This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/jul/27/syria-us-fears-aleppo-massacre-live
The article has changed 19 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Syria crisis: US fears Aleppo 'massacre' - live updates | Syria crisis: US fears Aleppo 'massacre' - live updates |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| 10.36am: The Spanish journalist Javier Espinosa, who escaped from Homs earlier this year, is back in Syria to report the sound of a helicopter over Aleppo. | |
| I can hear the sound of 1 helicopter shooting not far away,like in Gaza here you have always to be looking to the sky #Aleppo #Syria | |
| — JAVIER ESPINOSA (@javierespinosa2) July 27, 2012 | |
| 10.17am: UN human rights chief Navi Pillay (pictured) has appealed to both Syrian government forces and rebels to spare civilians in Aleppo, voicing deep concern at the "likelihood of an imminent major confrontation" in the city. | |
| "Civilians and civilian objects – including homes and other property, businesses, schools and places of worship – must be protected at all times. All parties, including the government and opposition forces, must ensure that they distinguish between civilian and military targets," Pillay said in a statement reported by Reuters. | |
| She said a "discernable pattern" had emerged as President Assad's forces attempt – using intense shelling, tank fire and door-to-door searches – to clear areas of Syria's biggest urban centre they say are occupied by insurgents. | |
| "All this, taken along with the reported build-up of forces in and around Aleppo, bodes ill for the people of that city," Pillay said, adding that such attacks were also continuing in two other major cities, Homs and Deir al-Zor. | |
| She said her office had also been receiving an increasing number of reports of opposition fighters torturing or executing prisoners. | |
| 10.10am: An activist in Aleppo has been in touch with the Guardian to plead for help. | |
| Edwardedark contacted our Middle East editor Ian Black via Twitter to say: | |
| You must warn of an impending huge humanitarian disaster in Aleppo city if there is a large regime assault. Please, I'm talking thousands of lives here. Already we are without fuel, electricity, water, bread and other basics. An assault will kill thousands, all civilians. | |
| 9.02am: Violence in Aleppo has forced the the Red Crescent to suspend some of its activities in the city, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross told the Guardian. | 9.02am: Violence in Aleppo has forced the the Red Crescent to suspend some of its activities in the city, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross told the Guardian. |
| In an email he said: | In an email he said: |
| I can confirm that the SARC [Syrian Arab Red Crescent] branch in Aleppo has had to suspend some of its activity (mainly first aid services) and reduce other work because of the situation in the city. | I can confirm that the SARC [Syrian Arab Red Crescent] branch in Aleppo has had to suspend some of its activity (mainly first aid services) and reduce other work because of the situation in the city. |
| More details about the suspension are expected later today, he said. | More details about the suspension are expected later today, he said. |
| 8.48am: Defector Manaf Tlass, who met Turkey's foreign minister foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday (pictured), is being groomed as Syria's Ahmed Chalabi, Dan Murphy argues in the Christian Science Monitor. | 8.48am: Defector Manaf Tlass, who met Turkey's foreign minister foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday (pictured), is being groomed as Syria's Ahmed Chalabi, Dan Murphy argues in the Christian Science Monitor. |
| But he says that Tlass is unlikely to make it to power as Chalabi did in Iraq. | But he says that Tlass is unlikely to make it to power as Chalabi did in Iraq. |
| Most people who follow Syria doubt the rebels who have been fighting since early last year against the Assad regime will have much time for Tlass ... | Most people who follow Syria doubt the rebels who have been fighting since early last year against the Assad regime will have much time for Tlass ... |
| Tlass is a child of wealth and privilege, closely associated with the abuses of the Assad regime, who only recently jumped ship. His star is unlikely to rise as quickly among Syria's rebels as it did among the Baath regime he served for so long. | Tlass is a child of wealth and privilege, closely associated with the abuses of the Assad regime, who only recently jumped ship. His star is unlikely to rise as quickly among Syria's rebels as it did among the Baath regime he served for so long. |
| 8.26am: (all times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live. | 8.26am: (all times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live. |
