Syria Feature: The Young Men from Ireland Who Fight --- and Die --- with the Insurgency (Fitzgerald)

Hudhaifa ElsayedThe family of 22-year-old Hudhaifa ElSayed, from Donacarney in Drogheda, who was shot dead by regime forces in northern Syria in December, knew exactly what he was doing.

ElSayed did not leave Drogheda with the aim of becoming a rebel fighter in Syria. After attending a conference in Turkey last April, he volunteered to work with Syrian refugees in the country. Several weeks later, he decided he wanted to do more.

“I see my life as being about three things: searching for the truth; defending the weak against injustice and the oppressors; and helping to build peace in the world,” he said, as we watched hundreds of anti-regime protesters gather after Friday prayers. “The battle here in Syria combines all three.”

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Syria Live Coverage: Opposition Boycotts International Talks Over Aleppo Deaths

See also Iran Analysis: A Revolutionary Guard Commander is Killed in Syria --- What It Means for Tehran and the Middle East
Syria 1st-Hand: Burning Army Boots to Stay Warm in Aleppo
Mali (and Beyond) Live Coverage: At Least 78 Killed in Fighting in North
Friday's Syria Live Coverage: At Least 53 Killed by Bombs in Damascus

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1820 GMT: Regime Attacks. Shelling in the Jobar section of Damascus:

1630 GMT: Casualties. The Local Coordination Committees report 95 people killed, including 32 children and eight women.

Of the deaths, 59 were in Aleppo Province and 17 in Damascus and its suburbs.

The relatively high number of children and women slain and the proportion in Aleppo Province probably reflect escalating regime rocket and missile attacks which have hit civilian housing.

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