Syrian rebel insurgents bombed a building in Damascus on Tuesday that was occupied by pro-government militias, as France called for US protection of rebel-held areas, in an attempt to end Syria’s bloodshed and human rights abuses.
Activists believe that more than 27,000 people have died in the 18-month-long uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, reports Yahoo! News . Unfortunately, the UN Security Council has been ineffective in solving the conflict, because of various countries jostling for a regional advantage.
The US, European allies, Turkey, and Gulf Arab states have taken the side of the Syrian opposition, but Russia, Iran, and China have backed the Assad regime.
Abu Moaz, a leader of Ansar al-Islam, one of the rebel groups in the 18-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, stated:
“At exactly 9:35 a.m., seven improvised devices were set off in two explosions to target a school used for weekly planning meetings between shabbiha militia and security officers.”
Reuters notes that Rebels are hoping the attack would kill top-level security officials in the Assad regime, but they have not given a casualty figure for the blast. State media has reported at least seven people injured.
French President Francois Hollande talked in a speech at the annual US General Assembly in New York about the conflict, seeking to shake up international help for Syria’s crisis by demanding the UN provide credible protection of the areas controlled by insurgents. Hollande stated:
“The Syrian regime … has no future among us. Without any delay, I call upon the United Nations to provide immediately to the Syrian people all the support it asks of us and to protect liberated zones.”
While France began sending aid into rebel-held areas of Syria in August, Western powers have avoided supplying military aid to the Syrian rebels to an extend that would help them turn the tide of the war, partially out of fear that they will arm Islamist militants who have joined in the anti-Assad revolt.
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