Syrian rebels in the Sheikh Said district of Aleppo, February 8 Damascus – George Al Shami Syrian opposition forces took hold of the key town of Khanasir on Monday, cutting off the regime’s only supply route out of Aleppo. The takeover of the town, which is on the government’s supply route between Aleppo and Hama, leaves regime forces besieged in Aleppo province, the anti-govenrnment Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.
The SOHR also reported the execution by hardline Islamist rebels of cleric Badr Ghazal, from the Alawite sect to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs.
As UN inspectors began investigations at the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of Damascus, 148 people were killed across Syria on Monday, according to the Local Coordination Committees.
The Free Syrian Army (FSA) clashed with regime forces at 145 points, the most violent in Aleppo city, where FSA fighters killed more than 20 government soldiers and injured several others in the areas of Sowaiqa and Aleppo Citadel.?
The FSA took control of Khanasir town, on the Maamal al-Difaa - Hama road, seizing ?four tanks, a Vozlika artillery weapon, two DShK machine guns, anti-craft weapons and 500 rockets. An ?ammunition warehouse taken by the rebels contained further DShK machine guns, RPG launchers and ammunition for light weapons.
Also in Aleppo province, opposition fighters took the town of Ariha town following violent clashes with President Bashar al-Assad’s troops, seizing several weapons, and ?launched missiles at Kweres military airport.?
In and around the capital Damascus, the FSA fired four Grad rockets at governmental forces in ?Demas housing complex, attacked Kamal Mashariqa barracks in the neighbourhood of Jobar and launched artillery at regime troops stationed in Jabawiya Street, hitting several of their targets.?
In the Eastern city of Deir Ezzor, rebel fighters targeted regime soldiers near the military hospital with mortar shells, while in Hama, north of Homs, the FSA stormed gatherings of Assad’s troops near Mufaker village, seizing two ?tanks.?
In the coastal town of Latakia, the FSA targeted gatherings of the governmental forces in Bahloulia village.?
The LCCs recorded 487 instances of shelling in Syria on Monday, including 48 air raids, the ?fiercest in Ariha. Barrel bombs were dropped in Dana, Kafr Lata, Ariha and Kureen in Idlib, ?surface-to-surface missiles hit Fardous neighbourhood in Aleppo and Muadamiya in ?the outskirts of Damascus. Phosphorous bombs were dropped in Uram Kubra in Aleppo and cluster bombs ?in Salma and Qruja in Latakia. Rocket shelling was recorded at 167 points artillery shelling at ??141 point and mortar shelling at 119.?
The LCCs also reported that the148 killed on Monday included 18 women, 17 children and three people who died following torture. Most were killed in Aleppo, Idlib and Damascus: 54 in Idlib, mostly in Ariha, 43 in Aleppo, ?? 24 in Damascus and its surrounding areas, nine in Homs, eight in Hama, five in Deraa, four in Deir Ezzor and one ?in Latakia., according to the LCCs.?