The Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights reported on Friday that the Syrian Army is shelling Damascus’ southern neighborhoods after two blasts exploded on Thursday, stressing
that several explosions were heard in the capital.
In Daraa, 3 civilians were killed and others were wounded when the town of Tsil was shelled.In
Aleppo, clashes erupted between rebels and the Syrian Army, causing the
death of one militant. One other civilian was also killed in similar
clashes in Homs.
International Positions:
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta signed an order on Friday to send two Patriot missile batteries to Turkey along with 400 American personnel to operate them, his spokesman said.
"The purpose of this deployment is to signal very strongly that the United States, working closely with our NATO allies, is going to support the defense of Turkey, especially with potential threats emanating from Syria," spokesman George Little told reporters before Panetta landed on an unannounced visit to Turkey.
Earlier, Russia's Foreign Ministry has denied that a top diplomat said Syrian President Bashar Assad is losing control of his country.
It said in a statement on Friday that Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov "has not made any statements or special interviews recently" on Syria but was simply citing the stance of the Syrian opposition while giving a speech on Thursday.
Russian state-owned news agencies had quoted Bogdanov as saying that rebels might win the civil war, a comment that appeared to dramatically shift Russia's stance on Syria. The U.S. later on Thursday commended Russia for "waking up to the reality" by acknowledging the regime's impending fall.
The ministry's spokesman later stated that "Russia's position on Syria remains unchanged and will not change."
For his part, French President Francois Hollande stated that the "International Community must reach unanimous consensus on Assad’s downfall.
"This as, the chairman of NATO's Military Committee stated that "Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is unlikely to be able to stay in power." "Russia is not holding talks on the fate of Assad or getting him out of Syria," he added.
"You may say I am maybe assuming that Assad will disappear. I tend to believe that this is indeed the case," Knud Bartels, a Danish general, said after a meeting in Moscow in response to a question about the conflict in Syria.
He declined to give a time frame for Assad's departure.
As for the U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos, she said that the United Nations is committed to maintaining
its aid operations in Syria and is ensuring relief supplies are stocked in neighboring
countries.
"We are looking at making
sure that we have adequate stockpiles in neighboring countries... We all have
staff who are still on the ground, of course we will continue to look at the
safety and security of our staff, but our commitment is to keep our operations
going," Amos told reporters in Geneva, speaking by video link from Rome.
For his part, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said that European governments
should consider all options to help Syrian opposition win its fight against
President Bashar al-Assad.
"We are saying all options, all options,
should be considered in order to help the opposition and in order to enable
greater support for the protection of civilians," Cameron told reporters
after a summit of EU leaders in Brussels.
"I want a very clear message to go to
President Assad that nothing is off the table," he said.
LBCI/AP/REUTERS