Israel\’s army fired tank shells into Syria on Monday and scored \”direct hits\” in response to a Syrian mortar shell that struck the Golan Heights, the Israeli military said in a statement.
The Syrian army loyal to Bashar Assad recently retook Daraya, a suburb of Damascus. Daraya had been in the hands of the rebels. The Syrian armed forces came in with tanks and armored personnel carriers. As troops advanced on foot, the fighters of the rebel Free Syrian Army withdrew. The retaking of Daraya by Assad’s army was the culmination of three days of helicopter gunship attacks that took a huge toll on the rebel army.
Russia has told the Syrian government clearly that it is unacceptable to threaten to use chemical weapons, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday in its strongest condemnation of a recent warning by a Syrian official.
The Syrian government is still in full control of its chemical weapons stockpiles, a senior Israeli defense official said on Tuesday.
Increasingly under pressure by rebels intent on unseating him, Bashar al-Assad has considered using chemical weapons against his enemies but Washington and Moscow have formed an unlikely alliance to force him to abandon such plans.
At least 107 people were killed in bomb and gun attacks in Iraq on Monday, a day after 20 died in explosions, in a coordinated surge of violence against mostly Shi\’ite Muslim targets.
Graphic scenes of grief and death in a Syrian village bore witness on Friday to a massacre President Bashar al-Assad\’s opponents say was the work of his troops and militia allies, drawing words of outrage from the outside world.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to visit Israel, Israel\’s Foreign Ministry announced.
Following is a timeline of events in Syria since protests began.
Syrian forces and pro-government militia accused of committing a massacre in Houla could face prosecution for crimes against humanity, the United Nations said on Friday and rights experts said Syrian authorities had directly ordered torture.
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