Sunday, June 2, 2013

World War III Day 6 - State of the World

A car bomb explodes near a police station in northeastern Damascus, killing at least eight members of the Security Forces, on Sunday, June 2, 2013 according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The blast took place in Jobar, a suburb of Damascus, where fighting between pro- and anti-Assad forces are continual.  An unspecified number of civilians were also killed in the blast.  (http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/02/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html?hpt=hp_t3)

A Reuters video of the battle for the Lebanese border town of Qusair:



United Nations Secretary Ban Ki-moon warned on Saturday that all parties involved would be held accountable for the killing of civilians in the battle over the border town of Qusair/Qusair.  The warning came as he pleaded with pro-Assad forces and rebels to allow civilians to leave the town, where as many as 1,500 people are believed to be wounded and in need of medical care.

"We are also receiving reports that civilian neighborhoods continue to be indiscriminately attacked, and that other major violations of human rights and international humanitarian law are being committed," said Navi Pillay, U.N. High Commisssioner for Human Rights, and Valerie Amos, the emergency relief coordinator for the United Nations, calling the situation "desperate."  (http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/01/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html?hpt=hp_t3)

A draft declaration of alarm by Britain (England), the president of the United Nations Security Council, was blocked Saturday by Russia.  The statement voiced the "grave concern about the situation in al-Qusair, Syria, and in particular the impact on civilians of the ongoing fighting" that Britain had. (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/02/us-syria-crisis-un-idUSBRE95100G20130602)

This comes amid a report that Syria will be getting at least 10 Mig-29 jet fighters from Russia, with pleas for more.  An unnamed source in Russia's defense complex told the official Itar-Tass news agency on Friday that Russia will sell Syrian President Bashar al-Assad the Mig's to fulfill a contract that supposedly was "concluded long ago." (http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/31/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html?hpt=hp_t2)

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