Clashes, Demonstrations Continue Throughout Syria

by Scott Bobb August 17, 2012

MAREA, Syria — VOA's Scott Bobb reports from the northern Syrian town of Marea that a demonstration after Friday prayers was held in sympathy for the dozens of people killed or wounded this week when a Syrian fighter jet bombed nearby Azaz.

"This one was particularly emotional," Bobb said of the demonstration.

Throughout northern Syria, residents are tense, Bobb said, even as they prepare for a three-day feast marking the end of Ramadan.

"They hear the jet planes coming overhead, you can’t always see them and people get very scared, go outside, gather their children, look for safety," Bobb said.

"What a lot of people are doing in these towns is, at night they go out into the countryside and sleep outdoors away from the city, because that’s where the Syrian warplanes are bombing and where the helicopter gunships are attacking and where the artillery shells are being aimed," he said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported clashes between government forces and rebels near the main military airport in Damascus.

Rami Abd al-Rahman, director of the Britain-based Observatory, tells VOA the latest violence comes after at least 180 people were killed across the country on Thursday. He said the bodies of an additional 65 unidentified people were found in the town of Qatana, southwest of Damascus.

In all, the Observatory says more than 23,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Assad began in March of last year.

​UN appoints envoy

The United Nations on Friday confirmed the appointment of veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi to replace former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan as its mediator for Syria.

"The secretary-general appreciates Mr. Brahimi's willingness to bring his considerable talents and experience to this crucial task for which he will need - and rightly expects - the strong, clear and unified support of the international community, including the Security Council," U.N. spokesman Eduardo del Buey said

Brahimi, 78, will also represent the Arab League in trying to find a peaceful solution to ending the nearly 18-month-long conflict.

The U.S. asked the U.N. to explain Brahimi's mandate, but called him a "capable" and "seasoned" diplomat.

On Thursday, the Security Council announced it is allowing the mandate for the U.N. observer mission in Syria to expire.

The mandate ends Sunday, but the Council says it hopes to establish a political office in the battle-ravaged country.

"There was, I think, a general feeling that the conditions to continue the UNSMIS [were] not fulfilled, but there was also a consensus about the need of keeping a U.N. presence in Damascus," said the Council's current president, French Ambassador Gerard Araud.

The decision to end the observer mission came just two weeks after Mr. Annan resigned as the U.N./Arab League envoy for Syria, blaming "increasing militarization on the ground" and a "clear lack of unity" in the U.N. Security Council.

​​Refugees increasing

As the violence continues throughout the country, large numbers of civilians have been fleeing affected areas.

The U.N. refugee agency says it has registered more than 170,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq. It says it has recorded the sharpest rises in Turkey, which is close to Syria's besieged northern city of Aleppo.

The agency says Turkey hosts almost 65,000 Syrians in nine camps, about 40 percent of them include people who have arrived this month. The UNHCR says it is scaling up its humanitarian assistance in Turkey.

Refugee numbers also are climbing in Jordan. The agency says on Thursday night, more than 1,000 people arrived at Jordanian border areas.

The Jordanian government estimates some 150,000 Syrians have crossed into the country since the Syrian uprising began nearly 18 months ago.

Housing sought

UNHCR spokesman, Adrian Edwards, says refugees are being housed in shelters and schools throughout the region.

"In Lebanon, UNHCR and its partners are urgently searching for alternative shelter for an increasing number of refugees who are staying in schools," Edwards said.

A recent spate of kidnappings of Syrians by masked men in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, has brought the war in Syria to Lebanon.

Edwards says the situation in Lebanon is becoming more difficult due a recent rash of kidnappings of Syrians and Turks. He says aid workers now have more restrictions on their ability to move about freely.

In Iraq, the UNHCR reports more than 15,000 Syrian refugees with more than 10,000 of them in Kurdistan. The agency says it will help Iraqi authorities expand an existing camp and it is discussing a new camp to accommodate the growing number of Syrian refugees.

Some information for this report was provided by reporter Lisa Schlein in Geneva, and by AP, AFP and Reuters.