SNC calls for release of 200 civilians trapped in Qaboun mosque

Activists are concerned about the mosque in the Qaboun district of Damascus Damascus -  George Al Shami The Syrian National Coalition (SNC) called on Sunday for the immediate release of 200 civilians detained in a mosque in Qaboun, Damascus. In a statement, the group urged the United Nations, the Security Council, and human rights organisations to send \"a strong warning\" to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The plea comes a day after SNC warned about the army\'s offensive in Barza and Qaboun, claiming that more than 40,000 lives are at risk.
\"The Syrian Coalition once again reminds the international community of its responsibilities towards putting an end to Assad’s crimes against humanity, his continued infringement of international conventions, and his use of internationally prohibited weapons,\" the statement said.
\"The international community must protect civilians and support the Syrian Revolution.  It must also stop the bloodshed and aid in achieving the aspirations of the Syrian people for freedom and dignity,\" the opposition group added.
On Saturday, Syrian forces continued to launch strategic air strikes in neighbourhoods around the capital Damascus and the western city of Homs.
It came as forces tried to reopen an international road running from the western city of Latakia to the northern region of Aleppo, to supply weapons to soldiers involved in fierce clashes with rebels.
In Homs, shelling was reported over the district of Khalidiya, whilst in Damascus, government forces pounded the district of al-Faboun, along with the towns of Mareian, Bsames and and ?villages of Kafr Haya, Kourine, al-Maghara, Joseph and Iblin.?
UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) confirmed that fighting had erupted on the main bridge overlooking the Latakia-Aleppo international road, near the town of Basnaquol, in Idlib, north?-west Syria.?
SOHR added that 11 rebels and three government soldiers were killed. The watchdog\'s director Rami Abdulrahman explained government forces tried to reopen the road for supplies, primarily food and ?transportation, to be brought into Aleppo.
Few days ago, the observatory reported a severe nutrition crisis in the neighbourhoods controlled ?by the Assad\'s regime in Aleppo because of the blockade imposed by opposition ?fighters.?
Abdulrahman said that the government is struggling to deliver food supplies because the road ?leading to the city has been cut off.
Rebel-controlled Aleppo neighbourhoods witnessed protests from Syrian who called on the opposition forces to minimise the blockade.
Assistant Foreign and Expatriates Minister Hussam al-Din Ala said that the government would sent urgent aid to Aleppo from Thursday.
Aleppo, the biggest city in northern Syria, witnessed limited conflict until July 2012, when both sides seized control of various neighbourhoods.
In Damascus, Shaam News Network (SNN) reported airstrikes on the district of Jobar, along with shelling in areas of Qaboun and Barza.
In Homs, rockets, heavy artillery and tanks were used in the besieged neighbourhood of Khalidiya, with clashes reported across the governorate between the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Hezbollah supported government forces.
SNN reported that in the northern city of Hama, troops carried out heavy artillery firing in the towns al-Treimesa, al-?Houaijeh and al-Hawash. In Deir Ezzor, fighting was reported in the district of Muwazafin, with several air raids targeting the area of Kebajeb, and heavy artillery shelling over the village of Mazloum.?
In the northwestern governorate of Idlib, SNN reported helicopter air raids with the use of explosive barrels in Mareyan and ?Bsames, rocket and artillery shellings in the villages of Kafr Heya, Kourine, al-Maghara, Joseph and ?Iblin, in addition to the military aircrafts shelling targeting the area between Sermada and Bab al-?Hawa in northern Idlib.
Meanwhile, an air raid on Syria\'s famed Krak des Chevaliers castle, a UNESCO World Heritage site, damaged one of the fortress\'s towers, footage shot by activists showed Saturday.
Several videos posted online showed at least one air strike on Friday against the castle in central Homs province, where fighting is raging between government troops and rebel forces.
The footage shows a huge blast as a tower of the Crusader castle, which is built on a hill, appears to take a direct hit, throwing up large clouds of smoke and scattering debris in the air.
A separate video filmed inside the fortress purports to show some of the damage caused by the air strike, including a gaping hole in the ceiling and a pile of rubble below.
Meanwhile, Syrian president Assad launched a demographic campaign in the Syrian governorate of Sweida, sources have revealed to Arab Today.
The Syrian president granted Syrian citizenship to 40,000 people affiliating to the Shiite movement of Hezbollah and its militia in Iraq that support the Syrian regime. The sources added that the troops will stay in Qanawat, a village in Syria.