LATEST: Free Syrian Army Announces New Offensive in Daraa Province in Southern Syria

SATURDAY FEATURE

Crisis in Health Care — “The Infrastructure Has Collapsed”

Defying rebel threats to resume rocket fire into Damascus, the Assad regime continued its deadly bombing of opposition-held areas near Syria’s capital on Friday.

The Local Coordination Committees reported another 47 people killed near Damascus yesterday, among 81 deaths across the country.

On Thursday, as rebels launched more than 100 rockets into Damascus, regime airstrikes killed 76 people in the opposition-held East Ghouta area, with morel than 40 attacks on the town of Douma alone. The insurgents halted their attacks on Thursday night, but said that they would resume if the Syrian military struck again.

The Syrian Revolution General Commission said there were another 12 airstrikes on Douma on Friday.

The shrouded body of a child killed in the attacks:

On Friday, the Syrian Foreign Ministry sent letters to the UN asking it to condemn “the new terrorist rocket and mortar shell attack on Damascus”. The Ministry said 26 people and 48 were injured.

Rebels say that they aimed at military targets and that it was the regime who fired mortars on areas of the capital, seeking to blame insurgents for casualties and damage.

Free Syrian Army Announces New Offensive in Daraa Province in Southern Syria

Following recent rebel gains in Daraa Province, the Free Syrian Army has announced another offensive south of Damascus.

The FSA said on Saturday that the offensive is a response to the Syrian regime’s “airstrikes and artillery massacres against civilians” in opposition-held areas near the capital. Targets include regime security points and military barracks located in al-Sanamein, Jabab, Kafer Shams, Jediyeh, Qetah, and al-Qiniyeh.

Civilians have been asked to avoid the military positions and limit their movements for the next 48 hours.

In the last month, rebels have taken two regime bases and villages in Daraa Province, threatening to cut off regime movement between Damascus and the Jordanian border.

Rebels Form Their “Most Important” Joint Operations Room in Aleppo

In a step that rebels are calling the “most important” since military clashes began in Aleppo in July 2012, opposition groups have a formed a joint operations room.

The operations room, announced by the Sham Front, includes Jaish al-Islam, Free Syrian units, Jabhat Ansar al-Din, Faylaq ash-Sham, Jabhat al-Nusra, and Kataeb abu Amareh.

The #Aleppo most important military room since July 2012 formed in February 6, 2015 : #Tahrir_Halab – #SRO.

Picture: Kafranbel Protest — “The Filthy Crimes and Slaughters of the Islamic State”

Saturday’s protest in Kafranbel in northwest Syria, known for its banners, turns its attention to the Islamic State:

Rebel Leader Opens New Twitter Account Within Hours of Suspension

Zahran Alloush, the head of Jaish al-Islam and the military commander of the Islamic Front bloc, has opened a new Twitter account within hours of his suspension by the social media outlet.

Alloush’s account was blocked on Friday night. No reason was given, but the feed has been used in the past two weeks to announce Jaish al-Islam’s rocket attacks on regime forces within Damascus, with warnings to civilians to avoid military positions.

The new account quickly reposted significant Tweets from the past three months and then posted video of Thursday’s launch of more than 100 rockets into the Syrian capital:

US Officials: UAE Expected to Rejoin Airstrikes on Islamic State in Syria

“Senior State Department officials” say the United Arab Emirates is expected to rejoin the US-led coalition carrying out airstrikes against the Islamic State in northern and eastern Syria.

The US officials said UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed told Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday that an announcement of the renewed participation in the coalition would be made within a few days.

The UAE suspended its involvement after a Jordanian pilot, Moaz al-Kasasbeh, was downed and captured by the Islamic State on December 24. Kasasbeh was subsequently executed, with the video of his burning to death in a cage released by the jihadists this week.

The UAE had maintained that Kasasbeh’s fate showed the inadequacy of search-and-rescue arrangements if a pilot crashed or was shot down. American officials said this week that they had moved some search-and-rescue assets to Erbil in northern Iraq.