bagaimana tragedi keluarga beliau mula terserlah. "Saya berada di tempat kerja apabila saya menerima panggilan bahawa kelompang yang telah melanda rumah saya," katanya. "Sebaik sahaja saya pulang, saya dapati isteri saya dan anak mati di atas lantai. Sebahagian tengkorak anak saya telah ditiup, dan Aya cedera."

"Seluruh bandar telah dimusnahkan," kata bapa Aya, yang tidak akan memberikan nama tetapi berkata bahawa dia adalah dari daerah pemberontak dipegang Bustan al-Qasr. PBB berkata, 200,000 Syria telah meninggalkan Aleppo dalam tempoh 10 hari yang lalu sebagai kerajaan melatih mortar, kereta kebal dan gunships helikopter di kawasan kejiranan yang disita oleh pemberontak.

"Saya amat bimbang dengan kesan serangan dan penggunaan kereta kebal dan lain-lain senjata berat ke atas orang-orang di Aleppo," Valerie Amos, pegawai kanan PBB bagi hal ehwal kemanusiaan, berkata dalam satu kenyataan lewat kelmarin. "Ramai orang telah mencari perlindungan sementara di sekolah-sekolah dan lain-lain bangunan awam di kawasan yang lebih selamat," tambah beliau. "Mereka memerlukan dengan segera makanan, tilam dan selimut, bekalan kebersihan dan air minuman."

"Ia tidak diketahui berapa ramai orang yang masih terperangkap di tempat-tempat di mana pertempuran masih diteruskan sehingga ke hari ini," katanya memberi amaran. Dalam video dalam talian, orang ramai boleh dilihat berlari melalui jalan-jalan terhadap latar belakang tembakan dan memanjat ke atas apa-apa bentuk pengangkutan yang sedia ada untuk melarikan diri, termasuk trak, kereta dan motosikal walaupun sarat.

Kesahihan video tidak boleh secara bebas disahkan. "Puluhan keluarga membungkus barang-barang mereka, dan meninggalkan dalam kereta dan trak," kata seorang aktivis di sebuah kampung berhampiran Aleppo, yang enggan memberi namanya atas sebab-sebab keselamatan. "Mereka mengambil hanya harta benda cahaya yang mereka boleh membawa, seperti pakaian sahaja, beberapa barang berharga dan itu sahaja."

"Saya melihat kereta dengan 8, dan 9 orang yang dibungkus dalam mereka yang melarikan diri dari pengeboman itu," katanya. Beliau berkata pemberontak telah merampas sebuah pusat pemeriksaan berdekatan awal Isnin dan menawan beberapa kereta kebal. Rejim bertindak balas dengan serangan kawasan luar bandar di barat laut bandar. "Seluruh keluarga meninggalkan."

Video serangan ke atas pusat pemeriksaan di Andan yang disiarkan di Internet menunjukkan pertukaran sengit api pada awal pagi dan kemudian, pemberontak menang pengangkutan keluar kotak peluru dan mengambil mesingan berat untuk perjuangan di Aleppo.

Antara yang cedera wilayah di Aleppo pada hari Isnin adalah Al-Jazeera koresponden Omar Khashram, yang telah dicederakan oleh serpihan bom selepas satu pusingan mortar jatuh berhampiran keretanya, kata seorang rakan sekerja. Kementerian Luar Syria mempertahankan serangan di wilayah Aleppo, berkata ia bertujuan untuk melindungi orang yang tidak bersalah.

Dalam 2 surat yang dialamatkan kepada ketua Majlis Keselamatan PBB dan Setiausaha Agung PBB, Syria berkata bahawa "kumpulan pengganas bersenjata" disokong secara terbuka dengan dana dan senjata oleh Arab Saudi, Qatar dan Turki telah melakukan "jenayah yang menakutkan" terhadap orang awam yang tidak berdosa. Ia telah menuduh pemberontak menggunakan penduduk sebagai perisai manusia.

