Rebels clash with Qaeda-linked opposition group in Syria

Source : LBCI

Rebels clashed with an opposition unit linked to al Qaeda in northern Syria, activists said on Saturday, in a deadly battle that signals growing divisions among rebel groups and rising tensions between locals and more radical Islamist factions.

The rebel infighting comes as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have made gains on the battlefield and drawn comfort from the downfall this week of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, which under ousted President Mohamed Morsi had thrown its weight behind the Syrian opposition.

The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), the new al Qaeda franchise announced by the head of global network's Iraq leader, has been quickly working to cement power in rebel- held territories of northern Syria in recent months.

ISIS units have begun to impose stricter interpretations of Islamic law and have filmed themselves executing members of rival rebel groups whom they accuse of corruption, and beheading those they say are loyal to Assad.

This as an activist and Syrian state media said that regime troops are advancing in parts of the rebel-held city of Homs.

In this regard, Homs-based activist Tarik Badrakhan said that Syrian troops seized control of buildings in the rebel-held district of Khaldiyeh; the first time government forces entered Homs neighborhoods held by rebels for over a year.

Badrakhan added that troops began the move Friday night and mentioned that they continued to pound the area with mortar shells and missiles until Saturday.

On another note, the Syrian opposition voted to elect a new leader, but the top two candidates failed to gain a simple majority needed to become president of the coalition fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad.

A runoff ballot was scheduled for later on Saturday after Ahmad Jarba, a tribal figure linked with Saudi Arabia, and Mustafa al-Sabbagh, a businessman who is Qatar's point man, did not gain more than half of the votes in the 115 member Syrian National Coalition in an early morning ballot in Istanbul.

The coalition is split into three power centers: the Muslim Brotherhood, the Sabbagh faction, and a Saudi-backed bloc that includes Jarba.

The three factions held the vote for a new leader after failing to agree on a compromise candidate.

The coalition has been without a leader for months after its head quit over disagreement over potential talks with Assad's government.

Syria's two-year revolt against four decades of Assad family rule has degenerated from a peaceful protest movement into a bloody civil war that has killed more than 100,000 people

Syrian Army Smashes Militants in Homs Outskirts

Source : Farsnews

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian troops continued mop-up operations in Palmyra and several neighborhoods of Homs and inflicted heavy losses upon militants.

The Syrian army tightened control over a number of buildings in Bab Houd neighborhood in Homs old city, after killing and wounding a large number of antigovernment fighters in the battle fields, a military source told the Syrian Arab News Agency.

The army units raided rebels' dens and gatherings near al-Amal hospital in Jourat al-Shyah, al-Qosour and al- Khalidyeh neighborhoods, killing and wounding all militants there, the source added.

Other units of the Syrian army targeted rebels' heavy machineguns on Talbisa-al-Sa'ein road in the Northern countryside of Homs, inflicting heavy losses upon them.

The Syrian soldiers killed a number of militants near al-Ghajar village in al-Rastan countryside. Tamim Obaid, the leader of an armed group, and Ahmad Satuf Kdad were among the killed insurgents.

In Palmyra countryside, the Syrian soldiers clashed with members of AL-Islam Brigade in al-Tayba village, killing so many of them, while another army unit repelled rebels' attempt to attack military checkpoints in al-Zyraa, al- Mouthaf and al-Braikat, inflicting heavy losses upon them.

Meanwhile, other army units traced armed groups in al-Mashajer al-Janobi, Taldo, al-Zafarana and Talbisa in Homs countryside, killing and wounding scores of fighters.

Syrian crisis not real revolution: Assad

Source : Xinhua

DAMASCUS, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that what is happening in his country is not a "revolution," adding the real revolution would be purely domestic and unrelated with foreign agendas.

Assad's remarks were made during an interview with the state- run al-Thawra newspaper to mark its 50th anniversary.

"Take many examples on that; the French revolution, the Russian revolution and even the Iranian one. Real revolutions are popular ones that have purely internal factors, have a spontaneous aspect and led by ideological and intellectual elites," he said.

"Whereas what has been happening in Syria, since the beginning, has the foreign factor in it, and that was what they have tried to conceal but today become absolutely clear," he added.

The embattled leader, whose country has been gripped by more than two years of deadly conflict, said that the "conspirator countries on Syria have used all they have of material, morale and psychological means against Syria and have nothing left but direct intervention."

While hailing the Syrian people, Assad said that "tolerance is essential in resolving national crises but it must be popular, not official."

He, meanwhile, likened terrorism to cancer, saying that if terrorism wasn't removed, it could spread quickly "so we must root it out, not only hit it."

He charged that what is currently happening is "turning Syria into a land of terrorism," adding that terrorism "grows and multiplies in the fertile soil called chaos, where you see the chaos you see terrorism grows automatically."

He noted that what have drawn in terrorism in Syria wasn't only the chaos, but also the foreign countries backing terrorism in Syria.

Regarding the deteriorating economic situation in Syria, the president said that with a troubled security situation, there can be no good economy "and thus the security problem is affecting us directly, whether we like it or not."

Syrian Army Destroys Nusra Front Den in Latakkia, Continues Pursuing Militants

Source : Almanar

The Syrian army destroyed a hideout for Nusra Front insurgents in Lattakia countryside as it pursued foreign-backed militants in other areas across the country.

Official news agency, SANA, reported on Wednesday that “a unit of the armed forces destroyed, in a qualitative operation, a den for Nusra Front terrorists in the villages of Sakiet al-Kart and al-Zweik in Lattakia countryside.”

The agency quoted a military source as saying that “the operation resulted in the destruction of rockets, machineguns and ammunition and the killing of a big number of terrorists, among them Majed al-Masri, Abdullah al-Hasan and Abdel-Ilah al-Markabi.”

SANA also reported that a Syrian Army unit destroyed a den of the so- called 'Abdul-Rahman Battalion' armed group in Daraa countryside with all weapons and ammunition inside, “killing many terrorists in al-kark al-Sharqi.”

A military source told SANA that the militants of the group were killed “including its leader, Hamza al-Marrouh and the female terrorist, Widad al-Ammar, nicknamed Om Sofyan.”

Meanwhile in Damascus, engineering dismantled an explosive device planted by armed group inside a private car near the Opera House in Damascus. An official source told the agency that the engineering members dismantled a 2 kg explosive device before being detonated.