News / Middle East

Syrian Clashes Leave Residents Without Water

In this Friday, Sept 7, 2012 photo, Free Syrian Army fighters run after attacking a Syrian Army tank during fighting in the Izaa district in Aleppo, Syria.
In this Friday, Sept 7, 2012 photo, Free Syrian Army fighters run after attacking a Syrian Army tank during fighting in the Izaa district in Aleppo, Syria.
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VOA News

Water supplies to residents in the Syrian commercial hub Aleppo were cut on Saturday after a major water pipe was damaged during intense fighting between government forces and rebels.

Opposition activists say the pipeline was hit as Syrian forces shelled rebel targets. Syrian officials accused rebels of sabotage in the incident, which left several communities without water. 

Also Saturday, rockets fired from Syria landed in an Iraqi border town, killing a five-year-old girl. It was unclear who fired the rockets.

Meanwhile, foreign and diplomatic efforts are underway to try to resolve Syria's 18-month-old anti-government crisis, a conflict that has left 20,000 people dead and forced thousands to flee from their homes.

On Saturday, European Union foreign ministers meeting in Cyprus agreed to pursue efforts to increase sanctions against Syria.

Also, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged Syrian opposition groups to collaborate. She said it was important for Syrians to feel they were "part of the future."

The group also pledged cooperation with Lakhdar Brahimi, the new U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria. He is due to discuss Syria's crisis with Arab League officials in Cairo on Sunday.

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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by: Mzahza
September 09, 2012 3:31 AM
This tactic has been used in Libya by NATO and now the proxies of NATO in Syria to try take the will of the people to resist by depriving them of even the basic requirements for living... a war crime, no?


by: Anonymous from: America
September 08, 2012 11:17 PM
The world is watching the slow steady death of the Assad Regime. Assad will never regain the allegiance of the Sunni population which makes up 75% of Syria’s population. Even many Alawis are questioning why they are dying to protect the Assad thieves. The sad part of this saga is that Assad like in Hitler’s last days tries to destroy as much of Syria because he believes that if he can’t have it, nobody will. At the end of this war, the Ba’ath Party must be erased like the Nazi Party, and the criminals that perpetrated these Crimes against Humanity in the name of Assad must be brought to justice. The world must work together to rebuild a Post-Assad Syria so a democracy is formed that is inclusive of all of the Syrian people.