Opposition Commander Threatens Syria Regime

The commander of the Syrian opposition's Islamic Front has threatened to strike the Syrian regime positions in Damascus with Katyusha rockets, if the regime planes continue bombing capital's East Ghouta district.



"We have given time to the regime until Sunday to stop the attacks," Sheikh Zahran Alloush, leader of Jaysh al-Islam and military commander of Islamic Front, tweeted on Saturday.



"If the attacks continue, we will strike the Assad regime positions in the capital with tens of missiles," he said, adding: "The warplanes are killing our people in East Ghouta district every day."



Alloush called on Syrian citizens in capital not to leave unless necessary.



The Katyusha was originally a World War II-era Soviet rocket, globalsecurity.org says.  



"References now to the Katyusha mean not just one type of rocket, but a whole range of different artillery rockets, whether from old Soviet or other-nation stock, most frequently the 122mm rocket," it says.



More than 190,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict between the Assad regime and opposition forces began in early 2011, according to U.N. figures published in August 2014.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Ankara