| The main focus continues to be Syria's economic hub Aleppo where rebels remain braced for an assault by President Bashar al-Assad's forces amid mounting international fears over what could happen. | The main focus continues to be Syria's economic hub Aleppo where rebels remain braced for an assault by President Bashar al-Assad's forces amid mounting international fears over what could happen. |
| Here's a roundup of the latest developments: | Here's a roundup of the latest developments: |
| • Government forces still appear to be preparing for a fully-fledged counter-offensive on Aleppo after another day of artillery and helicopter fire against rebel-held districts. Syrian special forces had been deployed on the edge of town and more troops were due to arrive for an attack today or tomorrow, a state security source told the AFP news agency. One resident told the Guardian: | • Government forces still appear to be preparing for a fully-fledged counter-offensive on Aleppo after another day of artillery and helicopter fire against rebel-held districts. Syrian special forces had been deployed on the edge of town and more troops were due to arrive for an attack today or tomorrow, a state security source told the AFP news agency. One resident told the Guardian: |
| We have a very bad feeling that things are going to turn into a catastrophe very soon with army reinforcements arriving already. We have the regime randomly shelling highly populated areas causing many casualties. | We have a very bad feeling that things are going to turn into a catastrophe very soon with army reinforcements arriving already. We have the regime randomly shelling highly populated areas causing many casualties. |
| Hospitals are not coping. There is no bread or fuel. There are many displaced families staying on the streets or in parks, or in makeshift shelters in schools. They are very vulnerable. People are bracing themselves for the worst. | Hospitals are not coping. There is no bread or fuel. There are many displaced families staying on the streets or in parks, or in makeshift shelters in schools. They are very vulnerable. People are bracing themselves for the worst. |
| • Aleppo is now a patchwork of localised conflict, with death and mayhem in one district and the appearance of something like normality in the next, Michael Peel reports for the Financial Times from inside the city. | • Aleppo is now a patchwork of localised conflict, with death and mayhem in one district and the appearance of something like normality in the next, Michael Peel reports for the Financial Times from inside the city. |
| In the town centre, some shops were shuttered in the district around the Sheraton hotel and the Christian area of the old city, but there was still plenty of life among vendors who still felt sufficiently secure to fill the pavements with children's bikes and mannequins modelling tight women's jeans. | In the town centre, some shops were shuttered in the district around the Sheraton hotel and the Christian area of the old city, but there was still plenty of life among vendors who still felt sufficiently secure to fill the pavements with children's bikes and mannequins modelling tight women's jeans. |
| In Salaheddin, by contrast, many residents have left and those who remain have become normalised to the lack of electricity, sporadic gunfire and the threat of what the rebel fighters say is an army base in a football stadium just outside the district's boundaries. | In Salaheddin, by contrast, many residents have left and those who remain have become normalised to the lack of electricity, sporadic gunfire and the threat of what the rebel fighters say is an army base in a football stadium just outside the district's boundaries. |
| • The US says it fears that the Assad regime is "lining up" to commit a "massacre" in Aleppo, but it has repeated its reluctance to intervene in the conflict. Speaking to reporters, State department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, said: | • The US says it fears that the Assad regime is "lining up" to commit a "massacre" in Aleppo, but it has repeated its reluctance to intervene in the conflict. Speaking to reporters, State department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, said: |
| We have grave concerns about the situation in and around Aleppo and obviously Damascus ... Aleppo has again ... been bombarded by Syrian fighter jets in the latest desperate effort of the Assad regime to hold onto control, and there are credible reports of columns of tanks prepared to attack the city. | We have grave concerns about the situation in and around Aleppo and obviously Damascus ... Aleppo has again ... been bombarded by Syrian fighter jets in the latest desperate effort of the Assad regime to hold onto control, and there are credible reports of columns of tanks prepared to attack the city. |
| On military intervention, she said: | On military intervention, she said: |
