Syrian Uprising 2011 Information Centre
Summary (19/7/2011): Another bloody day for Syria. At least 13 people were killed when security forces opened fire on thousands of mourners at a funeral in Khaldiyah in Homs. Other areas in Homs have also been attacked by the regime’s thugs – shooting, vandalising and breaking into houses. Protests have been held across Syria in solidarity with the people of Homs. See map for more info.Syria – Tuesday 19/07/2011
Homs (19/7/2011): Since last week the regime’s thugs have stepped up their campaign of killing, destruction and vandalism in Homs. Of course, the regime and it’s supporters blame others – the proverbial “armed gangs”. Do these armed gangs have tanks now? Homs, 19/7/2011
Suwayda (19/7/2011 ): Following Friday’s slaughter in Damascus, the regime has now killed at least 26 people in the last 24 hours in Homs. The lawyers of Suwayda in southern Syria hold a sit in to refuse the continuous attempts of the regime to promote division and sectarian conflict between the Syrian people. From the south to the north, and from east to west, Syrians want one thing – freedom. Suwayda, 19/7/2011
BREAKING: Security forces have killed 10 and injured dozens when they opened fire on the funeral in Khalidiyah: Homs, 19/7/2011. The funeral before it was attacked: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyxwfjeMBxg;
as it was attacked: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5bkpPt1xRM&feature=player_embedded
Homs (19/7/2011): At least 10 people were killed by security forces in Homs last night. The funerals were held at Khalid ibn Walid mosque, the burial place of one of the heroes of Islamic history. However, this holy location wasn’t enough to stop the funeral from being attacked. There have been dozens of casualties. Homs, 19/7/2011
Homs (19/7/2011): Last night security forces and thugs, backed with armoured vehicles, stormed a number of areas including Bab Sabaa, Khalidiyah and Ghouta, where communciations, water and electricity are cut. Heavy gunfire could be heard all night (video) while the people of Khalidiyah had to bury their martyrs in the public park because security are shooting at those approaching Tal Naser cemetary. Homs 19/7/2011
More than 600 people came out of Shallah mosque and started a night vigil demonstration chanting for Homs and to topple the regime. Protesters are now heading towards Bader fuel station.
UK Parliament: Oral Answers to Questions: Foreign and Commonwealth Office: The Secretary of State was asked—
Syria
1. Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab): When he next expects to discuss the situation in Syria with his US counterpart. [66855]
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr William Hague):I am in regular contact with Secretary Clinton and I last discussed Syria with her on Friday.Mr Hanson: I thank the Foreign Secretary for that answer. Given the recent violence, including the reported shooting of unarmed protesters, does he agree with Secretary of State Clinton that the Syrian Government have lost legitimacy? Given the level of violence, particularly the attacks on the US embassy and the French embassy, what steps is he taking to ensure the security of British citizens who work for the United Kingdom and are operating in Syria now?
Mr Hague: The right hon. Gentleman raises some important issues in relation to recent events in Syria. We absolutely deplore the continuing violence against protesters. Reports overnight from the city of Homs suggest that between 10 and 14 people were killed, including a 12-year-old child. We have condemned the attacks on the American and French embassies and we called in the Syrian ambassador last Wednesday to deliver our protests and to demand that Syria observes the requirements of the Vienna convention. The US and British Governments are united in saying that President Assad is losing legitimacy and should reform or step aside, and that continues to be our message.
Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con): Iran has been involved in training Syrian troops and providing materiél assistance, including crowd-dispersal equipment. What assessment has the Foreign Secretary made of the dark hand of Iran in fomenting trouble in the middle east and in supporting illegitimate regimes?
Mr Hague: Iran has certainly been involved in the way that my hon. Friend describes, and I set out a few weeks ago that I believed it to be involved in that way. It shows the extraordinary hypocrisy of the Iranian leadership on this that it has been prepared to encourage protests in Egypt, Tunisia and other countries while it has brutally repressed protest in its own country and is prepared to connive in doing so in Syria.
Stephen Twigg (Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab/Co-op): Does the Foreign Secretary agree that the world has been far too slow in its response to the appalling abuses of human rights in Syria? Surely, after the events of the weekend and the past few days in particular, there is now an urgent need for a clear and strong United Nations Security Council resolution.
