File photo
Three military factions banded together on Wednesday to form a 100,000-strong fighting force, billed as the largest military opposition entity against the Assad regime in Syria's central Hama and northwest Idlib regions.
According to sources in Syrian opposition, the Syrian Liberation Front and the Suqour al-Sham Brigades joined the National Front for the Liberation of Syria affiliated with the Free Syria Army (FSA).
The sources told Anadolu Agency the development is aimed at the unification of FSA’s factions in one entity.
After the Syrian regime’s years of silence about the fate of tens of thousands of people that rights groups say have been forcibly kidnapped in the war, authorities have begun quietly updating registers to acknowledge thousands of deaths.Following the ongoing talks between Russia, Turkey and Iran in Astana to release detainees in regime prisons, Damascus released a list which stated that 8,000 civilians detained over the course of seven years were dead-- likely by torture-- including academicians, journalists and civil servants.The regime has tried to conceal the massacre and torture by listing their cause of death as “heart attacks” and cited infectious diseases. Among the dead are 125 children and 63 women.The listed names were registered in Aleppo, Homs, Daraa, Tartus, Idlib, Lattakia, Deir ez-zor, Raqqaa and Hasakah. Tortured to death Syrian Opposition Commander General Adib Shelaf allegedly said that more than 200,000 civilians have been disappeared in detention facilities belonging to the Syrian regime and that at least 40,000 were tortured to death in jails.Shelaf stated, “The Syrian regime decided to covertly de-register those who were detained during the Syrian civil war due to a groundswell of international pressure. The regime noted the cause of deaths on official records as either ‘heart attack’ or due to ‘infectious diseases.’”Syria’s Zaman al-Wasl newspaper and the Violations Documentation Centre in Syria have reported names of 8,000 prisoners who were tortured to death over the past seven years in regime jails in July.The number of deaths based on regions is as follows:1- Damascus suburbs: 18562. Daraa: 12833. Homs: 12534. Damascus: 8705. Hama: 7626. Idlib: 5857. Aleppo: 4738. Deir Ezzor: 4509. Latakia: 15410. Quneitra: 11011. Raqqa: 5012. Hasaka: 4413. Tartus: 2814. Swaida: 23 Ten victims of non-Syrian nationalities, and two of the victims were not affiliated with any nationality.UN, Turkey, Iran, Russia talk Syrian charter committeeAstana talks to contribute to end of civil warThe Astana peace talks, which were launched in January 2017 with the aim of putting an end to violence and improving the humanitarian situation in war-torn Syria by Iran, Russia and Turkey, is being considered as the sole solution to the end of the Syrian civil war.The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura will have talks with Iran, Russia and Turkey representatives in September to draft a new Syrian constitution. According to a UN statement, Mistura held informal talks in Sochi with Russian, Iranian and Turkish representatives and received lists from the Assad regime and the opposition on proposed candidates for the Constitutional Committee on Tuesday.Turkey, Russia, Iran set to free some Syrian detaineesThe constitutional committee will include 50 people from “government, opposition representatives, Syrian experts, civil society, independents, tribal leaders and women.”In addition to the formation of a constitutional committee, the 10th round of Syrian talks is focused on the latest situation in de-escalation zones in Idlib, the return of refugees, and the release of prisoners.Officials from Turkey, Russian and Iran on Monday agreed to the mutual release of some Syrian detainees from both the regime and opposition sides.Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests. Since then, more than 250,000 people have been killed and over 10 million were displaced, according to the UN.
Assad regime tortured 8,000 to death
The National Front of Liberation will continue to operate under Fadlallah al-Haji.
Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.
This led to a military conflict between the Syrian opposition groups and the Assad regime over the war-torn country’s territory. Iran has been supporting the Assad regime during the war while Russia intervened in September 2015.
The UN Human Rights Commission on Tuesday called on Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime to protect civilians from terrorist attacks and build trust among the local community. In a statement, the commission also condemned recent attacks by Daesh in the southwestern Syrian district of As-Sweida.“The Government of Syria has a duty to take action to prevent violent acts that may endanger the lives and well-being of civilians.”Turkey ensures security in Idlib: Syrian oppositionThe UN urged the regime to take into account those who committed the crime against humanity. “We are also concerned that the situation in As-Sweida may worsen, particularly if the local communities do not trust the government to protect them or defend their rights,” the statement added.Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011, when the ruling Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.190,000 Syrians return to liberated hometownsUN, Turkey, Iran, Russia talk Syrian charter committee
UN calls on Assad regime to protect civilians
Peace talks were launched in Geneva in 2012 aiming to find a political solution for the conflict while Astana talks began in 2017 discussing cease-fire that has been fragile so far.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict mainly by regime airstrikes targeting opposition-held areas while millions more were displaced. During the conflict, Assad regime was accused many times by many international actors of targeting Syrian civilians by chemical weapons.