Russia's and Assad's War Crimes in Syria

POSTED BY: kpo
UPDATED: Monday, September 8, 2025 15:48
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FROM MILITANT-FRIENDLY WEBSITE (SYRIADIRECT)

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Oct. 6, 2016

AMMAN: The Syrian army is slowly gaining ground on the outskirts of rebel-held east Aleppo, focusing first on shoring up its encirclement before launching a ground assault into the heart of the opposition stronghold, a pro-regime correspondent in Aleppo told Syria Direct in a recent interview.

Over the past two weeks, Syrian government and Russian aircraft have waged a massive aerial assault on the opposition-controlled neighborhoods of Aleppo, killing hundreds of civilians.

Meanwhile, regime forces and allied militias have gained ground in the city’s northwest after launching repeated ground assaults along a frontline separating government-controlled west Aleppo from the city’s east, the last major urban area under opposition control.

“The Syrian army understands that the battle for Aleppo will likely take a long time,” said the pro-regime reporter, who is well-connected to Syrian military commanders in Aleppo. The journalist requested Syria Direct refer to him by the pseudonym of Atef Nur.

“The army is spreading their efforts between reinforcing the city’s siege and capturing territory inside Aleppo.”

Late last month, Syrian army units and a pro-regime Palestinian militia, Liwa al-Quds, captured the Handarat refugee camp (see map above), before advancing this week into a large industrial area which skirts densely populated opposition-held neighborhoods in north Aleppo.

Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) reportedly assisted the regime advance by pushing north from the Kurdish-majority neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsoud.

The advance from Handarat will “frustrate any opposition attempts to open a breach into east Aleppo from the northwest,” said Nur.

In the city’s south, reinforcing the siege means moving from the Ramouseh military complex, which rebels briefly captured from regime forces in August, toward the Hikmah hill, an elevated area overlooking the Aleppo countryside. Regime forces have not yet made significant advances on Hikmah.

“The Syrian army wants to ensure terrorists from the countryside cannot advance toward the eastern neighborhoods to support or re-supply their fighters there,” said Nur.

While Syrian army forces in Ramouseh and Handarat look to broaden the government cordon surrounding east Aleppo, thousands of additional government fighters are preparing for a large ground assault on the rebel pocket itself.

“The goal is to drive a wedge from the citadel toward the Aleppo International Airport, separating the [east Aleppo] pocket into two weakened sections which the army can deal with separately at a later point,” said Nur.

On Wednesday night, Syrian army forces allegedly advanced into the Bustan al-Basha neighborhood, an opposition stronghold just north of Aleppo’s ancient citadel. The assault came just a few hours after Syrian state media announced the government’s intention to reduce its shelling of eastern Aleppo to “assist civilians who wish to exit” the area.

“The regime bombing of the city is less intense today, but they are providing more close air support to their soldiers, who are in turn putting pressure on the fronts,” Muhanad Makhzum, a citizen journalist in east Aleppo, told Syria Direct Thursday.

Makhzum confirmed to Syria Direct that two Bustan al-Basha districts fell to the regime Wednesday night, but said that rebel forces led by the Nuredine a-Zinki militia were fighting to retake them.

In addition to the front at Bustan al-Basha, which falls near the Aleppo city center, Syrian army forces are also engaged in heavy fighting on the eastern districts’ southern and northern ends: at Owaijeh, an urban area just northeast of the Kurdish Sheikh Maqsoud district and at the southern neighborhood of Sheikh Saeed, due east of Ramouseh.

“Moving into Sheikh Saeed would be the most important military victory on the Aleppo front,” said Nur. On Wednesday, pro-regime media claimed that government forces had advanced into Sheikh Saeed, “killing 20 militants from Jabhat a-Nusra,” now k

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SIGNYM

Saturday, October 15, 2016 8:09 PM

From the pro-Russian website (yet to be confirmed)

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Syrian War Report – October 14, 2016: Northern Aleppo Falls Into Hands of Syrian Army

The pro-government forces have achieved another notable success in northern Aleppo. The army and Liwa al-Quds took control of Talat Bureij, Majbal Al-Zatin, Tal Owayjah, and Tal Al-Asfar. Controlling of these hilltops allows, the government forces are able to easily defend the previous gains in northern Aleppo, overlook areas in the northern part of Haydariyah Neighborhood and prepare a push to set control of the Ba’edin Roundabout. In southern Aleppo, the army and Hezbollah captured the strategic Sheikh Sa’eed hill in the Sheikh Sa’eed Neighborhood.

