Syrian regime warplanes dropped cluster bombs on civilians

Syrian regime warplanes have dropped cluster bombs in sorties against rebels in the northwestern town of Maaret al-Numan, killing at least 49 people, including 23 children, the Free Syrian fighters told AFP Friday.

The Free Syrian fighters showed an AFP correspondent debris from one such cluster bomb and dozens of other bomblets that failed to explode on impact.

On Sunday, Human Rights Watch accused the Syrian air force of using Russian cluster bombs against the Free Syrian fighters and in populated areas across the strife-torn country.

In response to HRW's report, the regime army denied using cluster munitions and said it did not possess the weapon in its arsenal.

"The Syrian army does not possess this kind of bomb," the army insisted Monday. "Such reports are baseless and are part of the media war against the regime and its leader, who works with all his effort to protect the Syrian people from terrorists."

For his part and to defend the Syrian regime as usual, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov denounced the report and stressed that Syria does not possess such weapons.

Meanwhile, Turkey's army fired on Syria Friday after two shells launched from Syria landed in Turkish territory, Turkish state broadcaster TRT reported, adding no victims or damages have been reported.

Moreover, in an unexpected invitation, the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, urged Friday all sides of the Syrian conflict to cease fire during the Muslim feast of "Eid al Adha" that begins Oct. 26.

In related news, a Lebanese security official said that at least 17 Lebanese were reportedly killed Friday in an ambush by the Syrian army in the Lebanese-Syrian border. He added that the Lebanese were killed when Syrian soldiers attacked their bus which was heading from Lebanon's al-Kaa to Al-Jousseh in Syria.

Earlier, Lebanese government made two official complaints against Syria over territorial violations, while the Assad regime accuses Lebanon of allowing arms and fighters to enter into Syria illegally.

Opinion:

The Free Syrian Army was lucky to prove that the Syrian regime is using cluster bombs against them. However, unfortunately these bombs will not urge the international community to make a serious move. Moreover, the international community will not even issue a resolution condemning Assad.

Allow me to describe Lavrov as the advocate for the Syrian regime. For sure that even if he sees the dead bodies and victims of these bombs, he will still defend the Syrian regime, saying that the bombs are not from Syria and it is impossible for the regime to use such weapons!

In another topic, it seems to us that Turkey has subsided in its enthusiasm to eliminate the Assad regime. For this, Turkey started to make diplomatic calls for a truce. We should not be surprised in the coming days if Turkey invites the Syrian regime and the opposition for discussions in Ankara. Furthermore, Turkey might also expel the Syrian opposition from its territory. Of course, in this case Assad will stop supporting the Turkish opposition, which significantly increased its attacks on the Turkish army.

After the failure of Assad to export the crisis of his country to Turkey, certainly he will succeed to transfer it to Lebanon, where Hezbollah has a large and strong presence. Virtually, the Lebanese government is weak and still considers itself part of the Syrian regime. For this, what happened today on the Syrian-Lebanese border was a strong message from the Syrian regime to the international community that the violence in Syria will spread in the entire region.

I expect that even if the violence spreads in Lebanon, there will be no international interference as long as the border with Israel is safe. The international community, including the United States, will act only to protect Israel; otherwise it’s not of their interest if everybody else in the region goes to hell!

Sources:

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/afp/syria-drops-cluster-bombs-on-maaret-al-numan-rebels/551273

http://www.afp.com/en/news/topstories/syria-drops-cluster-bombs-maaret-al-numan-rebels

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/10/19/244669.htm