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Syria eyewitness dispatch: 'I watched as Assad's tanks rolled in to destroy a rebel town'
Syria eyewitness dispatch: 'I watched as Assad's tanks rolled in to destroy a rebel town'
As President Bashar al-Assad discussed a ceasefire for Syria last week, his tanks continued to crush northern rebel strongholds. In this dispatch from the town of Saraqeb, John Cantlie describes an assault at first hand.
For those on the receiving end, the smoke and chaos that engulfed Saraqeb last weekend disguised the well-drilled military procedure that was under way. It has been honed during sieges of other rebel hotspots, from Homs and Deraa to Idlib city and other towns across the province. The tanks go in first, shelling rebel positions and driving them out. The next day, there is random shellfire to soften the target. Then, once every rebel - and foreign journalist - has left, the ground forces go in. This way, there are few witnesses to what happens next.
The accounts of atrocities committed when Syrian ground forces move are impossible to verify, but the numbers hurt and arrested are unquestionably high. Using information stored on laptops, army intelligence officers detain all manner of people. Bad-mouthing the regime? Arrested. Seen at a protest? Arrested. Got an internet connection? Arrested. The list goes on.
"The shabiha (pro-government militia) came to my house and took my children," said Fatoum Haj Housin, a resident of the town Sarmin, five miles north-west of Saraqeb, which had been attacked a few days earlier. "They took all three of them. They were young men in the army but they defected in January. The militia shot them in the head and burned their bodies in front of me in our courtyard. In the name of God, bring me a Kalashnikov and I will kill Assad myself!"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9177910/Syria-eyewitness-dispatch-I-watched-as-Assads-tanks-rolled-in-to-destroy-a-rebel-town.html
As President Bashar al-Assad discussed a ceasefire for Syria last week, his tanks continued to crush northern rebel strongholds. In this dispatch from the town of Saraqeb, John Cantlie describes an assault at first hand.
For those on the receiving end, the smoke and chaos that engulfed Saraqeb last weekend disguised the well-drilled military procedure that was under way. It has been honed during sieges of other rebel hotspots, from Homs and Deraa to Idlib city and other towns across the province. The tanks go in first, shelling rebel positions and driving them out. The next day, there is random shellfire to soften the target. Then, once every rebel - and foreign journalist - has left, the ground forces go in. This way, there are few witnesses to what happens next.
The accounts of atrocities committed when Syrian ground forces move are impossible to verify, but the numbers hurt and arrested are unquestionably high. Using information stored on laptops, army intelligence officers detain all manner of people. Bad-mouthing the regime? Arrested. Seen at a protest? Arrested. Got an internet connection? Arrested. The list goes on.
"The shabiha (pro-government militia) came to my house and took my children," said Fatoum Haj Housin, a resident of the town Sarmin, five miles north-west of Saraqeb, which had been attacked a few days earlier. "They took all three of them. They were young men in the army but they defected in January. The militia shot them in the head and burned their bodies in front of me in our courtyard. In the name of God, bring me a Kalashnikov and I will kill Assad myself!"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9177910/Syria-eyewitness-dispatch-I-watched-as-Assads-tanks-rolled-in-to-destroy-a-rebel-town.html
Comment: if they had chased out the rebels, why the additional killing? I thought they went in to "protect the civilians". Also, the supposed Qatari and Saudi Arabia arms do not seem to have reached the Syrian rebels.
Post summary of a live TV interview - trying to find hardcopy, if one exists
On the news a reporter from Finland interviewed two former soldiers that defected to Lebanon. They were probably around 18-20 years old, with faces hidden in scarves for safety, planning to go back and fight with FSA.
They said they were unable to obey orders anymore because of the atrocities they were ordered to commit was growing too horrific. They said the moral of the army was crumbling as the soldiers do know they are doing hideous crimes on orders from above, killings and rape. They said the soldiers were unwilling to follow such orders as they know it is wrong, and the crimes becoming more and more brutal, but were too afraid to defect. They fear their families will suffer retaliations.
They said tanks were now firing indiscriminately on Homs, killing whatever they can.
On the news a reporter from Finland interviewed two former soldiers that defected to Lebanon. They were probably around 18-20 years old, with faces hidden in scarves for safety, planning to go back and fight with FSA.
They said they were unable to obey orders anymore because of the atrocities they were ordered to commit was growing too horrific. They said the moral of the army was crumbling as the soldiers do know they are doing hideous crimes on orders from above, killings and rape. They said the soldiers were unwilling to follow such orders as they know it is wrong, and the crimes becoming more and more brutal, but were too afraid to defect. They fear their families will suffer retaliations.
They said tanks were now firing indiscriminately on Homs, killing whatever they can.
Comment: More like the dark middle ages than culturally advanced.
Channel 4 report on the arrest of the head of the Baba Amr media centre, Ali Othman. With Paul Conroy
http://www.channel4.com/news/syrian-activist-ali-othman-may-have-been-tortured #Homs #Syria
Mass protest against the slaughter of civilians in Syria will be held in central Tel Aviv on Saturday evening (video)
http://www.timesofisrael.com/tel-aviv-to-protest-syrian-slaughter/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Elizabeth Tsurkov ? @Elizrael Close
Photos I took during tonight's rally in solidarity with the Syrian people in Tel Aviv http://on.fb.me/H3GsyW #Israel #Syria
Revolution Stats
--Syrians killed: 11,742
--Children killed: 833
--Females killed: 709
--Injured: +35,000
--Missing: +65,000
About 200,000 in prison. A large prison that was closed for a long time, was recently opened and filled with detained people, including children. Who knows how many will come out alive.
--Syrians killed: 11,742
--Children killed: 833
--Females killed: 709
--Injured: +35,000
--Missing: +65,000
About 200,000 in prison. A large prison that was closed for a long time, was recently opened and filled with detained people, including children. Who knows how many will come out alive.
