Panic after a fuel truck was blown up in Azaz, northern Syria today
It has been confirmed that at least 48 people died earlier today as the result of a fuel truck exploding in Azaz.
Azaz has been on the ISIL wish-list for years.
Nobody has taken responsibility for the blast as yet.
Red Marker shows the location of Wadi Barada
Meanwhile …
Damascus’s water supply has been contaminated with diesel fuel rendering it undrinkable.
According to Al Jazeera, The United Nations has warned that sabotaging water supplies is a war crime after the main source for Syria’s capital was cut, leaving 5.5 million people facing shortages. President Assad has moved to bring in tankers to provide short-term respite.
The Syrian Army has been trying to gain access to the water supply point in the valley of Wadi Barada but was thwarted by al-Quaida/Nusra Front. It is reported that the facility has since been blown up, further hampering restoration of supply.
The Nusra Front (aka Jabhat al-Nusra or Jabhat Fateh al-Sham) is the local al-Quaida affiliate.
It will be interesting to see what The New York Times reports about this. Nicholas Kristof, one of their “correspondents” has an uneasy way of endorsing the White Helmets propaganda machine.
Unfortunately, the machine might bite back. My next story on Syria will look more deeply into the forces at play in Syria and the Syrian debate. Can we resuscitate this first casualty … at least in some way?
Edward Bryans 