Media negeri Syria melaporkan tentera telah "dibersihkan" kejiranan Aleppo barat daya daripada Salaheddine dan dikenakan "kerugian besar" apabila pemberontak di salah satu daerah pertama mereka mengambil alih dalam usaha mereka untuk merebut kota.

Walau bagaimanapun, aktivis mempertikaikan dakwaan ini. Serangan tersebut telah dirobohkan talian kuasa, dan kejiranan telah terputus bekalan elektrik sejak pagi. Presiden Barack Obama dan Perdana Menteri Turki Recep Tayyip Erdogan bercakap melalui telefon pada hari Isnin dan bersetuju untuk "menyelaraskan usaha-usaha untuk membantu semakin ramai orang pelarian Syria, bukan sahaja di dalam Syria, tetapi di Turki dan rantau yang lebih luas," menurut kenyataan White House.

Dikendalikan oleh kerajaan Turki Anadolu agensi melaporkan Isnin bahawa Turki akan menggerakkan lebih banyak tentera ke sempadan, menghantar kereta kebal, kenderaan tempur perisai, lebih banyak pelancar peluru berpandu dan tentera infantri. Selain ke Turki, keganasan di Syria telah menghantar pelarian banjir ke Jordan, Iraq dan Lebanon. Greece telah bertindak balas dengan 4  kali ganda bilangan pengawal sempadan dengan Turki daripada takut potensi kemasukan pelarian Syria.

Al-Ayoubi, diplomat Syria di London, adalah utusan ke-4 yang tinggi kepada kecacatan. Beliau telah didahului oleh caj kuasa usaha di Cyprus, suaminya, seorang diplomat di UAE, dan oleh duta ke Iraq.

Seorang jurucakap Pejabat Asing berkata al-Ayoubi telah tinggal di lokasi yang selamat di United Kingdom dan hubungan dengan pegawai British. Pemergiannya meninggalkan 5 kakitangan di kedutaan dan terdapat sebarang petunjuk bahawa mereka akan meninggalkan jawatan mereka juga.

Turki juga melaporkan bahawa timbalan ketua keselamatan bagi rantau Latakia Syria, sebuah kubu kuat rejim, telah serta berpaling tadah. Umum brigadier adalah antara sekumpulan 12 pegawai Syria yang menyeberang ke Turki lewat kelmarin, kata pegawai itu, bercakap mengenai da tidak mahu dikenali kerana beliau tidak dibenarkan untuk bercakap kepada pemberita. Pembelotan beliau dinaikkan kepada 28 bilangan jeneral yang telah meninggalkan Turki sejak permulaan pemberontakan yang berusia 17 bulan.

Karam melaporkan dari Beirut. Associated Press penulis Suzan Fraser di Ankara, Turki, dan Dodds Paisley di London menyumbang kepada laporan ini.

WORLD News  ‘Tens of thousands flee Syria's largest city’

BUKULMEZ, Turkey (AP) - Smoking a cigarette outside a Turkish hospital near the Syrian border, a man in a gray gown and flip-flops held his sleeping 2-year-old daughter, Aya. On Aya's right eye was a bandage. In her left hand was a chocolate bar.

Aya lost her eye when she was struck by shrapnel from a shell that also killed her 8-month-old brother, Mohammad, and their mother. The father and daughter were among some 200,000 people who the U.N. said late Sunday have fled Syria's largest city, Aleppo, during days of clashes between rebels and the military.

Aleppo residents, some severely wounded, are packing up belongings and loading them onto cars, trucks and even motorcycles to seek temporary shelter in rural villages and schools outside the city and dusty tents across the border in Turkey.

In interviews with The Associated Press, refugees described a city besieged by government troops and beset by incessant shelling. Food supplies and gasoline are running low and black market prices for everyday staples are soaring.

As the violence intensified, the country's most senior diplomat in London defected. Charge d'affaires Khaled al-Ayoubi is the latest in a string of high-profile diplomats to abandon President Bashar Assad's regime over a crackdown that, according to rights activists, has killed more than 19,000 people since March 2011.

