and wounded people to be evacuated from the besieged city. On 11 January 2013, it was reported that the government controlled the neighborhoods of Al Qussour and Joura (north west) and was shelling the neighborhoods of Alwrdi, Al-Jabaile, and Ar Rushdia (south east). On 29 January 2013, rebels captured the important Siyasiyeh bridge (and another smaller bridge) on the Euphrates river in Deir ez-Zor which connects Deir ez-Zor to Hasakah, after clashes with the Syrian Army. SOHR director, Rami Abdel Rahman claimed that "Siyasiyeh bridge is the most important in the area as it connects Deir ez-Zor to Hasakah. Its capture means that army supplies to Hasakah will be nearly completely severed." and that also "These gains in Deir ez-Zor are very important because this strategic city is the gateway to a region rich in oil and gas resources. If the rebels continue to progress and gain control of what is left of military-held posts, the Pioneers camp and Deir ez-Zor military airport, it will be the first major city to fall into the hands of the rebels." Elsewhere in Deir ez-Zor, activists claimed that rebels had also taken control of a government intelligence complex after five days of heavy fighting, with assistance from Islamist fighters. SOHR claimed that the rebels had taken control of the government complex, including the prison, from which they have freed at least eleven opposition figures. LCC also reported that the rebels captured a tank and three armored personnel carriers. From January to April 2013, there were clashes between the FSA and Syrian Army forces around the political police building in Hawiqa neighborhood. On 22 February, Free Syrian Army fighters captured a nuclear research facility in Al Kibar from the Syrian Army. The nuclear research facility was the same one which was attacked by an Israeli airstrike back in 2007. On 2 May 2013 the Deir ez-Zor suspension bridge, built during the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon period (1920−1941), was destroyed by shelling from the Free Syrian Army. That left the Siyasiyeh Bridge as the only connection across the Euphrates to the western section of Deir ez-Zor and the province of Hasakah, until its destruction in 2014. On 6 May, the Free Syrian Army shot down a SAA helicopter and killed eight government soldiers near Deir ez-Zor military airport. June 2013 Hatla massacre On 10 June, Shia pro-government fighters from the village of Hatla,