Syria

Syria in Last 24 Hours: Army Regaining Control of Homs Old City

Syria in Last 24 Hours- Army Regaining Control of Homs Old City
The Syrian army advanced in different parts of the Old City of Homs after the foreign-backed militants withdrew from there.

The army’s advances on Thursday came after the Militants began leaving the Old City of Homs Wednesday morning under the supervision of the UN delegation and the Syrian government’s reconciliation committee.

The Homs city is Syria’s third largest city after the capital, Damascus, and Aleppo, The establishment of the city dates back to 3,000 BC and it contains many historical sites.

Homs governor, the UN delegation and the reconciliation committee were in charge of the supervision room to monitor the implementation of Homs deal. The roads leading to besieged Nubbol and Zahraa towns have been opened to pave the way for the entry of aid.

On Tuesday, UN workers cleared the roads to be used in the evacuation of landmines in preparation for the withdrawal.

The evacuated areas will be turned over to the government, which will then have control of all but one major area of Homs, seen as the capital of the militants.

The city is strategically important as it connects government strongholds along the Western coast with the capital, Damascus.

Also in the past 24 hours, the militant groups freed 25 Syrian women and children in Lattakia countryside in Western Syria.

The Syrian citizens were released within the framework of Homs agreement and they were residents of Al-Hamboushiyeh and Al-Baroudeh towns in there.

Meantime, an explosion completely destroyed Al-Carlton Hotel in the Old City of Aleppo.

The explosion left scores of people killed and injured.

The army units foiled an attempt by the militant groups on the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk in Southern part of Damascus.

The Al-Nusra Front terrorist group tried to launch a massive attack on Yarmouk camp, but the Syrian army successfully thwarted it.

Meantime, army units launched wide military operations against militants in several areas around Syria.

Also, army units foiled armed groups’ infiltration attempt from al-Sheikh Said area in Aleppo towards safe areas, killing many militants and injuring others.

The Syrian army clashed with the armed groups on the axis of al-Sheikh Najjar-al-Breij, killing many of them and destroying their weapons.

Other army units targeted militants’ gatherings and dens in the industrial city, al-Leramoun, Khan al-Asal, Azzan, the surrounding area of the prison and Kafar Hamra areas, inflicting heavy losses upon them.

The source added that army units destroyed a number of vehicles loaded with ammunition on Hreitan-Andan- Kafar Hamra road, killing or injuring all the militants inside.

Meantime, the Russian Foreign Ministry welcomed reconciliation in Homs, and said that it considers this kind of process should be applied on others parts of Syria.

It added in a statement Russia highly evaluates efforts of mediators and hopes all sides would exert what is required to implement the terms of this local reconciliation in a best way, allowing the third big city in Syria to completely return to normal life and turn to rebuild what has been destroyed there.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the pattern which has been agreed upon in Homs could be fit to apply in other parts of the country, affirming such practical efforts, not just talking about the dilemma of Syrians, would help ease violence and rescue hundreds of souls as well as alleviate the suffering of Syrian people.

Also, Syria accused some United Nations Security Council (UNSC) member states of helping militants gain weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) on many occasions.

Syria’s Envoy to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari also criticized the Security Council for ignoring repeated warnings about foreign-backed militants’ access to weapons of mass destruction.

Al-Jaafari, said Damascus has warned the UN authorities in over 100 official letters about the threat.

He also explained how the militants obtained the toxic sarin gas via Turkey through an airliner that brought it from Libya.

The Syrian diplomat denounced the world body for refusing to prosecute the countries sponsoring the militants in Syria despite all documented evidence.

Jaafari reiterated Syria’s call on the UNSC to play an active role in preventing the terrorist groups’ access to WMDs.

Meantime, Higher Constitutional Court Spokesperson Majed Khadra said the Court received six complaints from people who nominated themselves for presidential elections, and that it will study the complaints within the next three days as per the constitution and the law.

Khadra added the final declaration of the individuals who are approved to run for president in the upcoming elections will be issued at the end of working hours on Saturday May 10th 2014.

The six people who submitted complaints are Ahmad Ali Qusai’a, Ali Hassan al-Hassan, Bashir Mohammad al-Balah, Khaled Abdo al-Kraidi, Samih Mikhail Moussa, and Samir Ahmad Moalla.

Three days ago, the Court announced the approval of three candidacy requests, submitted by Maher Abdelhafiz Hajjar, Hassad Abdullah al-Nouri, and Bashar Hafez al-Assad, rejecting the other requests for failing to fulfill constitutional and legal requirements.

Khadra urged the supporters of the three candidates whose requests were approved to not partake in any media activities before the final declaration on May 10th.

The presidential elections will be held in Syria On June 3rd 2014, while expatriated Syrians can vote abroad on May 28th.

Elsewhere, an enormous attack on Aleppo Old City antiquities was launched by militants on Thursday, blowing up tunnels they dug under archeological buildings.

The terrorist attack left huge damage to the historical site according to primary estimations.

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