Syria Live Coverage: A "Humanitarian Tragedy"

2120 GMT: Jet Shot Down in Damascus? All day we've been tracking reports of a jet shot down in Damascus. The only problem is that it's unclear a jet ever crashed. However, a reader, Amir, finds this video. Much of it is a collection of videos from today that we have seen. The clip we had not seen is at about the 2:30 mark, when an explosion on the horizon, followed my a smoke cloud, reportedly shows the moment the jet crashed.

We're still not 100% sure what happened, though there are plenty of rumors that the pilot, a Russian, has been captured. We'd treat this as straight rumor until a video is released.

2105 GMT: Battle for Ashrafiyeh District of Aleppo. The rebels have set their sights on another district in norther-central in Aleppo, the Ashrafiyeh District. A microblogger finds several videos, including the one below which appear to show rebels firing mortars at Assad positions from the nearby railway (map):

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Syria Live Coverage: "Assad Must Be Held Accountable for His Crimes"

Mass anti-regime protest in the Saqba area of Damascus on Friday

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2100 GMT: Blackout. Electricity has been cut in the capital tonight --- the BBC's Lina Sinjab reports:

Black out in #Damascus power shut down almost all over the city. Was planning to read a book :-(

— Lina Sinjab (@BBCLinaSinjab) February 16, 2013

As ever social life in #Damascus is what keeps us going within minutes friends nearby gather on candle light and laugh despite darkness

— Lina Sinjab (@BBCLinaSinjab) February 16, 2013

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Syria Live Coverage: Fighting Escalates Near Damascus

A regime tank fires from a main highway into Jobar, near Damascus

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1930 GMT: Car Bombs. Footage has been posted of the aftermath of today's explosions at the Turkish border, with smoke rising and victims screaming.

1800 GMT: Negotiations. Ali Haidar, the Minister for National Reconciliation, has told a British journalist, "I am willing to meet [head of opposition National Moaz] al-Khatib in any foreign city where I can go in order to discuss preparations for a national dialogue."

Al-Khatib said earlier this month that he will enter discussions with the Assad regime if it meets conditions such as the release of political prisoners.

Haidar, without making commitments, said the discussion could lead to political reforms:

The dialogue is a means to provide a mechanism for reaching free parliamentary and presidential elections. This is one of the subjects which will be discussed at the table. Such a thing could be the result of negotiations, but not a precondition.

We reject a dialogue that is just to hand power from one side to another.

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Syria Live Coverage: The Fight in Daraa Province

Fighting in Daraa city on Tuesday

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Tuesday's Syria Live Coverage: Minister of Defense "We Cannot Be Broken"

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2200 GMT: Intense Fight in Damascus. Today's fighting near Jobar in northeast Damascus was intense. At the height of the battle, incoming artillery and mortar shells lit large parts of the city on fire, however, it is unclear who was firing what. What we do know is that by nightfall there was still fighting in parts of Damascus, and the battle lines, at least for the moment, have changed considerably.

A Syrian microblogger has collected dozens of videos of the fighting in a post. This video reportedly shows the early stages of the battle for the the Harmala checkpoint:

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Syria Live Coverage: Minister of Defense "We Cannot Be Broken"

2129 GMT: More Foreign Weapons - Now Near Damascus. All day we've been discussing the fresh infusion of arms in Daraa from foreign countries, many of which are now moving northwards. In updates below, we've directly tied the sighting of these weapons to a sudden surge in rebel offensives and victories in Daraa province, including now Daraa city itself. However, in the last two weeks we've also seen a new offensive for the Damascus airport, one that has penetrated deeper than we've previously seen. Today, this video was uploaded, reportedly showing an attack on Assad military positions near the airport. In the video, two RPGs can be seen. The far one looks like an RPG-7 with an OG-7 anti-personnel warhead (described here). But the closest one is, according to our own analysis and that of Eliot Higgins, an RPG-22 disposable antitank weapon. As Eliot had previously pointed out (see links above), these aren't in the Syrian military's arsenal - but they are in Croatia's.

In other words, everywhere these weapons are showing up there is a surge in rebel offensives - relatively successful rebel offenses. Eliot also points out something else. All these videos appear to show this equipment in the hands of Free Syrian Army units, not the more extreme or independent groups. This also adds to the theory that a foreign supplier is providing these weapons, as it has helped the FSA gain ground faster, before Jabhat al Nusra or other groups take control.

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Syria Live Coverage: After the Diplomacy, More Shelling and Deaths

1613 GMT: Opposition Talks May Be Falling Apart. Over the weekend, opposition leader Moaz al-Khatib, head of the Syrian National Coalition, held talks with the US, the UN, and Russia, where he offered to negotiate with the Assad regime on the condition that Assad is not part of any transitional government. Al Khatib's goal in the talks was to find a solution that would "help the regime leave peacefully." Now, he says, the ball is in Assad's court:

"The regime must take a clear stand [on dialogue] and we say we will extend our hand for the interest of people and to help the regime leave peacefully," he said. "It is now in the hands of the regime."

Al-Khatib said that his initiative was "humanitarian" in order to save Syrian lives and what remains of the country's infrastructure after nearly two years of conflict.

"The big powers have no vision [for a solution] ... Only the Syrian people can decide on the solution."

Khatib faces three major challenges, all of which could unravel the efforts to end the crisis. The first, and arguably most important, is that the Assad regime has not responded to the call to negotiate, and has failed to abide by any other deals it has made in the past. All previous statements have suggested that President Bashar al Assad will not leave his government, the regime will not stop its military campaign against "terrorists," a label for all the rebels (and peaceful protesters) who have resisted Assad rule, and the opposition has no legitimacy.

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Syria Live Coverage: Diplomatic Breakthrough? Opposition Leader Meets Russia & Iran Foreign Ministers

Claimed footage of the moment that a mortar strike killed three activists in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta

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1926 GMT: Casualties. Claimed footage from the al-Ansari section of Aleppo of men digging for survivors in a collapsed building, reportedly struck by a by regime shelling:

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Syria Live Coverage: Aid Reaches an Opposition-Held Town

European officials visit Azaz on Friday

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Friday's Syria Live Coverage: Fighting in and Near Damascus

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1729 GMT: Iran Visit. State media carries a claimed quote from Saeed Jalili, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, after his meeting today with President Assad: "We will give all our support so that Syria remains firm and able to face all the arrogant (Western) conspiracies/>[? >[?"The Israeli aggression and arrogant international forces have tried to take revenge by attacking the resisting Syrian people."

1708 GMT: Russia and the Opposition. Moaz al-Khatib, the head of the opposition National Coalition, says he has met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

Al-Khatib said he had received a "clear invitation" to go to Moscow for talks: "Russia has a certain vision but we welcome negotiations to alleviate the crisis and there are lots of details that need to be discussed."

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Syria Live Coverage: Fighting in and Near Damascus

Britain Channel 4's Jonathan Miller on the flight of a group of Syrians to Jordan

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2215 GMT: Where is the Aid Money Going? Al Jazeera's James Bays reports:

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Syria Live Coverage: The Battle for Idlib Begins?

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Opposition Commander Ayachi Abdel Rahman2136 GMT: Casualties. The Local Coordination Committees claim 92 people were killed today, including 27 in Aleppo Province and 24 in Damascus and its suburbs.

1946 GMT: Russian Evacuation. Moscow is sending two planes to Lebanon to evacuate more than 100 Russians from Syria.

The Emergency Situations Ministry said the planes would fly to Beirut on Tuesday to carry more than 100 Russians from Syria.

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