Mr Hague: I think the world has been not so much slow as not sufficiently united on this. It has not been possible for the Arab League to arrive at a clear, strong position, which makes the situation entirely different to that in Libya, where the Arab League called on the international community to assist and intervene. There has not been the necessary unity at the United Nations Security Council and at times Russia has threatened to veto any resolution. Our resolution, which was put forward with our EU partners, remains very much on the table and certainly has the support of nine countries. We would like the support of more than nine countries to be able to put it to a vote in the Security Council, but it is very much on the table and we reserve the right at any time to press it to a vote in the United Nations. The hon. Gentleman is quite right to say that recent events add further to the case for doing so.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmtoday/cmdebate/c_01.htm#d2e33
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NOW! Lebanon
[local time] 21:59 A protest has started in Damascus’ Hajar al-Aswad area in support of Homs and Abu Kamal. (S.N.N.)
21:58 A mass protest has started in Enkhel in support of Homs and Abu Kamal. Protesters are chanting for overthrowing the regime. The army is attempting to disperse the protest. (S.N.N.)
21:57 People are protesting against the regime in Abu Kamal. (S.N.N.)
21:54 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Tuesday shows women protesting against the regime and chanting for freedom in Jdeidet Artouz, a town near Damascus.
21:23 Pro-regime gunmen opened fire on a funeral in the city of Homs on Tuesday, killing seven people, the Local Coordination Committees of the Syrian Revolution told AFP.
21:20 People are protesting in Edleb’s Kfar Nabl. (S.N.N.)
21:10 Shabeeha militants and security forces are firing randomly in Homs’ neighborhood of Khaldiyeh. (S.N.N.)
21:00 A mass protest has started in Hama in Qalaat al-Madeeq in support of Homs. (S.N.N.)
20:45 Women are protesting in support of Homs and other besieged cities in Moadamiyeh near Damascus. (S.N.N.)
20:39 A protest hast started in Al-Qouriya in Deir az-Zour. Protesters are chanting for overthrowing the regime and are chanting in support of Homs and Abu Kamal. (S.N.N.)
20:37 A protest has started in Houran’s town of Naheta. Protesters are chanting in support of Homs and other besieged cities. (S.N.N.)
20:35 A mass protest has begun in Amouda in support of Homs. (S.N.N.)
20:31 A mass patriot started in Qamishli in support of Homs. (S.N.N.)
20:25 A protest against the regime has started in Jassem. (S.N.N.)
20:13 Security reinforcements have arrived in Homs’ Deir Baalba neighborhood. (S.N.N.)
16:45A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Tuesday shows people running to escape security forces’ gunfire in Homs.
16:40A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Tuesday shows people gathered at the Khaled bin Al-Walid Mosque in Homs for a funeral procession.
15:37A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Tuesday shows lawyers protesting against the regime in Soueida. Protesters are chanting that the Syrians are united.
15:37 Security forces killed 10 people at a funeral in Homs’ Khaldiyeh neighborhood, Al-Jazeera television cited a rights group as saying.
15:18 Security forces are shelling the Khaldiyeh neighborhood of Homs. (S.N.N.)
15:05 Seven people were killed and more than 40 were injured in Homs during a funeral procession. (S.N.N.)
15:11 Heavy gunfire has been heard near the Khalid bin Al-Waleed Mosque in Homs, Al-Arabiya television reported.
14:50 Security forces fired from an ambulance on a funeral procession in the Khaldiyeh neighborhood of Homs, killing the mother of the dead protester being honored as well as critically injuring his brother. In total, nine people were shot. (S.N.N.)
14:18 Reports of gunfire in Homs’ neighborhoods of Bab Tadmor, Baba Amro, Bab ad-Dreeb, Douwar al-kalaa, Inshaat, Asheera, Al-Khaldiya, Al-Bayada and Al-Kahera. (S.N.N.)
14:11 Reports of heavy gunfire in Homs’ Al-Khaldiya while people are marching for a funeral of protester; a number of them have been killed. (S.N.N.)
13:53 Security forces at a checkpoint fired at a bus at Al-Mokhtaria road junction in Homs; the number of casualties is still unknown. (S.N.N.)
