Syria Live Blog

Demonstrators gather during a protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Homs on Friday [Reuters]

People continue to take to the streets across Syria, where the uprising is becoming increasingly militarised. Activists say more than 7,000 people have been killed since protests began in March last year. The government blames "armed gangs" for the unrest and says more than 2,000 members of the security forces have been killed.

We bring you the latest news from various sources.

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12 min 56 sec ago - Syria

Syria has told Libya and Tunisia to close their embassies in Damascus within 72 hours, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Saturday, after the two North African countries announced similar measures against Syria.

Libya said on Thursday it had given Syria's charge d'affaires and his staff in Tripoli three days to leave the country, and last week Tunisia said it had started procedures to expel the Syrian ambassador and withdraw recognition of the Syrian leadership under President Bashar al-Assad. [Reuters]

Tags Libya, reuters, tunisia
35 min 56 sec ago - Syria

This video, uploaded by the Shaam News Network, shows a large funeral procession for a child named Omar Ibrahim in al-Dumeir, outside Damascus, today.

Tags al Dumeir, damascus, syria citizen video
38 min 56 sec ago - Syria

This video, uploaded by YouTube user DoumaCommandoes, purports to show a small tank firing its guns in the streets of Douma, just outside Damascus. 

Al Jazeera cannot independently verify the contents of this video, but it is consistent with reports coming in from the Damascus suburb.

Tags Douma, syria citizen video, violence
1 hour 2 min ago - Iraq

"Jihadists" and weapons are moving from Iraq to Syria, deputy Iraqi interior minister Adnan al-Assadi has said, AFP reports.

"We have intelligence information that a number of Iraqi jihadists went to Syria," Adnan al-Assadi said, adding that "weapons smuggling is still ongoing" from Iraq to Syria.

Tags AFP, syria
3 hours 41 min ago - Syria

This video shows a tank firing as Friday prayers take place in the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs. The prayers can be clearly heard. The first part of the video is unclear, but the tank’s muzzle can be seen near the middle of the image.

At 25 seconds, the image becomes clearer and the tank fires at about one minute. Other gunfire can be heard — and seen in the case of some from the soldiers in the tank’s turret.

The narrator of the video clearly says “Baba Amr” at the beginning. This video was uploaded to the YouTube channel syriapioneer on February 10. The channel exclusively features videos from the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs. [storyful]

Tags Baba Amr, storyful, syria citizen video, tanks, Video
4 hours 25 min ago - Syria

Syria's state-run news agency says gunmen have assassinated an army general in the capital Damascus. It's the first killing of a high military officer in the Syrian capital since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March.

The SANA news agency says three gunmen opened fire at Brig. Gen. Issa al-Khouli on Saturday morning as he left his home in the Damascus neighborhood of Rukn-Eddine. Al-Khouli was a doctor and the chief of a military hospital in the capital.

The attack indicates that violence in Syria is reaching the tightly controlled capital, which has been relatively quiet compared to other cities. Assad's crackdown of the uprising has killed more than 5,400 people, according to U.N. figures. [AP]

Tags AP, army, SANA
4 hours 45 min ago - Turkey

Turkey plans to lodge a formal request with the United Nations for a humanitarian operation to help Syrians suffering a "humanitarian tragedy" in their country, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Saturday.

"I gave instructions today to lodge a request with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva on the subject of humanitarian aid," the Anatolia news agency quoted Davutoglu as saying during a visit to Washington.

"Turkey is launching an initiative at the UN office in Geneva to put in place a flow of humanitarian aid towards Syria," he said, lamenting a "humanitarian tragedy" unfolding notably in central Homs and in Zabadani, near the capital Damascus, being shelled by the Syrian army. [AFP]

Tags AFP, ahmet davutoglu, humanitarian aid, OHCHR, syria
6 hours 6 min ago - Syria

President Bashar al-Assad's forces killed at least four civilians in an intensified tank and rocket bombardment in the Syrian city of Homs on Saturday to put down a popular revolt demanding his removal, activists said.

"This is the most violent barrage since the attack on Homs started six days ago. The four included a 55-year old woman. They were killed by shelling that hit a building where they live in Bab Amro," opposition activist Mohammad Hassan told Reuters by satelite phone from Homs.

The account could not be independently confirmed. Syria restricts access by most foreign journalists. [Reuters]

Tags Bashar al Assad, dead, homs, reuters
9 hours 56 min ago - Syria

In this short clip, a view of two tanks in the distance is replaced by the very close explosion of a tank shell. As the videographer repeats “Allahu Akbar” (God is the greatest), the sounds of the explosion’s aftermath can be heard through the thick smoke.

According to the videographer, the video was taken in Baba Amr on February 10. Al Jazeera cannot verify the veracity of Youtube videos. [Storyful]

Tags Baba Amro, homs, storyful, syria citizen video, Video
12 hours 9 min ago - Syria

In statements to the US-based McClatchy newspaper group, US intelligence officials have said Al Qaeda operatives in Iraq were behind two recent suicide attacks in the Syrian capital and likely Friday's attack that killed at least 28 in Aleppo.

The officials said that the AQI attacks were ordered by Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian leader who succeeded Osama bin Laden in May 2011.

"This was Zawahiri basically taking the shackles off," said a U.S. official with access to the intelligence reports. 

Tags Al Qaeda, Aleppo, damascus
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