Gas station bombed by Syrian strike, killing and injuring dozens, after regime helicopter shot down

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that at least 54 people were killed and dozens wounded when an airstrike hit a gas station in Syria's Al-Raqqa province on Thursday at noon. However, Al-Raqqa' military council said 70 people were killed and dozens wounded in this attack.

Meanwhile, Syria's state television said that the armed groups downed the helicopter in the eastern part of Damascus. No further details were given.

SOHR said in a statment that a Syrian passenger jet with 200 people aboard landed after a military helicopter clipped its tail in midair, as it was shot by the Free Syrian Army fighters.

"It was not clear if there were any casualties in that crash or what had led the two aircraft to touch in midair," the statment added.

On the other hand, a pro-regime media claimed that the rebels killed the crew of the helicopter in an execution-style shooting after the incident.

The circumstances of the incident are not clear. The Free Syrian Army may or may not have targeted a civilian airplane, knowing that the plane was leaving for Tehran. It is worth mentioning that the Free Syrian Army has threatened to target civilian airplanes after getting information stating that Iran is sending large quantities of weapons to the Syrian regime using civilian aircrafts.

"Civilian planes are flying from Iran to Syria via Iraq on an almost daily basis, carrying soldiers and officers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and tens of tons of weapons to arm the Syrian security forces and militias fighting against the rebels," one of the senior officers who defected the bloody regime said to a leader in the Free Syrian Army.

Reuters news agency confirmed this news based on Western intelligence report seen by Reuters correspondent.

However, the United States and several Western and Arab countries accuse Tehran of providing military aid to the Assad regime, a claim which Iran denies.

Meanwhile, Assad said Wednesday that the battle that is taking place is not only about Syria but about the axis of resistance to Israel, according to the official news agency, SANA. In the eyes of the Syrians, the axis of resistance includes Syria, Iran, Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamic resistance movements Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

In other developments, SANA claimed that regime forces killed more than 100 militants from Afghanistan, two Saudis, one national of Qatar and one resident of Yemen during a counterterrorist operation in the Bustan al Kasr district in Aleppo.

Moreover, state television has reported the arrest of more than 100 terrorists in Yarmouk refugee camp. However, PLO officials in the Yarmouk refugee camp said that the Syrian regime committed a massacre against Palestinians in the camp. More than 25 bodies were found mutilated and charred.

Thursday's killings were the latest in a string of attacks targeting Palestinians. At least 10 refugees were killed in the Yarmouk a day earlier, activists in the camp reported.

The local coordination committees had reported that at least 739 people were killed since a week ago while SOHR said as of Wednesday, more than 29,000 people had been killed across Syria since March 2011, including 1,148 deserters and 7,095 soldiers. It's worth mentioning that this figure is more than the number of Syrians killed during Syrian-Israeli wars in 1967 and 1973.

Opinion:

Despite the grief over the death toll and damage in Syria, everyone is sure that victory is coming and the Syrian people will remain while the regime of murder and terrorism, led by the Assad gang, doomed to extinction.

The Free Syrian Army proves every day that it works on the freedom of Syria and the return of the dignity of the Syrian people, during operations targeting the regime. What appears clear is that the Free Syrian Army is advancing on the ground as the Syrian regime falls subdued, not knowing where and when will the next strike be coming from the Free Syrian Army fighters.

The funny part, and I am sure many think the same as I, is that the Syrian regime flops even in its lies. The regime announced the arrest or killing of a number of foreign nationals in order to show the world that they are fighting al-Qaida. My question is: Is it possible that the Afghans leave their country and fight the regime of Assad at the time when many foreign nationals are fighting al-Qaida in their land? The same case for the Yemeni people.

No doubt that behind targeting civilian aircraft is information that reached the Free Syrian Army stating that civilian planes are carrying arms and fighters to the regime to be used against the opposition. According to my own analysis, I think the helicopter was flying in the same path as the civilian aircraft for protection purposes. After all the story is still mysterious, but indeed the helicopter has been already downed.

As soon as further information is avaialble, I will immediately provide it to you. I promise you I will follow-up this topic, whether from private sources or through media.

It is sad that the bloody regime started killing Palestinian refugees present in Syria and in this act, the regime proves that it is not only an enemy of the Syrians but of the Palestinian people as well.

Sources:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9555973/Syrian-helicopter-crashes-as-regime-kills-dozens-in-airstrike-on-petrol-station.html

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/09/20/239107.htm