Syrian Rebels Form ‘Military Council’ to Conduct Operations Around Damascus
The Free Syrian Army has set up a military council to coordinate operations around Damascus, as it brings the year-old conflict to the capital, it announced in an online video on Thursday.
“I, Colonel Khaled Mohammed al-Hammud, announce the creation of the military council for Damascus and the region that will be in charge of FSA operations in this region,” an army deserter said in the video.
He invited other “noble officers still in the ranks of Bashar’s army” to join the rebel force, referring to President Bashar al-Assad.
Ahmad al-Khatib, calling himself a rebel spokesman for the Damascus area, said the council “represents a unified leadership for deserters from the army to reassure those supporting the FSA.”
Rebel fighters, lightly armed, have been on the retreat from cities since the start of March in the face of the far superior firepower of government forces.
Rebels have been turning to swift hit-and-run raids, with Damascus, which has been largely spared the worst of the bloodshed, becoming a prime target over the past week.
Attacks continue
Syrian army forces attacked several towns on Thursday, killing a teenager and wounding dozens of other people in shelling and heavy machinegun fire, monitors said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a 17-year-old boy was killed and dozens wounded in an army assault on the town of Sermin in the northwestern province of Idlib on the border with Turkey.
In the south, rebel fighters killed a soldier and wounded four others near the village of Saida in Deraa province, on the border with Jordan and where Syria’s year-old revolt against the regime erupted, it said.
The Britain-based Observatory also reported several people wounded as regime forces opened fire with heavy machineguns in the Arbaeen district of Hama city in central Syria.
In Deir al-Zor province, to the east, regime troops carried out search operations in the town of Quriyeh, making 10 arrests, including four members of the same family, it said.
The reports could not be confirmed due to restrictions on the movements of foreign media in the country.