The battle for Aleppo, a city of 3 million that was once a bastion of support for Assad, is critical for both the regime and the opposition. Its fall would give the opposition a major strategic victory with a stronghold in the north. A rebel defeat, at the very least, would buy Assad more time.

Activists said regime forces were shelling rebel-held districts of the city and a cluster of surrounding villages relentlessly on Monday, sending entire families and panicked residents fleeing. Many went to Turkey, some 30 miles (50 kilometers) away, where tens of thousands of Syrians have already found refuge during the uprising.

Reem, a woman in her 30s who fled Aleppo's rebel-held district of Saif al-Dawleh, was among those who showed up in Turkey on Monday. "The situation in Aleppo is dreadful," she told the AP soon after arriving at the Bukulmez illegal border crossing, where she was greeted by Turkish soldiers.

"Had it been merely bearable I wouldn't have left my home," she said. Wearing a black head scarf and black robe and sandals, Reem described hiding for three days in a room near the entrance of the building in which she lived. She then fled to a village near the Turkish border before crossing over on Monday.

"I blame the regime for everything. People in the city used to go out and protest peacefully, but they just shot at them," said Reem, who would not give her last name. Turkish troops ordered an AP team to leave shortly after journalists began interviewing refugees at the border crossing Monday.

Outside the state-run hospital, Aya's father recounted how his family's tragedy unfolded. "I was at work when I received the call that a shell had hit my house," he said. "As soon as I returned, I found my wife and son dead on the floor. Part of my son's skull was blown off, and Aya was wounded."

"The whole city is destroyed," said Aya's father, who would not give his name but said that he was from the rebel-held district of Bustan al-Qasr. The U.N. said 200,000 Syrians have left Aleppo over the past 10 days as the government trains its mortars, tanks and helicopter gunships on the neighborhoods seized by the rebels.

"I am extremely concerned by the impact of shelling and use of tanks and other heavy weapons on people in Aleppo," Valerie Amos, the top U.N. official for humanitarian affairs, said in a statement late Sunday. "Many people have sought temporary shelter in schools and other public buildings in safer areas," she added. "They urgently need food, mattresses and blankets, hygiene supplies and drinking water."

"It is not known how many people remain trapped in places where fighting continues today," she warned. In online videos, people can be seen scurrying through streets against a backdrop of gunfire and climbing onto any form of transportation available to escape, including trucks, cars and even heavily laden motorcycles.

The authenticity of the videos could not be independently verified. "Dozens of families are packing their belongings and leaving in cars and trucks," said an activist in a village near Aleppo, who declined to give his name for security reasons. "They are taking only light possessions that they can carry, like a few clothes, some valuables and that's it."

"I saw cars with eight, nine people packed in them fleeing the bombing," he added. He said rebels had seized a nearby checkpoint early Monday and captured several tanks. The regime responded by shelling the rural area just northwest of the city. "Entire families are leaving."

Videos of the attack on the checkpoint in Andan posted on the Internet show fierce exchanges of fire in the early morning and then later, victorious rebels hauling out boxes of ammunition and taking heavy machine guns for the fight in Aleppo.

Among those wounded in Aleppo province on Monday was Al-Jazeera correspondent Omar Khashram, who was hurt by shrapnel after a mortar round fell near his car, a colleague said. The Syrian Foreign Ministry defended its offensive in Aleppo province, saying it was meant to protect innocent people.

In two letters addressed to the head of the U.N. Security Council and the U.N. Secretary General, Syria said that "armed terrorist groups" backed openly with funds and weapons by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey have committed "horrifying crimes" against innocent civilians. It accused the rebels of using residents as human shields.

Syrian state media reported the army had "purged" Aleppo's southwestern neighborhood of Salaheddine and inflicted "great losses" upon the rebels in one of the first districts they took control of in their bid to seize the city.

