Introduction to the evening news 22-07-2012

Hit-and-run is the headline of today’s field developments in Syria, whether on the shared border with Turkey and Iraq or inside Syria mainly in Damascus and Aleppo; in fact, as soon as the opposition announces that it took control of this crossing or that, the regime troops rush to say they recovered it. This chaos on the border crossings will no doubt affect the course of events in Syria.        

In Damascus and Aleppo, the battles are clearly overlapping and the regime’s military operations have become fiercer since the bombing of the national security’s building. In this regard, international news agencies are increasingly talking about the role of the Fourth Armored Division led by Maher al-Assad in the military operations.      

For the first time, Palestinians fight alongside the Free Syrian Army as Palestinians reportedly joined in the military operations today. Simultaneously, UNRWA voiced its concern over the fate of 500,000 refugees in Syria, mainly those living in the Yarmouk Camp in Damascus.      

The increasing fights on the borders prompted Turkey to deploy surface-to-air missiles along its border with Syria. On the other hand, points along the Lebanese-Syrian border, mainly in the town of Mashari al-Qaa, witnessed great tension today.         

Just this evening, Reuters quoted a “Syrian rebel commander” as saying that the 11 kidnapped Lebanese Shi'ites will not be released until President Bashar al-Assad leaves power, adding that they are in good health.