Carey Mulligan leaves teddy bears outside gates of 10 Downing Street to protest attacks on Aleppo

Actress Carey Mulligan has left teddy bears outside the gates of Downing Street to protest the persistent, deadly attacks on Aleppo. She is the star of films such as Shame and Drive and, also, an ambassador for the charity War Child She has said that one of her one-year-old daughter's toys was among the teddies.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 22 October 2016.

Hundreds of protesters had gathered in London's Whitehall to call on the Government to do more to end civilian deaths in the Syrian conflict. The teddy bears they brought represented the thousands of children who were trapped in rebel-held eastern areas of the city.
The Syrian government regime has recently stepped up attacks and civilians were being pulled out dead from the rubble after numerous devastating barrel bombings.
Carey Mulligan hoped that the protesters could send a "real message" that governments must act to stop the fighting in Aleppo because these are examples of breaking humanitarian international laws. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has termed the attacks in Syria and eastern Aleppo as "crimes of historic proportions". Many targets are hospitals and schools and the death toll in the civil war stands at more than 300,000.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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At least 100 killed in airstrikes in Syria before ceasefire begins

Before ceasefire can take effect in Syria, airstrikes in Aleppo and Idlib killed nearly 100 persons - in Idlib, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights SOHR has revealed that 58 people were killed in a series of bombings, including one on a vegetable market and there are at least 13 children among the dead. The market was full of shoppers who were buying presents for their kids and they were all civilians.
This is reported in news.sky.com dated 11 September 2016.

Another at least 30 people died when barrel bombs were dropped in Aleppo from army helicopters in the east and further civilian deaths were reported from other parts of the city. Obviously, both sides seem to be trying to maximize gains before the cessation of hostilities begins at sundown on Monday - this is the start of the Muslim Eid al Adha holiday.
The Syrian government has indicated to Moscow that it is prepared to comply with the deal. Opposition forces have also said they will fulfill the peace plan's requirements if the government demonstrates it is serious about ending the bloodshed. However, Syria's moderate Free Syrian Army is of the opinion that the chance of the deal's success is slim. The argument is that Damascus and Moscow had not observed the last agreement and were unlikely to observe this one.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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Latest barrel bomb attack in Aleppo leaves 71 dead

#aleppo #barrelbombs #syria I#ISIS Government helicopters have dropped barrel bombs on Syria's northern Aleppo province and at least 71 persons are believed to have been killed as reported in bbc.com dated 30 May 2015.

As per the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), 59 people died in the strike on a busy market in al-Babs - a town which is at present held by Islamic State (IS) militants. Another 12 people were killed in the city of Aleppo. They were killed in Aleppo's rebel-held Shaar area and eight of them were members of a single family.
Syria's government has repeatedly denied using barrel bombs. These are large containers filled with explosives and, when dropped by helicopters, are among the most deadly and inaccurate weapons used by government forces. Reports of dropping of these bombs keep surfacing on a regular basis and are denied by the authorities.
The casualties are expected to increase because the dead were mostly civilians, including women and children – the injuries to many of the injured are reported to be serious.
The SOHR, which collects information through a network of activists in Syria, has termed this attack as one of the worst massacres perpetrated by the government so far during this year.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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UN Secretary General wants action to be taken on sieges in Syria and use of barrel bombs

#barrelbombs #syria #assad #UNSC #ghouta #damascus With no end in sight to the hostilities and civil unrest in Syria that has been going on since 2011 and with death toll over 210,000, the US Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has denounced the apparent business-as-usual approach to Syria. He has called for urgent action to lift sieges on civilians and to end barrel bomb attacks. This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 20 February 2015.
In a report to the Security Council, he has listed five priorities for action to normalize the situation and give relief to the people. These include the lifting of sieges on 212,000 people, ensuring access to medical aid to all of Syria and rebuilding the education system. Moreover, he wants the 15-member council to address barrel-bomb attacks on civilians and put an end to the practice of denying services as a weapon of war.
His report was the 12th to the council, which is believed to be deeply divided over the war that has left more than 210,000 dead and has displaced 12 million Syrians.
Incidentally, Russia which is an ally of President Bashar al-Assad has blocked moves to punish the regime for the worsening violence. As per reports with Ban Ki-moon, there has been a significant escalation of violence and attacks by government forces during January in Damascus, rural Damascus and in eastern Ghouta. It seems in the eastern Ghouta region, Assad's forces had carried out aerial bombardments with barrel bombs, and had shelled the area apart from launching surface-to-surface missiles.

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