Assad’s Forces Raid on Village Leaves Dozens Dead

Syrian opposition reported that Assad’s security forces and loyal militia groups have laid waste to the coastal village of al-Baida on Thursday, leaving about 50 to 100 people dead, including women and child.

While there are conflicting reports about the incident, there were indications that the raid was a response to an attack on a busload of ‘Shabiha’, pro-Assad fighters, by rebels a few hour earlier, which led to the death of at least six people and dozens injured.

According to government-run SANA news agency, Assad’s forces killed “terrorists” (a term his regime used to describe the rebels) and seized arms.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll would likely increase beyond 100, as most of the victims appeared have been “summarily executed” by either shots or stabbings.

Earlier in the day at a news conference, US defence secretary, Chuck Hagel and his British counterpart, Philip Hammond, were responding to reporters’ questions about the possibility of the US government arming the rebels.

Hagel replied in the affirmative, but added that he is in favour of exploring options and seeing what is the best option in coordination with his government’s international partners.

This incident comes at a time when Syrian mediator, Lakhdar Brahimi, has considered resigning from the U.N.-Arab League role over his frustration of being in a situation in which no further progress has been reached to end Syria’s two-year civil war that has caused the deaths of thousands.

According to diplomats speaking on the condition of anonymity, Brahimi felt that the decision to recognize Syria’s opposition by the Arab league is one-sided and can belittle his neutrality.

At the moment, UN chief Ban Ki-Moon and ambassadors from the United States, Britain, Russia, China and France held a meeting on Thursday to deal with the Syrian situation in light of a possible resignation from Brahimi.

Bangladesh Building Collapse Leaves Dozens Dead and Several Others Trapped

Bangladesh media outlets and government officials reported that an eight-storey building on the outskirts of Dhaka collapsed a few hours ago killing dozens of people instantly, with an unknown number of others feared dead in Bangladesh.

Hiralal Roy, a senior emergency ward doctor at the nearby Enam Hospital, said that the death toll is now 82. So far, at least 700 people have also been treated at the hospital where victims are being transferred.

While hundreds of people are still trapped in the rubble, a massive rescue mission is underway, according to the officials on Wednesday.

The 8-storey building, which housed several government factories, collapsed on Wednesday morning in Savar, a Dhaka suburb. The incident, which is the latest in a series of mishaps, came only five months after a Tazreen Fashions factory fire burnt alive at least 112 government workers.

An Al Jazeera correspondent in Bangladesh described the scene as one of ‘complete mayhem and chaos.’ Hundreds of people are trapped under the rubble and are still being pulled out.

She also said, ‘the army has taken over rescuing people from the disaster. The army, police, and volunteers are working collectively to pull people out of the rubble.’

‘The situation was disastrous and at least 100 people are feared trapped’, Local police chief M Asaduzzaman said.

The accident has raised unanswered questions about the safety conditions in Bangladesh, because workers revealed at the media outlets that they had been forced to come to work by the supervisors on Wednesday, even when cracks were clearly visible in the building on the previous day.

Critics have constantly blamed the Bangladesh government, factory owners and global brands for paying no attention to the protection and safe working conditions of workers, while less is being said about the little wage they are being paid.

Labor unions are close to being extinct inside these factories. The unsolved death of Aminul Islam, a labor organizer who was tortured and killed, remains a mystery.