Syria: fatwa allows the hungry to eat cats and dogs

 Muslims throughout the world have been marking Eid al-Adha, but in war-torn Syria there is nothing to celebrate. Most people are struggling to meet the most basic of needs: food, water, and shelter.

Their plight has been highlighted by Arabic media reports which cite a fatwa, or religious ruling, by a local imam which allowed people who are desperately hungry to eat dogs and cats.

Eating dog, cat or donkey is forbidden under Islamic dietary laws.

The imam in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in the capital, Damascus, reportedly said at a mosque Friday that dog, cat and donkey meat could be eaten "after reaching a desperate need and the stores of food were inadequate to feed the population under the siege."

Yarmouk has been besieged for months by Syrian government forces seeking to flush out rebel fighters.

During the Eid al-Adha holiday, considered one of Islam's most revered observances, many Muslims around the world sacrifice a sheep and share the meat with the poor. It corresponds with the height of the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia that annually draws 2 million Muslims.

A YouTube video posted Monday purports to show a group of religious leaders outside Damascus issuing a fatwa permitting the eating of cats, kittens, donkeys, and animals killed in shelling.

The man reading the statement appeals to the world, and particularly to Muslims who are completing the Hajj pilgrimage, to think of the Syrian children "dying of hunger" while their stomachs are full.

"How can't they just stand for us, for our children?" the sheikh asks. "Do they want us to get to the point when we are forced to eat the flesh of our dead martyrs and our beloved just to survive?"

CNN cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the video.

'We are living in despair'

At the Atmeh refugee camp in Idlib province in northern Syria, some refugees set up improvised vendor stands for the celebration -- but few people could afford to shop at them.

One mother, Suad Zein, said: "Before the crisis, during Eid, we used to go to the shops and buy items, we were happy. Eid was a wonderful holiday here. Now these days I can't even buy my boy a pair of trousers, or shoes, or even a loaf of bread.

"I have eight children. I can't support them all. We are living in despair."

Another woman said, "We are not celebrating Eid. We have nothing for Eid, we have nothing to celebrate. We used to celebrate with food, drink, desserts. We used to make pastries. ... Now there's nothing."

Some refugees in Aleppo, Syria, are more fortunate. A benefactor has donated sheep for the traditional animal sacrifice, which will be slaughtered and distributed among families in need, a man in charge of the slaughter said.

The U.N. food agency, the World Food Programme, warned last month that the violence in Syria was making it hard for aid to get through to those in need. Its assessments indicate some 4 million people in the country are unable to produce or buy enough food.

Eid al-Adha commemorates when God appeared to Abraham -- known as Ibrahim to Muslims -- in a dream and asked him to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience. As Abraham was about to perform the sacrifice, God stopped him and gave him a sheep to kill in place of his son. A version of the story also appears in the Torah and in the Bible's Old Testament.

The four-day celebration is also known as the Feast of Sacrifice, or Greater Eid. It is the longer of two Eid holidays observed by Muslims. Eid al-Fitr, or Little Eid, follows the conclusion of the holy month of Ramadan.

Asma al-Assad makes rare appearance

A rare interview with Asma al-Assad, wife of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, aired Tuesday on Syrian state TV, showing her as she visited the Daughters of Martyrs' school in Damascus.

The first lady, wearing a gray sweater with the Syrian flag in the center, is shown being greeted by applause from dozens of Syrian girls and planting olive trees with them.

The olive tree is a symbol of giving and peace, she says, as well as "a symbol of life and endurance, those who sacrificed and are sacrificing for this homeland are doing that for us so we can live and prosper in this land."

The interviewer asks Asma al-Assad, who lived in Britain before her marriage to Syria's president, about past rumors that she had left the war-torn country for Russia, Lebanon or Britain.

Smiling, she replies, "I am here, I exist here. My husband and my children are present here in Syria. It is quite rational for me to be here with them. And just like the majority of the Syrians, I was raised to love the homeland and I grew up with that notion that wherever I'd travel or lived before, and no matter how long people stay away, there is nothing more precious than the homeland."

The first lady has also been a star of the recently establishedInstagram account of the Syrian presidency, where she is usually seen smiling, showing off her volunteer work and attending social events with her husband.

Activists: Truck carrying civilians hit

Syria's descent into civil war began in March 2011, when Bashar al-Assad's regime forcefully cracked down on peaceful anti-government protesters.

That conflict spiraled into an armed uprising and a crisis that the United Nations says has claimed more than 100,000 lives.

At least 21 people died when their truck was hit by an explosive device in southern Syria, opposition activists said Wednesday.

Four children and six women were among the fatalities in the blast in Daraa, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The truck carrying civilians was hit as it passed through an area controlled by troops loyal to the Syrian government, according to the group. Government officials did not immediately respond to the allegations.

On Tuesday, 41 people were killed in clashes between a Kurdish faction and Islamist fighters, among them members of the al-Nusra Front and the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, known as ISIS, the Syrian Observatory said.

The fighting broke out in and around Tal Alo village, in eastern Hasaka province in northern Syria, near the border with Iraq, it said.

Meanwhile, the Turkish army has reinforced its positions near a strategic border gate between Turkey and opposition-controlled northern Syria, where ISIS fighters have been active. Last month, ISIS fighters pushed more moderate Syrian rebels out of the nearby Syrian town of Azaz.

Weapons inspectors

As the civil war rages on, international inspectors continue their mission to inventory and eliminate Syria's entire chemical weapons arsenal.

Experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, supported by the United Nations, have now conducted verification activities at 11 sites identified by Syrian authorities, the OPCW said Wednesday.

They have overseen the destruction of "critical equipment" at six sites, as well as the destruction of some unloaded chemical weapons munitions, it said.

On Monday, Syria became formally bound by the international treaty banning chemical arms, the Chemical Weapons Convention, which is implemented by the OPCW.

An advance team of OPCW inspectors entered the country on October 1. The joint mission is tasked by a U.N. Security Council resolution with eliminating all chemical weapons in the country by mid-2014.

(CNN)