ANNA NEWS Syria Update: Latest Events December 1, 2013

Syria Update: Latest Events

December 1, 2013



Homs. Al-Nusra Front terrorists have continued mortar and rocket attacks on residential areas of cities and townships in Homs province. Syrian authorities have established exact number of victims of the mortar attack that took place this late November in the city of Homs. That particular mortar shelling resulted in one of the mortar shells hitting a local school building, with classes full of children, and several mortars exploding near the school on the territory of the local open grocery market. One person was killed in the attack and twelve others were injured, some of them heavily, including three children.

Aleppo. ANNA News team in Syria has received shocking CCTV camera footage of Al-Nusra terrorists’ barbaric mortar attack – which had been reported in one of our previous dispatches – that took place in the city of Aleppo on November 19 this year. It had been mentioned that a mortar exploded not far from the entrance to one of the government office buildings in the early morning hours when people were hurrying on their way to work. Two persons were killed on the spot in the explosion and ten more were wounded, some of them heavily.

Damascus Province. Syrian army have continued counter terrorism operations in Deira Teja Area of Damascus province. A numerous band of Al-Nusra Front terrorists had tried to capture and blow up a local hospital building. Syrian army troops had managed to liberate the hospital complex and its personnel as well as its inhabitant patients and a group of Syrian TV news reporters. The cleanup operation in the area is still underway.

Cleanup and security checks have continued in the previously freed areas in Damascus province. In the process of securing the area of Qadam neighborhood Syrian army troops have discovered an outsized catapult system that had been improvised by the terrorists to hurl projectile explosive devices at long distances.

In Beth Tahem neighborhood of Damascus province, 26 militant fighters have laid down their weapons and surrendered to Syrian authorities in line with the general amnesty that had been issued by President Bashar al-Assad. Among those who have laid down their arms are some who had joined the terrorists on their own accord. Some of them are former police officers. However, the majority of them are those who had been forced to take up arms and turn them against their own people. Background checks are being carried out. Some of the surrendered, who had not taken part in perpetrating terrorist acts, executing military prisoners, or killings of civilians, are going to be freed and will be able to return to their homes, after having signed up corresponding pledges.

Damascus. Across a number of Damascus’ fringe neighborhoods, 14 former police officers, who had taken part in war fighting alongside Al-Nusra Front militants, have voluntarily abandoned the terrorists’ ranks and surrendered themselves along with their weapons to the Syrian authorities. According to their claims, they had been drawn into the terrorist ranks by force and through intimidation and they would like to return to their peaceful lives. Thorough background checks and investigation are underway.






ANNA-News Agency

Contributors: Marat Musin, Igor Nadyrshin, Vasily Pavlov, Victor Kuznetsov.

Syria