Activists, however, disputed these claims. The assault has knocked down power lines, and the neighborhood has been without electricity since the morning. President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by telephone on Monday and agreed to "coordinate efforts to assist the growing numbers of displaced Syrians, not only within Syria, but in Turkey and the broader region," according to a White House statement.

The Turkish state-run Anadolu agency reported Monday that Turkey is deploying more troops to the border, sending tanks, armored combat vehicles, more missile launchers and infantry troops. In addition to Turkey, the violence in Syria has sent refugees flooding into Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon. Greece has responded by quadrupling the number of guards on its borders with Turkey out of fear of a potential influx of Syrian refugees.

Al-Ayoubi, the Syrian diplomat in London, is the fourth high-ranking envoy to defect. He was preceded by the charge d'affaires in Cyprus, her husband, a diplomat in the UAE, and by the ambassador to Iraq.

A Foreign Office spokesman said al-Ayoubi was staying in a safe location in the United Kingdom and was in contact with British officials. His departure leaves five staff at the embassy and there has been no indication that they would be leaving their posts as well.

Turkey also reported that the deputy head of security for Syria's Latakia region, a regime stronghold, had defected as well. The brigadier general was among a group of 12 Syrian officers who crossed into Turkey late Sunday, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters. His defection raised to 28 the number of generals who have left for Turkey since the start of the 17-month-old uprising.

Karam reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Paisley Dodds in London contributed to this report.

Pertempuran berat berterusan di antara tentera, pemberontak di Syria . . .

Tinjauan 1Wc'Channel 2012: Berat pertempuran berterusan antara tentera, pemberontak di Syria. http://timesofearth.com/Worldnews/?NT=0&nid=55860. BEIRUT - pertempuran sengit telah meletus pada pemberontak dipegang daerah Aleppo, sehari selepas pasukan pembangkang ditangkis serangan oleh tentera kerajaan di bandar ke-2 terbesar di Syria, seorang kumpulan hak asasi manusia berkata. "Pertempuran Intense berlaku di daerah Bab al-Hadid, Zahraa, Arkub dan Al-Hindrat Kem sebagai letupan telah didengar dan pesawat telah dilihat overhed," Balai Cerap Syria bagi Hak Asasi Manusia berkata pada hari Ahad.

Gunships helikopter terbang lebih Saif al-Dawla daerah serta Salaheddin, di mana pemberontak diadakan dari serangan oleh tentera darat yang disokong oleh kereta kebal dan helikopter pada hari Sabtu, kumpulan hak asasi yang berpangkalan di Britain. Di pusat bandar Homs, pertempuran meletus berhampiran ibu pejabat polis di antara tentera dan pejuang pemberontak, di mana sekurang-kurangnya seorang terbunuh.

Berhampiran ibu negeri, api penembak hendap membunuh seorang awam di bandar Irbin, Balai Cerap tersebut. 2lagi terbunuh dalam serangan di wilayah Idlib di barat laut. Pada hari Sabtu, keganasan membunuh 168 orang, 94 orang awam, 33 pemberontak dan 41 askar, Balai Cerap tersebut.

Media pro-kerajaan di Syria telah memberi amaran bahawa apa yang mereka sifatkan sebagai "ibu segala peperangan" tenun di bandar hampir 3 juta penduduk. Amerika Syarikat, Britain dan Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu telah menyuarakan penggera yang semakin meningkat tentang potensi untuk pembunuhan beramai-ramai akan berlaku di sana.

Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu utusan khas Kofi Annan pada hari Sabtu berkata beliau bimbang "pertempuran akan berlaku" untuk Aleppo. Presiden Perancis Francois Hollande memperbaharui panggilan bagi PBB untuk memberi pertolongan, berkata peranan negara anggota Majlis Keselamatan PBB untuk campur tangan "secepat mungkin."

