Syria Violence: Gunmen Attack Pro-Government TV Station, Kill 3 Employees

Syria's president Bashar Assad told his cabinet Syria finds itself in 'a real state of war.' "We live in a real state of war from all angles," Assad said according to Reuters. "When we are in a war, all policies and all sides and all sectors need to be directed at winning this war."

In a separate meeting, Assad reacted defiant against Turkish warnings after Damascus downed a Turkish airplane. "Our rational response should not be perceived as weakness, our mild manners do not mean we are a tame lamb," Assad told told a meeting of his parliamentary party. "Everybody should know that Turkey's wrath is just as strong and devastating as its friendship is valuable," he added.

Read more on HuffPost World.

Amnesty International reports the charred, mutilated bodies of 3 young medical workers have been found, days after their arrest in the city of Aleppo.

The medical workers were part of a team of doctors, nurses and first-aiders who had been providing life-saving medical treatment in makeshift "field hospitals" set up to treat demonstrators shot by security forces who could not go to state-run hospitals for fear of being arrested, tortured or even killed.

Three men were students at Aleppo University ? Basel Aslan and Mus'ab Barad were fourth-year medical students and Hazem Batikh was a second-year English literature student and a first-aid medic. A fourth charred corpse found with the men has yet to be identified.

Read more in Amnesty's press release.

This amateur video posted to YouTube purports to show a Syrian army helicopter downed by rebel forces. The video does not locate the helicopter. (Video could not independently be verified.)

Aid workers from the International Red Cross have launched a new attempt to reach the city of Homs, days after the organization announced it had been forced to retreat after a group of aid workers heard shooting as they entered the city. "The team will be making necessary contacts to ensure safe access and evacuate civilians who wish to leave, and to bring in assistance," ICRC spokesman Bijan Farnoudi told Reuters. "We cannot foresee when the team will be able to do so."

The ICRC has been pleaded for access to the embattled city for weeks, to evacuate thousands of civilians who are trapped in fighting between the Syrian army and opposition forces.

NATO condemned Syria over the downing of a Turkish plane last Friday, Reuters reports. NATO issued a warning against Damascus, but avoided threatening with action.

"The security of the alliance is indivisible, we stand together with Turkey in the spirit of strong solidarity," NATO Secretary-General Rasmussen said. "We consider this act to be unacceptable and condemn it in the strongest terms."

The UN is considering downsizing its observer mission in Syria, Reuters learnt. UN peacekeeping chief Ladsous and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon will brief the UN on the mission on July 2, and are expected to make recommendations on how the mission should proceed. "With violence increasing, the most likely option for the United Nations is to reduce or eliminate the (unarmed) m ilitary component of UNSMIS (U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria) while keeping a civilian component in place as a kind of liaison operation," a senior Western envoy told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Read more on HuffPost World.

The electrical supply merchant had barely arrived for work when the day's troubles began: Residents were complaining of fuel shortages, rebels had detained teenagers accused of robbing the high school and ? most alarmingly ? Shiite gunmen from a nearby village had kidnapped five Sunnis.

By mid-morning, a dozen men pensively sipped tea in Yasser Mamaar's shop, hoping the head of their town's revolutionary council would know what to do.

Puffing on a cigarette in a long, brown holder, the short, wrinkled, 55-year-old in a gray robe and matching sport coat made calls on an old green phone to find the missing men.

Ben Hubbard reports from Syria for the Associated Press. Read the full account on HuffPost World.

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