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A NATIONWIDE TRUCE across Syria brokered by Russia and Turkey came into force at midnight, and largely held overnight despite minor incidents.
However, heavy fighting has been witnessed this morning between Syrian government forces and opposition fighters not covered by the ceasefire in an area outside Damascus, a monitor said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was not clear who had started the clashes in the Wadi Barada region.
“Clashes erupted and are continuing… in Wadi Barada near Damascus, with helicopters firing on positions belonging to the opposition and Fateh al-Sham Front,” Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Al-Nusra Front
Fateh al-Sham Front is the former Al-Qaeda affiliate previously known as Al-Nusra Front, which Syria’s government said was excluded from the truce.
The complicated nuances of the truce are evident from a Reuters report which quotes rebel officials as saying that Fateh al-Sham were previously due to be included in the ceasefire.
Syria’s opposition however have said they understood the truce to apply to all of Syria, including areas where Fateh al-Sham is present.
Abdel Rahman said the clashes were a “violation of the truce, but it is not clear which party is responsible for starting it”.
A resident of the area confirmed to AFP that he could hear heavy shelling on Friday morning.
Syria’s government says rebels in Wadi Barada, northwest of the capital, deliberately targeted water infrastructure that supplies the capital last week.
The damage in Wadi Barada and neighbouring Ain al-Fijeh has created severe water shortages in Damascus.
The UN said Thursday that four million people in Damascus and surrounding suburbs were now without water.
“People around Damascus have been without access to water in their homes for more than a week and are having to purchase water from private vendors, where prices and water quality are unregulated,” the UN said.
The Observatory said rebels targeted the water facilities in response to stepped up regime strikes on the area as the government tries to impose a “reconciliation deal” on the region.
Over the past five months alone, such agreements have seen at least six towns around Damascus evacuated, with rebels, their families and other civilians bused to other opposition-held areas in northern Syria.
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He looks nothing like Liam Neeson!
Should this not have been state property since it was made ?
Not if it was made by his family.
And was it ?
Jaysus I couldn’t tell you, but I would imagine so if his grand-niece had it.
There was no autopsy or coronial inquiry so it could only have been made by his family.
A true Irish hero
Poignant and creepy at the same time.
WTF is a death mask?
It’s a quaint little British execution ritual that was practical in the days before cameras, but was continued even after the advent of cameras, and which former British colonies such as Malaysia and Singapore still do today. When someone is executed, and as only a handful of officials are allowed to be present, a plaster cast of the executed persons face is made postmortem as proof that they had been executed, and could then be publicly displayed. I don’t know why one would have been made of Collins.
Would love to have seen it go to Collin’s barracks in Cork.
Yes he was a true son of Cork, until ye shot him.
@ Brian , that was sheer brilliance
Dev’s crowd shot him !
Lol, Brian :)
They should leave us at least keep the bullet then.
…but they were still from Cork!
A true irish warrior.alot of lives could of been saved had he not been killed
ffs gimme a break,what about having some respect for people who had a profound impact on our history without being so flippant,can’t you people take sometime out and be more informed,I hate stupid comments
Won’t be queuing up to see that, not even if it was Elvis’s!!
Free world is great! You actually don’t have too!
Dev set him up. COLLINS knew he signed his death warrant when he signed the treaty. He also knew the orange thugs of Carson et Al were armed to the teeth , British officers in Kildale were allowed not to engage loyalists forces and the blood thirsty Churchill made it very clear to Collins that not signing the treaty would result in huge deaths, mainly Catholic. It was a stepping stone and De Velera is no hero of mine. Using collins as a scapegoat. He only escaped execution in 1916 because he was American.
Michael Collins true Irish hero.
God rest him.
My daughters in the background pic
Béal na mBláth not Béal Na mBláth.
A hero……..also a ‘terrorist’ if he existed today. Just read the laws brought in recently. Red thumb this comment away but you know its true. This govt who lay wreaths at his grave, would all be screaming for his arrest. Because traitors wouldnt be around long if he was here.
Cop on. Terrorists . FFS. He got rid of the British terrorists and if that means shooting black and tans and the Cairo gang then that makes him a liberator of Ireland from British rule. War is not meant to be nice.
did you not get what i meant you complete idiot. Im highlighting the hypocracy of our govt who call him a hero while doing being complete traitors to this country. Are you one of those thickos who think loosing our soveignity is fine unless its to the british?
It wasn’t presented by Collins’ nieces, it was acquired for the visitor’s centre by Private Noel McDonnell. Helen Collins and Mary Claire O’Malley were just there to view it on the day.
Anybody care to explain WTF a death mask is?
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