Terdahulu, Rusia memberi amaran "tragedi" akan berlaku di Aleppo, tetapi berkata sokongan asing pemberontak akan membawa kepada "lebih banyak darah." Menteri Luar Negeri Sergei Lavrov juga berkata kerajaan Syria tidak boleh dijangka rela memberikan kepada pembangkang.

Sementara itu, di Lubnan media tempatan melaporkan bahawa tentera meletakkan pertempuran di bandar utara Tripoli semalaman antara saingan Alawite dan Sunni kawasan kejiranan di mana beberapa orang cedera, menambah kepada kebimbangan bahawa konflik Syria boleh melimpah sempadannya.

Pertempuran terbaru datang selepas 2 minggu di mana pemberontak telah membuat keuntungan yang ketara. Serangan di ibu pejabat keselamatan Syria di Damsyik pada 18 Julai membunuh 4 pegawai kanan, termasuk Menteri Pertahanan, dan Presiden Assad abang iparnya dalam undang-undang.

Kemudian Tentera Syria Percuma (FSA) mengambil alih beberapa bahagian Damsyik sebelum dihalau keluar oleh kerajaan balas menyinggung. Pemberontak juga merampas beberapa lintasan sempadan dengan Turki dan Iraq. Sementara itu, jiran Jordan membuka kem pelarian rasmi yang pertama untuk Syria yang melarikan diri dari keganasan. Agensi pelarian PBB (UNHCR) berkata kem baru di Za'atari mulanya akan menempatkan 10,000 orang tetapi akhirnya boleh memberi perlindungan kepada lebih daripada 100,000. PBB berkata 150,00 Syria telah memasukkan Jordan.

Heavy fighting continues between troops, rebels in Syria

1Wc'Channel Review 2012: http://timesofearth.com/Worldnews/?NT=0&nid=55860. BEIRUT - Fierce fighting has erupted in rebel-held districts of Aleppo, a day after opposition forces repulsed an offensive by government troops in Syria's second-largest city, a human rights group said. "Intense clashes took place in the districts of Bab al-Hadid, Zahraa, Arkub and Al-Hindrat Camp as explosions were heard and aircraft were sighted overhead," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday.

Helicopter gunships flew over the Saif al-Dawla district as well as Salaheddin, where rebels held off an offensive by ground troops backed by tanks and helicopters on Saturday, the Britain-based rights group said. In the central city of Homs, a battle broke out near the police headquarters between troops and rebel fighters, of whom at least one was killed.

Near the capital, sniper fire killed a civilian in the town of Irbin, the Observatory said. Two more were killed in shelling in Idlib province in the northwest. On Saturday, violence killed 168 people, 94 civilians, 33 rebels and 41 soldiers, the Observatory said.

Pro-government media in Syria have warned that what they describe as the "mother of all battles" looms in the city of nearly three million residents. The United States, Britain and the United Nations have voiced growing alarm about the potential for an imminent massacre there.

United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan on Saturday said he feared an "imminent battle" for Aleppo. French President Francois Hollande renewed a call for U.N. to intercede, saying the role of U.N. Security Council member states is to intervene "as quickly as possible."

Earlier, Russia warned a "tragedy" was imminent in Aleppo, but said foreign support of rebels would lead to "more blood." Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also said the Syrian government could not be expected to willingly give in to the opposition.

Meanwhile, in Lebanon local media reported that the army put down clashes in the northern city of Tripoli overnight between rival Alawite and Sunni neighborhoods in which several people were injured, adding to fears that Syria's conflict could spill over its borders.

The latest fighting comes after two weeks in which rebels have made significant gains. An attack at Syrian security headquarters in Damascus on 18 July killed four senior officials, including the defence minister and President Assad's brother-in-law.

Then the Free Syrian Army (FSA) took control of several parts of Damascus before being driven out by a government counter-offensive. The rebels also seized several border crossings with Turkey and Iraq. Meanwhile, neighbouring Jordan is opening its first official refugee camp for Syrians fleeing the violence. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says the new camp at Za'atari will initially house 10,000 people but could eventually give refuge to more than 100,000. The UN says 150,00 Syrians have already entered Jordan.

