The Arab Democrat The Latest From The Arab World
Related Articles
Syrian rebel forces in the city of Daraa shelled a rally for President Bashar Assad’s re-election campaign late on Thursday, killing 21 people and wounding 30 others. The strike comes after the Syrian army had cut off a key rebel supply route to the city of Aleppo. Bashar Assad faces two little-known other candidates in the upcoming poll on June 3, which Assad is expected to win and clinch his third seven-year term. The West and exiled rebels have called the election a farce.
Rebels launched shelling on a tent in in Daraa, where supporters of President had gathered, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The 21 people killed include a civilian child and pro-government militiamen, the Observatory said, adding that the attack was carried out by rebels opposing the regime. Rami Abdel Rahman, the Observatory director, said that the attack “is a clear message from rebels to the regime that there is not one safe area in which to hold the election”.
This is the first attack of Assad supporters since campaigning started earlier in the month. As thing stand in the country right now, the poll will only occur in regime-controlled parts of the country.
Earlier in the day, the Syrian army broke the rebel siege on Aleppo central prison that had lasted 13 months. This allowed the regime to gain control over Castello Road, which in the past has been used by rebels as a supply route to a base in the countryside. Rebels have repeatedly attacked Aleppo central prison since April 2013, intending to free the 3,500-odd prisoners reportedly detained in inhumane conditions. Before the siege, the prison had almost 4,000 inmates, including rebels, the Observatory said, adding that approximately 600 of them had died due to the near-constant bombardment and poor humanitarian conditions.
