SNC PULLS OUT OF INTERNATIONAL TALKS AT “SHAMEFUL LACK OF RESPONSE” TO ALEPPO MISSILE DEATHS, WHILE FIERCE FIGHTING CONTINUES AROUND THE AIRPORT:
Opposition sources believe that the use of these missiles against residential areas is a new, deliberate military strategy to pave the way for its elite forces to enter eastern Aleppo where Opposition fighters have blocked their entrance for weeks.
Smoke Rises From Aleppo Airport as FSA Get Closer
The regime is desperate to rescue both its troops and its reputation as Opposition forces take bases defending Aleppo international airport.
Very heavy fighting is reported today, Saturday, around the airport and the adjacent Narab airbase, where Opposition fighters now control the main road leading to them.
FSA fighters are also reported to have shot down a Government helicopter in the Halab al-Jadeedeh area of the city this morning.
As a result of the missile attacks on residential neighbourhoods in Aleppo, the Syrian National Council (SNC), meeting in Cairo on Friday, decided to “suspend” its participation in international meetings with the US, Russia and Italy in protest at what it called the “shameful lack of international condemnation of crimes committed against the Syrian people.”
Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, the head of the SNC, had been invited to Moscow for talks about a “dialogue” with Syrian Government representatives and had been expected to attend the Friends of Syria meeting in Rome next Thursday.
At the same time the SNC announced plans to form a “government” in liberated areas of northern Syria and would be announcing members of the administration and choose a leader at a meeting on March 2nd. Al Jazeera has a video report, HERE:
Elsewhere in Syria Government attacks continue to be reported on the Opposition held suburbs of Damascus and on towns and villages in Deraa, Hama and Homs provinces. This is what the Jobar neighbourhood of the capital looks like after recent Government rocket and shell attacks, HERE:
OPPOSITION FIGHTERS CONTINUE TO MAKE GAINS IN DEIR EL-ZOUR, WHILE FSA FINALLY LOSES PATIENCE AND RETALIATES AGAINST HEZBOLLAH IN LEBANON:
In Deir el-Zour province, Opposition fighters continue their advance, capturing a military base, HERE: , and an air defense base, HERE:, both in the western countryside. Earlier in the week, they also captured the base of the “Camel Corp”, HERE: though, sensibly, no camels were in sight.
Syrian Refugees Cross to Jordan by Boat
Opposition fighters also blew up this Syrian Army post near the Jordanian border earlier this week in spectacular fashion, HERE:
Despite the terrible destruction, activists kept up their Friday post mosque demonstrations against Assad and major protests were reported in Deraa, Hama, Idlib, Raqqa and Aleppo. This one was in Kherbet al-Ghazalah in the southern Deraa province, HERE:
Lastly, following a warning from the FSA to Hezbollah in the middle of the week, that if they kepT shelling Opposition held Syrian villages around Qusayr in Homs province from their bases in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, they would retaliate, there are now reports the FSA has attacked Hezbollah positions inside one Syrian village it occupies and also a Hezbollah artillery position on the Hermol Heights in the Lebanese Begaa governorate.