Pemberontak Syria merebut asas ketenteraan 

di luar Aleppo . . .

Tinjauan 1Wc'Channel 2012: Pemberontak Syria merebut asas ketenteraan di luar Aleppo. Pemberontak menawan pengkalan kerajaan tentera Isnin di pinggir bandar Aleppo, metropolis yang hangat dipertandingkan Syria yang telah dilihat lebih daripada seminggu pertempuran berdarah.

Pengkalan yang mempunyai kira-kira 200 tentera Syria dan kelihatan berada di bawah serangan oleh pemberontak dari 3 sisi semalaman. Selepas waktu pertempuran, pejuang pembangkang telah mengambil kawalan barat laut asas Aleppo pada pagi Isnin.

Walaupun rangsangan untuk pemberontak, pertempuran tidak henti-henti untuk bandar terbesar di Syria berlarutan Isnin. Pasukan rejim melancarkan peluru berpandu dan mengebom dari serangan helikopter, aktivis pembangkang. Aleppo, hab komersial dan kebudayaan di Syria, telah menyaksikan penghijrahan beramai-ramai di tengah-tengah keganasan. Kira-kira 200,000 orang dan di sekeliling Aleppo telah melarikan diri dari serangan dan api senjata berat dalam tempoh 2 hari lepas, kata Valerie Amos, Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu di bawah setiausaha agung bagi hal ehwal kemanusiaan, Ahad.

Dengan tiada akhir kepada krisis negara 16-bulan di sisi, Menteri Luar Perancis Laurent Fabius berkata negara beliau akan mengambil tindakan yang lebih untuk cuba untuk menghentikan pertumpahan darah. "Sebagai Perancis mengambil alih jawatan presiden Majlis Keselamatan PBB pada 1 Ogos, kami akan minta sebelum akhir minggu - untuk mesyuarat Majlis Keselamatan, mungkin di peringkat menteri . . . cuba dan menghentikan pembunuhan beramai-ramai dan bersedia untuk peralihan politik, "Fabius kepada radio RTL Perancis pada hari Isnin.

Sementara itu, perkataan berjuang terus antara rejim dan Presiden Syria Bashar al-Assad penentang jauh dan dekat. Menteri Luar Syria Walid Moallem memberi kata-kata yang tidak menyenangkan Ahad mengenai pertempuran untuk Aleppo, vowing bahawa pemberontak tidak akan mendapat kawalan bandar.

"Sejak minggu lepas, (pejuang pembangkang) dirancang untuk apa sahaja yang mereka dipanggil 'Damsyik pertarungan hebat, tetapi mereka telah gagal selepas satu minggu," Moallem Saidin merujuk kepada serangan pemberontak yang dibalas balik awal bulan ini. "Itulah mengapa mereka berpindah ke Aleppo, dan saya boleh memberi jaminan bahawa mereka akan gagal."

Beliau membuat komen semasa lawatan ke Iran, salah satu sekutu baki beberapa negara. Tetapi Setiausaha Pertahanan Amerika Syarikat Leon Panetta meramalkan Ahad bahawa tindakan keras ganas rejim Syria di Aleppo akan membuktikan "paku dalam keranda Assad," dengan mengubah lebih ramai orang terhadap al-Assad dan kerajaan.

Nabil Elaraby, ketua Liga Arab berkata Ahad bahawa liga percaya jenayah perang sedang dilakukan di bandar. Blog: mes berdarah boleh mendapatkan messier. Sekurang-kurangnya 114 orang terbunuh di seluruh Syria pada hari Ahad, mengikut Jawatankuasa pembangkang Penyelarasan Tempatan Syria; 11 orang mati adalah dari Aleppo.

