Events have unfolded quickly over the past two days in northern Syria, with reports from the Atlantic Wire of a pair of explosions having killed 52 people at Aleppo University on Tuesday and a Wednesday report from the Associated Press of suicide bombers attacking security targets in Idlib, northern Syria.
Here's the latest news from the Syrian civil war.
Syria's U.N. envoy blames rebels for university attack
Bashar Ja'afari, Syria's U.N. ambassador, said the pair of explosions on Tuesday were "A cowardly terrorist act (that) targeted the students of Aleppo University," according to a Reuters article .
Ja'afari told the U.N. Security Council that "the terrorist armed groups in my country always take advantage of a Security Council meeting to perpetrate a terrorist attack inside Syria and this is indeed what happened today perhaps for the 10th or 20th time since the crisis in my country began."
Rebels disputed the claim, as the Atlantic Wire indicates the bombs were seen falling from the sky, suggesting the attack came from a jet. While that report suggested there were 52 deaths, Ja'afari claimed there were 82 deaths and 162 wounded, while rebels said there had been 83 deaths in the attack.
Car bombs target second northern city
A day after the university attacks, an indeterminate number of suicide attacks in Idlib killed 22 people and wounded another 30, the AP reported. While rebels control the surrounding countryside, the Syrian government still maintains control over the city center. Targets were reported to be Syrian security forces patrolling the city.
Reports of chemical weapons use doubted by White House
Foreign Policy Magazine's The Cable blog suggested that Syria may have used chemical weapons in the city of Homs in December, a report that National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said "has not been consistent with what we believe to be true about the Syrian chemical weapons program," according to a report .
If true, President Barack Obama has opened the possibility for U.S. intervention in the past, calling the use of chemical weapons a "red line."
U.N. representative calls for end to civilian targeting
On Tuesday, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Leila Zerrougui said that more than 20 children had been killed or injured during attacks in the past few days. A press release on the United Nations News Center indicated that the representative was calling for all parties to stop targeting civilians, noting that "the bloodshed in Syria continues and children pay a very high price in the ongoing fighting."
Shawn Humphrey is a former contributor to The Flint Journal and an amateur Africanist, focusing his personal studies on human rights and political issues on the continent.