13:42 WARNING: An extremely graphic video purportedly filmed on Tuesday shows the mutilated body of 10-year-old boy Walid Khaled al-Qassab, who was killed by security forces’ shelling. The boy was on his way to a bakery, where he works. (Viewer’s discretion is advised). a bullet went into his left ear and came out of his right eye. his left eye was displaced.
13:30 Reports of heavy gunfire in Karm al-Shami neighborhood of Homs. (S.N.N.)
13:22 Cellular phone communications have been cut off in some of Homs’ neighborhoods. (S.N.N.)
13:20 Reports of gunfire in Homs on Tuesday morning. (S.N.N.)
12:10 Gunfire is ongoing in the Baba Amro neighborhood of Homs, and Shabeeha thugs are breaking into houses in the area. (S.N.N.)
11:29 The Syrian army is heavily deployed along the border with Lebanon as dozens of refugees are still pouring into the country, LBC television reported.
10:46 Syrian security forces shot dead 13 civilians on Monday and Tuesday in the central protest hub city of Homs, rights activist Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
10:43 Twenty vehicles belonging to the Syrian Security forces entered Al-Naimeh and Naseeb towns near Houran. (S.N.N.)
10:32 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Monday night in the city of Talbisa shows a fire erupting in a building as gunfire can be heard in the area.
10:20 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Monday night in the city of Harasta shows dozens calling for bringing down the regime as some of them are carrying a poster that says, “Thank you Qatar… we call on the Qatari government to expel the Syrian envoy of Doha.”
10:15 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Monday night in Latakia shows dozens of protestors chanting, “The people want a new president.”
10:06 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Monday night in the city of Qamishli shows hundreds of people marching and calling for bringing down the regime.
10:03 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Monday night in the Edleb town of Khan Shikhon shows hundreds of people protesting against the regime and praising Qatar after its ambassador to Syria quit on Monday.
10:00 Ten-year-old Walid Khaled al-Qassab was killed by gunfire on Tuesday morning in Homs. (S.N.N.)
10:00 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Monday night in Hama shows hundreds of people gathered to protest against the Syrian regime.
9:55 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Monday night in the city of Jawbar, which is near Damascus, shows hundreds of people calling on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to “leave.”
9:54 A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Monday night in the city of Maadamiya, which is near Damascus, shows dozens of people marching and chanting against the regime. They can be heard saying, “Long live Syria and let [President] Bashar al-Assad go down.”
9:45 Helicopters could be heard hovering over the Homs neighborhood of Baba Amro on Tuesday morning. (S.N.N.)
9:30 Cellular networks were completely cut off in the Homs neighborhoods of Khodor and Bab as-Sabaa. (S.N.N.)
9:15 Reports of heavy gunfire overnight in the city of Talbisa. (S.N.N.)
8:32 Security forces are in vehicles roaming the streets of Baba Amro in Homs. They are randomly opening fire. (S.N.N.)
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Reuters:Syrian military assaults intensify on Homs, 13 killed
Syrian troops and militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad killed 13 people in attacks in the city of Homs Tuesday, residents said, an escalation of a crackdown against a focal point for pro-democracy protests.
Among those killed were three mourners at a funeral for 10 people who were killed by security forces Monday, the Local Coordinations Committee, an activists group, said.
“We could not bury the martyrs at the city’s main cemetery so we opted for a smaller cemetery near the mosque, when the militiamen began firing at us from their cars,” one mourner, who gave his name as Abdallah, told Reuters by telephone.
He said the bodies had been taken to Khaled Ibn al-Walid mosque in the eastern Khalidiya district of the city.
“Khalidiya is totally besieged by the military. We are cut off from the rest of Homs as if we are a separate country.”
Homs has been a major center of protests against Assad’s rule and tension has run high between the majority Sunni inhabitants and members of the Alawite minority, the same sect as Assad.
Khalidiya is inhabited by members of Sunni tribes from rural Homs while the nearby Nozha neighborhood is home to most of the country’s security forces and militiamen, from the Alawite sect.
The six deaths reported in Homs’ Khalidiya and Bab Amr neighborhoods Tuesday brought the total death count since the weekend to at least 30, activists and residents said.