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More at
https://southfront.org/syrian-war-report-october-14-2016-northern-alep
po-falls-into-hands-of-syrian-army/

From the pro-"rebel" website

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After relentless bombardment, two northwest Damascus towns give up and the evacuations begin
AMMAN: More than 600 rebels and their families left two northwest Outer Damascus towns on Thursday buses headed for rebel-held Idlib province, the first group of residents to be evacuated under a deal with the regime after two weeks of bombardment, ground fighting and negotiations.

Al-Hameh and Qudsaya, neighboring, rebel-held towns roughly 10km northwest of the Syrian capital along the Damascus-Beirut highway, had been negotiating a truce with the regime amidst heavy aerial and ground bombardment since the latter attempted to storm the towns in late September.

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http://syriadirect.org/news/after-relentless-bombardment-two-northwest
-damascus-towns-give-up-and-the-evacuations-begin/

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Hillary is a WAR CANDIDATE, and that's just what we need, right? More war?

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Interview with VA Senator Black, Republican, retired Marine Colonel, on the battle for Aleppo

"If you read the western press, you would think it is a .... battle against civilians."

"... Al Qaida, which is the predominant force, the same people who attacked the United States on 9-11..."

"al Qaida attacked from within the Aleppo pocket... a total army of about 40,000, roughly about two full American divisions, heavily armored, heavily mechanized ... 95 tanks and 8,000-10,000 jihadists"

"The Syrian Amry has made it clear that anyone who wants to leave can leave .... as long as the terrorists let them."

"Instead of the UN pressuring the Syrian government, they should pressure the terrorists ... and their allies"

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Hillary is a WAR CANDIDATE, and that's just what we need, right? More war?

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Interview with VA Senator Black, Republican, retired Marine Colonel, on the battle for Aleppo

"If you read the western press, you would think it is a .... battle against civilians."

"... Al Qaida, which is the predominant force, the same people who attacked the United States on 9-11..."

"al Qaida attacked from within the Aleppo pocket... a total army of about 40,000, roughly about two full American divisions, heavily armored, heavily mechanized ... 95 tanks and 8,000-10,000 jihadists"

"The Syrian Amry has made it clear that anyone who wants to leave can leave .... as long as the terrorists let them."

"Instead of the UN pressuring the Syrian government, they should pressure the terrorists ... and their allies"

Hillary is a WAR CANDIDATE, and that's just what we need, right? More war?

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Just an opinion SIG. One you posted because it's fits your agenda. We know what that is and we disagree.

____________________________________________

Russia trolls get contract extension
http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=18&tid=60719

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Quote:

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
From the pro-Russian website (yet to be confirmed)

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It's confirmed SIG. You are a troll.

____________________________________________

Russia trolls get contract extension
http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=18&tid=60719

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It's confirmed SIG. You are a troll.
____________________________________________

Russia trolls get contract extension
http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=18&tid=60719

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Haters gonna hate. But thanks for the bump!

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Hillary is a WAR CANDIDATE, and that's just what we need, right? More war?

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FROM THE "REBELS"

Fighting resumes in east, west Aleppo as rebels prepare for ‘imminent epic battle'

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AMMAN: Regime and rebel forces were locked in battles on multiple fronts across divided Aleppo city on Monday after both sides reportedly used last week’s pause to draw reinforcements and prepare for major military operations, local rebels told Syria Direct.

Immediately after the ceasefire ended on Saturday evening, “regime forces attempted to advance on more than 10 fronts in the blockaded neighborhoods of Aleppo city,” Ahmad al-Halabi, an east Aleppo activist told Syria Direct on Monday.

While the ceasefire may have had a limited impact on the ongoing humanitarian crisis facing a quarter million residents of rebel-held east Aleppo, it gave combatants on both sides of the conflict the chance to prepare for future battles, rebel and civilian sources in the city told Syria Direct.

Aleppo rebels say they interpret the regime’s multiple attacks across the city as an attempt “to disperse rebel forces and mobilize all of the fronts” in the city ahead of an “epic battle” that they say is slated to begin in the immediate future.

