'Monstrous' Violence In Syria As Government Excludes Aleppo From Truce

[Purveyor]

Source: Reuters

Syria called local truces near Damascus and in a northern province on Friday but no halt to combat on the main battlefield in Aleppo, after a surge in fighting the United Nations said showed "monstrous disregard" for civilian lives.

A new "regime of calm" would begin from 1:00 a.m. on Saturday and last one day in the capital's eastern Ghouta suburb and three days in the northern countryside of the coastal province of Latakia, the army said in a statement.

But by excluding the city of Aleppo, scene of the worst recent violence, the narrow truces were unlikely to resurrect a ceasefire and peace talks that have collapsed this week.

--CLIP
A Syrian military source said Aleppo was excluded from the newly announced truces "because in Aleppo there are terrorists who have not stopped hitting the city and its residents ... There are a large number of martyrs in Aleppo, which is why the situation is different there".

Read more: http://in.reuters.com/article/mideast-crisis-syria-idINKCN0XQ1KN

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'Lethal Escalation' In Syria Being Readied - U.N. Rights Boss

Escalating violence across Syria which has seen a fragile truce agreement unravel and peace talks collapse could release new levels of horror, the U.N. human rights chief said on Friday, saying all parties have shown a "monstrous disregard" for civilian lives.

"The cessation of hostilities and the Geneva talks were the only game in town, and if they are abandoned now, I dread to think how much more horror we will see in Syria," Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said in a statement, urging all sides to step back from a return to all-out war.

"The violence is soaring back to the levels we saw prior to the cessation of hostilities. There are deeply disturbing reports of military build-ups indicating preparations for a lethal escalation," Zeid said.

Peace talks in Geneva aimed to end a war that has created the world's worst refugee crisis, allowed for the rise of Islamic State and drawn in regional and major powers, but the negotiations have all but failed and a cessation of hostilities agreement to allow them to take place has collapsed.

MORE...

http://in.reuters.com/article/mideast-crisis-syria-un-idINKCN0XQ0W3

[OldRedneck]

1. Virginia Republican visited Syria, approved of Assad

Virginia Republican State Senator Dick Black recently visited Syria, met with Assad, palled around with the murderous dictator.

http://pilotonline.com/news/local/columnist/kerry-dougherty/kerry-dougherty-state-senator-should-stick-to-virginia-policy-not/article_9e5546b9-caf6-5237-bd0a-37195e02499f.html

[McKim]

2. Hillary's Folly

This nasty little war was Hillary's baby. She went ahead to interfere with the Asaad Govt. and it turned into the greatest refugee crisis since WWII. While Syria was not human rights paradise under Asaad, it was better than what we have now. When I was there last there people had health care, food, security if they didn't talk against the govt. and their families,cities and lives and cultural heritage were intact. There were no beggars in the streets like in my town. Hillary is responsible for this mess. That is why I am not voting for her.