Homs Defiant!

Assad defies the international community as his people continue to defy him.

Saturday August 20, 2011

Assad security forces and army troops stormed several neighborhoods in and around the city of Homs shortly after dawn on Saturday. 12 people were killed on the previous night, 12 in Homs City, and 7 in Palmyra/Tadmor, but that did not stop thousands of protesters from gathering in their local neighborhood and towns demanding an end to Assad regime. Today, helicopters and tanks were reportedly used to bombard the neighborhoods of Baba Amr, Al-Khaldiyeh, Bab Al-Sibaa and Insha’aat, as army troops carried out a raid in the towns of Rastan and Za’faraniyeh. Machinegun fire and shelling continued throughout the day and into the night. 13 people in all were killed in today’s crackdown: 7 in Rastan, including 5 army defectors who seem to have been the target of the raid, and 2 civilians. 5 more were killed in Za’faraniyeh. In Homs City itself, there a dozen wounded, and over 1,000 new refugees are said to have left the province and crossed into Wadi Khalid region in Lebanon as a result, 5 had bullet wounds.

Meanwhile, the crackdown continues in Lattakia City, Deir Ezzor and the Hauran Province, with security forces making dozens of new arrests, and killing one protester in Al-Hraak. In Deir Ezzor, troops raided the village of Mou Hassan, and carried out a mass detention campaign. Elsewhere, 5 shells fired by the Syrian army landed in the areas between the Syrian and Turkish borders, in a new escalation on part of the Assads.

In Damascus, an all-women demonstration took place in Midan, and thousands of people took part in funerals in Douma, Harasta and Rhaibeh suburbs.

In the mixed city of Misyaf, a mass funeral for Muhammad Watfeh, an Alawite recruit in the Republican Guard who was shot by colleagues on Friday for refusing to fire at unarmed protesters in the Damascene suburb of Harasta. Attempts to “hijack” the funeral and transform it into a pro-Assad rally failed repeatedly. Mourners were adamant in their refusal for the official version that Watfah was killed by armed gangs.

UN team arrived in Syria to investigate human rights violations, as Assad plans to address country tomorrow.

Multiple reports by eyewitnesses over last three weeks indicate that a massacre has taken place in Hama Central Prison when security officers took charge of it. People put the death toll at 132. The strange thing is that except for 5 prisoners, none of the inmates were for political purpose or for taking part in the protests. They were all just criminal inmates.

Links

Assault on Syrian city: 'It's a real war'

Sultan Al Qassemi: Turkey and Saudi Arabia: the buildup to Syria

Lee smith: Assad's End

Syria raises tension with Turkey in new border move

President Bashar al-Assad increases military patrols along frontier to dissuade Turkey from intervening in domestic unrest

When will all this nightmare be over? I was asked. Not soon enough unfortunately, and the situation is bound to get even worse, before it gets better. How much more? Some of it depends on Assad says tomorrow, to be specific, on the level of denial he will exhibit. Judging from the man’s past, things are going to take an uglier turn. But this is Syria we are dealing with here, you know, the country that can boast “been there, done that” repeatedly when it comes to going through rough times. No matter how long this transition takes, at the end of day, Syria will emerge stronger and more democratic. Even if the opposition remains defiantly fractious and hopeless.  

Damascus / Al-Rhaibeh: security forces raid a funeral tent ad break up the condolence session http://youtu.be/P1aq3foJU3k

Homs / Al-Za’faraneh: the bodies of the 5 defecting soldiers killed by Assad loyalist troops http://youtu.be/cNSSxWJfu34 The soldiers belonged to a company affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, led by Lt. General Riyad Al-Assad. They were stationed in Al-Za’faraneh to protect the inhabitants of the region, which include Al-Rastan. Other members of the rebellious company managed to escape. The incident, nonetheless reflects the growing organizational capacity of defectors, and the real existence of the Free Syrian Army.

Deir Ezzor City: hiding tanks in the middle of the city http://youtu.be/9tgXHyKN0uo

HOMS

In Homs city, the people buried their dead http://youtu.be/zEXS2fj2RQY , http://youtu.be/mKZzUfoVcVU and went back to business as usual: protest in face of all crackdowns, no matter how violent http://youtu.be/F2u7HWac2hE , http://youtu.be/QjpZoq1hme0 , http://youtu.be/rpwExyFPWeM , http://youtu.be/8PqgpoweNJM , http://youtu.be/rpwExyFPWeM

Boustan Al-Diwan http://youtu.be/iQNwwS9l_wc  Al-Wa’er http://youtu.be/Eij3HATg1CE Al-Khaldiyeh http://youtu.be/2H4WRAW5HoA , http://youtu.be/0RMwcqEWkfk Al-Insha’aat http://youtu.be/RcC0SSBX-5Q (tanks stroll through the neighborhood in the morning) http://youtu.be/xKDm3C75rJE , http://youtu.be/5KnmzWWrTdo Stadium http://youtu.be/Y28YJPrUY14 Al-Mimas http://youtu.be/aDzTFble93s Al-Shammas http://youtu.be/3CDPiypouc0

Rastan: after a raid by the army, protesters take to the streets where middle and high school students burn their civic education textbooks because they are laden with Baath propaganda and lies http://youtu.be/5O-D9t5G6Z4 Then protesters begin chant the new slogan that is being echoed all through Syria today: “the people want to execute the president” http://youtu.be/_9lvWqKOmpY The civilian martyrs http://youtu.be/0dcpSqc-TOM

Talbisseh the protest festival continues despite all the violence http://youtu.be/J9kZc6c-PdI , http://youtu.be/TLPJ55YVyyc Deir Baalbah http://youtu.be/ZwUongCvSaA

Palmyra/Tadmor: the city begins the day with a funeral http://youtu.be/_HXGxFbSvgk , http://youtu.be/rPkHoNGWRqY then observes a general strike in mourning for her 5 martyrs http://youtu.be/cS4wBeZdTjw But residents take to the streets in the afternoon http://youtu.be/M3KfevP5IM0 and at night http://youtu.be/bWCEL0TcWGw

HAURAN

Thousands took to the streets in several Hauran communities, as the spirit of revolution picks up again in the Cradle of the Syrian Revolution. 

