More than 500 killed in 48 hours as Assad’s forces allegedly used ‘toxic gas’ against civilians

The fighting in Syria continued on Saturday, as the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights said that more than 500 people were killed in 48 hours, the deadliest toll since the uprising began on mid-March 2011.

The Syrian regime forces entered Saturday an area held by rebels in Aleppo, the most populous city in Syria. According to activists in Aleppo, hundreds of families have fled the fighting, after the army entered the district of Saladin, held for two days by rebels.

Clashes were reported in al Sakhour, a poor and densely populated neighborhood of the city. The clashes in Aleppo open a new front for the forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

Furthermore, a mutiny is underway in the central prison of Homs, said an opposition activist Saturday. He fears "a massacre" in the facility by the regime forces. According to Hadi Abdullah, spokesman of the General Committee of the Syrian Revolution in Homs, the mutineers took last night the control of one of the buildings in the prison, after the defection of some of guards.

Tanks surrounded Saturday afternoon the building and security forces began to fire on it, said Abdullah. "I talked on the phone with a friend of mine who is in the prison. Four prisoners died before his eyes," he added.

According to Hadi Abdullah, "between 3,000 and 5,000 prisoners" are held in this building in deplorable conditions, as six prisoners share one small cell. Since the outbreak in March 2011 uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, tens of thousands of people were arrested in Syria.

Meanwhile, according to Al-arabiya news, Syrian activists have posted a video on YouTube from the city of Deir-Ezzou, in which children were victims of toxic gas attacks by regime forces. There is international concern about the country’s storage of chemical weapons.

Cases of asphyxia were reported among children resulted to what they said was toxic gas released by regime forces in the town on Friday, activists reported.

If this report is confirmed, that chemical weapons have been used in Syria, this means that there will be genocide to Syrians by the regime so as to end the revolution. There are alot of signs still needs clarifications such as Assad not attending funeral of the six leaders killed on Wednesday's explosion, plus Assad hasn't addressed any speech to the Syrians as usual after each crisis the regime goes through.

We hereby think that there is a big operation, maybe using chemical weapons with the support of Russia and China in order to protect the regime.

Sources:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4258406,00.html

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/07/21/227615.html