| We do not believe that pouring more fuel on this fire is going to save lives. The vast majority of Syrians continue not to want foreign military intervention, more weapons flowing into their country. Instead, they want an end to this violence, they want Assad to leave, they want the violence to end, and they want the political transition to begin. | We do not believe that pouring more fuel on this fire is going to save lives. The vast majority of Syrians continue not to want foreign military intervention, more weapons flowing into their country. Instead, they want an end to this violence, they want Assad to leave, they want the violence to end, and they want the political transition to begin. |
| • Rebels in al-Bab, 20 miles east of Aleppo, face a dilemma over whether to join the battle for Aleppo or stay to defend the town from a possible counter-attack, Damien McElroy reports for the Telegraph. He writes: | • Rebels in al-Bab, 20 miles east of Aleppo, face a dilemma over whether to join the battle for Aleppo or stay to defend the town from a possible counter-attack, Damien McElroy reports for the Telegraph. He writes: |
| The rebels who captured al-Bab are short of supplies. Individual fighters are forced to share assault rifles and often possess only a few dozen rounds of ammunition ... | The rebels who captured al-Bab are short of supplies. Individual fighters are forced to share assault rifles and often possess only a few dozen rounds of ammunition ... |
| Outside Aleppo, even apparently straightforward mopping-up operations have exposed the rebels' weakness. When they attacked a police station near al-Bab, one fighter was killed and the rest declared failure and withdrew. | Outside Aleppo, even apparently straightforward mopping-up operations have exposed the rebels' weakness. When they attacked a police station near al-Bab, one fighter was killed and the rest declared failure and withdrew. |
• UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon used a memorial service to the victims of the 1995 massacre in Srebrenica to invoke the international community's duty to protect civilians in Syria. He said: | • UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon used a memorial service to the victims of the 1995 massacre in Srebrenica to invoke the international community's duty to protect civilians in Syria. He said: |
| The international community must be united not to see any further bloodshed in Syria because I do not want to see any of my successors, after 20 years, visiting Syria, apologizing for what we could have done now to protect the civilians in Syria – which we are not doing now. | The international community must be united not to see any further bloodshed in Syria because I do not want to see any of my successors, after 20 years, visiting Syria, apologizing for what we could have done now to protect the civilians in Syria – which we are not doing now. |
| • An MP from Aleppo province has become the first member of the newly elected, and largely loyal parliament, to defect. Ikhlas al-Badawi told Sky New Arabia: "I have crossed to Turkey and defected from this tyrannical regime ... because of the repression and savage torture against a nation demanding the minimum of rights." | • An MP from Aleppo province has become the first member of the newly elected, and largely loyal parliament, to defect. Ikhlas al-Badawi told Sky New Arabia: "I have crossed to Turkey and defected from this tyrannical regime ... because of the repression and savage torture against a nation demanding the minimum of rights." |
| • Manaf Tlass, the most senior defector from the Assad regime so far, has held talks with Turkish officials in Ankara, as part of an apparent bid to try to form a transition government, the Turkish newspaper Zaman reports. Earlier he said would cooperate with every person who wants to rebuild Syria, "be it the [Syria] National Council or the Free Syria Army. | • Manaf Tlass, the most senior defector from the Assad regime so far, has held talks with Turkish officials in Ankara, as part of an apparent bid to try to form a transition government, the Turkish newspaper Zaman reports. Earlier he said would cooperate with every person who wants to rebuild Syria, "be it the [Syria] National Council or the Free Syria Army. |
| • Human Rights Watch has called on the Syrian government to grant UN observers full access to Homs and Aleppo central prisons to check on prisoners who may be at risk of violent reprisals following prison riots earlier this week. Sarah Leah Whitson, the group's Middle East director, said: "The uncertainty surrounding the fate of inmates in Homs and Aleppo shows the urgent need for UN monitors to get inside these prisons and publicly report on their findings." | • Human Rights Watch has called on the Syrian government to grant UN observers full access to Homs and Aleppo central prisons to check on prisoners who may be at risk of violent reprisals following prison riots earlier this week. Sarah Leah Whitson, the group's Middle East director, said: "The uncertainty surrounding the fate of inmates in Homs and Aleppo shows the urgent need for UN monitors to get inside these prisons and publicly report on their findings." |