Syrian Army continues with strategy of invasion, pillage and withdrawal

August 30, 2012

Syria’s war of attrition drags on, with fighting continuing around the country and 66 Syrians reported dead on Wednesday. Al Jazeera reports that heavier fighting between the Free Syrian Army and the regime’s armed forces took place in the northwestern Idlib province, chunks of which are under the Free Syrian Army’s full control. Other clashes were reported in Homs province, Damascus and its suburbs.

The struggle for Syria’s second city continues, with Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Aleppo reporting that regime forces bombed at least three neighborhoods following clashes with opposition elements.

In Idlib province’s small city of Taftanaz, opposition fighters attacked the regime’s military airport. A spokesman for the Free Damascus Brigades told Al Jazeera that 20 helicopters were parked on the tarmac, with fighters destroying 10 of them.

This past April, the Syrian army followed its usual pattern of a full invasion, mass arrests, pillaging and damaging property, conducting hundreds arrests and then withdrawing, all within a period of about 12 hours. More than 100 homes were razed during the operation. Taftanaz has opposed the Assad family for decades, and hundreds of residents paid a heavy price for opposing the regime in 1980s in the form of mass imprisonment and exile.

President Bashar al-Assad’s forces used planes to bomb the village of Saqba outside Damascus, which was subject to the same invade-and-withdraw pattern earlier this summer.

Also Wednesday, Assad told Syrian state television that the situation in the country is “better” but that more time is needed to resolve the conflict. He claimed to be speaking from the Presidential Palace in Damascus, possibly hoping to quell persistent speculation that he is in a bunker somewhere outside the capital.

Former Egyptian prime minister on watch list

Egypt’s judicial authorities have placed the name of deposed President Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister on a watch list at Cairo airport. Ahmed Shafiq, who lost the race to become president of Egypt, had earlier announced his intention to return to Egypt from the United Arab Emirates, where he has been staying since his defeat in June.

Shafiq was under investigation by the Ministry of Justice for illegally selling state land at a substantial discount to Mubarak’s sons, Alaa and Gamal.

Non-fasters in Ramadan

A Moroccan court has sentenced a young man to three months in prison for eating in public during Ramadan. Article 222 of the Penal Code stipulates up to six months’ imprisonment for such a crime. The unidentified defendant cited personal liberty as his defense. The court did not agree.

Young Moroccans this past Ramadan, which ended last week, set up a Facebook group called “Non-Fasters” to defend Muslims’ right to choose not to fast during the holy month.