Moon of Alabma (US)
There is a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Syria and the “western” media ignore it.

On December 22 al-Qaeda aligned Takfiris in the Wadi Barada valley
shut down the main water supply for the Syrian capital Damascus. Since
then the city and some 5-6 million living in and around it have to
survive on emergency water distributions by the Syrian government. That
is barely enough for people to drink – no washing, no showers and no
water dependent production is possible.

This shut down is part of a wider, seemingly coordinated strategy to
deprive all government held areas of utility supplies. Two days ago the
Islamic State shut down a major water intake for Aleppo from the
Euphrates. High voltage electricity masts on lines feeding Damascus have
been destroyed and repair teams, unlike before, denied access. Gas
supplies to parts of Damascus are also cut. A similar tactic was used
by the Zionist terrorists of the Haganah who in 1947/48 poisoned and
blew up the water mains and oil pipelines to Palestinian Haifa.

Wadi Barada is a river valley some 10 miles west of Damascus at the
mountain range between Lebanon and Syria. It has been in the hands of
local insurgents since 2012. The area was since loosely surrounded by
Syrian government forces and their allies from Hizbullah.

Two springs in the area provide the water for Damascus which is
treated locally and then pumped through pipelines into the city’s
distribution network. Since the early 1990s there is a low level conflict
over the water diversion of the Barada river valley to the ever growing
Damascus. The drought over the last years has intensified the problems.
Local agriculture of the water rich valley had to cut back for lack of
water as this was pumped into the city. But many families from the
valley moved themselves into the city or have relatives living there.

The local rebels had kept the water running for the city. Al-Qaeda
aligned groups have been in the area for some time. A propaganda video
distributed by them and taken in the area showed (pic) the choreographed mass execution of Syrian government soldiers.

After the eastern part of the city of Aleppo was liberated by Syrian
government forces, the local rebels and inhabitants in the Barada river
valley were willing to reconcile with the Syrian government. But the
al-Qaeda Takfiris disagreed and took over. The area is since under full
al-Qaeda control and thereby outside of the recent ceasefire agreement.

On December 22 the water supply to Damascus was suddenly contaminated
with diesel fuel and no longer consumable. A day later Syrian
government forces started an operation to regain the area and to
reconstitute the water supplies.

Photos and a video on social media (since inaccessible but I saw them
when they appeared) showed the water treatment facility rigged with
explosives. On Dec 27th the facility was blown up and partly destroyed.

Suddenly new organized “civil” media operations
of, allegedly, locals in the area spread misinformation to “western”
media. “There are 100,000 civilians under siege in Wadi Barada!” In
reality the whole area once had, according to the last peacetime census,
some 20,000 inhabitants. The White Helmets propaganda organization now
also claims to be in the area. “The government had bombed the water treatment facility,” the propaganda groups claimed.

That is a. not plausible and b. inconsistent with the pictures
of the destroyed facility. These show a collapse of the main support
booms of the roof but no shrapnel impact at all. A bomb breaking through
the roof and exploding would surely have left pocket marks all over the
place. The damage, in my judgement, occurred from well designed,
controlled explosions inside the facility.

Some insurgents posted pictures of themselves proudly standing within the destroyed facility and making victory signs.

source bigger

There is more such cheer-leading by insurgents on social media. Why when they claim that the government bombed the place?

On December 29 the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs issued an alarm about the water crisis:

The United Nations is alarmed that four million inhabitants
in Damascus and surrounding areas have been cut off from the main water
supply since 22 December. Two primary sources of drinking water- Wadi
Barada and Ain-el-Fijah-which provide clean and safe water for 70
percent of the population in and around Damascus are not functioning,
due to deliberate targeting resulting in the damaged infrastructure.

One of the two springs, Al-Feejeh, has now been retaken by the Syrian
army. 1,300 civilians from Ain AlFeejeh, the nearby town with the
treatment facility, have fled to the government held areas and were taken in
by the Syrian Red Cross. The other spring and the treatment facility
are still in Takfiri hands. The government has said that it will need
some ten days to repair the system after the Syrian army has gained
control of the facilities. That will still take some time.

Western media have hardly taken notice of the water crisis in
Damascus and their coverage seems to actively avoid it. A search for
Barada on the Washington Post website brings up one original piece from December 30 about the freshly negotiated ceasefire. The 6th paragraph says:

Airstrikes pounded opposition-held villages and towns in the
strategically-important Barada Valley outside Damascus, activists said,
prompting rebels to threaten to withdraw their compliance with a
nationwide truce brokered by Russia and Turkey last week.

Then follow 16 paragraphs on other issues. Only at the very end of the piece comes this (mis-)information:

The Barada Valley is the primary source of water for the
capital and its surrounding region. The government assault has coincided
with a severe water shortage in Damascus since Dec. 22. Images from the
valley’s Media Center indicate its Ain al-Fijeh spring and water
processing facility have been destroyed in airstrikes. The government
says rebels spoiled the water source with diesel fuel, forcing it to cut
supplies to the capital.

On December 29 a piece  by main WaPo anti-Syria propagandist Liz Sly did not mention the water crisis or the Barada valley at all.

The New York Times links a Reuters pieces about the UN alarm about
the water crisis. But I find nothing in its own reporting that even
mentions the water crisis. One piece on December 31 refers shortly to attacks on Wadi Baradi by government forces at its very end.

A Guardian search for Barada only comes up with a piece
from today mixed from agency reports. The headlines say “Hundreds of
Syrians flee as Assad’s forces bomb Barada valley rebels”. The piece
itself says that they flee to the government side.  In it the Syrian
Observatory (MI-6) operation in Britain confirms that al-Qaeda rules the
area which “Civil society organisations on the ground” deny. Only the
very last of the 12 paragraph piece mentions the capital:

The Barada valley is the primary source of water for the
capital and its surrounding region. The government assault has coincided
with a severe water shortage in Damascus since 22 December. The
government says rebels spoiled the water source with diesel fuel,
forcing it to cut supplies to the capital.

Surely a few people “fleeing” (to the government side) “as Assad’s
forces bombs” are way more important than 5 million people in Damascus
without access to water. That the treatment facility is destroyed seems
also unimportant.

All the above papers have been extremely concerned about every
scratch to any propaganda pimp who had claimed to be in then rebel held
east-Aleppo. They now show no concern at all for 5 million Syrians in
Damascus who have been without water for 10 days and will likely be so
for the rest of the month.