Di tempat lain, 41 orang terbunuh di Damsyik dan pinggir bandar, termasuk 18 orang yang mayat ditemui hangus di ladang di Moadamiyeh, berkata LCC. TV Syria melaporkan bahawa "pengganas" menanggung kerugian besar selepas pertempuran dalam tiga Aleppo kejiranan. Dengan laporan serangan tidak berhenti-henti goyangkan Aleppo, ketua kumpulan pembangkang terkemuka Syria mengaku sekutu DUNIA untuk membantu lengan pemberontak.

"Rakan-rakan dan sekutu kami akan memikul tanggungjawab untuk pembunuhan beramai-ramai yang menakutkan yang akan berlaku di Aleppo jika mereka tidak bergerak tidak lama lagi," Abdulbaset Sieda, ketua Majlis Negara Syria, berkata Sabtu.

Syrian rebels seize military base outside Aleppo . . .

1Wc'Channel Review 2012: Syrian rebels seize military base outside Aleppo. Rebels captured a government military base Monday on the outskirts of Aleppo, the hotly contested Syrian metropolis that has seen more than a week of bloody battles.

The base had about 200 Syrian troops and appeared to be under attack by rebels from three sides overnight. After hours of clashes, opposition fighters took control of the base northwest of Aleppo on Monday morning.

Despite the boost for rebels, the relentless battle for Syria's largest city raged on Monday. Regime forces launched missiles and shelled from attack helicopters, opposition activists said. Aleppo, Syria's commercial and cultural hub, has seen a mass exodus amid the violence. About 200,000 people in and around Aleppo have fled shelling and heavy weapon fire in the past two days, Valerie Amos, the U.N.'s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said Sunday.

With no end to the country's 16-month crisis in sight, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said his country will take more action to try to stop the bloodshed. "As France is taking over the presidency of the U.N. Security Council on August 1, we are going to ask -- before the end of the week -- for a meeting of the Security Council, probably at a ministerial level . . . to try and stop the massacres and prepare for the political transition," Fabius told French RTL radio on Monday.

Meanwhile, fighting words continued between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime and opponents near and far. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem gave ominous words Sunday about the battle for Aleppo, vowing that rebels would not gain control of the city.

"Since last week, (opposition fighters) planned for whatever they called the 'great Damascus battle,' but they have failed after one week," Moallem saidin referring to a rebel offensive beaten back earlier this month. "That's why they moved to Aleppo, and I can assure you that they will fail."

He made his comments during a trip to Iran, one of his nation's few remaining allies. But U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta predicted Sunday that the Syrian regime's violent crackdown in Aleppo will prove "a nail in Assad's coffin" by turning even more people against al-Assad and his government.

Nabil Elaraby, the head of the Arab League said Sunday that the league believes war crimes are being committed in the city. Blog: A bloody mess could get messier.  At least 114 people were killed across Syria on Sunday, according to the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria; 11 of the dead were from Aleppo.

Elsewhere, 41 people were killed in Damascus and its suburbs, including 18 people whose bodies found charred on farms in Moadamiyeh, the LCC said. Syrian TV reported that "terrorists" suffered heavy losses after clashes in three Aleppo neighborhoods. With reports of incessant attacks rocking Aleppo, the head of a prominent Syrian opposition group pleaded for world allies to help arm rebels.

"Our friends and allies will bear responsibility for the terrifying massacres that will happen in Aleppo if they don't move soon," Abdulbaset Sieda, head of the Syrian National Council, said Saturday.

Tens of Thousands Flee Syria's Largest City

1WC'sChannel REVIEW/TINJAUAN 2012: The U.N. estimates that 200,000 Syrians have left Aleppo over the past 10 days as the government trains its mortars, tanks and helicopter gunships on the neighborhoods seized by the rebels. (Anggaran PBB bahawa 200,000 orang Syria telah meninggalkan Aleppo lebih 10 hari yang lalu sebagai kerajaan melatih mortar, kereta kebal dan gunships helikopter di kawasan kejiranan yang disita oleh pemberontak) (July 30)