While an official announcement about the Aleppo battle has yet to be made, rebel chatter about an imminent offensive began late last week. Activist al-Halabi also believes that the prospect of a rebel offensive “pushed the regime to accelerate its battles,” in Aleppo city, opening new fronts and “drawing heavy reinforcements from the south Aleppo countryside.”

Sergey Rudskoi, a Russian military official, told reporters on Friday that rebels outside Aleppo were using the pause to amass their forces for an attack on regime forces in the city.

“More than 1,200 men, including 30 suicide bombers,” said Rudskoi, “have been massed up for an attack against Aleppo from the southwest.”

Last Thursday, an Ahrar a-Sham commander told Syria Direct that rebels were preparing to begin a battle “to break the siege of Aleppo.”

“The zero hour for the battle is imminent,” Ahmad Hamaher, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army (FSA) faction Nour e-Din a-Zinki told Syria Direct on Monday, declining to provide further details.

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http://syriadirect.org/news/fighting-resumes-in-east-west-aleppo-as-re
bels-prepare-for-%E2%80%98epic-battle%E2%80%99/

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Hillary is a WAR CANDIDATE, and that's just what we need, right? More war?

G, THUGR, MAL4: Oh BTW, please define intelligence.
http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=18&tid=60903&p=4#1
018100

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Originally posted by G:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/22-children-killed-air-strikes-syrian-schoo
l-unicef-221304486.html

"Air strikes that hit a school in rebel-held Idlib province in northwest Syria killed 22 children and six teachers, the UN children's agency UNICEF said Wednesday.

"This is a tragedy. It is an outrage. And if deliberate, it is a war crime," said UNICEF director Anthony Lake.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said "warplanes -- either Russia or Syrian -- carried out six strikes" in the village of Hass, including on a school complex, killing at least 35 civilians including 11 schoolchildren.

Lake said the school compound was "repeatedly attacked," adding that it may be the deadliest attack on a school since the war began more than five years ago.

"When will the world's revulsion at such barbarity be matched by insistence that this must stop?" added the UNICEF director.

YOU CAN JUST FEEL THE COMPASSION:

Asked about the attack, Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin responded: "It's horrible, horrible. I hope we were not involved."

Syrian government forces and their Russian ally have been accused by rights groups of carrying out indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure.

The White Helmets civil defence group released pictures of four rescue workers clambering over a mound of rubble in search of survivors after what it said was a "double-tap" strike on the school.

The raids hit Hass around 11:30 am (0830 GMT), an activist with the opposition Idlib Media Centre told AFP.

"One rocket hit the entrance of the school as students were leaving to go home, after the school administration decided to end classes for the day because of the raids," the activist said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Other activists from the province circulated a photograph on social media of a child's arm, seared off above the elbow, still clutching the strap of a dusty black rucksack.

Shaky video footage depicted rescue workers sprinting towards the site of the raids and pulling a frail, elderly man out of a collapsed building.

The authenticity of the pictures and footage could not be independently verified.

The latest attacks took to 89 the number of civilians killed in air strikes on Idlib province in the past seven days, said the Observatory.

- 'Intentional' attack -

A leading opposition group condemned the raids.

The Istanbul-based National Coalition said Russian and regime warplanes "targeted children in their schools, deliberately and intentionally hitting civilians with high-explosive material".

Idlib province is controlled by the Army of Conquest, an alliance of rebel groups and jihadists including the Fateh al-Sham Front, which changed its name from Al-Nusra Front after breaking off ties with Al-Qaeda earlier this year.

Syrian and Russian warplanes regularly bomb Idlib, but air strikes have intensified in recent weeks, according to the Observatory.

Russia is facing pressure at the United Nations to rein in its Syrian ally and halt air raids in rebel-held east Aleppo, where 250,000 civilians have been living under siege since July.

UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien said he was "incandescent with rage" over the Security Council's failure to take action, deploring that "nothing is actually happening to stop the war, stop the suffering."

With food growing scarce, "civilians are being bombed by Syrian and Russian forces, and if they survive that, they will starve tomorrow," said O'Brien.

"Aleppo has essentially become a kill zone."

Russian ambassador Churkin shot back, accusing O'Brien of making "arrogant remarks" and failing to recognise that Russia had declared a humanitarian pause that he maintained had been holding for eight days.

"If we needed to be preached to, we would go to a church," Churkin quipped.

The ambassador blamed oppositio

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