Al-Mseifrah http://youtu.be/Xh8fxikLNcU , http://youtu.be/yYTStaJpZeo Tafas http://youtu.be/AvdVrr6ipqQ , http://youtu.be/a4Lzb8nx4EI Mleihah Al-Atash http://youtu.be/tNCYEb4lxuA Tseel http://youtu.be/j1KnBOXXrFc Abtaa http://youtu.be/5vuP5RnZE6k Ataman http://youtu.be/buiWI-njuRE Khirbet Ghazaleh http://youtu.be/wWp0xPuWVAQ Kafar Shams http://youtu.be/vbaD55bYr-8 Da’el http://youtu.be/3IIwxCHM4E8 Sanamein http://youtu.be/YM9SodGP5xw Basr Al-Harir http://youtu.be/l6NlGME9mPw

Al-Hraak / Aug 19: a lone woman challenging Assad’s officers http://youtu.be/x7P2KkxRVRo Soon after http://youtu.be/rAZpnxcnCl4 The martyr Muhammad Al-Hariri http://youtu.be/RrQhVo1mPxs It was during Muhammad’s funeral today that another martyr fell.

Ankhel / Aug 19: scene from yesterday’s crackdown http://youtu.be/ARs1l7kJN4A , http://youtu.be/a1tkMl-Axso

DAMASCUS

More than 10,000 protesters take part in the funeral of Bassem al-Beik in Harasta http://youtu.be/GPZnsW2vCY4 , http://youtu.be/42l4wVrU5JM , http://youtu.be/tFNl2YFcnfw , http://youtu.be/5UmT6ajE7lA An all women protest takes place in Al-Midan (daytime) http://youtu.be/SqPbMs2YpQM (nighttime) http://youtu.be/vsTduia-Kd0 Douma: the day begins with a funeral http://youtu.be/lPIxk6jpoRc , http://youtu.be/JE5SZ2DyXLQ but people come out again after night prayers http://youtu.be/9ZitNkFiPjA Al-Kisweh http://youtu.be/H4rHPPaWGb8 Al-Rhaibeh: funeral http://youtu.be/ZOkGzlsCoMA Kafar Batna http://youtu.be/2GjMYzx0u90 Tal Mnein http://youtu.be/4HNCb0ZXedI , http://youtu.be/rI944SQAPuQ Zamalka http://youtu.be/BnrzmtTPNMU Flash protests in Al-Mazra’ah in Central Damascus http://youtu.be/uFGoLHSEP0Y Also in Midan http://youtu.be/m-rxSP9ylXA Qaboun http://youtu.be/ay6ipsR7ueg

IDLIB

Ma’arrat Al-Nouman http://youtu.be/A65c2MOTPhs Binnish http://youtu.be/LDbPO_G6RIQ Idlib City http://youtu.be/SaE6ndbiY9g Sarmeen http://youtu.be/XUYbnIGRRyw Taftanaz http://youtu.be/Mlo5IpPzObU Kafar Takhareem http://youtu.be/Iu8_N_Ap40w , http://youtu.be/Ej6N5McfJhE Kafroumah http://youtu.be/sbnSsiaPxHc Kafar Nabbol http://youtu.be/Tl3JRVlaLRg

Elsewhere, tanks take up positions in several towns in Jabal Al-Zawiyeh http://youtu.be/9eaglDXdUJs

ALEPPO

Salahiddine http://youtu.be/s_kGyny8TPw Al-Bab http://youtu.be/Yb8-MDoyiRY Izzaz http://youtu.be/4o04Ye1NB6o Tal Rifa’at http://youtu.be/9djcHK_pI08 Andan http://youtu.be/qLoSs7E8nFU

HAMA

Hama City: security convoy patrols the streets at night (Al-Sabouniyeh) http://youtu.be/YVsNSYmmyUE Still, residents organize a flash protests nearby http://youtu.be/CMymbnQMe-8

Misyaf: the funeral of Muhammad Watfah http://youtu.be/jiDJHnw9WvI ,  http://youtu.be/u2ckFgfXnnw , http://youtu.be/tZrtdl1aY50

There also protests in Taybat Al-Imam http://youtu.be/yFqVK0klseE Al-Madeeq http://youtu.be/LhzhiJvStnk , http://youtu.be/H8gW23aUCns Kafar Zita http://youtu.be/Fdh_WRb6W-c

DEIR EZZOR

Albou Kamal http://youtu.be/3PDv91l-CbA Deir Ezzor City http://youtu.be/GtdaDWF480I , http://youtu.be/Oye6nUn89Nw

Lattakia / Jableh City http://youtu.be/EVmiC3B5pn0 , http://youtu.be/oc2sIWPCGFk

Lattakia City: http://youtu.be/I0CcvOJsDZI