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| Sri Lanka |
| Free Syrian Army top commander killed in Syria's Aleppo |
| 2012-12-16 |
| [Al Ahram] A top rebel commander in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... was killed in a major battle for a military academy on Saturday, his brigade said. "It is with pride that Liwa al-Tawhid (brigade) announces the death in combat of the hero martyr, Colonel Yusef al-Jader (Abu Furat)," the brigade said on its Facebook page. Abu Furat was killed during battles pitting troops against rebels trying to "liberate" a major military academy at Moslemiyeh, just north of the embattled city of Aleppo. Abu Furat once headed a tank brigade in the Syrian army, but defected to join the rebels after putting his wife and children in a safe area of the war-torn country. After joining Liwa al-Tawhid, a rebel brigade linked to the Moslem Brüderbund, Abu Furat became commander of military operations in Aleppo. He frequently fought on the front lines of key battlegrounds such as Salaheddin and Seif al-Dawla, in the city of Aleppo. Sharp-witted and friendly, Abu Furat was loved by his supporters. "I propose that the Infantry Academy be renamed 'Martyr Abu Furat School'," one person wrote in a commentary posted on Liwa al-Tawhid's Facebook page. Abu Furat welcomed and provided cover to several AFP teams covering Syria's conflict in Aleppo. On Saturday, rebels came close to scoring a significant victory as they captured large parts of the military academy, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. "This is one of the most important military academies in all of Syria," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman. Elite Republican Guard troop reinforcements were deployed by helicopter to try to push back the rebels, said the monitoring group. According to the Observatory, a large but unidentified number of soldiers and rebels have been killed in fighting around the academy. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 No evidence whatsoever, but I suspect the Gulf kingdoms have been buying off Syrian government figures. The longer the government stays in power, the more difficult it will be to lure them away will the promise of money, which is probably not a lifetime stipend and attached to ephemeral promises of high office in a post-Assad Syrian government. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2012-12-16 19:04 |
| #2 "I propose that the Infantry Academy be renamed 'Martyr Abu Furat School'," one person wrote in a commentary posted on Liwa al-Tawhid's Facebook page. No rush on the naming of streets and schools. You've got some rough sledding ahead yet. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-12-16 16:52 |
| #1 Another jihadist bites the dust. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2012-12-16 16:45 |