Another resident said: “There are troops and armored vehicles in every neighborhood. The irregular forces with them are death squads. They have been firing indiscriminately since dawn with rifles and machineguns. No one can leave their homes.”
The Syrian authorities have expelled most foreign journalists, making it hard to verify witness accounts or official statements.
PRIVILEGES FOR RULING MINORITY
Troops and tanks first entered Homs, 165 km (100 miles) north of Damascus, two months ago and occupied the main square after large protests demanding political freedoms.
Homs, the hometown of Assad’s Sunni wife Asma, has seen an influx of Alawites in the last 20 years as the community tightened its grip on security and public jobs.
The Syrian National Human Rights Organization said seven people were killed over the weekend in attacks by security forces. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the bodies of 30 people were found in Homs over the weekend, and that some were mutilated.
“After failing to ignite a sectarian civil war, the regime is expanding military operations to subdue the mass protests in Homs,” Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told Reuters.
Syrian authorities blame “armed terrorist groups” with Islamist links for the violence and say at least 500 policemen and soldiers have been killed since March.
Human rights organizations say troops, security forces and militiamen killed at least 1,400 civilians in Syria, adding that more than 12,000 Syrians and security personnel who refused to fire at civilians had been shot dead.
Assad had described the uprising as a foreign conspiracy to sow sectarian strife. His opponents argue that the president has been playing on sectarian fears to maintain Alawite support and keep power for his family, which has ruled Syria for 41 years.
Once courted by the West as a possible moderate in the region, Assad is becoming increasingly isolated internationally, with Iran’s Shi’ite clerical rulers maintaining their support, to the disquiet of Syria’s majority Sunnis.
Diplomatic pressure mounted on Assad Monday after Qatar, previously a major supporter, shut its embassy in Damascus and the European Union said it was considering tougher sanctions.
Qatar was a major backer of Syria until protests broke out in March, but relations deteriorated when Sunni Muslims began to be killed by Assad’s security forces, whose leaders, like the president, belong to the minority Alawite sect.
In eastern Syria, residents of Albu Kamal, on the border with Iraq, said security had eased its grip after holding talks with the troops. Notables from the region want to avoid an assault after defections among security forces who had tried to quell street demonstrations there, residents said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/19/us-syria-idUSTRE76F26I20110719 + VIDEO
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BBC: Syrian troops ‘kill mourners in Homs assault’
Security forces have opened fire at a funeral procession in the volatile Syrian city of Homs killing 10 people, activists say.
Witnesses said the shooting took place outside a mosque during funerals for people killed in the past 24 hours.
Amateur video posted on the internet shows a crowd taking part in the procession before gun fire breaks out.
International journalists have been denied access to Syria, making it difficult to verify reports.
Human rights groups and activists say dozens of people have been killed in Homs since Saturday.
The Local Co-ordination Committees, which helps organise anti-government protests, said shooting erupted outside the Khaled bin al-Waleed mosque shortly after noon local time (1000GMT) as families held funeral processions for 10 people killed the previous day.
The mother of one of those being buried was among the victims, activist Mohammed Saleh told AP news agency.
Another Homs resident said snipers were positioned on rooftops, monitoring the largely deserted streets.
“We haven’t slept since yesterday,” he told AP by telephone, with the sound of machine-gun fire in the background.
“I am lying down on the floor as I talk to you. Other people are hiding in bathrooms.”
Intense gunfire was reported overnight in Homs, with one resident telling Reuters there were “troops and armoured vehicles in every neighbourhood”.
The latest violence is part of a crackdown on the four-month anti-government uprising in the country.
“The irregular forces with [the troops] are death squads,” an unnamed resident told Reuters by phone.
“They have been firing indiscriminately since dawn with rifles and machine guns. No-one can leave their homes.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 30 people died in sectarian fighting on Saturday and Sunday, following the discovery of the mutilated bodies of three regime supporters. […]
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Guardian: Syrian troops kill 16 people in Homs as security crackdown intensifies
Residents in city of Homs claim government forces and ‘death squads’ are firing indiscriminately on civilians: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/19/syria-troops-homs-security-crackdown