Syria Direct: News Update 6-9-2014

Al-Waer truce negotiations suspended, rebels say

Negotiations between rebels and the government in the regime-encircled Homs district of al-Waer have reportedly been suspended, as the al-Waer Operations Room, negotiating on behalf of the rebels, published a “working paper” on Monday detailing rebel demands for a settlement.

“The proposal was submitted to the regime and rejected,” Hassan Abu al-Zein, a spokesperson for the operations room, told Syria Direct on Monday.

“The regime proposed a second proposal that would be carried out this month, but an agreement has not been reached.”

The suggested rebel settlement includes a surrender of rebel weapons, the release of regime-held female prisoners, the opening of all roads into al-Waer and the safe return of displaced families into Old Homs.

Meanwhile, Homs Governor Talal al-Barazi denied reports that negotiations between the two sides had ground to a halt, as reported by pro-government newspaper al-Watan on Sunday.

In May, rebels in the 13 encircled neighborhoods of Old Homs agreed to surrender the neighborhoods, leaving al-Waer the last remaining rebel-held district in Syria’s third-largest city.

Negotiations have stalled between regime and rebel troops in Al Waer district, the final remaining opposition-held neighborhood in Homs, rebels said on Monday. Photo courtesy of Lens Young Homsi.

Regime hits ISIS-held a-Raqqa

Syrian warplanes struck two Islamic State in Iraq and a-Sham (ISIS) headquarters in a-Raqqa Sunday, striking ISIS’s Finance Headquarters and the  Governorate Building, the group’s principal headquarters in the city.

“The air force targeted the principal headquarters of the Islamic State in Iraq and a-Sham…in the a-Raqqa Governorate Building,” pro-government newspaper al-Watan reported. Meanwhile, pro-ISIS media confirmed the regime airstrike had damaged the building, while reporting the strike had also killed an Azerbaijani foreign fighter who had arrived in “the land of the Sham” last Thursday.

The airstrike was the first regime attack on a-Raqqa in “nearly two months,” pro-opposition media activist Abu Mohammed told Syria Direct Monday.

Since January, when ISIS consolidated control over the majority of a-Raqqa province, ISIS has been primarily engaged in clashes with other rebel groups inside Syria, most fiercely in the eastern province of Deir e-Zor, south of a-Raqqa. 

On Saturday, ISIS crucified two young men in the Aleppo city of Menbej, accusing them of cooperating with the sahwat, a derogatory term ISIS has adopted to describe other rebel groups.

Missile attacks in Douma

The Syrian government launched a missile attack on the Damascus suburb of Douma Monday, killing five people and wounding more than 50 others, pro-opposition Aks al-Sir reported. The attacks targeted a popular vegetable market in the middle of the city.

“Most of the victims hit in the attack were from a group of citizens in the market who were trying to rescue another group of victims that had been hit in a previous missile strike,” pro-opposition Syria Mubasher reported. 

Duoma, 10 km northeast of Damascus, is part of the Ghouta area east of Damascus is currently controlled by Islamist militias and has been under heavy siege by regime forces.

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