Internet and phone services return to Syria after three-day blackout amid ... - Daily Mail: http://bit.ly/11wm8BY
Internet and phone services return to Syria after three-day blackout...
Daily Mail Online Internet and phone services return to Syria after three-day blackout amid fears of another onslaught
- President Bashar Assad's regime and opposition activists blamed each other for the communications blackout
- U.N says thousands stuck in Homs while other refugees are being shot at if they try to escape across the border
- Unverified footage posted on YouTube on Thursday appears to show Syrian rebel shooting 10 unarmed prisoners
PUBLISHED: 12:30 EST, 30 November 2012 | UPDATED: 11:40 EST, 1 December 2012
Internet service appear to have been restored in the Syrian capital following nearly three days of a nationwide communications blackout.
The Syrian government apparently sought to flex its muscles on Thursday by shutting down internet and phone services across the country.
But journalists in the capital, Damascus, have reported that internet connections are now up and running with dispatches coming in from the central cities of Homs and Hama, the northern city of Aleppo and areas along the coast.
Back online: Locals inspect the damage to their homes after shelling in Aleppo's Bustan al-Basha district in Syria as phone lines and internet access was restored after a three-day blackout
Mixed messages: The Syrian and government rebels both blamed each other for the blackout
Protests: Syrians called for an end to the violence after Friday prayers in the Bustan Al-Qasr district of Aleppo, Syria
While the government attributed the loss of the internet and cellphone service to 'terrorists', experts said the progressive shutdown of connectivity could only have been orchestrated by a central authority.
Meanwhile, Syrian troops continued to clash with rebels today as government forces pushed a major offensive on villages and towns near the capital's international airport, activists said.
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The fighting over the past few weeks in Damascus is the worst to hit the capital since July, when rebels captured several neighborhoods before a quick government counteroffensive swept out the opposition fighters.
It comes after the U.N reported syrian refugees are being shot at as they flee to neighbouring Jordan.
U.N spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told a news briefing in Geneva: 'We have received very disturbing reports from Syrian refugees in Jordan who say they were targeted as they were fleeing.
'UNHCR calls on all sides to ensure that at least civilians have access to safe passage outside the country.'
It was not clear who was taking aim at civilians as they ran for their lives under cover of darkness.
'These reports are generally kept highly confidential, people are terrified. They don't like having their stories told,' Fleming said.
'Disturbing': A single apartment is lit up in the ruins of a block of flats as one family tries to keep warm in Aleppo, Syria, as the U.N announced thousands stuck in the country are living in 'squalid conditions'
War zone: Battleground for Syria
Wrecked: Syrian residents inspect the scene of a car bomb attack in Damascus
Horrific: A crowd gathers at the site of a blast in Jaramana district, near Damascus
Some families sedate their children during the journey to the border to keep them 'calm and quiet', Fleming said.
More than 465,000 Syrians have registered as refugees in neighbouring countries and North Africa. Thousands more have not signed up for refugee status and assistance, the UNHCR says.
Nearly 138,000 are registered in Jordan, where the largest camp at Za'atri north of Amman houses more than 32,000.
The UN refugee agency also said 250,000 people were living in temporary shelters in the flashpoint city of Homs, without adequate food, clothing or medicine as winter added to the misery of civil war.
A UNHCR team managed to reach Homs this week, where they found 250,000 displaced people living in 'squalid' conditions.
Fleming added: 'They saw thousands of displaced people living in unheated communal shelters.
'They also observed that half of the city's hospitals are not functional and there were severe shortages of basic supplies ranging from medicine to blankets, winter clothes and even children's shoes.'
One communal building sheltered 70 families, or 400 people, while at another '2,300 people are crammed into an abandoned public building, the largest such shelter in Homs
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2241091/Internet-phone-services-return-Syria-day-blackout-amid-fears-onslaught.html#ixzz2DoyW9GUA
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