Syrian rebels have seized all border crossings to Turkey as well as the control of a post on the Turkish border after security forces posted in the area were pulled back to Damascus to counter a recent spurt in rebel attacks in the capital, according to media reports.
Intense fighting was also reported in Damascus on Thursday, a day after three senior Syrian Defense officials were killed in a bomb attack on the National Security Headquarters building in the capital city.
The three officials killed in Wednesday's bombing were Defense Minister and ex-Chief of Staff Gen. Daoud Rajiha, his deputy and President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law Assef Shawkat and Gen. Hassan Turkomani, head of the regime's crisis team.
Earlier on Thursday, Assad had sworn in armed forces chief Gen. Fahd Jassim al-Furay as the country's new Defense Minster. It was also Assad's first public appearance since Wednesday's bombing, silencing speculations that he might have injured in the suicide bombing.
Also on Thursday, Russia and China used their veto powers as permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) to block a West-backed resolution on Syria. It was the third time in nine months that the two nations vetoed resolutions on Syria.
Thursday's UNSC vote was actually for determining the future of a U.N. observer mission currently deployed in Syria to monitor a previously agreed cease-fire as well as the implementation of a six-point peace plan proposed by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan to end the ongoing violence in the Arab country. Incidentally, the 90-day mandate of the the U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS), established by the UNSC in April, is set to expire on Friday.
Along with seeking extension of the UNSMIS mandate, the resolution vetoed on Thursday had called for imposing sanctions on the Syrian regime under Chapter Seven of the U.N. Charter if it continued its brutal suppression of dissent. In an effort to ensure the continued presence of the observer mission in Syria, the 15-member UNSC has begun talks on a possible compromise resolution in the wake of Thursday's veto.
Russia said later that it vetoed the measure because U.N. Chapter Seven permits "external military involvement in Syrian domestic affairs." China defended its veto by stating that it remains opposed to external interference in the internal matters of other countries.
Nevertheless, the United states and its allies insist that there is no point in extending the mandate of the monitoring mission unless the UNSC authorizes the implementation of tough measures against the Syrian regime if it continues to ignore its commitment to Annan's peace plan.
The plan calls for an end to violence, access for humanitarian agencies to provide relief to those in need, release of detainees, the start of inclusive political dialogue, and unrestricted access to the country for the international media. But Syrian rebel groups rejected the plan, citing continued killing of civilians by government forces as the reason.
The U.N. estimates that more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed and tens of thousands displaced since anti-Assad protests broke out in March 2011. The Opposition, however, claims the actual death toll is closer to 16,000. Notably, the Assad regime continues to blame "armed terrorist gangs" backed by Islamists and foreign mercenaries for the violence.
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